Thank you all for the amazing comments you left on this giveaway post! I appreciate you taking the time. For anyone who included a book title, movie title or music suggestion we ALL thank you because this comment section has become a place of reference we can return to.
I had Robert choose a number between 1 and 280 and he chose:
COMMENT #279
Congratulations to Benedikte! I’ll fire you an email in a moment.
Lastly, I want to say thanks to all the men who popped by and entered a comment on this giveaway in an attempt to win this piece for their ladies! I loved seeing you here.
Love to you all.
XX
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It’s high time we did another giveaway around here! We have many things to celebrate lately — plenty of dreams have come true for us this year and I always love to pay that kind of joy forward as much as I am able.
This necklace is built of sterling silver and some of those beautiful little carved turquoise crosses you’ve all been going crazy for. The pendant is flighty and open and is on a long chain so it hits just above the belly button (depending on your stature). I can see this being someone’s summer staple paired with jean shorts and easy going, drapey tank tops that let the breeze in.
As always, to enter to win this necklace simply leave a comment on this post. Let me know what you are most looking forward to about the coming northern hemisphere summer and if you’re in the southern hemisphere, let me know what you’ll cherish about winter! I’m always looking for new music, new books and movies to watch so feel free to share any of those details, too.
I’ll draw a winning name sometime next week.
I love having you in my little world.
XX
Jillian
:::Post Scriptus:::
I am giving away another necklace like this one, but different, on my instagram account. Head over there to enter your name in the drawing.
I would love to have this necklace – a little piece of your genuine spirit that is my very own. XO Kristy Barnes
Love over and over!
I’m looking forward to the first leaves of my vegetables appearing through the ground in which I planted seeds that I gathered last year. It’s my first garden, and I feel so connected to it. I never knew I could feel like this about growing things!! I hope I win, I feel so inspired by your work and pictures – they are a joy. Even if I don’t , and you read this , thank you x Susie
Your work is beautiful, I love how it reflects your connection to the land.
The Fish Can Sing by Halldor Laxness – it’s wonderful!
Jillian thank you so much for this giveaway! I am looking forward to the summer for my trip to Michigan to kayak! I can already imagine wearing this gorgeous piece in the summer sun! ❤️
Such a beautiful necklace! I love your work! I recently finished reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce. It’s about an old man who walks across England because he believes it will keep an old friend with a terminal illness alive. I’m usually a fantasy and magical books sort of gal, but my sister-in-law got this for me for Christmas and I loved it! It’s very insightful and slow-moving and it’s a lovely little story. There’s even a sequel of sorts (for those of us who wish every good book was a series).
Yes, crazy for the turquoise crosses! I wear the earrings almost every day. 🙂
This summer we’ll go to visit Finland, it’s been two years since the previous time, so I’m looking forward to those incredible magic bright summer nights, lush greenery, and family and friends of course. And after following your hunting excursions for the past winter, I’m craving for some good game meat. They don’t really have it in California. I’m eating more vegetarian food here, which is always good thing. 🙂 Cheers to you, your creativity and talent, and generosity! You make this world a better place. <3
So lovely. Thank you!
Your craftsman ship is impeccable! This summer is gonna be a great one. Mine will be filled with tons of Dolly Parton movie originals. Despite it being summer a good Christmas movie goes over well. Check out a Smokey Mountain Christmas! With peace and love, Shelbi
Love this! And am insanely happy it’s finally spring here in Alberta, Canada. The winter was mild enough but I’m a lover of jeans and t-shirt weather. One of my favourite artists, Basia Bulat. If you haven’t heard, listen to Heart of My Own or Go On.
I love what you’re doing with that turquoise lately, lady! I’m currently reading The Anthropology of Turquoise (how appropriate!) & The Painter by Peter Heller. I’m looking forward to taking the boat down the Owyhee with my fella & an early summer road trip through Montana with some girlfriends! Bring on that warm wind through my hair because it’s snowing in Bend right now. 😂 My poor garden. Thanks for the beauty & lovely energy you put out in the world!
Your work is incredible! It would be a gift for my girlfriend. She and I are both in love with your work.
Absolutely stunning, Jillian
I love all your beautiful work!! I’m looking forward to sitting out on bare ground and knitting. It’s currently snowing right now. I do love winter, but I love summer to come too
This piece is incredible! I’ve been following you blog for quite some time and always am encouraged to follow you and get outside on those perfect, summer nights, or bluebird winter days. This summer I am looking forward to the start of my life outside of academia– the first time I feel that I can choose what I want to do or who to be. I will be joining the Peace Corps in Panama (so I will be experiencing eternal summer!!) I hope to grow to love myself more everyday and the people around me. Thanks again for keeping me inspired.
Looking forward to sunshine! Planting my veggie garden, Swimming in our lake, hiking, just being outside more 🙂 Love this necklace! Thank you!!
I am looking forward to travelling east to Ontario to look for a new homestead with land for animals and room for little olive to play freely. we are beginning a dream journey of owning a home and making it ours. thank you for sharing your gift and talent Jillian. I will always be inspired by your creativity and zest for life.
