Summer Goodies

Here are a few things for your hair: lovely barrettes in two designs: 50s Scroll Poppy in Sunset and the beloved Bluebird of Happiness.

Just secure through a bun or secure overtop a pre-existing ponytail: they pull together an outfit with panache!

Secondly? A summer concert belt bag in red and gold blossoms:

Where oh where was this bag when I was at Lilith Fair back in 1998? It fits the essentials beautifully: keys, lip gloss, money, phone and anything else you might deem necessary for an evening of rocking out.

It snaps onto any belt up to 1.5 inches wide - a dream for the concert-goer, farmer's market lover or trail hiking enthusiast.

Well I'll be....!!!

10 minutes with the Mac Doctor revealed that my battery was faulty and they replaced it for FREE.

Goodness knows I thought I'd be in for a deeper problem and a steeper bill.

Game on!

There should be some really lovely things in the leather shop by nightfall....

And you cannot hear it but I am full of grateful humming.

Oh Noes!!

My Mac made a funny popping noise (like bubble wrap in your fingers) as I was shutting it down for the night yesterday - Anthony did some gumshoe work only to discover -

My battery exploded!!!

Upon further research I learned just how very, very very lucky I am: some batteries catch on fire and mess up more than even just the computer.

Needless to say, things will be a bit quiet around here until the Mac Doctor gives us a clean bill of health.

Doh!!!!! I think I have been getting little messages to slow down and it also helps me realize that I am hopelessly addicted to the internet... it should be good to be away.

Sighing and smiling and off to tool some really lovely things for the leather shop!!

Kinder Gentler

Two sweet pink confections for the hand this quiet, hot, breezy, delightful summer Monday.

Nevada Rhodonite in size 6.75

The last of the Moctezuma Agate for a few weeks - a stunner with soft pink drusy and twin sterling pearls in a size 8.25

These two pieces will be in the shop this afternoon or evening!

Sending you tons of affection on the breeze from Petaluma.....

The Real Deal

Certain people you meet are just It - the Real Deal - gentle, kind artists with strong opinions and work that speaks directly to your soul.

Ed of Stones in Motion is that kind of fellow and then some.

Anthony and I traveled to San Jose to see him - I wanted to learn a bit about cabbing, since I am so deeply obsessed with the art of rock cutting - my 300-or-so cabs should indicate that at this point I am just as much a collector as I am a designer using stones in my jewelry.

Not only did I learn a lot about rocks, I learned about the kind of person I want to buy rocks from and the hard work that goes into the creation of a really good cab.

Quite frankly this new knowledge made me feel a bit sheepish about some of my past purchases!

We sat down and had a bite to eat with Ed and his lovely, lovely wife - will you just look at the spread? Yummm!!!

I brought some King Cobra Jasper, a new and rare material from India to work with. This the rough, slightly wet which brings out its amazing colors:

Ed started working on it and gave me the chance to bevel the edges and round them over to the top of the cab - watching him do it looked like ice-skating, or something effortless and elegant... I was more like Bambi on Ice, but I loved the experience and was certainly bitten by the lapidary bug, indeed...

The end result? Voila!!! One half of the slab produced this stunning cabochon:

I went home with tons of inspiration and a full well, which feels fantastic.

Ed and his art are just so special, and I would sincerely recommend supporting his store by purchasing his cabochons for your work or collection: there is a reverence for the soul of the earth he is shaping in each lovely cab.

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Not so Lazy Human Saturday

Stunning Moctezuma open druzy agate in size 6 with sprout band - this will be listed in the Metal shop tonight... what a stunner!

I found a little symbol of a sun rising through some clouds - 'Sunny Rising!' hoorayyy! A signature at last.

Custom Mookaite Ring - this is a ring for a superhuman with superpowers: Australia will never be the same.

Lazy Caturday

Maybe It's The Yoga?

I have had a strange three days.... 

One moment in particular I wanted to share with you: last night when we were going to bed all of the sudden I had a giant epiphany of just how miraculous each moment we are alive really is: we are given the spectacular power of choice and creativity while being tinier than a molecule in the whole grand scheme of the Universe at Large....

Life is constantly bursting forth and blooming even when we are fraught with misery or heaviness - I could almost hear the immensity of the literal time-space bloom in that moment lying staring at the ceiling with Anthony's head on my shoulder, quietly letting sleep descend.

It was one of those points of deep clarity, surrounded ironically by fearful talk of asteroids and a bout of mild food poisoning... one of those rare moments where you know without a doubt that something much bigger is afoot than whether or not you put your whites in the dryer before you left the house... something miraculous and exciting is happening no matter if we're happy or devastated, rich in love or poor in the bank, asleep or awake.....

Oh How I Want To Be Awake For it.... 

For All of It..............

So I will go into the Studio and Listen this evening.

I adore you all so much!

The Day's Harvest

Spectacular Agua Nueva in 6.5 - the colors are pink and olive green with bands of silvery texture and snow white. Unreal.

Flowering Coyamito Agate slice in size 8

Celestial custom labradorite ring

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Happiness

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Shipping Charges to Canada

It always pains me to mention a rise in shipping costs, but in this case I must. A package was either lost of held in customs and it was a one-of-a-kind with a stone that pains me to think of as vanished.

