Some Circles For Your Noggin

Leather Barrettes in the Leather Shop

Before Sleep Comes

Just these notes about this amazing gig tonight before I fall face first into my comforter:

Wondrous. 

Stupendous.

72 attendees!

nearly thirty CDs sold.

ZOMG it was everything we ever ever ever do this for.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Golden Girls

Blue and Red

Bathing Beauties

Preparing for their debut later today in the Leather Shop!!

One for You aaaaaaaand One For Me!!

This gorgeous Orbicular Jasper ring will be in the shop in a few minutes. It is made for a smaller finger: I make so many middle sized rings: it is time for a wee 5.5 size ring.

This looks like a Monet painting, this gorgeous stone:

I also made something that I am most certain belongs to me: Moctezuma Agate from The Agate Works: their stones are a bit more pricey and worth every penny. Come to think of it, the Orbicular Jasper is from their shop, too!!

Here is Mine:

Filled with wee granules. I am in love with this bizarre and amazing stone.

I also got to make that Captain's Log I was telling you about: no sense not giving you a picture: this will sail across the ocean blue on the Tai Taki II!

Of Note

This has been a very very very interesting month.

Below is a list of what I know:

1. Heart palpitations are amazing and cause you to reprioritize everything. I have spent so many days over the last month with my hand over my chest crying and asking my body what it needs.

I tried acupuncture and it felt really good, but drinking the herbs I've been given seems to be exacerbating the problem. So: no more herbs. I will be trying a mostly raw diet with as little refined sugar as possible.

I have already lost three pounds alone from not eating as much dessert. Oh how I miss my ice cream with whipped cream nightly!!!

2. At the beginning of next week I will be on vacay for a few days while travelling to Northern California ( Bay Area!! ) to go see about a job with Anthony. I have been dreaming about a little bungalow with a front porch.... might my dream be closer than I thought?

3. Sometimes the USPS loses things and it makes me sad.

4. I will be moving the shipping prices of very expensive things ( over 100 ) to reflect insurance and Priority Mail w/ delivery confirmation, for a total of $7.00 shipping for luxury items. I cannot afford to lose something so precious!

5. There will be a very lovely ring in the Metal Shop today

6. There will be a great custom order in the Leather Shop today: one of my lovely buyers is sailing the high seas for some months and I got to make the Ship's Log book!!!! Wow was that fun.

7. Wednesday is the biggest gig of the year for me in Redlands: The Performance Loft. If you're in the vicinity I highly recommend you come and see: two full hours and some full band stuff: tons of duets, tons of love.

8. I adore you all: tell me what is making your day great ?!

Giant Banded Agate Ring

Yummy!!!

The Sick - I Has It

Blergh.

Peacock Feather Sun Goddess Heirloom Half Belt

HERE

How is She Sleeping Like This?

Cameo Rings Kitty Winks and Shiny Things

It is a cozy sweater day in Los Angeles with the sunshine and chilly wind outside. Here inside the our palatial manse we are tucked into our work and full of smiles and focus.

My painting sold in one day, but it will be hanging in the shop for a few weeks just for posterity's sake. There will be several birds coming in the coming weeks.

These are the delicate sterling items in the shop today:

1. A Cameo ring quickly reserved for a delightful buyer:

2. A Delightful Tiny Big Bang Necklace

3. A Tiny 'Yes' Necklace for those who need a little reminder:

And a few pictures of Jane and Jones in repose for those who need an 'aw' or a little chuckle.

I hope this day brings you something lovely and warm.

Better Thoughts

We all have thoughts that take us on a journey into the darkest places: fears, 'what-if's, fleeting desires that feel so strong we cannot reach their murky depths...

There are the middle thoughts: "what do I have for lunch today?" "Did I order that wire?" "My car is dirty" and on and on until we go to sleep and dream.

A great day for me means better thoughts: birds, butterflies, leaves and enough space in which to let them breathe and live.

A great day means meditation: that gorgeous engulfing blackness from which light starts to undulate and grow.

This painting is an homage to Better Thoughts. I will be listing it in the Leather Shop this afternoon. It is an acrylic painting with Leather hand-stitched thought bubbles and a texture to the background of meditative chaos: all black with richly textured and random strokes.

12 X 12 inches of love.

A Day of Sweet Stones and Metal

This Peruvian opal above is a custom order

This Laguna Agate is in the Metal Shop.

THIS is precisely why I like doing things quietly

Youtube is a Godsend when it comes to promoting your music, but it is also a place where people can be particularly cruel and hateful in their comments.

Today I got my first really really bad one, and now I feel like posting another video would make me sick to my stomach. I wish hatred didn't make such a mark on my heart.

Ironically, this was posted in response to a Don Henley song, "The Heart of the Matter", not anything controversial or crazy.

Sigh.

For The Love of You

On this Valentine's Day I am thankful for so very many things. My greatest dreams have all come true and often they have little to do with who I am and much more to do with the community I find myself in.

My family and friends, my Schmilly, Jones and Jane are my immediate physical community, but online here and on Flickr and Etsy I am astounded and thrilled at the support and kindness we all give each other. 

Reading the comments on my blog I get to see how deeply shared our experiences as women really are, and it heals me when I need it most.

