Pelican with Labradorite and Citrine, # 2 in the Protector Series

RESERVED

With the bull elephant safely in the hands of his intended, it was time to work on the second of the protector series.

When I asked my Facebook readers for beasties 

a dear friend asked for a Pelican.

They'd already been on the brain when my dear Laurie Brown came to visit:

she said they were dying by the hundreds from lack of food.

My heart ached.

With this series I donate a percentage of the necklace sale to a charity that cares for the animal, bird or insect honored on the enamel.

For the Bull I 'adopted' a pygmy elephant in Africa through

WWF.

I am still shopping for a Pelican-centric charity: suggestions welcome!

It's easy to forget how meditative it can be to string small beads on sterling wire.

There was a lot of breathing deep, a lot of prayers and intentions set for this special necklace

and a very luxe teardrop of microfaceted citrine to hang over the heart chakra.

This particular portrait was fired many times to get the depth of color not just from paint, but from the marriage of translucent and opaque enamels.

The watercolors were dancing on the brush with this one...pure magic.

It is open for reserve

HERE

at your leisure.

xoxo,

Sunny

Delicate Cycle III

RESERVED

Discarded Heart:

Minneapolis autumn leaf, peridot, iolite and cream enameled copper volcano.

Iolite bee wing necklace

Citrine Jacaranda Leaf necklace

Simple Maidenhair Fern Necklace

Torn Dragonfly wing with iolite

.

There is an epic shift in my head involving my work...a leap is imminent.

I cannot sleep

I forget to eat

the only priorities are care of my family

and interpreting these God whispers

that come...

This delicate cycle I was most interested in the tattered and torn: the shape of the dragonfly wing is exactly how it was offered to me. The rips and jaggedness speak of life and ultimately death.

I wonder how long the tiny beastie lived with these little badges of honor, these marks of survival.

They remind me of the pocked ears of neighborhood tomcats I love.

It seems the perfect season to add a tiny watercolor dot of gemstone pigment to the work...days grow ever shorter and more dim here. I hang on to the last light of day like a kite.

I am taking reserves for these pieces

in

the

Metal Shop

today.

What does not get scooped lovingly into pretty palms will be available

this weekend when there's a second to list.

I hope you have a wonderful day filled with abundance and shearling warmth.

With love,

Sunny

Goodness

Gorgeous winning persimmons from Ro 

spectacular ring from Kerdan (more on her work later - it is just sublime!)

Janey, rumpled and sleepy

A peek between layers for some fern earrings: the copper under the enamel has been roll printed with real ferns: it is their outlines I am tracing.

Volcanos in progress

layering and color so delicious I get hungry just looking at them...

feel free to 

CONVO

me

with any questions.

What is good in your world today, friends?

xoxo,

Sunny

Custom Love

Phase two of this wonderful custom bag is coming along...

I had forgotten how magical it can be to co-create a piece with a wonderful patron.

When you're given the freedom to pull together requested elements

it's like running through a meadow

trees in the distance

unbound

.

There is one more custom bag available -

I don't know when or if I will be able to offer something of this magnitude again!

Never knew how lovely wheat would be to tool.

I sense a leap coming, a new level of design.

I also want to offer a tutorial in the coming weeks:

using a molding spoon.

It make a really powerful difference in the 'cleanliness' of your leather work.

I am itching to get my teaching muscle flexed

for leading a weekend-long workshop

at 

The Ranch

in beautiful Snohomish, Washington

On June 1st and 2nd, 2013:

it will be two days focusing on tooling and bag construction

and to say I am excited is an understatement.

I hope you are having a wonderful week, dear reader!

xoxo,

Sunny

p.e.a.c.e

September was a tough month this year:

it would seem that it was for many people I know, too

and while there are a bevy of reasons why this may be so

I felt compelled to find change

from within.

I spent the better part of October recalibrating my thinking process,

looking objectively at my grumbling and newfound love of complaining

introducing a bold and refreshing new concept

into the everyday:

"In this moment, I can choose peace."

so I have been

and let me tell you 

how good it is!!

In this moment I can choose peace!

Doing the dishes

reading a politically charged article

speaking with an unhappy soul

cleaning green muck off of a white shirt from when the babe did an impromptu practice of the letter 'b' with a mouthful of peas...

It doesn't negate the horrors or the sorrows of this world

but it does offer movement for that feeling of stuck-ness that I think we all experience

at varying degrees of frequency.

I still forget

still indulge the grump in me (it can be delicious for a few minutes!)

still get confronted with situations where I forget that I have a choice at all

but when the option dawns

so sweet and oasis-green in the midst of a dry mouth

and tired head....

oh, the bliss

the relief

the

peace.

I hope you'll try it too:

it is a transformative habit!

xoxo

Sunny

Sweetness for the ears and heart

In the 

Metal Shop

today.

xo,

Sunny

Flamingo Feathers

All things fine and (flamingo) feathered

in the 

Metal Shop

tomorrow

with a morning preview 

here.

xoxo,

S

Volcano Vessel Ring II

Early spectrum shades of flame orange and marigold

surrounded by clean work

and gorgeous gleaming copper

which will patinate to a beautiful autumn hue.

My volcano cones are a labor of love: multiple firings and counter-firing give the metal its made-up face, dressing copper up for a night at the opera.

In the center of the vessel sits a high-domed piece of Kingman turquoise

delicious and almost outrageous in its mineral hue.

Perfect band in size 6, gleaming sterling

fits boldly and best on an 'inner' finger: middle or ring

with beautiful code hammered in

whose meaning only I know

It is a prayer and speaks of abundance

and enough.

in the 

Metal Shop

a bit later.

xo,

Sunny

Heart Clutch

I suppose I could tell you about the stubborn chest cold that Orion gifted to us last week after we returned from traveling

(he chews on everything he touches: high chairs, tables, Lord help us)

Or about the really exciting leather pieces I have been tooling so slowly

so surely

in hopes of revealing them in November

Or give you the pumpkin flaxseed muffin recipe that rocked our taste buds

for a healthy treat

I could speak of seasons

and family

and the kernels of forgiveness that have blossomed into love

through tonglen

so much tonglen...

But by far the most compelling thing I want to share is this:

tonight in the light of the sea-scene lamp that Auntie and Uncle Rosie sent

I looked at Orion and saw him as a man

or more clearly

saw his immense potential

tightly locked for perfect timing in his tiny body.

My heart clutched at the moment

like a desperate lover being left

and I struggled under the weight of loving so much it crushed

.

I am mortal

and I love a boy with every particle of my reach:

that is devastation

and resurrection

right there

I spend my time with him

like

gold.

xo,

S

By Lamplight

Night comes early here

and the chilly evening winds

make us snuggle up

in this cottage.

Wishing you cocoa and blankets,

Sunny

Lilypad Volcano Ring

First of the series is always a splendid child: it is the realization of sleepless daydreaming and the squeeze on your shoulders from all your training and striving:

you did it!!

Yesterday evening as I burnished the fine silver bezel round and round and round the dual-tone enamel volcano cone I beamed.

This is what I dreamt-

this color on top of color

the kind that makes you feel better just from looking at it-

verdant greens cradling peach moonstone

atop a shield of copper

in whose nooks sterling granules dance...

It is at once primal and modern

organic and architectural

luminous and patinated

with gritty heat-coloration patterns mixed in to the copper's warm sweetness.

When I tell you that the green sings, you must understand that it's not some simple melody:

it's an aria.

This ring is a size 8.5

and truly one-of-a-kind

HERE



.

xoxo,

Sunny