For my Mom & Grandma & a little extra

Here are the pieces I made for my Mom & Grandma. My Grandma gets the Sea Glass. It was my first attempt at setting something that wasn't polished & buffed for the purpose of being enveloped in silver. It was easier than I thought, but it is a small piece. The Ocean Jasper (my new favorite) is for my Mom. They have been such a support system for me in so many aspects of my life that this is just an infinitesimal token of the appreciation & love I feel for them. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have been given to these people as my family.



This is a little sneak peak of the filming going on in Durham. The movie "Main St" is being filmed a few blocks from my house & I snapped this while I was walking to my local watering hole. I haven't been able to get a pic of Orlando Bloom, but he's in the warehouse, I promise. It was getting ready to storm, so I wasn't going to wait (stalk) for him to run out..(that could have taken hours, or even days). It's amazing how long it takes to shoot a movie. I also don't have a pic of Colin Firth, Ellen Bernstyn or Patricia Clarkson, I do have a few of the crew, as they've adopted my little tavern & seafood restaurant as their "winding down" place. I'll thought I'd be able to get a couple more pics because they were supposed to film right in front of my favorite tavern, but the weather was not conducive to successful filming.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

Midnight Garden

This is my Midnight Garden. Not exactly a garden & not exactly Midnight, but it's the best I could do. Only during the Spring am I able to walk out on my screened back porch (also known as The Treehouse) and see my back yard glowing from the multitude of Dogwood blossoms. Soon the blossoms will be replaced by lovely leaves which will shade my back yard. The pic is blurry, but the wind was blowing such that it reminded me of being on the beach & watching the waves coming onto the shoreline.



These are the stones that my friend, Araceli picked out to for her wonderful family. She's told me a little of the personality of each one, so maybe I can incorporate a little of their personality into each piece. The stones are turquoise & crazy lace agate. I also started a sea glass pendant for my Grandma. She's such a great lady & has been so interested & supportive in my quest to take a piece of metal and make something pretty out of it. I'll post a pic when I get that completed.

Hope you all have a great Monday!!

It's Springtime!!

Aahh!! Springtime in Carolina. It's time to put out the hummingbird feeders & stick your fingers into the dirt to wake everything up after our curiously inconsistent Winter. The ball park has opened & the Durham Bulls played their first home game on Thursday. I'm not a baseball fan, but I live close enough to hear the fireworks. Dakota, my precious dog, isn't so crazy about the "thunderous" noises heard on most game nights.
I had planned on walking to the Farmers Market to get some fresh veggies straight from the earth, but the morning got away from me. They close at noon, but they're also open a few hours on Weds afternoons...I'm really wanting a fresh salad.
I wasn't able to deliver the necklace to her new owner, but I did get another order for 7, yes seven, more pendants. A friend of mine, Araceli, is going to see her Tias and Abuela in Mexico in Sept. I have plenty of time, but want to get a jump in case I actually find a job between now & then.
I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday. Dakota is patiently waiting for me to take her out so she can explore & discover what creatures invaded her turf while she was sleeping.

First time showing one of my pieces.

This is a custom piece for a friend of mine. This was a bear to make because of the size. This is the 4th (or 5th) bezel I've made. My butane torch just wasn't feeling up to working on something this large. I had already made a ring for her & when she saw the ring, she immediately wanted a necklace. I thought that was a huge compliment. It's wonderful when someone wants something special that I make specifically for them, but when they love it so much that they want more pieces...well, it just makes my heart sing. I love custom pieces because it makes me venture away from what I would normally make. My customers have come up with ideas that I had to try to incorporate into their piece. I always learn something with every piece that I make.
My friend, Barbara, wanted a funky, simple necklace. She loved the landscape in the stone & didn't want the setting to take anything away from the stone, but she wanted something other than a plain silver chain. Nothing about Barbara is plain, she is one of the most vivacious people I know. I tried to decide what to do for the setting and finally decided that all this baby needed was a cloud-like halo above the stone. I'm supposed to deliver it tonight, along with 7 other pieces (bridal party & a simple ring) Cross your fingers for me...I hope she likes it.

Random Thoughts

Sometimes, we take for granted the little things that people do without asking why. Growing up, I was especially guilty of this. I was taught not to question adults, so I didn't, but it turned me into an especially curious adult. I was trying to get some ideas on how to finish up a commissioned necklace when I thought about how my Grandma used to make a salad.

I'm originally from Eastern NC, so we only ate salad if we were having steak or spaghetti. The rest of the times, it was collards or squash, or another veggie that had been picked fresh from the garden & frozen or canned...if we didn't just go out to the garden & chop it while it was still warm from the sun. Anyway, I digress. My Grandma couldn't & can't, eat iceberg lettuce, since that was pretty much the only kind of lettuce available to us most of the year, that's what everyone ate, (I'd never had green leafy lettuce until I was in college). Because she normally didn't eat lettuce, she used to cut up all of the veggies & put them in the bottom of the weathered wood salad bowls first. Right before serving, she would top all, but hers, with lettuce because she didn't want the lettuce to get soggy. I always thought my Grandma was a little 'different" because every other salad has the veggies on top of the lettuce. It wasn't until I was older that I realized what a brilliant idea this was & now I make my salads at home like this now. When the lettuce is on top, it gets massaged by the dressing while it trickles down to the chopped veggies. The way most other salads are made, the already moist veggies get the dressing & you end up with dry lettuce. Grandma, this salad's for you. Hey, I told you it was random thoughts.

Oh, the pic above is Brightleaf Square. It's an old tobacco warehouse that was converted into shops & restaurants. I took the pic while sitting on the porch of an unnamed "establishment". We have several old warehouses that have been converted to retail spaces, loft apartments, office spaces, etc. Great places, but very expensive.