Ooh la la!

As much as I LOVE my engagement and wedding rings, I have been itching to create a new rustically wonderful wedding set. I made time to play around in the studio today and created these rings. They turned out better than I hoped they would! And they have sentimental value. The three large gold balls were made out of my promise ring that Mike gave me while we were dating. It was a pretty little thing but the prongs which held the opal kept breaking and we gave up on having it repaired (this was before my jewelry making/repairing days of course). Ironically enough, the last time it broke was the morning after our wedding. I suppose that was appropriate since his "promise" was kept at that point : ) Anyway, the band has been sitting, stripped of it's stones, in a baggie in my supplies for years. I am glad to have finally done something with it. The three gold balls go with the tradition of representing our past, present, and future.

We have enjoyed a relatively relaxing weekend (finally). Days like today are numbered; it was sunny and somewhat warm so we took Amos to our local nature center to hike and explore. We packed a picnic, it was lots of fun. We decided to be adventurous and do a little off-trail exploring. We hiked, well, really we slid most of the way, down a steep hill down to a ravine that leads to the St. Croix river. Even Amos, who has the advantage of having 4 legs had a bit of a hard time making it down the hill. But we all made it in one piece. However, shortly after we got home I realized that one of my favorite bracelets was missing from my wrist. It most likely fell off while I was trying not to tumble down the hill. We're going to go look for it sometime this week. Hopefully the rain/snow we're supposed to get can hold off.

I am getting super excited to see New Moon this weekend!!! I'll be one of those people who sees it a couple of times I am sure...I'm such a dork : )
Later!

Late Night Blogging

What a day! I finished up a bunch of jewelry for one of the galleries today. I am really looking forward to delivering it tomorrow.

This image is a bit blurry, but you get the idea. This is all going to Seasons on St Croix Gallery tomorrow in Hudson, WI.

I am sick AGAIN. What's up with that??? My mom is just getting over H1N1, luckily I don't have that. I just have a mild stomach flu. Just enough to keep me in bed half the day. However, I really can't complain that much. It's been cold and rainy; perfect cuddling-up-with-a-book weather. I picked up Twilight Saga: New Moon this morning. I need to get re-aquainted with the story since the movie is coming out next month (whoopeee!). I LOVE the Twilight books. I've read all but the second one at least twice. Yea, I'm one of "those" fans : ) New Moon isn't my favorite one...what's the point when Edward's not around, right? As much as I hope I can go to work tomorrow, I wouldn't mind another morning reading session! Actually, I really want to go back to work. I want to feel "human" again. You know - regular clothes, make-up, cute hair, and of course jewelry. I am getting tired of frumpy sweats. I am babbling now. Time to go to bed. Night.

Moved the Studio.......Again.

This weekend was absolutely nuts! It started Friday with me, Mike, and my dad moving my mom's office to a room upstairs. She has some pretty heavy and awkward furniture so it was very taxing work. But it was well worth it for many reasons. Her new space is very nice, it's like her stuff was made for the room. Another reason is because I got to take over her old office space to use as my studio!!! I really needed a better work space for my growing business. It is so nice to have all of my work stations in the same room again. And I have more room for organization, which I LOVE. I also have a nice, professional place for customers to come as well. It's good all around!

This is a before shot of my mom's office:
And here's the after, now my studio:
Ta Da!


I have lots of space for working now with all of my stones/supplies in easy reach. I still need to organize all of my stuff on the shelves above my tables. And I need some lighting. Ikea has great lighting solutions, I can't wait to go.

Again, I am in need of some lighting. My bench is a mess from my projects today. I made a couple of orders I received yesterday. I also played around with some new supplies. I turned an old plain hammered band into a rustic masterpiece! Well, maybe "masterpiece" is stretching it a little, but I do like the ring WAY more now. We'll see how long that love lasts. I tire of some things easily. It's in the tumbler at the moment...I'll see if it's shiny enough to take out...hold on a sec...
Good enough for now. I really like this ring! Well, I've gotta get going. Have a good night!

