Feathered Leather Friends

Bluebird Sale :)

In the Leather Shop !

Custom Love

And a little something for the leather shop!

Thank you

This week has unreal - I feel like I have relearned the gift of human kindness. From emails that shed a compassionate light on challenge, to rings that will become my 'Crest' I am blessed.
From generous trades for honeymoon threads to propeller leaves, I am undone in the best way.
What did I do to deserve you, my friends? What sky did you fall out of to lift a soul up so?
Thank you from the bottom of the heart you just made bigger.
I made things last night, one for me and one for you :)
This piece of turquoise has been waiting for me: I claimed it as my own when I bought it, and I knew I desperately wanted a pinkie ring, so happy marriage to meeee!

The balling is almost like little barnacles that cling to the side of the ring and even go slightly underneath the bezel cup: I plan on making tens of tiny silver balls like caviar for the next large ring that I will list in the shop.
The other ring is for you:

It's opal with scalloped bezel and 18k gold balls on the side, delicate and feminine.

I also made a gorgeous lichen turquoise necklace for a very important woman in my life, but I boxed it up with a card from Singing Tree ( http://www.singingtree.etsy.com )


If you love Love, you cannot help but be charmed deeply by her shop: Olia is the owner: tell her I sent you, as I feel it is my duty to spread the word about cards with pop-up bunnies holding hearts. I'd be lying if I said things like that didn't truly make the world a better place.

Lastly, Jane and Jones wanted to say 'hi' :) And they, too thank you for your sweetness in making their human-lady so very happy and hopeful.

Pink Bliss Lozenge

This necklace makes me think of sweetness and kindness and all manner of wonderment: being tucked in, secret gardens with unruly vines, beach sunsets, Art Deco design.... The stone is Peruvian Pink Opal in such a generous size and lustrous shade of petal.... it'll be in the metal shop before deep night tonight.

As Anthony accepts his fate ( while working desperately to find a new one ) and I steel myself for the land of corporate work again I need these sweet things. I know I will come home from work every night hungry to make and inspired anew for the love of what I will be doing from 6PM to sleepy time.
If I thought I loved my creative work before I think I am in for a wondrous treat: it will renew its honor through me again and again as the weeks go by: perhaps it will even save me from the overwhelming sadness that used to consume me when I was faced with office work - I know that part two of my day will be even more amazing and important.
More important than any of this will be the idea of letting myself 'be' - sometimes we identify so much with what we do
( especially here in LA where that's the intro line when you meet strangers at a party or on a bus - "What do you do?" ) that we forget how WORTHY we are by simply breathing. By being. My being-ness must be enough.

Trust

Be What You Are

When My Heart Feels Weary

I turn to the softest place I know. And rest there until I can recharge.
I feel vulnerable today...
To feelings that somewhere out there someone misunderstands my designs.
And thinks me dishonest in my creative inspiration.
Vulnerable because I also realized (as I got my marriage license with my Dearest) there are people I love passionately who will not be able to know I am getting married. My dearly departed relatives and aged friends who have passed before they even knew I had found this kind of love.
I hope they can see - I hope they don't see me cry for them, but instead show up on my wedding day and send me signs of bird feathers and leaves of a certain kind.
They all know their symbols, and I deeply wish for them at 3:30 P.M. sharp, October 18th to be ready with the north winds and the foothill flora nearby. I pray for a symphony of meaningful path-crossing.
For now I will retreat to the studio and make things, praying that their origins are understood.

Post Spa

So,,,,,re.......laxed I ghgdejkkl,nn zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

!!!

This is the face you make when you remember you have a salt scrub and a 90 minute massage tomorrow at Burke Williams: the extra zeal is because it is being paid for in trade: leatherwork for luxury!!!!
I just cannot believe I get to drink their cantaloupe-infused water again and lounge in my unbelievably thick robe so grateful for the luck of it all.
I will bring you back some relaxation :)

Lichen

I love turquoise with major matrix, so when I seek it out I want it to look just like this stone:



And then I want to put it in a beautiful setting and fight the urge to keep it forever, because I know there are certain pieces that belong elsewhere.
There's a quietness to this piece that I like:


the little hammer marks are quick becoming my favorite thing about silversmithing. It reminds me of tooling leather, which I will be doing for the rest of the day after I finish here.
Much much much love to you all this beautiful Monday!!!

Busy Bee

Today has found me silversmithing like the wind. I have enjoyed every problem, every new solution and all the in between.
Anthony is approaching his new job search with such an admirable and down right sexy spirit: I am so excited that his approach to life is so measured and steady: both of us would be crazy if he were like myself :)

There are a few delightful items for sale in the Leather Shop, both involving koi , but the big sale is over and this week will find me tooling away to finish custom orders in time for the wedding festivities the week after.

In spite of, or maybe even because of the changes I feel invigorated and alive:

My dear friend The Plume said ( in so many words ) that now is the time to find the place my heart belongs, and it's really interesting knowing that some of our options are outside of Los Angeles: Austin sounds really, really good to my heart.

We'll all figure it out, my sexy job-seeker, our sitcom kitties and me.

Peace Roses

For my mother's friend Mary's wedding the week before mine!

SALE ENDING REMINDER

Dearest Dearests,

The Sale over at Sunny Rising Leather is over as of midnight on Saturday and the pieces are flowing out like lava today: if you love something, now is the time to get it for 25% off.

xoxo,
Allison (Sunny)

Electrode City

My heart rate is being monitored: for this I am grateful - perhaps there will be a definitive answer for all the drum solos in my chest, but likely it's just stress and caffeine.