Just a Little Uplift...

Just a few winged things for your eyes,

your eyes that may be overwhelmed by the green and red everywhere

the brain that may be juggling all the things

and also the lighting of the Menorah

and the wrapping of the gifts

and the this

and the 

that

.

Know that you are in my mind during this time of bustle

and excitement and warmth

and exhaustion.

I hope you can find a few moments in the midst of all of the details

and celebrations

to breathe

and sip quietly

.

With you in spirit this beautiful and hard month.

xoxoxo,

Sunny

2014's Last Batch!

California Rain Walk Magic Spells. Garnet. Mexican Fire Opal. Shell. Amazonite. Jade. Ginkgo and Feather Impressions.

Empty Seed Magic Spell Earrings. Peridot. Labradorite. Carved coral rose. Pink opal. Shell. Chrysoprase. Indian Ricegrass and Jacaranda seed impressions. Draped chain.

Ice Magic Spells. Polished quartz. Heat-treated drusy. Leaf impression. Hand fabricated Brass teardrop.

Dry Heat Earrings. Carnelian. Indian Ricegrass. Hammered Brass Hoops.

Minnesota Summer Earrings. Maple seed. Black-Eyed Susan Petal. Carved coral rose. Pink opal and chrysoprase. Hammered brass teardrop.

Mixed Magic Necklace. Extraordinary Australian opal. California Oak and backyard feather.

Three Leaf clover earrings. Post and nut closure.

All of these beautiful bits will be in the 

Metal Shop

tomorrow morning at 11:00 PST.

See you there!!

xoxoox,

A

Giftaway: Secret Garden Earrings

And the winner is: cloudgathererholdmedown !!!!!

Write to me at sunnyrisingleather@yahoo.com and we'll get shipping squared away!

Thanks to everyone who entered here and on IG.

xoxoxox,

Allison

I've always been insatiable for some Grand Answer for everything in life.

For the book that makes everything finally make sense,

all the glory and the horror of this earthly experience,

all the mysteries of what lies beyond the last breath we'll take.

I have not found one, which doesn't panic me the way I thought it might.

It's simply a game of waiting and seeing,

of knowing that things either work out or they don't.

That people stay in your life or the thread unravels.

That desires give way to a million impasses

and the years are shocking in their speed 

and your own aging face is at once tender

and funny

and sad.

And beautiful.

I am learning that there are some things that can be embraced to carve out a meaningful

and enjoyable time here on earth, and these bits and bobs have taken years to unearth.

Years to find the key that unlocks the door.

Years to turn the dirt

Years to plant the seeds.

Creating a sustainable joy,

living from a place that is more than merely just a constant response to stimuli…

That has been my secret garden,

planted and sown while living

the mundane

and the miraculous

.

Here is my magic spell for Good Life:

1. Be curious long after it's acceptable.

2. Love every single one of your thoughts, no matter how dark, no matter how fleeting. Then let them go.

3. Find your people and tend to them. Let them tend to you.

4. If someone wants to speak only of dramas or secrets with you, know that your involvement will only lead to sadness. For everyone involved.

5. Pause before you let your emotions run wild: the tide turns whether or not we fight it.

6. Make space for spacious thinking: sketchbooks, coffee, meditation.

7. Let an animal into your heart. Yes, it will hurt when they go.

8. Do things that make your heart race in a good way.

9. Grieve properly.

10. Be grateful.

11. Have a truly intimate relationship with whatever you perceive as divine.

12. Knuckle down.

13. Surrender.

14. Be of service

I am taking a small break -

in the meanwhile I would like to gift these beautiful earrings to a reader:

leave a comment here or on my Instagram 

and one lovely line will be randomly chosen.

In your comment, tell me one of your secrets of life.

I am always excited to learn how others live their very best selves.

A winner will be chosen on December 8th.

Good luck and thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here

all these years, or even just today for the first time.

xoxoxo,

Sunny

Magic For Shorter Days

Bare Branch Magic Spells

Ray Earrings.

As Above so Below Magic Spell Earrings with Variscite and three leaf clover.

This little trinity is focused on vitality.

Not sure about you, but the shorter days trick me: I confuse resting more

with some sort of white flag behavior

when really it is a deep honoring of the season.

How could I help but be more gentle when the very earth is going inward itself?

This week's focus was roots and bare branches

and the beauty of the sun we DO have, despite there being less of it.

Here's to this magical time: I hope you find your pearl in the dark.

.

.

.

Trickling into the

Metal Shop

tonight.

xoxo,

Sunny

A Life Most Ordinary. Plus Some Magic.

Kingman Turquoise Ginkgo Maidenhair Lace Lichen Magic Spells. An earful!!!!

Variscite Feather Magic Spells. Pepper Flower. Fern Inverse Chevron.

Odd Woman In Trinity, Kingman Turquoise Edition. Jacaranda frond. Pepper Flower.

Lavender and Dried Grass Magic Spells.

Three Leaf Clover Necklace

Of all the kinda opulent beauty that came out of the studio these last few weeks, I am most taken with the three leaf clover necklace.

It reminds me of my twenties, of the years where I yearned to be a four leaf clover,
to be seen and acknowledged and celebrated.

I didn't realize those wants came from a place that hurt.
I thought they were just fine, just ambition.
They are very normal thoughts, and I was a very normal kid for having them.


As the years have flown I've had both peak experiences and extraordinary chances and I have enjoyed them all, every one.

A few days ago, though, I was in the back yard of our little cottage and I spied patches of clover.
I ran my hands across those little vital bits
and thought of my twenty-something self,
and I thought of this ordinary day
with my son
in the yard
and how it is the result of miracles
and magic.

I thought of how it would feel to tell the seeker of the four-leaf-life
that she would find 99% of her joys from simple daily
things:
the wash of pink across the dawning sky
the laughter of her son
the fall of her hammer as she made beauty
the sip of coffee alone in a still house
holding a quiet man's hand at dinner
whipped cream
two cats on a lap in the winter
etc
…

I'd like to think she'd put aside her seeking for a minute
and look at the magnificence of what IS
and find it suffices
and even nourishes
her soul
.


All of these lovely pieces will be in the

Metal Shop

shortly.

xoxo,
Sunny