Random Stuff to Share

Earlier this summer, I took a pottery class and made this bowl for our dining room.  Us creative types just spill creativity all over the place ;)

I am currently obsessed with figs, I bought this flat at the West Side Market in Cleveland and ate all 24 of them in 2 days!

My little guy.  I had to put him in, he's just so cute.

On the beach in Fort Lauderdale.

In case you don't know, I'm in love with Kate Spade handbags.  While on vacation, the outlet was having a phenomenal sale! I loaded up with bags and accessories.  This was on one of the care cards inside a bag.  I love it!

More of the beach

I saw this on facebook and loved it so I had to share it :)

My best friend Jess and I in a lovely store in Wilton Manners, To The Moon.  They had all sorts of old timey and super funny gifts.  

Josh Barker, I know you will appreciate this.  A little throw back to my previous post about haters.

On the Bench

I am getting very excited for the holiday season! Most of my applications have been filled out and sent in and I have some new designs to feature at these upcoming shows.  Here are some of the things I have been working on.


These first two pictures are new necklace designs to match already existing earrings.  I am making an effort to challenge myself lately.  Soldering jump rings may not sound like a big deal but when they're 24guage and the solder is teensy, it was. 

This is a new necklace design to match the forged circle earrings.

This designs matches the forged teardrop earrings.  This one is a work in progress, I'm not totally digging the huge tear compared to the others. 

 The next few pictures are a new feature necklace I am working on and may submit to Saul Bell (we'll see, it's a big scary).  The concept is circles, each and every part of the design is circular, not a strait line to be found.  

Here is the silver disk to be enameled, I have already bent the wires to form the design.  As I said, I am challenging myself, those circles are tricky business. 

This is after the first firing, I wasn't really happy with the colors, so I changed them up.  It actually turned out really good :)

This is after I tweeked the colors.  I like the way it turned out.  Now it needs to be bezel set and put on its necklace.   I'll post pics when it's done. 

Traveling is Full of Inspiration

For about a week, I have traveled to visit family in Cleveland, Ohio and to visit friends in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  While we were traveling, I had a few free minutes to take a deep look at my surroundings and make some sketches.  In fact, now that I think of it, I had a major delay on my flight to FLL and got some great new collections drawn out for the holiday season. 

While we were in Florida, my husband and I got a chance to go down to the Keys and hang out on a kayak through the mangroves.  While we were paddling our arms to jelly, we saw some beautiful sights.  An egret extremely close up, a beautiful bird with such a graceful shape.  It took flight and I was in awe.  I was also taken with the beauty of simple things we see every day, like ripples from a drop, yet in the bright light and peacefulness of that kayak ride, they were amazing. 

Though we were busy visiting with friends and family, taking time to appreciate all that the natural world has to offer will serve as inspiration for future pieces.