The one thing I’m looking forward to most this summer is fly fishing the Snake River and enjoying a drink afterwards during the alpenglow with a good friend. That’s all you need to be happy… And maybe this beautiful piece you have crafted. Would match my turquoise cross earrings perfectly! So excited for your coming adventures and jewelry. Thank you for sharing.
Hello from Coeur d’Alene! Summer in Idaho is my favorite; water, sun, dirt, sweat, smells… but then again, I feel the same way about fall, winter, and spring – ha! I’ve been loving The Tedeschi Trucks Band lately – soul food 🙂
Your summer sounds incredible and I wish you all the very best! I can’t wait for the warm days to help my little garden produce delicious kale and cherry tomatoes and cucumbers! 🙂 All the best to you, Jillian!!!
I am looking forward to having some garden space of my own for the first time ever! Even though I already know the squirrels ate all the peas I planted.
The music that I’ve been into the last few weeks: Frazey Ford’s newest album, Leyla McCalla, and the new Andrew Bird album.
I never want to lose the sense of awe & wonder that comes from simply being outside on a warm Summer day. Surrounded by earthy smells & millions of adventures that haven’t been collected yet.
This summer… I’m looking forward to so much this summer. I’m hoping, hoping for some big changes. I’ve been building up for so long and really hope it all plays out well. Maybe in a few months, I will be traveling to move down to Peru… So many hopes. I’m excited and nervous.
A book I think you would love, “The Other Typist” by Suzanne Rindall. I just finished it and LOVED it. I think you would too. I hope this summer is everything you dream. 🙂
Yay!! Your summer sounds amazing! I am stepping away from things too so totally don’t mind you just checking in with us here and there! If I get down to Boise I will look you up!
By the way we have a good friend in common…Bree Prosser…from your youth and my adulthood. She speaks highly of you.
As for me and this amazing summer (that somehow for us in the Kootenays, British Columbia has already been in full swing for weeks!?) I plan to hike my derriere up and down these mountainous hills and take lots of pics in the process…oh yay…and take the new (previously enjoyed) camper out for many overnight adventures with my man! Woowee! Cannot wait!!! Happy summer Jillian!♡ Linsey
I love how you are living your one wild and precious life!! I’ll be crossing my fingers. Xxx dottie
I swing by your blog every now and again and I always find great inspiration in your thoughts and pictures of the outdoors, this summer I look forward to spending some time in the mountains with my two young children, making memories. Like the ones I have of my childhood in the same mountains! Also love your work!
I’m looking forward to slow summer days and my garden filled with blooms. There are so many beautiful souls around….you are one, never change that.
Swimming with the dog in the Columbia!
It’s my annual pilgrimage back up to Homer, Alaska- 6 yrs running. I most look forward to pulling yaya’s from the ground- farm to mouth; 5 seconds flat, beets- burnt gold and the deepest of reds- Borage and Nasturtium To garnish the sorrel. Every evening I roll the heavy barn doors ajar, sit on a throne of hay and stare at the mountains- all the while Gregory Alan Isakov sings to me, for me, on a pair of thrift store speakers. I bathe yarrow from the meadows in my favorite small mug. I have returned to her. As the sun passes past the mountains, it gets cold. I gather my things and shuffle off to sleep. – Brian
I’m looking forward to just about every single thing summer has to offer, but the two that stand out most are the first huckleberry I pick, and the first “ooh the water is freezing” jump off into Hayden lake! You beauty you, this necklace is glorious!
Oh my gosh that is gorgeous! I would wear this every day!
those birds!
My summer: trip to Iceland, hiking and kayaking in the PNW, reuniting with my flip flops, and continuing on a spiritual journey and inner deep dive I began in February. You: a gift, an inspiration and a kick-ass chick.
hopefully the beach…
I am looking forward to MANY things this summer; mountain biking, hiking, fishing, camping… But most of all, I am looking forward to getting married to my best friend!
Hi! I’m so happy to have found your blog, it is inspiring. I am most excited to graduate from college in 3 weeks and spend the summer traveling around the US!
Amazing as always~
How beautiful!! I would love to win this and give to my hero, my Mom!! She has more strength and courage than anyone I know. Mom if your bird I’m a bird. Good Luck to everyone!
I still don’t remember how exactly I stumbled upon this blog so many moons ago. However I did I truly feel like it was destiny as it reignited my creative flame! I’m graduating from college this semester with my degree in Anthropology. Everyone is always asking me what I’m going to do next but I really don’t know. Not because my field doesn’t have amazing opportunities but because for the first time since I started school I can let my creative flag fly again. I’m hoping that somehow, some way I make it back out west this summer. My spirit soars in mountain air and I feel my true self emerge in desert landscapes. Thank you for giving me back my creativity all those moons ago.
One book that I’ve enjoyed immensely and always come back to is The Cloud Atlas. It’s a bird of a different color.
I may be heading way, way north. Exciting and terrifying. If it happens, then I will spend the summer learning about my new community. For music, check out Genevieve on NPR’s tiny desk concert (Colors)
I love seeing your soul put into your artwork! Beautiful!
Hello, Beautiful work as always! I would love to have this necklace! I already have the earrings to match. Looking forward to lots of family time in the warm sunshine! If you are looking for new music, check out Old Crow Medicine Show, Gill Landry, Tellico. Not sure if you are into Blue Grass or Folk music, but these are some talented people. Thanks!
