For 2011, I have joined a group called Ring A Week, and will be making.....you guessed it: one ring every week!  

Above is my first ring, which I titled "A Catfish For Tom".  Recently, one of my friends passed away after a tough battle with cancer. Right after he passed away, I had a dream about him. He and I were standing in a pool in a river, trying to catch fish, but we had no poles. So, Tom said we had to slap the water in a really fast rhythm with our hands to make the fish come up to the surface. We did so, and a bunch of black catfish started swimming to the surface. We stood there, slapping the water, and then grabbing the fish and throwing them onto the banks. In the end, we had stacks of black catfish! So this one goes to Tom...may his journeys be full of fish.

Each week, I will be posting these rings...some will be for sale in my Etsy shop, and others will remain in my private collection.  Enjoy!

I was once told by a professor not to make the stone the focal point of a piece of jewelry.  Perhaps that works for small stones, that can be hidden in secret places only to be found by curiosity, but personally, I select stones that want to be seen.  They want to stand out, and be worn with pride.  They deserve to be seen, and fawned at in their beauty.
 

These stones, to me, hold mystery and stories.

What can you see within them?

 Lichen Ring in Green and Gold

This features a gorgeous Ocean Jasper with a variety of colors.  I love how the colors spread through the stone, accented by the spot of yellow among them.

 Oceanic Earrings in Yellow and Grey

These stones are some of my favorites.  I had the Ocean Jasper custom cut, and the feature orbs of white, grey, and yellow throughout.

You can find these, plus many other creations, in my Etsy Shop!  

This month, I am happily participating in EtsyMetal's Blog Carnival.  What is a blog carnival, you ask?  It is when a group of members from a group, like EtsyMetal, write on a certain topic.

This comes at a pivotal point in my life.  Many big things will be happening this year, which I'm very excited for.  For one, I'll be getting married in August (yay!!), and shortly after, will be ending a 5 year journey as a nanny for a family that I love.  In the midst of all this, I am changing the way I work into a more business-related model, so that I can push my jewelry making from "hobby" to "business".  That means pushing the wholesale side of my jewelry-making a lot more, which I am excited to do.  I know it will be difficult, on top of working 40 hours a week as a nanny and planning a wedding, but as long as I take baby steps, I believe it can be done (and honestly, baby steps may just be the best way for me to do it!).

In other aspects of my life, I have been working on things like relaxation and meditation, as I tend to worry and stress a lot.  Working on my relationship with food and physical activity is an ongoing process, but I definitely want to push towards a much higher level of fitness (not necessarily thinness), as my fiance and I will be backpacking for our honeymoon.

Most of all, what I am planning for this year is to enjoy life, spend more time with friends and doing what I love, and having more adventures.

What does 2011 have in store for you??

If you would like to read what other EtsyMetal members have to say, please have a look!

I want to wish everyone out there Happy Holidays!!!  May they be filled with love and beauty!  See you in the New Year!

Surprise!  I'm having a Holiday Sale in my Etsy Shop.  Hop on over for 20% off the entire shop!  This sale runs through til Tuesday Morning!  Enjoy :)

Although I have not been making new work (I still have a good amount of stock available), I have been using my creative energy in other ways.  For one, wedding planning takes up quite a bit of time and energy.  Between shopping for dresses, and gathering addresses for all the guests, creating spreadsheets, and designing invitations, there's a lot to be done.  

Other than wedding planning and working, though, I've started volunteering.  This past weekend, my fiance, Dave, and I, volunteered at Potluck in the Park (through Hands On Greater Portland).  We served warm meals to around 450 people in need, most of them homeless.  It is one of the only places, not associated with a church, for people in need to get meals on the weekend, and they have not missed one Sunday in 19 years.  When I was 14, and hanging out downtown with a lot of homeless kids, I remember seeing the Potluck in the Park trucks at this location, and was so glad to see that they were still operating.  Even more, I was so happy to be able to help.

After we finished for the day (we were some of the last people to leave), Dave and I looked at each other and agreed that even though times may be tough, at least we have each other, a roof over our heads and food to eat. 

I have been hesitating writing this post for weeks.  Perhaps I have been in denial, hoping the situation would change somehow. Here goes...

A few weeks ago, after many long months of being mistreated, taken advantage of, and basically being paid slave-wages, my fiance Dave quit his job.  I had watched my lovely partner go from an energetic, happy man, to a despondent shell of his former self.  With the bad economy, he stuck out this job simply out of fear of not finding more work.  Honestly, it was like coming home to an abused house wife every day.  I finally told him "Honey, follow your heart.  If you need to quit, then quit."  So he did.  Luckily, the financial adjustment hasn't been so bad. (And on the up-side, he just got a new job..starts in a couple weeks!)

However, this meant that I needed to take on more work as a nanny.  Did I mention we're getting married next August?  So, on top of all our normal bills, we are paying for our own wedding.  I am now working around 50 hours a week as a nanny, and when I get home each night, I just don't have the energy to go into the studio.  Any parent can relate to the insane amount of energy it takes to be at home all day with kids, followed by having to cook and clean and maintain a house.

I am taking on a few projects (and looking forward to a rather empty weekend coming up), as commissions, but I'm not "producing" work.  I have all these beautiful stones and bezels sitting, waiting to be set and made into beauties, and I just don't have the energy.  It is honestly breaking my heart. 

As much as I may look at other careers as paths for myself...nursing, occupational therapy, etc.,...I am a maker at heart.  I have had to go many months without making jewelry before, and the emotional effects are bad.  I have to do something creative, preferrably involving soldering, hammering, and sawing.  I am now considering putting up some parameters at work (restrictions on evening shifts, etc.) so that I can save some energy and get back into the studio.  Wish me luck, and hopefully you will see dribbles of new work soon!