October...really???

This October has been unseasonably rainy, snowy and cold. I actually don't mind, this time of year I'm ready for sweaters and thick socks. However, it does make it hard when you have a puppy who doesn't like it when it's cold and wet. Some days it's like pulling teeth to get him to go potty!

I had the ultimate disappointment this afternoon. I FINALLY found some supplies I've been looking for for a long time online. And I FINALLY found a company that has them is stock. I was hoping the order would arrive today in the mail, but it didn't. Bummer. There's always tomorrow (that's why I love when I can order USPS... they deliver Saturdays!). I really think it will be here tomorrow.

Studio news: tonight and tomorrow I will be helping my mom move some furniture around upstairs so that she can move her office up there. I then will get her old office space to use as my studio. THANK YOU MOM! I have had one 4' by 2' table to do all of my finishing work, packaging, storage, and all other business related work; it has been miserable and messy. But now I will have an entire space where I will have lots of room to work. Plus I'll be able to move my bench in from the garage. All of my tools are covered with dust and who-knows-what from my dad's projects. It will be a chore to clean everything up. We were going to convert the gardening shed into my studio this Fall, but I decided that it would end up costing too much when all is said and done. So that will probably be a project for the Spring (unless I really like having my space in the house, we'll see). Anyway, I cannot wait to have my new studio space all set up!

I am finally finished with all the custom orders from my sister's jewelry party a couple weeks ago. This is the last piece, it's all packaged up and ready to go to the post office. Now I can focus on making a bunch of jewelry for the galleries before the 30th. This has been my biggest month for sales yet for my little business!!! I am so excited about that, and to think it's only October. We still have all of the Holiday shopping yet to come. My fingers are crossed for a strong finish to the year.

I had some questionable reconstituted metal clay and decided to see how far I could push it. I got a lovely paisley stamp while in Chicago and made this HUGE pendant out of a part of it. The clay fired up good and strong so now I have to figure out what to do with this sucker! It's 2" by 1-1/2" and I think I want it to be a pendant. I considered making it into a cuff, but I'm not in love with that idea. I LOVE PAISLEY and am very excited to play around with some designs. I am drawing blank today so it'll just have to sit on my bench as is until lightening strikes. Any ideas???

Well, I'm going to go have a brainstorming session with my sketchbook, a fleece blanket and some hot chocolate. I love it when I can get all cozied up on cold days like this. I am looking forward to a quiet movie night with my love!

Carpenter's Nature Center

I don't work Fridays (whoohoo!) so this morning I took Amos to walk around Carpenter's Nature Center. I have fond memories of taking field trips here when I was in grade/middle school. But it was my sister who got me addicted to it as an adult. She comes here to walk around whenever chance allows. It is a beautiful and scenic place as well as a nature research center. I am lucky to live about 5 minutes away! Enjoy the photos!

I love these old, gnarled looking trees. There is a forest of them along one of the grass paths. They remind me of that scene in Wizard of Oz when they are in the apple orchard and the trees come to life. They look like they could be grumpy don't they!

Amos loved his first time at CNC! There was so much for him to sniff out. He was happy to be given a lot of slack to explore. He was very patient with all of my stopping to take pictures.

One of the scenic river overlooks. This is the beautiful St Croix river. If you look close you can see a black thing perched on one of the bare branches. This was a bald eagle, which I assume was patiently waiting for breakfast to come along. I wish I could have gotten a better picture of it.

I am always drawn to pictures of wooded pathways. I love this path at CNC because it is paved yet bumpy. It curves and meanders through the woods. And all of the cracks have bright green moss growing in them.

For some reason I love moss!?! I just think it is beautiful in all of it's shades of green (my favorite color). Someday I am going to have a flagstone pathway that leads from our house to my studio that has tons of moss growing between the stones. Someday...

Moss grows on everything here! Look at the beautiful chartreuse color of this batch.

