lorelei, here is the little bowl i thought you might like. it's teal with dark grey ashy drips throughout. the bowl has a matte/satin sheen to it and the birds are a shiny black over the matte teal glaze. it sits on three ball feet. i hope you like it as much as i do!

turquoise

turquoise is my favorite stone. it's just so yummy! i made this necklace over the christmas break. love it.

farmers market starts this saturday. wow! halfway through the last week of school. whoa! i'll take pictures of all the stuff i made this semester and start sharing next week. some artbooks on the way from amazon; *yay*!!!! love love love amazon.

arrrrr, matey

this is one of my favorite bracelets i've ever made. why? i'm not sure... the gothy feel to it, that happy skull and crossbones... i'm a closet skull and crossbones fan and emo-ish at heart. not sure it will ever sell, though, since my demographic for this one is so different than for the rest of my stuff....

end of semester, oh how i love thee! i got both things i entered into the student art show, which really surprised me. maybe i'll show those pieces next week, when i get them back. i'm actually pretty ready for finals... especially in painting. still got stuff to glaze and a couple things to bisque in ceramics. and a never-ending list of things i want to make in metalsmithing. i *really* missed metals over the holiday break, so i think i might go crazy this summer. so i plan to buy some copper and work on cold connections. i'll need a chasing hammer, steel bench block, letter stamps, thick copper wire... thinking about purchasing a soldering iron, so i can do a little bit of hot connections.... the project i'm having the worst luck with is my cubic box. hinges, oh how they stress me out. rrrrrrrr. i keep finding things to do *instead* of working on the stupid box. leaving it to the last minute.... stupid, stupid, stupid. so. i'll work on it first thing on wednesday.

metalsmithing: the ring issue

here are most of the rings i made this semester. from left, the stones are prehnite, larimer, labradorite, and charoite. i love all of these rings. there are little things wrong with them, but overall i'm pleased. yay! getting better!

hair trials

my hair has been a source of much consternation. i have had it down to my waist. i have shaved it completely off. i've dyed it within an inch of it's life; red, black, blonde, platinum, pink, chocolate... and the happiest i've ever been with it is this sweet purple, blue, and white striped confection. this isn't the best photo of the hair color, but it's the only one i've got. i also like the haircut here... what's really wierd about my hair right now is that it's turned black. it used to be auburn. is this the effect of too much coloring? or just a natural effect of aging? i've got a few grey hairs, which i don't mind at all. i wish there were more of them! my next hair experiment is dreadlocks. i'm going to get them in this summer. i've been doing research on them. they're an awful lot of work! you have to roll and twist them every day and wax them like once a week and wash them like every three days... geez. i thought it was like, they're in! leave them to it. wash them once a month. but no. *lots* of work. like, a prohibitive amount of work. and it'll take like eight hours to get them in. ouchie-wa-wa. but!!!!! i *still* want them done. i just think they're so beautiful. i'm nervous about the texture of them. i've never touched one before, and so i don't know how they will feel. i'm hoping they're soft.... not scratchy. we'll keep our fingers crossed.

nene's toes

here are my little one's toes, front paws crossed, as she sleeps on my lap while we watch a movie. i have to say i adore my cat. am i good about cleaning her litter? no. but boy, is she loved. i'm sure i've mentioned before how just last year god told me that animals have souls and will be in heaven with us. well, it's been interesting to see how that knowledge has changed me. i've been able to handle better the idea of eating meat and hunting for food. fur trapping and the mistreatment of animals still sends me over the deep end... well, fur trapping is abhorent but i'm not gonna go join peta. just to let you guys know i'm not rabid. mistreatment of animals, though? whoa, don't get me started. i think there's a special place in hell for those people. anyway. i look forward to heaven where i'll spend eons hanging with the animals. meerkat manor? here i come. the pridelands? can't hold me back. and my precious lost ones: midnight, socks, persephone, cassie, baby, and becca's dearest; tiger. can't hardly wait!

lorelei's mugs (maybe)

lorelei, here are the two mugs. one is a little bigger than the other. they're about the size of a regular tea cup...

