Give It Away

NOTE on 6/30 - Thank you all so much for entering this giveaway! I will be 
announcing the winner on Monday at noon my time: I hope it's you!!!


xoxox,
A


The end of March marked five years as a small business owner;

five years from the day I left my job as a receptionist at EA

to venture into the terrifying

gratifying

unknown!

Could I make it?

Could I really do this thing I wanted to try so badly?

Five years later I still feel a bit lost and madly in love with my work,

which I think are both good things.

So here I am, celebrating the hugeness of a half-decade of work and gratitude with a really big-deal giveaway.

The purple equivilent of this bag is 

HERE:

you can read about all of the specs, size etc

noting, of course, that this one has lavender chalcedony

periwinkle hide

and navy/beige mandalas.

This Beautiful Beauty is for one of you, readers;

it can be yours just for a comment saying anything; your wildest dreams, how your day was, what you're grateful for, etc.,

BUT

if you want to increase your chances of winning, then you can do the following things (and create a separate comment for each):

Like my Facebook page

.

Add my Leather and Metal Shops to your circle on Etsy

.

Follow this blog (the doo-dad is on the right hand side - scroll down a tad more)

.

Talk about this contest on your Facebook wall or your own Blog, making sure to provide the link to this contest on your page and a link in the comment here so I can read and smile!

.

Tell me about a worthy charity you love to donate to; what does it mean to you?

.

Inquiring minds want to know.

I will be moderating comments, so don't worry if you don't see it pop up right away: it will.

I will be closing comments on the 29th at 4:00 PM my time (Pacific)

.

In the meantime, our tiny family is traveling north where

I will squeeze Anthony's parents and take an enamel-on-metal-painting

class with one of my favorite

ladies

in the whole of the world.

She asked me about the class right after Orion was born in March and I've been looking forward to it ever since,

like a party or a fancy dinner.

I hope you enter.

I also hope you know how much it means to me that you come around and read these words,

share your own and create relationship and community;

I have come to love many hearts just from posting here

and seeing the gifts you make with your art and writings.

I also also hope you win

and 

I thank you for helping to spread the word -

May Sunny Rising bring a little bit of light and beauty into your life,

one wrist, waist, finger, ear and neck at a time!!

Huge x's and o's -

Allisunny

Where Do I Begin?

It all started the day we found out that Jones was going to die.

Somewhere in the most vulnerable darkest part of me

a seed was planted in the loamy black soil.

I was pregnant, scared of the overwhelm of grief

and completely unprepared to lose my first 'baby'.

I still have a hard time with the missing of him.

In the ensuing weeks I cried and I processed delicately and I tucked away little bits of overwhelm in a place that felt big enough to house them.

Flash forward one and a half months to the birth of my amazing child:

body recovering, relationships all being rearranged,

careworn and clueless

I had so many pieces of confusion to process that I began secreting them away again

in that place whose walls were now full to bursting with pains and slights and fears.

I kept my house clean

I worked with joyful hands

I made dinners

drove my car

ached secretly

fell in love with a baby boy.

I did it all and then some;

I pushed and pushed and proved things to myself, things of great value.

I know now.

Orion is now nearly four months old and the dam inside that place has broken:

it is time to deal with the Untouched and Unloved.

I had so much to tell you, about my visitors and how much I love them, about my gratitude for this place in all its beauty and discomfort, but I am so tired; soul tired. There are dark circles under my heart and a five o'clock shadow on my toes.

This is my last collection to offer for a while.

I will have a giveaway here on this blog in a few days and then it will be a bit quiet until

I can sort through the dim and bring back a pearl.

RESERVED

This necklace is one of the most meaningful I've ever made: the wing is hammer-engraved and took a million calendar years to finish, but I have and I've never been more thrilled with an outcome.

It's huge.

It's outspread.

It's a wing to uplift, or to drop down sharply;

to dive into caverns or soar to the heavens and its message is this:

fear not.

It is a GUARDIAN.

YES.

Jacaranda seed pod necklace with the palest massive faceted chunk of amazonite.

For your heart, for your solar plexus.

RESERVED

Jacaranda seed pod earrings with amazonite beads an a sweet little high-domed piece of the stuff.

asymmetrical to the nth degree

These are the front

which fit together to form a pod

And these are the backs: beauty coming and going.

Please 

CONVO

me

if any of these pieces are yours.

With love,

Allisunny

In Purple and Turquoise

HERE

xoxo,

A

Elbow Candy

I've been thirsty for new bag shapes of late:

smaller, daintier than the bigs,

rounder and with more give than a traditional clutch.

