Mornings Around Here

"Janey, this is just a social visit," I reminded our sweet girl whose nose edged ever closer and closer to O's breakfast...

xoxo

A

Aspirational Blogging: on Authenticity, Artifice and Studio Toots

Ahem.

I feel compelled before I begin writing this to pause and collect my points

because this post won't be popular to some

because it asks something of its intended readers

that we all don't necessarily want to do.

Gentle reader, this post is not a take-down of the pretty girl

nor is it a condemning of the artful photograph.

It will neither celebrate nor denigrate the mathematical equation of realness to beauty divided by grim reality and narcissism.

This post is a challenge to the dark parts of us that cringe at the false cheerful portraits we see and yet continue to click on a blog or website we despise

.

to the part that sinks when we see someone else's success 

or crows when a mighty egotist fails

.

This post

is a tough pill to swallow if you were hoping I'd throw in some slightly veiled barbs at women you may not like

or who have hurt you, me or us.

That won't happen in this space today or ever: 

I have too much love in my heart to dabble in immaturity and too big a realization that this heart only has so many beats before I'll be dead,

before this magnificent life will burn out and whip me back into the Mystery.

There will be no elbow-nudging you with my clever cruelty like, "Eh?Eh? See whatididthere, yeah?"

instead

this post is a request that you 

own 

your 

shit.

Figuratively speaking.

(In writing 'you' I am also addressing myself, lest this come across as preaching from a mountain top of personal power and awesomeness.)

I have thought about this subject for so long and hard my brain has muscles

and the conclusion I've arrived at is that the power to choose joy or aggravation is within our grasp and merely requires that we demand self-reliance and strength.

It's too easy to choose the evil twin: we look at a beautiful blog and we feel slovenly there in our sweatpants and bedhead, the cellulite clinging to our haunches miraculously missing from the tawny thigh of glimmering self-portraits that celebrate the miracle in everyday living.

I understand: 

that's tough to handle even for the confident

even when the sweatpants are cocktail dresses or business casual

even when our everyday looks pretty passable:

a good day pales in comparison to his there in the Brooklyn Coffee Shop, bokeh from a good lens shot behind his thick perfectly fashionable vintage eyeglasses

or hers vaulting across a dappled meadow with three wild-haired kids and a smile that rivals the sun...

but dear friend,

no one's life looks like they look online.

They're human

just like you and me

and the reason that they blog in the first place runs the gamut of infinite possibility

from the greatest pain to the most overwhelming joy.

They fart in their studios

wake with bad breath

cry ugly

yearn for things unmet

fold laundry

wrestle with demons and lose

There are no rules

and that kinda pokes at our sense of justice, doesn't it?

Can't we all be a part of something honest and without artifice?

No.

Not everyone can be honest.

So here's what I propose for all of us who have ached with a sense of missing some big announcement on How to Live According to Curation -

Use that sense of deflation to pinpoint what you most wish to change.

If all you want to do is find someone company for your misery you can stop reading here: the rest is for those who want to take a juicy bite out of life in all its bitter and sweet.

Your heart aches at the scenery of her country living?

Gas up the car and get out of the city.

You look at her perfect coif and tuck a frazzled end behind your ear like you have since the last subpar haircut you got?

Get online and research salons in your area: search Yelp for reviews and get your hair done.

Take that course

plan that party

The thing that pokes us may be the very thing we feel is missing from our lives: going and doing something about it empowers the observation and gives rise to our own adventures or the investment in a torch or pottery wheel or horse.

Read up on how to maximize your point-and-click to get some great pictures

plant a tiny garden

or 

get out that dusty paint set...

Use the twinge!

An ignored stomach twist can grow into a green-eyed monster quicker than you would imagine

but if your twinges lead you toward the unfulfilled in order for you to fulfill them, what a gift!

What a gift!!

The other option that applies to that feeling we've all gotten that this perfect scene has a snake coiled around the rafters

or that the noble words of self-bravery are a dig at someone else's expense

is to simply stop reading.