memory

my first piece of jewelry that i can remember was a bear paw pendant with a turquoise stone that my father gave me. it was a beautiful work of craftsmanship, made by the navajos. i lost this gorgeous piece when i was twenty one while on the trip to take my sister to grad school in texas. these events are inextricably linked, for both events were a wrench. losing my sister, who was my very best friend, was a significantly larger pain than the loss of the necklace. but i must admit that i still feel pain over that pendant. bear is my spirit animal, and i feel very strongly that my father gave bear to me, one of the most amazing, transformational, *huge* gifts that has ever been given to me.

i went without a bear paw for about ten years, looking for one sporadically. i was still mourning my loss. but then, one day, quite out of the blue, i was ready. and i found a beautiful replacement. it isn't the same as the first; it isn't as heavy or as exquisitely made as the first, but it's turquoise (my stone) and it's about the same size. so. i made a necklace and i wear it every day and i feel close to bear, again, and thankful to my father for the gift of bear.

christmas break

classes are finally over! yay! got through bazaar season relatively unscathed. we didn't do as well as we did last year, which was disappointing. christmas was great, watching my two favorite girls enjoying every minute of it.

i've been making jewelry like crazy. now that i'm not channeling my creative energy into my classes, i have extra to go into the business. hopefully we'll get our etsy store up and running in the next couple of months. without the stash sending us monthly checks, it's been a little thin around here. and farmer's market is way off in the distance.

becca is trying to justify taking metalsmithing with me next semester. it's more expensive than she expected so she's juggling it all in her head. i ****really**** hope she takes it with me. i love taking classes with her.

here is the pumpkin i carved this year. just one, cause i ran out of money. lame-o! i looooove carving pumpkins. but the seeds! oh, the seeds! totally my favorite part of the whole thing.

rings

here are two more of the rings i've made in metalsmithing. the clear stone is moonstone and the turquoise one is chrysacolla. i really like the chrysacolla one. the moonstone not so much. but i'm getting better! yay!

the long goodnight

there is finally snow here on the ground. sticking. the long goodnight.

winter bums me out. it's soooo dark. and soooo cold.

winter comforts me. it's like a cocoon, wrapping me in stillness and reflection.

i took this photo in june of this year. it reminds me to hold on. just hold on. something beautiful will come out soon.

gidget

here is gidget. i took this picture this summer, when she was really sick. she had fatty liver disease, and lost about eight to ten pounds. she's all fat and sassy again, now. just throws up once and awhile and then i give her her medicine.

gidget is my cat. but in her heart, she's mama's cat. she could really care less about me, but she sleeps with mama when she's given the chance. purrs for mama, but not for me. mama says gidget is mine. gidget says different.

imagine

i love these button earrings. purpley goodness.

i've been skipping classes a lot. i've been having these terrible migraines--stress, maybe? i dunno. it's just annoying.

yesterday (sunday) i went up and worked in the pottery studio. morphed bowls. five of them. i'm not especially drawn to bowls. or maybe i'm feeling a bit annui-ish. rrrrrrrr. they had the radio on when i went in. it was on npr. i *hate* npr. talk talk talk talk talk. rrrrrrrr. music! i want music! i don't really care *what kind* of music it is, (except jazz--hate jazz) as long as it's music.

hmph. how grouchy i am! so sad.

we have flu brewing in our house. abigail threw up two nights ago, i've felt nauseous for days, and now becca is sick. it's not the swine thing, thank goodness. just some ordinary run off the mill flu stuff.

abigail still hasn't woken up and it's 12:30! poor little thing. becca's in bed, too, trying to sleep. she didn't get practically any last night. so it's just me and deborah. pretty soon i have to go to class, so i'll have to wake somebody up. maybe grammy.

cats. and birds.

so okay. i *love* cats. i'll be the crazy old cat lady when i'm sixty. with a twist. i'll have birds, too. because i freakin' *love* birds.

is that not wierd?!?

these cat earrings are especially winsome with all the swirls.

bizarr-o random accurance two days ago. i was on campus after classes, waiting for my sister to come pick me up. i was standing in the little foyer of the art department, staring out at the little art department parking lot when random guy walks in and says, "hey, beautiful." like, eeewwww! so i slowly turn my head to give this guy a dirty look and see that he is on the phone. YAY! he asks his love for a ride and hurries out to the parking lot, head down, embarrassement oozing off of him. so, people on cell phones; watch what you say. you could accidently start a bar fight.