Check this baby out!

I had to hold onto these pictures for a little while because this one was being given as a gift and I couldn't ruin the surprise! Well, the flashy hunk of amethyst and silver you see below has happily found her way home so now I can share!

Isn't she a beauty?! It's a good thing it was claimed before I even built it otherwise I surely would have kept this one for myself. 

♥  

I've got my nose to the grindstone trying to pump out some work for the big Etsy Vancouver show coming up in a month! And filling orders. Be advised that I may have to put the shop on vacation for a short stint so I can focus solely on building stock. But we'll see... 

Keep an eye right here and on my FaceBook page for some sneak peeks of work that will be available at the show. 

Snippets of Summer

And once again I've let the blog fall to the wayside… 

You've been keeping me so busy in the studio! I am incredibly grateful! It has been a struggle just to keep up with my orders this summer and I couldn't be happier about it. With the kids being out of school and all of the fabulous summertime distractions this city has to offer, it has, unfortunately, also meant that studio time is at a premium and I haven't had much of a chance to add anything new to the shop in the way of one-of-kind work--but I'll have some news about that in a minute!

In non-jewelry-but-still-creative news: after taking a bit of a hiatus from photography (except for product shots), I've been slinging my camera over my shoulder again before heading out the door in the mornings and trying to capture at least a few shots every day. It feels good. 

So… some pretty big news on the work front!

I applied to and have been accepted to show at Etsy Vancouver for Etsy's big Made in Canada Market on September 27th! As a general rule I don't really do shows (nor do I use the term "as a rule"), so this is a kind of a big deal. Mark your calendars and come out and see me and my jewelry (and the work of many other talented Etsians) at Robson Square. 

Once again I'll be a busy little Canadian beaver building up stock for the show until then. And for those of you who aren't local, the good news is that whatever doesn't sell at the show (there is sure to be plenty) will go into the etsy shop afterwards. So there should be a good supply of new ready-to-ship work available, just in time Christmas. ;)

My next post should have some fun shots of some pretty fabulous pieces I've been working on lately. I'm just not allowed to share them yet! 

Until then...

Xo

Thank you

Wow!

It was another great week in the shop, so thank you for that!

You've kept me busy filling orders. 

I've just got one Wonderland Ring left:

Turquoise and Sterling, of course. :)

The plan for this coming week, along with working on some custom orders, is a few vintage glass rings and maybe a pendant or two? 

But first, some important administrative crap:

Holiday Order Deadlines:
(for Christmas delivery)

          Within Canada:

           Made-to-Order Items, regular shipping         Place Order by Midnight December 5th

           Made-to-Order Items, upgraded shipping*     Place Order by Midnight December 11th

           Ready-to-Ship Items, regular shipping          Place Order by Midnight December 10th

           Ready-to-Ship Items, upgraded shipping*      Place Order by Midnight December 19th

          *contact me before purchase for a quote on upgraded shipping charges

           To the US:

           Made-to-Order Items, regular shipping         Place Order by Midnight December 3rd

           Made-to-Order Items, upgraded shipping*     Place Order by Midnight December 9th

           Ready-to-Ship Items, regular shipping          Place Order by Midnight December 8th

           Ready-to-Ship Items, upgraded shipping*      Place Order by Midnight December 17th

          *contact me before purchase for a quote on upgraded shipping charges

          Other Foreign:

          Unfortunately I cannot guarantee Christmas delivery to locations outside of Canada and the United States. Please contact me if you are concerned about Christmas delivery and would like to discuss shipping options. 

Whew! 

Thanks again for all of your amazing support!

Have a lovely weekend!

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

All moved in and back at the bench!

Oh dear lord, it's good to be back to work!

 I was so afraid that I'd get back to my bench and not remember how to do anything, or worse, not have any ideas! But that has not been an issue. I've really only been at it two days (between the late school start here and sick kids and sick mommies and a lovely visit from my parents and various other obstacles to getting moved in to my studio, I didn't get to finally sit down for a full day of real work until this past Wednesday -- and then of course the kids were off school on Friday!), but I can already tell that this is going to be a really productive space for me. The energy is just right and it feels so... 

GOOD!

I've reopened the shop, but so far with just a few of my made-to-order listings (Wedding Bands and Simple Dimple Earrings). I hope to have a pile of one-of-a-kind pieces finished and ready to list within a week or so. I'm working on several rings, some earrings and a couple of necklaces. Can't wait to hold some finished pieces in my hands again! 

And yes, the few of you who have been patiently waiting for me to finish up custom work will be hearing from me this week (your stuff is there in that pile, I promise!). If you've paid a deposit, I'm on it. If we've just talked about custom work, you might want to contact me again as it's highly likely I've forgotten what we talked about at this point. ;)

The best news of all is that the kids are doing great at their new school. I mean really, really great. It couldn't be going better if Stephanie and I had scripted it. So thank you to all of my friends and family and fans who sent us love and prayers and positive thoughts because it's working.

xo

Slacker!

Oh boy... it's been a really long time since I've blogged!

