I'm blogging about a give away!

(stolen off of her blog to show you the lovely)

I don't usually do this sort of thing...but, what can I say, I'm smitten and I want a chance to win this!

Rosy Revolver is having a WONDERFUL give away of a very beautiful necklace that I would like to call my own :) Clearly it's meant to be since it's surrounded by ROSES and that is my middle name.

Please, check out her blog:

http://rosyrevolver.blogspot.com/2009/09/roses-are-red-and-this-ones-for-you.html

And take a look at her etsy shop too!

DEAR ARTISTS

Keep



on




makin'.

Venezia

My view of Venice proper from the hotel room...
(yes, that is a ginormous cruise ship on the right)

The gondola ride -

Not totally happy with the black and white on this yet -

My favorite so far...this print will be for sale.

Doing my best Peggy Gugg

I have the most ridiculous to-do list to complete before the fall open house. WOOO-EEE.

back on familiar ground.

I felt very out of touch the week before embarking on my Italia adventure.
Maybe you noticed.

I was just an observer for the 2 weeks in between trips.

It didn't feel right.
It makes me wonder how, exactly, I did that for 2 1/2 years after graduating...always on the brink of making, but never finding the time. Now that I'm making, making, making, I can't imagine not.

I saw so many beautiful things on my trip. I fell for Venice, hard. Part of me pines for everything old and forgotten. I feel like I was born in the wrong decade. Maybe even the wrong century. But then I remember modern plumbing, air conditioning, electricity, and I waver.

I had stones waiting in the mailbox for me - now that's addiction. Here I am, about to sail off on a grand expedition to a place I may not ever get to go to again, a place with wonderful items I can only buy there, and I'm spending my money on stones. I mean, speaking of falling hard, the earth has me completely enraptured.

I'm on a mission to set these stones, asap. I plan on having a giganto inventory for my upcoming shows and the etsy shop...not necessarily to have a huge inventory, but because I have over a month of making to make up for and I can hardly contain myself.

ps. Can I be Peggy Guggenheim when I grow up?

I leave you with this.

"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: 'It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to.'" --Jim Jarmusch




back on september 15.

oh.

This is a jewelry blog, you say?

Well then,
have a look at some jewelry.

This necklace is a keeper.

I've been wearing it since the stone was set. At first it was just for a test run. Then I brought it to the Bahamas. Only at the end of the trip did I admit I was keeping it. My little ocean collage. (I have another wee OJ cabochon that I intend on making into something similar. It's a fat oval and more of a peach/green color scheme.)

I've found that the jewelry I end up keeping is never originally intended that way. I never set out to make myself something. Occasionally, though, I avoid sending one away. I've claimed a handful of items as my own - a ring (pictures earlier in the blog), a pair of earrings, and now this necklace. Oh, and I'm pretty sure the beast of a poppy jasper ring I started months ago will remain in my possession. And perhaps that bruneau jasper pendant that's not quite done...
but that's it.
I swear it.

Other than that --
rest assured I will be more than ready to resume the metalworking upon my return. I've been ready for the past week, really, but have too many things to do before my trip to spend time on jewelry.
My ever-growing collection of cabochons overwhelms me with beauty. Lately, every other stone I get I plan to set simply and plainly because how could embellishment add anything to something so perfect?
It's a phase, but one that's not over yet!

How boring:
When normal life picks back up (le SIGH)
there will be a few changes implemented in the shop.
I plan to gradually add a handful of made to order
items as I can. And...I think I need to do something
special for my 50th etsy sale!