Kicking summer off with a week long road/camping trip with some of my favorite friends down to Bryce Canyon and Zion next month. Then plan on being up in the Sawtooths as much as possible for the rest of summer. Would love to win this necklace for those rare times I go out and want to dress up 🙂
Love this piece! I’m most excited about staying up late by the fire with my prison and our pups, and waking up to the sunshine, birds, and mountain bike trails! 😊
This would be so sweet to wear and send love to my little 2 year old named Hawk 🙂 I’m looking forward to camping trips and slow hikes spent looking at all the little bits on the trail with my toddler. Also raising up the two little baby pack goats that just joined the family. If you haven’t listened to Ben Howard’s-Old Pine, its a great soundtrack for drives into the woods. Also, Terry Tempest Williams’ book Red seems like a great fit for you 🙂
Wife recently got the earrings that match this. She would like the necklace too, I’m sure.
Plus, I would be “the man” for a day or two.
Oh yeah, almost forgot… Give Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit a listen.
Good Alabama boy with a great sound.
jillian, unspeakably beautiful work – as always! i have been following you since your librarian days, and what an utter pleasure it has been to watch your evolution as an artist, woman, outdoorswoman. i am looking forward to spending my first summer in bozeman, montana! we took a giant leap and move our family out here from the far east coast. it has been beautiful, and as expansive for our happiness as the sky is big here! i am looking forward to getting out onto those mountains and into those vast vast spaces that i find both exhilarating and terrifying (after being cozied up in tiny spaces in the east). have you read the book Buck, and seen the movie about his life? he inspires me to reach further every day, and oh, does he stoke my passion for horses! i know that you and i share that, but mine has been long dormant. the west is waking up my equine yearnings again. love to you and yours, beautiful lady! xoxo
I am looking forward to camping trips spent under the midnight sun! There’s nothing quite like an Alaskan summer- endless daylight, wildlife, glaciers, and LOTS of fishing! 🙂 I would be so stoked to rock this beautiful statement piece. I love your work because it reminds of the beauty I witness up here in AK. Thank you for sharing your adventures and talent.
Gorgeous! Just looking at it makes me feel good. This summer I’m looking forward to fresh tomatoes and peaches from a local organic farm, quiet mornings by the ocean and re-reading a favorite author, Louise Erdrich. And taking my sketchpad out to some wildplaces.
Yes, yes! A freeing give away makes my day!
Beautiful! I’m looking forward to long days, trail runs, and fresh veggies. 🙂
I am looking forward to just being downright hot! I’m a Florida gal living in North Carolina. I experienced my first true snow day this winter, it was a blast of course, but it’s time for the warmth to come. I can’t wait to walk out my front door to a wave of water filled air, sit on my porch listening to the birds wake up and watch the trees fill out.
Gorgeous work! Your talent shows.
Love your work, Jillian! I never make it in time for your Etsy updates. Thanks for this opportunity.
Everything you make and write and photograph is Stunning! Summer is sweet fruit, yummy soft serve and BBQ. It’s lakes and beaches and flip flops. It’s shade from big trees, buzzing bees and cats that sleep under the bushes all day. ❤️❤️
I look forward to having late evening tea with my bare feet resting on the sun-warmed brick patio.
Thank you for sharing your talent!
I am a youth librarian and read a lot of great books for kids and teens including these two:
-Journey by Aaron Becker, book one in a wordless picture book trilogy that culminates in August
-The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Absolutely stunning. Hope to win.
I’m looking forward to gardening! Plants, sunshine, fresh air…I love it!
Playing at the beach with my little girl!
Gardening.
Summer nights.
Walking.
Warm air on my face.
Camping.
🙂
I can’t wait to spend the summer hiking and fly fishing in North Idaho and Western Montanna. The St. Joe River is my favorite place. It allows the mind to clear and the soul to recuperate. Summer can’t come soon enough!
Of COURSE everyone wants to win this wonder! I’ll throw my hat in with another haiku 😉
Jillian’s designs
Are like pokemons, I have
Got to catch them all.
Looking forward to hitting up the lakes and rivers of the Okanagan with my new fishing rod and causing a little mayhem amongst their inhabitants. Also: camping, drive-in movies, and as many roadtrips as possible in my campervan. Maybe I’ll make a mix cd of all the song suggestions I’m gleaning from everyone’s comments here!
Finally putting the drift boat back into the waters of Wyoming!
Thank you for your generosity! I am not looking forward to the summer too much, but I am enjoying the wet, windy and wildflower filled lush spring we are finally having here in northern CA and looking forward to what’s become an annual trip to Redwood National park and wild beaches of northernmost tip of CA. My favorite book of the last few years is “Master and His Emmissary” by Ian McGilchrist that combines art, science, history, culture and the human brain exploration. As always, your work is amazing and inspirational! 💙
no need to throw my name in the hat :: just wanted to comment on the loveliness of this piece.
i’m looking forward to hiking up coyote hill every day, maybe twice a day, to work the pencilfox garden and rest my spirit in the forest.
i’m also looking forward to working on heavy equipment with the *two dog gravel* crew….
and, i want to take my little fly-fishing set-up to eska lake [and coyote lake if i can travel the washed-out trail] and practice. maybe a fish will bite my pluckie-fur fly….
and, while i am at it, i’m looking forward to evening firepit fires.
xx
Such a beautiful necklace! So happy your dreams are coming true. That’s the best news.
