Can I Lie Down Now?

Whew!

What a month!

The Etsy Vancouver show was a huge success (it even maybe made me want to do more shows... maybe). I was shocked at the turnout! I don't know what the actual numbers were, but I didn't get a chance to sit down and take a breather for the entire 7 hours! My devoted wife and children were kind enough to bring me lunch but I was only able to sneak in a couple of bites between swarms of people at my table. It was lovely! :)

I was so busy, in fact, that I didn't have time to take many photos. But I snapped a couple:

(my little helper back there!)

I was very happy with my little set-up and got so many compliments from kind shoppers! I was worried that I wouldn't have enough product, but it turned out to be just right. Not so much that it was overwhelming, and not so little that I ran out of anything (actually, that's not true, I ran out of many sizes and styles of stacking rings, but I brought a LOT of those, so I did my best! ;) ). 

I was so busy in the month leading up to this show, trying to build up my inventory so I'd have a tablefull, that I literally worked until 2 and 3 in the morning (after coming home for dinner and to help put the children to bed) more nights than not. It was madness. But long hours in the studio is the best kind of madness I can think of. I almost didn't do the show because I knew how much work it would be starting from scratch, and meeting my clients face-to-face is a little out of this hermit's comfort zone - but I'm so glad I did it. As is almost always the case, stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new was absolutely worth it. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to my amazing wife for giving me so much time and taking on so much of the lone-parenting duties over that month! Especially since she's also working ridiculously long hours as a tenure-track assistant professor. I love you honey!! 

And now that I've caught back up on orders… and sleep… I've spent the last three days taking and editing photographs of the pieces I have left and listing them in the shop.

Here are just a few of the new items I've listed over the last two days:

Shield Rings in Labradorite, Prehnite, and Moonstone 

 Glass Seed Bead Strand Necklaces

 Gemstone Studs

Lots of Rings! 

 Sterling Stacking Rings

 This necklace (one of several new necklaces!)

 Labradorite, labradorite, labradorite!

So head on over to the shop and check it out. Some of the items are made to order but many of them are one-of-a-kind and ready to ship. 

Saw, Solder, Sand, Repeat…

Here's an example of just a few of the pieces I've been working for the Etsy Vancouver show for Etsy's Made in Canada Day, September 27th (find me under the dome of the "ice rink" at Robson Square!). 

There's a lot more where that came from but I'll break it up into several posts. 

More in a few days! 

xo

Forest Nymphs

The girls and I had to entertain ourselves all weekend as Dr. Foxy was a very busy beaver (hmm... mixed metaphor? oh well, it stays). 

We managed okay, my little forest nymphs and I.

Oh, and as promised I listed a couple of new rings. There's still a turquoise Wonderland Ring on the bench that's being a bit of a boor, but it should be up sometime this week. 

 SOLD

Available here

It was a busy week in the shop! I spent today restocking necessities in the shop and filling some made-to-order orders. 

A day making wedding bands is always a good day. 

Thank you all for your lovely support! It means the world!

xo

Simon Says

Three new turquoise rings in the shop tomorrow.

Don't miss them!

First Fruits

The first fruits from my new studio. Finished, photographed, and listed in the shop!

I have several other pieces in various stages of completion on my bench which may or may not make it into the shop this week. I probably won't get as much time in the studio this week (I've got appointments, parent/teacher conferences, house guests to prepare for and Canadian Thanksgiving to shopping to do!), but I feel pretty good about what I finished last week!

More soon!

xo

New Week, New Work

Happy Monday!

Despite my slow start last week, I ended up having a pretty productive one. I didn't finish everything that was on my list for the week, but I did send off four wedding rings (have I mentioned how much I love making wedding rings? What an honor!)

And I made these two vintage glass rings and listed them in the shop:

(sold)

(I was feeling especially generous on Friday so these are listed at a special price -- get them while you can!)

This week I'm picking back up where I left off. I'll have some turquoise and porcelain jasper and maybe some more faceted gems for the cog series in the shop later in the week.

See you then!
xo

Wait... Where'd it go?!

The week, that is. I feel like it slipped right through my fingers!

Not that I have nothing to show for it. In fact, considering I've been single-parenting it again this week I think I was actually quite productive! But thank the good lord that the Foxy one gets home tomorrow. 

I'm exhausted.

I added a couple of things to the shop today. I still have a boulder opal necklace that didn't make it into this shop update, so that one will come some time next week. For now I've got two new rings. This first one I'm really excited about. It's my first time working with faceted gemstones. It's not a flat-backed cab, it's a brilliant-cut amethyst and its light-reflecting goodness reaches all the way down to the bottom of the four layers of sterling sheet that make up this piece. 