Another wooded pathway. This one leads down to the St. Croix river. I love how it's covered with fallen leaves.

We are teaching Amos not to pull while on his leash by stopping and turning around (eventually he stops pulling and then we move on). Well, this is what I saw on one of the (many) anti-pulling stops. I thought this was a beautiful scene. A lone little tree glowing bright oragney-red (the pic doesn't do the colors justice of course) among muted fall tones. It made me think of my favorite scripture: "Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works which glorify your Father which is in Heaven" -Mathew 5:16. This little bush sure is letting it's light so shine!

We finished off our explorations with this group of beautiful trees. I wish the colors reproduced more true, but you get the point.

It was such a beautiful and inspiring morning. The crisp, cool fall air made my nose and fingers freezing cold but the beauty around me filled my soul. I always feel so alive and rejuvenated while surrounded by nature; it is therapeutic for me. I am so grateful I live in such a beautiful area of the country where I can experience the beauty and wonder of all of Mother Nature's seasons.

Enjoy your day...I know I will!

All Things Ethreal

Hi! I never did put a picture of all my lucky finds at the gem show Monday. Between the new puppy and being sick I haven't had a lot of spare time on my hands. I found these beautiful, GIANT freshwater coin pearls at the show and *drool* I fell in love immediately! I couldn't wait to get one set into something. So this is what I accomplished today between taking puppy out to go potty/play and resting because I'm a bit under the weather.

I have always been a HUGE fan of the night sky. I love love love the moon, especially when it's huge and full glowing in all of its silvery splendid glory. I have spent many a night absolutely mesmerized by the stars and entranced by the moon. I thought these pearls are the perfect tribute to 'her'. They measure about 5/8" in diameter give or take. I have been into large, chunky rings lately so this one is very exciting since pearls (my favorite) don't usually come this large. The beaded sterling bands twinkle around the 'moon' like stars. I LOVE this ring and hope it does well in my shop!

This bracelet is a tribute to the shallows of the Caribbean Sea. Like the moon, I am in love with the Caribbean. The colors are unreal (especially since I have lived in the Mid-West my entire life). The shallows of the Caribbean can be perfectly described as aquamarine. This bracelet is full of aquamarine, aqua beryl, aventurine and freshwater pearls. It's two strands and just the right touch of rustic.

I hope I feel better tomorrow so that I can spend more time out creating things. It sounds like I will have my studio (gardening shed turned studio) sooner than I expected. I've mentioned in past posts that we have been thinking of buying my parents house next summer. Well, unless something freak happens, we have decided that we are going to do it. I need more space to work and Amos needs a better location for his kennel. We'll move him to where my beading/finishing area is in our room. I cannot wait to have a building all to myself where I have all my tools, photo area, and everything else all in one place. Let's hope it's done SOON.

New Addition!

I'd like to introduce you to the newest addition to our little family....meet Amos! We've been looking into getting a boxer for a while now but didn't think it would happen so soon. Mike found an add online yesterday afternoon that was a deal to good not to take advantage of. Amos is 12 weeks old and came with lots of benefits (kennel trained, sleeps through the night, socialized, etc). We picked him up this afternoon and have had a wonderful day together. Enjoy the pictures!

This is Amos and his mama Bella. She has she sweetest temperament and we are learning that he really takes after her. He is so social and such a little love bug! We haven't heard a peep as far as barking goes.

All tuckered out at Petco...how cute is that!?!

Falling asleep in the car. He did such a good job for his first time in the car. He handled it like a pro!

He needed a drink of water before going to his first art fair. He buried his face as far as it would go into the cup to get every last drop, it was adorable! Today was his first time on a leash and he barely started to get the hang of it. He'd start walking with us but as soon as he caught a glimpse of the leash he'd sit right down and just stare at it. Boxers are famous for their intelligence so I'm sure he'll catch on soon. We are assembling his new kennel at the moment and then it's out to go potty and into bed for little Amos!