Stop going to that website

unless you like to feel uncomfortable.

The careful curation of a life has nothing to do with you, other than that you read it and appreciate it or simply pass on by to find other material.

I find that personally

there was nothing like pushing a human being out of my body and into the world

(with all of birth's pain, glory, blood and strength)

that quelled the desire to read pretty things with little depth.

I currently favor cooking blogs

because they help me feed my family and I love to hear the stories behind a dish.

Sometimes sweet streudel has a surprising origin

and chicken soup contains the power to heal a marriage as well as the common cold.

I love the blogs of friends

of fellow designers

and florists

and motorcycle mechanics

of seekers

and humorists

but I run like Hell when I catch a twee tone emanating from syrupy words;

someone writing about how to have a good marriage must be honest and grounded for me to keep reading and coming back.

I like problem-solvers.

Everyone has their tastes (I am writing on an empty stomach, can you tell?)

and

mine have grown grittier and simpler as the babe gets big

as I age

as my Bullshit meter gets crazy-accurate and fine-tuned...

.

If these words sound harsh it must just be that I am tired and ragged at the edges

but they are filled with so much love, I hope you can feel that.

I want you to see that there are ways to approach this genre of writing and reading that help you hone your energetic instincts and honor your time and interests:

blogs are awesome and often chock full of useful tidbits and community

in ways that uplift and inspire.

Don't waste any time being upset about how another person is managing their work and expression:

go out into this big bold world and experience 

it fully -

who knows what your shared experiences will gift another in frustration

or appreciation.

With Love,

Sunny

.Respite.

xoxo,

Sunny

Outrageous Cocktail Dames

These ladies are so beautiful, their personalities so effervescent and unique that I am tempted to name them:

if I did that I'd have a bear of a time parting, and they are meant to have a place out there in the world

with a woman of equal sparkle and sass.

So. 

Let me introduce the three dames for three digits!

This Graveyard Point Plume Agate was cabbed by me.

True story: I never did like this type of rock much when I'd see a full slab of it in others' collections. It seemed like everyone had a slab or two of Graveyard Point that they were more than happy to part with.

On that trip to take the enameling class that changed my life

we stopped at that weird and dilapidated rock shop on the 101 (literally you can lay tire pulling off to get there!)

and for the first time I was intrigued by the stuff, by the Graveyard Point

so I bought a slab and I cabbed this stone myself.

High polish

deep sunny plumes

and a drusy pocket with a white plume poking through the surface...

I am hooked. This rock is magic and it has singlehandedly changed the tune I hum about its brethren.

Can you blame me?

Surrounded by luminous spheres of sterling this big beautiful sunny hussy

is a size 10.

RESERVED

Horse Canyon agate from the Tehachapi Pass in California's Central Valley.

Heaven help my heart.

This is the gentle sister of the bunch.

Size 6.5

Touched by an angel...

 this is one of the most dramatic stones I've ever had the pleasure of setting.

RESERVED

Lastly, the piece de resistance, the baddest bitch of the bunch:

Priday Plume and Moss agate in a bouquet formation.

You are seeing correctly - those 'flowers' are pink and peach.

Pink and peach buried under the earth for millions of years.

I love rocks. I love how nerdy and sexy and undeniable they are, how much each one has a power that you have to hold to feel it, though they do sing a mighty siren song from afar.

This particular one is a prime example of why Priday is synonymous with beauty in the lapidary world

and

YES

I cabbed this one, too.

The setting is full of piercing and sweetly placed spheres

in a pattern that looks like nerves and water all at once.

This one is a hair under size 8.

All three are available for reserve

HERE

and what does not get nabbed from the blog

will be available this coming week, along with the unclaimed babyproof rings.

Have a beautiful weekend my dear readers!

xo,

Sunny

Baby Proof Rings

I had a reader inquire some weeks ago about smaller rings - did I ever make any?