You're not just a cog in the machine

You're unique and beautiful

 and you bring your own brand of sparkle wherever you go.

Also in the shop now is this "little" aventurine number:

Something about the green color of this ring felt very calming to me so I added the word "PEACE" to the band.

So despite my raw fingertips and the fact that the house is complete and utter disaster, it was darn good week. And now  I'm off to put the little one (who at this very moment is emptying the contents of the junk drawer onto the dining room floor) to bed and then I just might tidy up the house a little. And then I'm going to poor myself a glass of wine and take a bath. 

Happy weekend my friends!

xo

OH!! And just because I'm in a good mood on this Friday the 13th, I've decided to have a little weekend sale. Use code JUSTBECAUSE at checkout to get 20% off anything in the shop this weekend.

Bad blogger!

So I don't blog as much as I wish I could. Here's the thing: I spend most of my time parenting, being a wife, going to class, studying, and doing my full time day job. After that I have to decide how to spend whatever other time I can carve out. There's taking and editing photos (love), blogging (love), or spending time in my studio making pretty things (obviously love!). Oh, and sleeping (love). Can't forget sleeping. Anyway, when time is tight (uhh, always!) I usually end up choosing studio time (yes, even over sleep).

School and work (and a ridiculous number of migraines) have made time especially tight these last few weeks. But I have finished a thing or two in the studio and decided it was time to share them here. As well as a few other fun (to me, at least!) pictures...

I finished this a couple of weeks ago but hadn't had a chance to post it. It was a custom request to set this piece of sea glass, collected on the coast of Maine, into a ring. I really love how it came out:

And I finished this one earlier this week. This stone is amazing! There's no way to really capture it in a photograph. It's like an oil slick... at first glance, it appears black, but when it catches the light it's a rainbow of velvety colors:

Royal Velvet Obsidian and Sterling

It's in the shop now.

I'm working on a necklace and a couple of other things in the studio at the moment (not right at *this* moment, but you know what I mean!), which may or may not be done by the end of the weekend. I also have an African History exam on Monday, so we'll see...

In other news, my little ones have been growing up way too fast. Alice is pretty much walking now (I say pretty much because she still crawls as much as she walks but she'll actually walk of her own accord now, without prompting, and seems to be getting closer to using walking as her preferred method of travel) and she's even used the potty a couple of times!! This is HUGE news considering we didn't even know if our little miracle girl was going to have the use of her arms and legs. ♥

Here's a picture I took earlier this week of the three loves of my life as we walked to the car from Alice's daycare:

I'm one lucky mama.

And last (and, yeah, probably least), a picture of my tattoo that I don't think I've ever fully shown here before. I took it trying to get pictures of the Royal Velvet ring. Obviously not a great picture of the ring, but it turned out to be a pretty good one of the tattoo! The weather is finally warming up so I'll get to be showing it off again soon. (just in time for your visit, mom! haha!) ;)

Happy weekend, my friends!

xox

New Jewelry!

Well!

I've had quite a productive week so far! Three new pieces for you:

First, one of my favorite stones ever, Tiffany stone (also known as Bertrandite), simply set in rusticated sterling silver:

I knew as soon as I got this stone that I would set it like this. The stone speaks for itself.

And this one came from an idea I tried to execute way back in March, but I was so new to smithing that I made a million and one mistakes and despite my attempts to make something of it (all the way up until late this summer!), I finally decided to scrap it. Here's the same idea in it's new (and properly executed) form:

Yellow jasper and sterling. Sits pleasingly and comfortably asymetrically:

And finally, a necklace similar to the custom order I completed a couple of weeks ago:

Resin (I did not make the resin cabachon), amethyst, turquoise and sterling

Hoping to get these in the shop a little later tonight (gotta get the kiddies in bed first!). Oh! And if you haven't already, join my email list (link to the form in the sidebar on the right) because I'm going to be sending out a discount code to email list members in the very near future.

PS. I know I missed list it Tuesday. Next week!

PPS. It's almost Friday! :)

PPPS. A note about pricing: the price of silver has almost doubled since I bought my first piece of silver sheet less than 1 year ago. The prices of handmade sterling silver jewelry items may seem like a lot (especially if you're not used to buying handmade), but I use expensive, quality materials and each piece takes many hours to complete. I use a formula based on the cost of the materials and the time put into the piece to arrive at a price. Feel free to send me a note if you have any questions about prices (or anything else!).