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!!!