For summer I’m most excited about not having to do the morning school routine with the kids. Just having time to wake up naturally and breath. That’s what I’m most looking forward to 🙂
From Tennessee, love this pice of jewelry! In the chilly winter I love having a pot of water with cinnamon, cloves, and Orange peel simmering. It gives off a natural warm smell. Thanks for having this give away, I really appreciate it.
I am so looking forward to those long summer nights. Where a hike after a full days work is totally doable. The cool evening breeze is blowing through open windows. And the high alpine wildflowers…so beautiful. I have a secret lupine meadow I could waste a whole afternoon in. Idaho summers are short but oh so sweet.
Ah!!! I love this necklace! Absolutely gorgeous! I’d love to take it with me on all my summer travels, and hang out on warm summer nights!
This piece is GOLD. I adore these birds you’ve been making lately, they just speak to me.
This summer, I am looking forward to vegetable gardening, bonfires and bbqs, hiking to our favorite Alpine fishing lake, and visiting as many fire lookouts as possible!
Cheers to summer’s adventures, Jillian! Thanks for doing what you do!
Beautiful necklace. This summer, I’m looking forward to moving.
Harvests, both wild and domestic! Love the way that you share your creative vision xo
So amazingly lovely!
I simply must recommend “Shotgun Lovesongs”. It’s a beautifully written book dealing with love-all sorts. The author is from my home state, so I might be a bit bias, but it truly is a lovely collection of characters.
I am looking forward to family time and new adventures
Lovely. It would be wonderful to wear this.
I live in Korea, where the summers are painfully hot and humid and where A/C is not so prevalent. I’m looking forward to time in the mountains, hiking and camping along its windy ridges, as a respite from the stifling city heat.
What a beautiful treasure. This summer, I am looking forward to many adventures in the mountains, riding my bike with my dog running behind, swimming in lakes, and enjoying the warm evenings of the Cascade crest.
Ohhhh, girl, I love the use of your birds here!! So beautiful on that eternal circle, placed just perfectly. Congrats on all the dreams come true this year! My husband and I were high fiving and hugging because we just love where we’ve recently moved to and that we had the guts to sell our house and try some new things, so I totally relate to your current situation. Keep going on the gorgeous work and I can’t wait to see where this life change takes you!
Love your work and blog. Thanks for allowing us to follow along. So looking forward to being outside without a coat and getting my garden started.
I am looking forward to being single this summer for the first time in 3 years! Sometimes, sad things bring happy things:)
So lovely!
I am so looking forward to summer veggies right out of the garden (especially tomatoes!) getting some lambs butchered to fill up the freezer, and the warmth of the sun on my skin. Also looking forward to all our walnut and almond trees being in full green glory 🙂
My reading list includes Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis and Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin.
I look forward to seeing what your summer brings!
TWEETIES!! Can’t get enough of those little birds!
Summertime: reading more books, soaking in more vitamin D, long runs through the woods, and summiting a few mountains. And trying to make sure my sausage link of a harbor seal huntress doesn’t get TICKED alive! XXX
Amazing! I love your art! Thank you for a chance to win!
I am looking forward to a laid back summer with my daughters. They are growing much too fast, so each and every moment becomes more special. Penelope my eldest is 11, she and I will be be joining a Ragbri biking team thus summer where I live in Iowa. If you have a free chance and enjoy bikes check it out! Annabelle my youngest 9, she’s my artist. We will be creating with a potter’s wheel and firing up different clays. Very much excite!
Hey! I just did some light binge-reading here and what a treat it was! I’m inspired to carry a sketchbook on mountain runs and listen differently. Summer joys will be eating raspberries off the bush and the delirium of the final push before gaining a ridge. Have you read Patti Smith’s new memoir M Train? Her description of living timelessly with Fred made me think of you and us and the passage of fire seasons and winters. Xoxo
This is such a beautiful necklace! Everything you do is so special!
I’m looking forward to planting, tending, and harvesting from my bucket-bound vegetable garden! And I’m happy to return to painting houses and painting water-color cards.
I recently read the Alchemist, which I highly recommend. I just started Animal Vegetable Miracle, which I’m enjoying too.
Lovely!
Sitting out on my patio with my blackLab, Indiana Jones & making art. I had planned thAt last summer, but my husband had a mojor heart attack and the. 2 weeks later went blind in his left eye for 6 weeks. Hoping this summer makes up for the last one.
It’s beautiful when the stars align and things fall into place the way they are for you (but let’s not give all the credit to the stars, a lot of hard work has to happen on the front end). This summer I’m looking forward to long days and open spaces, and possibly a necklace that will take me out of my comfort zone of a smallish charm on a short chain. Your work – silver, words, and photos are all so striking, thank you!!
I’m looking forward to seeing the Rockies for the first time in a couple of weeks. To getting out in our TN woods and mushroom hunting. And kayaking, lots of kayaking!