I will be shipping via registered mail to Canada from now on: it is 11.oo USD on top of the regular shipping cost, but I will be charging a flat rate of 8.00 USD to my Canadian neighbors.

This will be through the Metal Shop: the leather can always be made again and the stones are not near-precious remarkable gems in the Leather Shop - they are often focal beads of high quality that I buy in strings, making them replaceable.

I want my customers to have the highest quality product and shipping service. I will be declaring the full value of the pieces going through customs, no exceptions.

I am sorry if this sounds terse, I have always been concerned about the possibilities of something going missing, and since something has it means a price increase as a trade for more security.

The Ultimate Reminder Ring

You may notice that there has been much more silver than leather around here lately, which makes the blog itself look strange: the web address should reflect the contents of its pages....

I had a huge crisis of intent over my creative fork in the road some months back that was well-documented here, and now I have made real peace with the fact that there will be days where I am crazy about tooling and days where I am crazy about metalwork.

Right now I am crushing madly on sterling silver.

I can have both - and the scales can tip whenever they choose. This feels really good. I have been wanting to commemorate this newfound sense of artistic freedom with a Reminder ring of my very own....

Sheltered under sterling branches is a piece of cowhide, colored with antique and water.

At the heart of my artistic practice (the ring center) is the very thing which started me down this road to self-sufficiency and discovery: leather....

The part that makes me feel endlessly safe and protected is the solid and bright silver around that hide heart.... I am very excited to see them here together as peacefully met as they are in my mind.

It's been quite a long time coming....

Orbs of Wonder

Custom Order Agua Nueva
(with sprout band!)

Heart Chakra Ocean Jasper (with sprout band, too!) in size 5.75

in the Metal Shop this afternoon.

In the coming days I will be announcing a contest for Sunny Rising Metal's first anniversary celebration on July 6th!! Get your commenting fingers ready :)

Treat yourselves gently today, my dearest friends.

Pobeep

I know you're not an avid reader of my blog (so you may never see this) my Poppy, but you are the sun in my sky.

Thank you.

Well refilling

I had a full weekend of weekend-y stuff. It felt so good. Yesterday we went to Sacramento and saw Anthony's family, had a dinner complete with a game of 'chickenfoot', an epic dominos game which brings out the competitive shit-talker in me.

I think they still love me.....

Today my friend Natalie (from Otterbein!!) came up from San Francisco where she lives with her husband in the Presidio and we went to Point Reyes and she gave me a yoga lesson in my living room.

Imagine doing yoga while this hilariously curious cat winds in between your legs and attacks your yoga towel...

Honestly, I don't know how I even manage to brush my teeth with Hammy Cat and his antics to entertain me....

last night he discovered that banging on the painting hanging opposite our bed will wake us up:

sometimes his antics get him a one way ticket to kitchenville, USA.

I bought four figures worth of supplies this week and completely freaked myself out.

I needed them in order to grow the lines I have started

and yet I just couldn't relax into the joy of it without worry.

It is joyful to need and receive fresh new rolls of leather, new sterling sheet (recycled silver here I come, guys!) and chain galore - I shouldn't need to remind myself that refilling the supply drawers is a positive thing....

it just helps me realize there are still things that need to be healed from my days of Ramen noodles - I still fear lack, still see abundance as finite.

Time and time again the universe showers me with benevolence and yet I still fear.

I like when these things are brought up: I like learning to love the things I thought I'd left behind enough to let them go.

I have a handful of gorgeous, gemmy ocean jasper ring stones, blushing aventurine and copper slugs for some new designs I am working on.

I have a heart that is brave enough to try and love the fear and a week ahead to dedicate to custom orders and new-fangled work...

I am hoping your weekends refilled your wells with courage and happiness to do the work ahead of your amazing selves!!

More tomorrow....

Pretty Things in My Home Today

Jones

Moctezuma Agate Custom Order

Janey my beloved

Jacaranda Tree Ring with Amethyst in size 7.

The cats are not for sale.

The Jacaranda tree ring will be this evening!

Today's Prayers

I nearly wept with love for these stones today, and I also put something into the mix for those who might not have a big stone budget (I am passionate about the power of a stone and most often the stones people know are powerful cost more) and want a little bit of sprout in their life.

These rings are:

Agua Nueva in a size 6.5.... do you see the silhouette watching the sunset at the bottom of the stone?

This one is most assuredly one of the most special stones I have ever worked with.

It made me cry. It made me feel deep love in my heart.

I cried because I know it belongs to someone else: when you make things you know this - sometimes something is yours

Sometimes it has a home it just needs directions to.

On the band of this ring is a double sprout:

The second ring is a lovely little double sprout with a 14k gold dot of honey in the middle. 

Yummy! Size 7.

Lastly but not at all leastly, a stunning Agua Nueva Shelter ring in 5.5 featuring a wide band

and a tremendous amount of detail work.

These rings will be fostered in the Metal Shop this evening and will rest there happily until they find their forever homes.

I adore you all.

Somewhere Over the Botswana Agate Rainbow

In the Metal Shop this evening! Size 6.75 with a wide band that says "somewhere" - have you ever seen a Botswana Agate with such a lovely monochrome rainbow?

The latest ring in the sprout series.