But I promise it's not because I'm lazy. We've had so much going on!

My parents came to visit over spring break and we had such a beautiful time. 

There were picnics:

Educational field trips:

 (sorry, you know I can't resist!)

And theatrics!

Although apparently neither the girls nor Stephanie were impressed ;)

 Tough crowd.

 (but they sure are pretty!)

Since my last update I've also made (a little) jewelry:

(Chrysoprase and Sterling, in the shop now)

And I worked on a large custom piece that took a whole week of studio time to complete (and was so worth it! I'll share pictures when I can).

AND I revamped the Buffalo Lucy website. Check it out and let me know what you think!

I do have one other piece of exciting news to share! This spring I'll be participating in my first show! I'll have a booth at the Strawberry Swing Indie Craft Fair! Click on the "blog" link on the top right corner of their page and you can see their blog feature on me as well as a bunch of the other artists that will be at this show. I hope to see some of you there in Kansas City on June 1st and 2nd!

That's all for now! I'm checking major to-dos off my list left and right (taxes? check! midterms? check! Post midterm papers? check!) and will have new work for the shop shortly. I've got a leather and mookaite bracelet near completion on my bench right now--hopefully in the shop this weekend or on Monday).

Ta ta for now!

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.

It's GIVEAWAY time!

The contest is now closed to entries. I will announce the winner right here around 7:00 CST this evening (July 8th)! 


To celebrate the upcoming start of my new life as a full time silversmith and mama, I'm giving away this necklace:

Blush pink vintage glass and garnet. 

On a 21" fully adjustable sterling silver chain.

Sweet and delicate. And just a little suggestive. 

I really love this necklace. In fact, I was tempted to keep it for myself (again). But I made it specifically for this giveaway, and give it away I shall! 

The First Official Buffalo Lucy Giveaway...

Six possible ways to enter:

1. Become a follower of this blog (over there on the right -->)  = 1 entry

2. Become a fan of Buffalo Lucy on Facebook  = 1 entry

3. Become a follower on Twitter  = 1 entry

4. Post a link to this giveaway on your blog = 1 entry

5. Post a link to this giveaway on Facebook = 1 entry

6. Tweet about this giveaway = 1 entry

Then leave a separate comment below for each entry (include your email address so I can contact you if you've won)!

 Please be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry.

You can enter up to six times!

On Friday, July 8th, I will use a random number generator to select one of the comments as the winner.

Good luck!!  

xoxo

New Work!

Finally, I have some new jewelry to share with you! I'm really proud of this one as it's easily the most complicated piece I've attempted so far. It's three layers of silver in parts. And as always, each component is sawed by hand (by me, of course!).

Built of sterling silver and chalcedony and designed to shield you from dirty looks, rainy days, nasty rumors, and heavy traffic.

(well... you'll at least feel better about these things if you're wearing this ring!)

This one should be making an appearance in the shop tomorrow, hopefully with at least one other item!

Happy Friday and happy weekend, lovelies!

Simple Things

Well here I am. Blogging. The ultimate act of egotism. I guess that settles it; I'm officially a narcissist. That's okay, I can still live with myself.

I decided to start this blog as a chronicle of my latest venture. My new year's resolution this year, which was actually made a few months ago, is to devote more time to being creative. Last year was filled to the brim with parenting, work-stress, and illness (both kids were hospitalized on separate occasions and we lost count of the colds and flus--can "flu" be pluralized?-- that invaded our big old drafty house). It seemed like there was no time for creativity. I felt myself, my self, drifting away. So while those last-year things are certainly not going anywhere (though I could do without the illness!), this year I need to also prioritize time to nourish my creative side, so I can be a better wife, mother, and employee.

So... thanks to my lovely wife (affectionately known around here as Foxy!), who for Christmas supplied me with the tools and space I needed to furnish my studio, I am taking back up a hobby I dabbled in years ago and then let fall by the wayside when "life" got in the way: silversmithing.

I am so very excited! I've already found that on days when I spend time in the studio, I am a better person. Even when my studio time is frustrating (like when I can't get my solder to flow!), I'm happier and bouncier when I emerge.

So far I've only completed one thing. I'm having some torch issues. And I fell down the stairs last week and hurt my back so I can't even sit at my bench (oops!). So, for now, this is all I've done. Basically just a soldering experiment. With the function of keeping my too-big wedding band in place (I can't bear to part with it long enough to get it sized). So here it is. A simple sterling band with a matte finish:

And here it is with my wedding ring (which I did
not make!)

Now I'm just waiting for the pain in my back to subside enough that I can return to my studio. I've been sketching and am eager to translate my drawings into metal. I'm also excitedly looking forward to a soldering workshop I've signed up for on the 20th of this month. They'll be using the same torch I'm thinking of investing in (my big one is too big and my tiny one is too tiny), so it will give me a chance to try it out first.

And hopefully I'll be able to finish soldering the necklace I'm making for Foxy's birthday on the 22nd. Shhh...

This is where I'd promise not to be so wordy in future posts. But I know I can't promise that. I don't talk much. But I write a lot.