I’m looking forward to toadtrips, traveling, concerts, and new adventures. The Revenant was an amazing movie. Me Before You was a beautiful book. And I love listening to The 1975.
Hello Jillian, loving your thoughtfulness of playing it forward. It is so gratifying to give from your heart. You will have a lot of people to choose from. It will be a treasure for the one that is fortunate enough to wear it this spring/winter.
Such good karma!
Xo
Dagmar 🇨🇦
Love your work! Keep it up 🙂
This time of year if wonderful in the south. We love all the flowers
This necklace is breathtaking! I am looking forward to the windflowers! I like in Tahoe and our wild flower season is short. It’s like a little party every time I see a new one bloom!
The best event that is happening this spring/summer is the marriage of my daughter Hannah. It took me 6.5 years to get pregnant and the odds where not on my side. BUT GOD. During her childhood, we almost lost her to croup, she was bit by a dog and almost drowned at a church picnic. It wasn’t like we were not watching her, it happened suddenly in those cases. Very scary in everyone of those trials and than He said “Have another and He gave me a son.again 6.5 years.But God has amazing plans for her life, I believe with everything in me.
So it is with great joy and honor that my husband and I get to give her away to a man that is like a son to us, Eric.
Then at the end of June we travel to our beach house at the Jersey Shore and will spend two glorious weeks relaxing from all the months of planning the wedding. I love to read, mostly mysteries, James Patterson, J.D Robb, Sue Grafton, Lisa Scottolne, PJ Parrish and military action by Brad Thor, love those, especially Scot Harvath Series. I don’t think any of my books are what you like, but I love suspense and on the “edge of your seat” reading. If you are ever looking for that, than there you go. Finally Jillian, you already know what a fan I am and collector of your treasures, so it would be so awesome to win this necklace, I would love to enter the other contest but without an up to date phone, which I still do not have, I am unable to enter. That seems unfair, when we can read it but not comment.
Anyway, I am so glad that Rob is able to stay closer to home this summer and I look forward to new adventures you will share with this tribe and new pieces your heart will make for us all. Take care!
I love to see your photos on Instagram. Beautiful photos. You make me jealous I can’t fish and hunt more.
I am looking forward to this time of year to spending time with my kids and long nights catching fireflys
Thanks for the chance to win one of your gorgeous pieces! I’m so looking forward to picnics at the park with my little ones!
We live high up in the Rockies–spring is coming but first many more inches of snow. I am eager to get my hands into the dirt, to coax something green from bare spots and to celebrate the sunshine. Thanks for being generous in your celebration!
and everything is greening so beautifully here that I am just looking forward to more time outside, inhaling the fragrant blooms and listening to the birds. There has been group of red-tailed hawks hunting in my neighborhood for the past couple months so I hear them a lot!
Love your craftsmanship and your passion for all things wild. This summer I’m looking forward to lots of hikes with my dog, late sunset runs through the green goodness of Oregon, and a quick visit back to Idaho (where I went to college). You’ve also inspired me to start fly fishing alongside my boyfriend and teach him how to fish like a woman.
I live by the ocean~and close to the redwoods. I keep dreaming of walking in the redwoods barefoot. It calms me. it grounds me. It brings balance. I love to listen to anything by Wilder Adkins! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh19-JIWJmw&feature=youtu.be Enjoy!
Jillian,
You have quite a following by the looks of these comments. And your recent Orvis women’s fly fishing article certainly is compelling. Very well done. I have a Tenkara rod from Dragon Tail in Chubbuck, Idaho that I need to get out and try. As books go, you may like “Carry Home” by Gary Ferguson. He lives in Red Lodge, Montana and writes very well about the wilderness. It is non-fiction and the basic starting point for the story is a bit sad, but he makes it into something very worthy. Music, well it is hard to find things that are still satisfying as time moves on. Pat Metheny has some staying power. I like “Are You Going With Me” which can be found on some older albums like “Off Ramp” and “Pat Metheny Selected Recordings” by ECM. Gregory Porter is good on his “Be Good” album. And Chris Botti on his trumpet is great on “To Love Again, The Duets” with Sting, Steven Tyler, and Gladys Knight to name a few. You may find this last one in the $5 bin at Walmart if you are lucky. Your necklaces have a lot of spirit. I hope you make similar bracelets. I can recommend several art books also if you draw or paint. Some good daily sketching/painting types that are recent. And a waterbrush is a must have for watercolor sketches. Several makes available. Have fun!!
Beautiful! These birds in flight, the Chukar wishbone…you keeping outdoing yourself!
This summer I am similarly looking forward to being in the same location as my man! We’ve played leap frog around each other for a few too many seasons now….made some big moves & shakes and now we get to walk out the same front door & into the hills together! At summer’s end, we have an overdue Boundary Waters honeymoon on the docket!
Chris Stapleton & Merle (Oh Merle!) are on repeat round here. On the bedside table is a third or fourth read round of “Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture” by Shannon Hayes- which fires me up every time- and “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron- a creativity workbook my aunt, mom & I are working through together.