I found the perfect curve, the perfect blend of hard and soft in this 

supple purse.

RESERVED

This mint/red and prehnite version 

and two more I will be making

 can be reserved

HERE

Purple/earth with gorgeous turquoise set in fine and sterling silvers

Periwinkle Blue/earth with lavender chalcedony set in fine and sterling silvers

The bag is the perfect shape for outings and can hold far more than you could imagine.

The dimensions are 10X6X3

with straps that fit beautifully over a forearm or rest daintily in the palm.

A dearest-ever friend and her new husband are coming our way tonight:

I am excited to have a wonderful few days with them!

xoxox,

A

Valentine

Today I find my heart wrapped around a girl

I know

who is aching.

If she were near I'd cut up a cold mango for her, too

and we'd sit at the kitchen table

dreaming up the future

and accepting the present.

Hm.

I just got that unintended pun: the present moment as a gift

wrapped

in grit

pain

and confusion

but with a ceaseless flame at its center

a flame

that burns away the very things which surround it

as one gets closer and closer to 

middle,

things like grief and loose bowels

sleepless nights and swollen eyes

mere doorways 

or

ugly yet benevolent guides in the underworld:

"you're doing it right - keep going!",

they shout with bad breath and one tooth and a missing button eye...

I wish her everything she needs to understand

and thrive

but just as much I wish her

simple joy

like

cold mango in a mint green bowl

and girlfriends with winged hearts.

xo

Dessert Bell

For Dessert I present

A feast for the eyes;

zero calories,

Heart-healthy.

RESERVED


Double Aventurine Dusters, 3.25 inches long

.

RESERVED


Amazonite and double turquoise asymmetrical Dusters, 

3.5 and 4 inches long, respectively

.

RESERVED


Yellow Onyx and Orange Juice Resin Dusters, 2.75 inches long

.

Milk Quartz and Dragonfly Wing on Copper Dusters, 3 inches long

.

Available for reserve

HERE.

xoxo,

A

Smattering

This weekend wheels were spinning, dremels were....dremeling

Janey was trilling her little happy notes

and our little trinity went to the farmer's market

and spent our life savings on berries:

it's what you do in the summer!!

All of my projects you have seen since the birth of the babe have been works in small incremental progress: this wing, for instance, is finally coming to fruition:

it's gonna be a doozy of a necklace - that's a ton of engraving.

A ton.

I plan on pairing it with this wonderful Agua Nueva, one of my collection that I've had for years.

It just feels right!

Speaking of stones, this Priday I finished today makes my heart clench

and my teeth ache...

it gets me all mixed up inside like Scheherazade...

And I got the soft faceting right.

I'll be trying this method out with all of my best picture stones!

And here we have a beautiful, imperfect Priday with stunning autumnal plumes:

See the cracks and crevices? Part and parcel of this breed of rock. The very things that make it imperfect make it even more beautiful to me as it is structurally sound.

They also make a deeply expensive stone more affordable -

I will be listing a few of my recently cabbed pieces

HERE

later today!

This Laguna will NOT be among them.

I will be sleeping with this beauty under my pillow until I am old and gray

or at least until I get over my crush on it.

I leave you with a perfect, rare and painfully beautiful pink plume with deep, cavernous druzy pockets:

Please make sure to wear your helmet when you go spelunking in there!

The latter part of this day will be dedicated to chocolate-chip-cookie-baking,

Orion-cuddling, Anthony-feeding, Janey-chin-scratching

and a good long walk in the late warm evening.

I hope your weekend has been restorative and good.

Love,

A

10 Days In....

Left:Day 1 - Right:Day 10

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Shred is WORKING.

I have lost inches all over already

though not a pound of weight: this does not bother me in the least.

The mot striking change is in the middle of my body.

This morning I felt mopey and thought I'd whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies to feel better.

Instead I talked myself down off of the buttery, chocolatey ledge and I shredded

then treated myself to a wonderful green monster with

spinach

rice milk

banana

and

frozen mango

.

On Sunday I will bake, as it is my 'go nuts' day.

Today I learned that

there is nothing like photodocumentation to prove that you are making progress:

if you want to make a change I seriously recommend taking pictures as you go.

I am also learning to:

Find heros

Give yourself treats that aren't always food-related

Push through mental lethargy

Rest when the body truly calls for it

visualize

celebrate

.

xoxox,

A

Buckle Up, Part Deux!

The winds are warmer...

The days are longer...

Hemlines shorter...

And these three beauties are destined for summery greatness:

claim your buckle

HERE.

xoxox,

Sunny