A pair of gemstone layering necklaces in cool blues, with sterling silver accents. Stones include blue kyanite, lapis lazuli, blue apatite, and faceted aquamarine. The hand dyed silk ties make these beauties adjustable from about 16″ – 26″. These will be included in my next shop update ~ date TBD. ⠀
A small celebration of kindness ~
For December’s Giveaway, I’m offering a $50 gift certificate good for any ready made item at my website or my Etsy shop. To enter, simply share a comment about a random act of kindness that lifted your spirits! Did someone surprise you with a free coffee, or did you have a chance to pay it forward for someone else? Tell me your tales of kindness and goodwill, and I’ll choose a winner at random on Friday, December 21st at 6 pm PST.
As is often the case this time of year, I’m noticing a lot of sad, angry people out there! Maybe they’re stretched too thin with year end goals and holiday commitments, or they’re stressed out by all of the pressure to shop and consume. Perhaps these folks are grieving over loved ones who are no longer here to take part in holiday traditions, or maybe they’re worried about the state of the world. Whatever the cause, winter just seems to dredge that stuff up for a lot of us. The weight of it can be heavy enough to make the best of us act poorly. With that said, I’d like to offer a little bit of light this holiday season – just a small celebration of kindness to remind us of what’s really important.
Shop update on 12/13 ~
I’ll be adding a small shop update on the evening of Thursday, December 13th. It will include a few unique jewelry pieces and hair accessories. I was shooting to have it ready today, but honestly? My creative work has been happening very slowly of late. While I really wish that I could be more prolific, for the sake of my health and wellbeing, I just need to honor that pace. Hopefully this weekend will give me time to finish up a few special pieces and get some better photos! Thanks so much for your patience, and for understanding.
Cali Love Fire Benefit Tattoo & Holiday Gift Bazaar ~
And in keeping with the theme of kindness, the woman who won last month’s giveaway will be donating her prize to help raise money for the people of Paradise CA, who lost their homes in last month’s #Campfire. The mask below will be available at the Cali Love Fire Benefit Tattoo & Holiday Gift Bazaar at Eye of the Tiger Tattoo in SF, CA on Sunday 12/16. If you’re in the Bay Area, this will be an excellent opportunity to do some holiday shopping AND do some good for others! I’ll post another reminder as the event date draws closer.
Yesterday was the first day of summer, and man do I have plans! To start, I’ll be taking a road trip vacation to spend time with old friends. When I return in early July, we’ll be digging in to a major home remodel project that’s expected to take up most of July. Since it’s likely to get a bit hectic around here during that time (and since I’ll have limited access to my studio) I won’t be taking on any new commissions until that’s complete. I’ll also be working behind the scenes on that business name change/new direction that I mentioned in my last blog post … so you’ll hear more on that when I resurface from this remodel.
While I’m traveling, both my website and Etsy shop will be placed in “vacation mode”, which means that no orders will be processed. This will commence on June 26th – and run through (at least) July 10th. Since the shops will be down for a fair bit of time – and since summer has officially begun – I thought it’d be nice to go out with a small celebration! As of right now, all items on my site are eligible for a 15% discount – just use the coupon code “summervacation” when you check out. This offer starts today (Friday 6/22) and ends on Tuesday 6/26.
I hope this season holds exciting plans and relaxing moments for you too. Thanks, and happy summer to all!
I know, I’ve been super quiet lately. Two months ago I was given the (incredible!) opportunity to test a pre-release unit of the new Glowforge hobby laser. Since then, I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of lasering all the things.
Here are a few examples of my early experiments. I’m still learning, and still figuring out how I want to use this amazing tool, but one thing’s for sure… it’s a huge game changer. This is the first time in many years that I have been able to work without pain. I’d become so accustomed to working through the aches and pains that I didn’t even realize how much it was holding me back. I am so excited about the possibilities ahead!
Again, these images reflect early experiments and drafts. They’re not final projects, and they’re probably not significant indicators of how I will ultimately use this tool in my work. For the time being, I’m just learning slowly and translating all of my existing leatherwork patterns to digital files.
It’ll be a while before I’m 100% confident of the direction that I want to go, and begin designing new work with the laser. For today I’m giving myself time to go slowly, take risks, make mistakes, and just enjoy the learning process. I’m having a lot of fun with it, and looking forward to creating some larger, more elaborate works.
Glowforge production units are starting to ship now and based on my experience with the pre-release unit, I can heartily recommend this product. If you’d like to order one, please consider using this referral code for a $100 discount off your purchase. In the spirit of full disclosure – I’m not being paid for this endorsement (I am a very satisfied user) but if you do use the referral code that I just linked, it’ll give me a bit of a discount on my order too. Win-win.
These little bee and butterfly themed pieces were created to welcome summer, and to celebrate Pollinator Week (which is this week!). Unfortunately, I was under the weather for a few days and could not finish them in time. Still, the intention is there and they’ll be finished up ASAP :)
I realize that it’s hard to “see” or imagine the finished piece(s) while they’re still in progress. Truthfully, I usually have no idea what the finished work will look like until it’s complete! But at very least, I can tell you that these are intended as jewelry components. The little butterflies and at least one of the bees will become pendants or necklaces, while the wings will be used in some of my earring designs. I’m leaning toward a bracelet for the bee on the blue background, though that may change by the time I complete them all. Oh, and there are some bee wings and a luna moth that didn’t make it into the photo.
This piece is a work in progress. It’s a new iteration of my “Lady of the Leaves” design, which I usually create in either summer or fall colors. She was inspired by the first blooms of spring.
When I shared this piece on my facebook fan page, and asked for suggestions for a name, “Lady of the Roses” was the one that I liked best. It fits well with the rest of the series … and I suppose that once she’s finished, I’ll need to create a “Lady of Winter” too.
These photos show some of the leather hair accessories that I’ve been working on recently. They’re mostly finished, they just need findings (hair sticks, French clips, or alligator clips). I’ll be finishing these up in the week(s) ahead, and getting them all photographed and listed here on the website.
At this point, the bulk of the work is done, but it can still take a while to get the finishing touches done and to get them all photographed. If you spot one that you love, but you don’t see it listed yet, just drop me a line (either via my contact form, or in the messages below).
At this time, I have a variety of leather oak leaves, as well as peacock feathers and birch leaves.
This little fellow has been buzzing around my studio for far too long, waiting to become… something. I just started playing with it again recently.
It’s been a long chrysalis, but hopefully it will fly soon!
I love to incorporate artisan made sticks into my hair accessory designs. Since I have no talent for wood or wireworking, I prefer to buy or barter with other artisans who have actually honed those skills. The resulting works are fun little collaborations of their handwork and my own.
Over the last few months, I’ve acquired some fabulous handcrafted cedar driftwood sticks, as well as copper, brass and aluminum wire sticks from GypsyMoon Art and Nicholas and Felice. Last but not least, I’ve reconnected with Morgan Reed of Morgan’s Mane.
Long story short, I’ve got some fun pieces to show you in the coming weeks! Stay tuned…
Leather headpiece in progress… not quite as “huge” as this tiny mannequin head makes it seem. Colors are stunning shades of deep forest and emerald, with shocks of iridescent peacock.
Everything is loosely tacked for the moment, pending customer approval. If she likes it, all the bits and pieces will be permanently secured down, to be more symmetrical.
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