Thank you for the opportunity Jillian! Though I’ve already been spoiled to catch some of your silver birds on my lobes!! XO
With summer comes freedom for me. School is out and my days are no longer hurried or rushed. I am free to wander, free to enjoy slow mornings sipping tea, free to travel and adventure, free to tend to my garden, free to stay up late and watch the stars and lightning bugs. I’m looking forward to those sweet, sweet freedoms!!
This is gorgeous. Everything you make is! I’m looking forward to trying rappelling for the first time, getting lots of miles of biking in, fishing/kayaking/hiking… 🙂 The Book Thief was a pretty interesting movie. I’m reading Kisses From Katie right now and it’s such an inspiring book. Thank you for doing this giveaway!
I would wear it all over Europe with me this summer, on my first set of travels after big life changes. Long train rides listening to First Aid Kit and Lucius and dreaming (lots and lots of dreaming) xo
Stunning!!! I’m looking forward to free time with my kids whom I homeschool. Just hangin’ out at the beach or park…fishing and camping. Can’t wait!
We’ll awaiting the arrival of our little girl and introducing her to our favorite spots in the Beartooths.
Such a beautiful piece of art! Looking forward to the wildflowers in Northern Arizona this summer.
Seriously, this one is beyond beautiful. My fiancé and I are getting married this fall with a hike-in ceremony. I’ve been looking for a lovely, unique & wild piece and this would be stunning. ❤️❤️❤️
I really admire your jewlery!
Summer plans: looking forward to spending time on Oregon Coast!
Song recommendation for you: song “Homage” by “Feist”… A fantastic duet.
This necklace is so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes!
I am looking forward to growing plenty this summer – peas, beans, spinach, chard, basil and cherry tomatoes to name some. I also love having my two boys out of school with plenty of time to explore our Vancouver Island beaches.
I’ve been listening to Nahko because the good things are coming! And Sarah Waters is an unfailingly good writer. And Tim Winton. And Barbara Kingsolver. I also recently read a book called Gumboot Girls about women homesteading/working in Prince Rupert in the 70s. Good Canadiana.
I am most excited about BEING WELL! I’ve had some serious health issues this past winter and this spring I feel like I am waking up, shaking off the dust, testing my muscles and greeting the sun. Gardening on a large scale for the first time out here at our property, and watching Mags WALK and RUN, squish her fingers in the mud and earth, and howling at the wolves in the valley!
Thank you for sharing!!
XOXO
So lovely piece!! Thank you for your being!!
Backpacking with my little sister for two weeks in Idaho/Montanna. Being of the earth, good times with the sister, etc.
Such beautiful pieces, as always. I am so glad I stumbled upon your work. It has been so uplifting and inspirational to me! If you love Americana/folk music and a powerful moving female voice, you must check out The Danberrys. Husband and wife musical duo that I had the pleasure of becoming friends with in college. They have turned their passion into their work, much like you, and it shows in their music. You won’t be disappointed!
So incredibly pretty! I’ve been reading your blog for just a few months and love catching up on all the beauty of what I missed. Thank you, for a generous opportunity to win!
Here in northern Michigan, our garden isn’t planted until the beginning of June, when the threat of frost is (hopefully) gone. But the days are long, and is the reason for success. The berries, however, are always a ‘go,’ and looking forward to canning them all every year! Living on the shore of Lake Superior, it always feels like vacation!
Hello!from the southern hemisphere (Argentina) I join this wonderful giveaway, thanks for giving.
I am embracing a very special new book, Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda … and I really think it will become one of my favorite books. kisses and congratulations on the return to Idaho … Alita ♥
Hallo,from South Wales,uk.Beautiful work.I am looking forward to walking in the hills around here and part of the west coast of Wales,its part of the international Appalachian Trail.I read Thru Hiking will break your heart,by Carrot Quinn recently,which is great, also am rereading the chocolat trilogy by Joanne Harris
Amanda
Beautiful design as always! Looking forward to spending time with my fella and our families this summer. Just got the new CJ Box book and am looking forward to reading it. Have you read any of his books? They take place in your neck of the woods. My sister, whose husband is a wildland fire fighter based in Moose WY, got my dad an I hooked on them. They are fun adventures!
Love your craftsmanship! Not sure what my summer holds, but very happy for your new beginnings…take joy!
Cycling, cycling, cycling! My husband and I have started exploring our state on bikes. Also a new granddaughter will be here late May so lots of excitement about spending time with her and her big brother. Garden tomatoes and cucs, swimming, some beach time, and no teaching responsibilities so more free time to sew. Summer is my most favorite time of year!
The necklace is stunning, as is your photography and other work … and your kind generosity to your readers. You take me to beautiful, wild, brave places and I am a regular and delighted reader!
We are looking forward to swimming, paddle boarding and kayaking in Lake Michigan this summer, bring on the hot August weather!
Your work continues to amaze and delight me, please keep up the stunning work!
So generous! !
Lately I have been reading P.D. James.
I love your work and find so much inspiration in your blog. I’m looking forward to playing in my favorite streams and soaking in the sun on river-worn boulders with my dogs.
Martha Scanlan’s music feeds my soul. I really think you’d dig her too.
I’m looking forward to climbing, swimming, hiking, and trying to be outside as much as possible!