I wrote to her letting her know that as I have been taking care of a small baby, I too needed smaller rings!

It's just simply not practical to have a gorgeous big cocktail ring on while changing diapers and looking after a human bobblehead.

So here is a batch of beauties in a more delicate size -

allow me to introduce you!

Chrysoprase with 14k gold accent in size 5.75

Mookaite in gorgeous pink, purple and cream with textured bezel, size 6.75

RESERVED

Imperial jasper with amber agate top, size 9

RESERVED

Tricolor Natural Fluorite in size 5

Even if you're not tending to a tender babe,

it's nice to have some simplicity of finger adornment every now and then.

In a few days I'll have some big beauties to show you, too!

After that all will be quiet whilst I entertain a beloved long leggy dame

and meet a longtime girlfriend from the other side of the country.

The month of October may be just reserved for custom orders.

I am thinking of offering two big bag custom orders,

a clutch

two 'open' reserves for the leather shop

two enamel painted memory necklaces 

and a few 'open' reserves in the metal shop.

but

I get ahead of myself.

For now, if you wish to inquire after baby proof series,

write to me

HERE

xoxo,

Sunny

Sweet Little Sale

HERE

xoxo,

Sunny

Finishing Project Day 4

Loving his little shadow on the porch wall

I took the camera out this evening

to capture the ears

and eyelashes of my babe

.

Midway through a series of photos

I went to kiss his cheek

and instead he grabbed my face in both his outrageously chubby hands

squeezing like I was the last lemon on earth

I got a sip of chilly nose

and prayed that my hair stay on my head

as he pulled mighty and tight

gurgling with joy at his catch

There are not enough words for this feeling.

He shines through the bleak

of the season's change, of its sadness, its slanting light

and saves my soul

like a tiny

Bhudda

Christ

Krishna

Mohammed

reminding me of a Christmas Carol about a torch that lilts,

"Ah, ah... beautiful is the mother ah ah, beautiful is the child"

.

The Rarities

King Cobra Jasper Cabochons

in shades of rare earth:

peach

lipstick brick

light sage green

clear quartz pockets

rich browns

bands of cream...

Because this material is so damn hard to find I feel

so privileged to be here

showing you three cabochons that will go in

The Lapidary Shop

later today.

Working this jasper over the wheels feels almost oily in the smoothness of the stone.

I close my eyes and pretend I am on the continent of India, a place I've longed to travel for a while now...

Like any brecciated jasper, it is hard to get a uniformity of polish due to the combination of materials all within one stone, but I am so pleased with how domed and smooth they are!

Secondly we have the beautiful black agate with plume material I showed you upon my return from Minneapolis:

boy is this stuff fragile and amazing!

Pieces of the slab just melted into my hands as I trimmed the shapes out:

in the end, the shape of the cabochon was dictated by the strength and weaknesses of the rock itself.

There are all sorts of pits and pockets and unhealed fractures that go only halfway through the rock, 

meaning they're safe to set - bezel would be best. 

This big guy has a deep drusy pocket that runs along the left side: see it?

The last of the offerings is a pristine Lucky Strike agate I've been keeping close to me for some time now:

the coloration is rare as rare can be - look on google for the agates and you'll see - mostly water lines, reds blacks and yellows in a Lucky - this has coral, pink greens and yellows in tan agate.

I feel its person is out there in the world, waiting to wrap it in a sterling embrace!

It has a really neat matte white inclusion that brings drama and a sense of wonder to the stone:

you never know what you will find in a thunderegg!!

The baby wakes from his morning nap:

see you over at

The Lapidary Shop

later today!!

The Finishing Project, Day 3 (technically, but day two for moi)

Before Orion was born

the woman who lived next door was the mother of our cat-sitter.

She had been sick for some time

and passed when our son was three months old

.

The last day of the estate sale

I made fresh bread and joined all the neighbors who had

gathered to lift our friends

with food and wine

 lawn chairs

and

late evening company

.