Reading the blogs and photo captions of my online community of friends I am undone by all of the grace, wit and beauty I am lucky enough to view. 

Yes, you can find the dirtiest of the dirty online, the saddest stories and the most raw images that can haunt you forever. Anonymity can lead to completely decimating comments and arguments fueled with blind rage: a war of ideas with no actual faces.

I choose not to engage in that which sends me reeling on these internets, and believe me I have had my moments where I cannot suppress my outrage and must shut down the computer and take a walk or sit on my stoop and watch the cars go by.

I have chosen my reading for that which feeds my soul ( and the occasional Dlisted snippet which doesn't feed my soul at all, but my goodness it makes me miss my deliciously flamboyant New York girlfriend boyfriends ) and allows me to remember how much goodness really exists everywhere.

This Valentine's Day I am grateful to you, the reader for allowing me to see glimpses into your world enough to know that we share so many commonalities it's nearly eerie.

I wish you more love than your heart can hold

An overflow of abundance in whatever way you need it

Something to snuggle deep into

And a sense of wonder when you open your eyes in the morning.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox,

Allisunny

For The Love of Birds

Birdy Love in the Leather Shop later today!

For this Weekend Only ( Including tonight )

All opals in the Metal Shop are 20% off!! I will send a Paypal refund after purchase as it is a short sale and it would be madness going in to adjust and re-adjust the prices.

You can also convo me about a piece and I can adjust the price and reserve it for you, even if you plan to purchase in a few days: the sale price will be honored for you.

Break out your calculators and shop with light hearts :)

xoxoxoxoxox,

Allison

Swans

In the Metal Shop later today!!!

Transformation

These stones will be hugged by sterling and in the shop tomorrow, with the exception of the pink opal, which is bound for a gorgeous custom order.

The gorgeous agua nueva that looks like the clouds parting for heaven will be in the shop Saturday.

The red Laguna agate is wrapped in a fantastic ring.

The Australian Print Stone ( looks like leopard print! ) is in a necklace!

The matching ocean jasper are now earrings.

And I am a tired and happy worker bee!!! Goodnight, all!!

A Giant Hug...

...from me to you for your hopes and fears and bravery and joyful noises. Make those things "our", as I share their experience with you. True story: one day before my temp appointment to take the dreaded Word, Excel and Outlook tests something happened.

I can't say what it is yet, but the timing has filled me with the wonder of knowing God is truly near and attentive to our deepest needs. 

It ( the unspoken goodie ) would make me a teacher as well as a point of reference for the curious. I will tell you more as the story develops, but just know this:

If you want something with your whole heart - ASK.

There is a force of tremendous love that wishes all good things for each of us, accessible through prayer and deepest feeling.

Just ask today, or tomorrow or whenever you feel you can no longer heave your weight up the hill on your own.

*****((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( HUG )))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))******

Feathers

In the Leather Shop later today - feathers filled with an energy of wholeness and colors that cannot help but elicit sighs and smiles: warm marigold, cherry red and gold.

Complete Refill

This is what it looks like when someone under stress is relieved and renewed - free of all makeup and pretense and completely overjoyed and tired!!

It is because of Ojai, a sweet town in the mountains above Los Angeles, right next to Ventura.

Ojai is full of art and adobe houses, tangerines and singing night frogs. Ojai was chilly and blustery with rain, something rare for Southern California!

This weekend I spent an overnight there with my girlfriend Terra who was also in need of a battery recharge given her intense creative life.

We ate lots of veggies and talked about everything we've not been able to catch up on over the last few weeks. Like all best girlfriends on a sleepover, we stayed up late and watched Rock of Love Bus with our chins on our chests wondering if that was 'reality' for anyone other than those on the dreaded vehicle. 

I meditated more than I have in a long time and felt all sorts of cosmic activity around the crown of my head - I honestly feel like there is something incredibly special in Ojai!

In the next few days the evidence of my battery refill will populate the leather shop in the form of feathers, birdees and assorted other goodies.

Did I mention that I thought of you all when I was there and wished you the same experience wrapped in different clothes?

Garland on Sale!

HERE!

Girly Sweetness

Ah, pink. Breezy, springy sweet and easy. Pink is the color of petals and innocence, of dessert and femininity. There is something light that comes to mind: a sigh. A rose lassi at an Indian Sweet shop.

Today in the metal shop there will be pink in triplicate.

The first ring is a delicious and large piece of Peruvian pink opal bezel set in a large freeform backplate and decorated with hammer marks, sterling coins and generously oxidized and brushed. The wide ring shank has been dotted with sterling, like so:

It is a size 7.75. Delicious!

The other day I got a shipment of the most gorgeous vintage Japanese cabochons, they feel like some sort of resin cast and they are painted in shades of pink and black - so playful and light!

I made one in size 7 with a narrow twisted wire band and one in size 8.25 with a wide art deco band so that two different tastes and sizes could enjoy them all the same.

I just got back from practicing with Matt E O and taking promo picks for both our tour and our big show in Redlands on February 25th at The Performance Loft.

Tomorrow one of my best friends and I might drive up the coast and rent a hotel overnight for a mini-vacay. That sounds heavenly to my very soul.

This photography and listing has been my hour of work for the weekend - how lovely to say a brief, "hello!" I am off to list and then off to read something under a comforter and a layer of cats.