Love your blog! I’m looking forward to lits of days spent hiking and backpacking in the sierras this summer!
I’d love to be entered! Gorgeous necklace! I’m looking forward to planting my first garden with my husband, and enjoying the fruits of our labor with our 4 kids! God bless!
love love the necklace, as i love ALL your jewelry…..and i’m so blessed to have some of your work, thank you again!
speaking of which, your horse necklace is working positive Magic in my life as i’m going to start riding again this summer…..finally! {i know you know what that means, from your posts!]. so i’m leasing a horse and gonna get back in the saddle in hopes that someday soon i will be able to own a glorious equine again (a hard dream livin’ in the city as i do).
reading: i’ve been reading the classics lately, so “of human bondage” is where i’m at now, but before that i read “all the light we cannot see” and “the orchardist”, both lyrical, poetic, insanely beauty-full books.
cd’s: been lovin’ the “be good tanyas” and since i just went to see bruce springsteen for the 1st time ever, his wife, patti scialfa is an accomplished muscian/singer songwriter in her own right and “Play It As It Lays” (her 3rd album) is pretty good.
love and light to you, jillian, for bringing the wild freedom and the joy, the sunbeams and the moondust into our lives and for being, wholeheartedly, you…..
So beautiful!
I’m looking forward to hiking in Montana and Idaho and FINALLY enjoying a summer where I can hike and backpack on my own terms instead of constantly doing trail work 😉 And floating the river with friends, of course!
Oh gosh, how can I not throw my hat in the ring for this one!? I have lots to look forward to this summer, some of which involves developing ideas in my studio, but most of which revolve around the hard work of getting our house ready to put on the market, and multiple trips to Idaho for a potential eastward move! So who knows, maybe I’ll come calling to take you up on your fly fishing offer ;D
I look forward to canoeing and hiking in the BWCAW with my LOVE!
ps adore you art!
Fishing without needing waders, getting the boat out every chance we get, and a camping road trip to the west coast!
I live in Georgia. Oh the humidity! But I love the long lazy summer days. I’m looking forward to painting and going on a pack trip in Yellowstone with 4 other amazing women. I leave most of the gardening to my husband because he loves to do it.
Your work is so inspiring!
I am looking forward to getting back to nature, to amazing adventures and to warm summer nights spent with friends as we listen to the cricket’s song.
I just picked up ‘A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry.’ Using poetry as an entry into this new season… and new stage in my life. Your work is beautiful. I proudly wear a pair of your earrings. I hope to proudly wear this necklace, too.
Your spirit is so generous. I like when you ask for a book/music list; it gives us all a chance to check out these titles (te he). I’m currently enjoying Saints in the Arms of a Happy God by Jeff Turner. The loop with birds and crosses is truly a special art…. may your release of it bring back spiritual and creative gifts one hundred fold or more – love, time, ideas, energy, material. . .
Beautiful work!
I am looking forward to hiking into my secret alpine lake in the Frank Church and fishing for cutthroat with my tankara rod. There is still about 4ft of snow on the ground right now, but it’s coming off quick this spring!
Beautiful! I have always wanted one of your pieces but they sell so fast 🙂
I’m so excited to go on my first yoga retreat in northern Michigan in August. Our winter has dragged on so long that I’m ready to do ANYTHING outside, especially camping and kayaking.
Have you listened to Alabama Shakes? I’ve had them on loop nonstop lately, the lead woman’s voice is bluesy and beautiful and everything I love.
Your work is so beautiful! I’m looking forward to lazy nights sitting around a fire in my little forest backyard. I’m kind of obsessed with Johnny Cash right now…all of his music is very soulful. And books…so many…I’m discovering yoga and I’m reading Yoga For Life by Colleen Saidman Yee – a compelling story with yoga mixed in.
I am excited for solo wild woman camping near Grand Targhee (with a poke around Pocatello), watercolor classes, and WATERMELON. The list could go on all day.
I recently finished Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead trilogy. Each book was sweeter than the last.
i always enjoy arriving late to the party when you do a giveaway because of what Sandra said above– i went through with a pen and paper and now have an amazing list of books and music to check out! you have created such a lovely online community of well-read, well-traveled, inspiring individuals! i have been reading a lot of poetry this year as well as finally beginning my huge leatherbound “workbook” of how i am influenced by the painting masters and what about their work transports me. i am forever picking up art books just to LOOK at– i am such a visual learner and often when i’m too tired to dig into a great novel i find myself drawn into the aesthetics of paintings. after fully enjoying winter i am looking forward to summer (not to discount our thus-far temperamental spring!), including open windows and the feel of soft summer air on my skin. i love being able to roll out of bed and into capris and tee’s and not have to check the thermometer to see if i have adequate layers to be comfortable! i’ll probably head out to california again to spend time with my family in monterey, try dozens of new weaving ideas, and we are welcoming another retired broodmare to live out the rest of her days here with her former herdmates since the Irish Rose Farm is being sold. i am going to have to start buying mane and tail detangler by the tanker load! i am overjoyed with the way your hard work and effort is coming together in the fulfillment of your dreams and so appreciative of how you share your good fortunes with us. thank you for this opportunity and i’m excited to see all of your own summer events roll out, each in its own special time! all love, j. xoxo
I’d love the chance to win this for my wife. I think this really embodies her spirit. She’s a jean jacket wearing outdoors beauty from Santa Fe. We’re living in our trailer right now in Colorado, enjoying the simpler things. I’m humbled daily by how she makes a memory of every situation. The Tracker told by William Jon Watkins is what I’m reading right now by her suggestion. It’s slow at first but picks up into a great story.