Moving vans came 'round

and the footprint of that two story house

whirled into motion

foreign and exciting

after living next to silence for over two years

.

Nectarine gallette brought over on Anthony's hand-me-down plate

introductions

a grand tour

offers for the oldest girl to babysit

plate returned by a nervous and sweetly serious boy

in flannel pj pants

who wanted to know what it was

("a rustic pie," I said, suddenly feeling too grown-up)

and told me it tasted good

.

This morning I heard the mama

singing

slightly off key and beautiful like a bird

the kids bellow each others' names

through the halls and out of doorways

we hear arguments, laughter

and the click of dog nails on the back porch

.

After so much aged silence

and shuttered blinds

suddenly a family has bloomed 

 there is the smell of dinner cooking through open windows

calls for help with groceries

toilet lids smacking shut and showers hissing steam

teenagers with purple hair and long limbs

intelligent conversations in the back yard on weekend nights till late

lights on at two a.m.

above us

from the second floor

like moonbeams

long wished for

and 

realized

.

Finishing Project, Day 1.

The sound of a letter followed seamlessly by "ahh"

repeated musically 

in a rosebud mouth

is babble to some

perhaps

or annoyance to the heartless few

but to me it is an incantation

that puts butterflies in my stomach

and lights these tired eyes

.

Who among us isn't bewitched by the sound of a soul

discovering their body?

If any hands should raise

I suspect they are neither mother

nor

my heart's kindred.

.

.

.

to read more about Candace's 

Finishing Project,

go

HERE.

xoxo,

Allison

Goldfish Necklaces, for Moving Forward.

I am a creature of the past, it's true.

Are you?

I mull, I turn I process 

and eventually

something comes that propels me back to the ever-present moment in which we live

because

despite rich memories and myths

there is nothing else but the now

ever:

it has always been so.

As Orion and I journey into a more confident and balanced phase of mothering

I wondered what creature I could

craft that would represent

movement

and the first mental image was the fins and tails

and gills and shimmer

of goldfish.

Things that -ethereal as they are- represent a perfect natural machine.

Out of the stagnant

and loaded past

into this moment with clarity and grace.

Ah, grace...

the one thing that we could never get too much of.

These pieces are made with the intention and prayer

of motion

health

and a release of anything heavy.

Enamel graphite and watercolor on copper

layer after layer of color

and wish

strung on sterling silver oxidized chain

with little bubbles as anchors.

HERE

.

xoxo,

Sunny

Dreaming in shades of koi...

Enamel graphite and watercolor on copper.

xoxo,

Sunny

LEATHER SHOP ON SALE!!!

Secret blog and Facebook page sale in the Leather Shop:

  30% off of everything you see!!

Enter coupon code SUNNYAUTUMN12 at checkout for spectacular savings!

xoxo,

Sunny

Mange Bien!!

(Distinguished graying french waiter):

Eh Bien, bonjour Monsieur Etoile!!! 

Will you be having the peas and rice this fine morning?

Very well!

The temperature of the room, just as you prefer, Monsieur!

To the breaking of your fast, a votre sante!

why yes, it does taste of the spring morning in Caen!!!

My mother lives -- of course, Monsieur. You remember, how kind!

I will tell her your asked after her petit chien, Olivier.

Interesting, Monsieur...I have heard that a slight nomming of one's own finger does accent the taste of the peas....

I should try it, too?

Well, if you insist....I.....well zut alors!!!!

Even more delicieuse!!

It is not so frequent that a diner here asks me to eat with him, you must understand:

I am so honored and your company is so 

charmant!

Mon Dieu!! Look at the time! You will be late for your appointment for storytime

a la bibliotheque!!

Please allow this to be on the house -

Non!!

Monsieur, we insist.

But...erm....be so kind as to leave the napkin undigested, Monsieur Etoile...

Oui. It tastes of la Mer et le soleil. Oui.

Brilliant as always, magnifique!!!

Merci Beaucoup pour tout!!!

Au revoirs!!!