Beauty abounds from the hands of a wise and thoughtful artist! I don’t normally do this kind of thing – but I saw this necklace and thought it spoke to me. So dammit, I’d try. And what am I looking forward to in the northernmost part of the northern hemisphere? Long frenetic summer days. The satisfaction of exhaustion from projects on the land, mountain musing, all night music and singing, salmon, set nets, the ocean, bears (BABY BEARS!!), the glow and the hum of golden sun rays through cotton wood fluff, the fog and fireweed – and always, the deep dark tundra.
I’m looking forward to the long days and longer trails, putting feet and paws and hooves to dirt and covering ground.
Forgive me if anyone else has mentioned these already:
Music – if you like some twang, Morgan Price, Hayes Carll and Sturgill Simpson all have new albums out that are good for the soul. And a hearty, AMEN! to Anna’s Martha Scanlan recommendation – she’s a hidden treasure that more people should hear!
Books – I’m currently reading Gloria Steinem’s MY LIFE ON THE ROAD. She puts down some wonderful words about travel, activism, inspiration and the need to keep moving, which may perfectly balance your current state of settling down in Idaho. 🙂 Happy spring.
I am most looking forward to spending time with my family on the water. We have a boat and we enjoy lake hopping in the summer months, exploring Ontario’s beautiful fresh water lakes.
I’m excited to drink cola on the beach! Love your jewlery
I’m enjoying the longer days and looking forward to lazy summer evenings and a trip to the Canadian Rockies. Check out the music of fiddler Bruce Molsky. This necklace is a beauty and I would love to wear it with my little hunter earrings. Thanks for all you do!
I think this is going to be another beautiful summer. Lots of sun for us in the northern hemisphere (Western Canada) lots of ocean swimming, lots of veggies in my garden, some trips off island to hike or just discover, work hard on my jewelry, read, watch movies, pot locks with friends on the beach, long days eternal light, and wearing a lovely beautiful necklace from Jillian ahahahahah
I have always loved your work, jewelry as well as your photographs (you are my favorite photographer)and your writiing….so may be I ma the lucky girl this time?
PS: movies to see: ROOM, 99 Homes, those 2 are extraordinary.
You are an inspiration Jillian! I love your words, your photos and your jewelry.
I’m looking forward to the days getting even longer and the world getting greener.
Oh Happy Days, summer is just around the corner!
Summer- a time to breathe the sunshine in & hike the hills later in the days until the last light is gone. I have a boatload of books that I love, but the latest one I read is “About Grace” by Anthony Doerr. His descriptions of nature- snow crystals, water, insects- are simply delicious. His pulitzer prize winning book isn’t bad either: All the light we cannot see. “A House in the Sky” by Amanda Lindhout isn’t for the faint of heart, but it has stuck with me for a long time. “The Orchardist” by Amanda Coplin is superb: half wild-west, half poetry. “Moloka’i” & “Honolulu” by Alan Brennert hold a special place of stories written about my home state; Moloka’i is especially moving in its story about the leper colony. My hope is for everyone to have the opportunity this season to stop, read beautiful words, see beauty in their own unique way, and find gratitude. I’m certainly grateful for your photography and words! Aloha
A great book recommendation “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coehlo.
I tried and tried to find it while traveling thru Central America. Every hostel I would raid their lending library to no avail. A traveler friend shared “it will come to you when you’re ready”. As luck would have it, just as he and I were parting ways he was unloading his library of paperbacks. There in his stash, The Alchemist himself. I read it and have lived its lessons for years. The truest lesson being – you are exactly where you need to be. LOVE
Safe Travels in all that life is bringing your way.
Such a beautiful necklace! I’m in Ontario, Canada, and we literally just flipped the switch from winter to spring/summer–on Tuesday it was snowing, and today (Friday) I was doing yoga on the back deck in a tank top, listening to the frogs singing. As for the upcoming lovely weather ahead, I’m really looking forward to more singing frogs, lots and lots of birds, woodcocking, and music festivals (I’m an artisan, and I travel around all summer to shows and fests–super fun, and I get to see all my ‘camp friends’!). Love following your beautiful blog.
I am most looking forward to a little more time in the wild places
Can I just tell you again that you bring so much joy to so many people! I’m so happy that I found you here a few years ago; everything about your blog fills me with such inspiration! You’re beautiful, dear Jillian, and thanks so much for the chance to win and wear one of your sublime creations! XX
looking forward to planning some summer trips
I am so excited to wear my summery handknits!
I’m looking forward to camping with my husband, reading in my hammock, and taking the spinning wheel outside to make yarn in the sunshine!
Beautiful necklace! I love seeing how much joy you bring everyone who follows you, including me. I am most looking forward to getting lost in the woods this summer, outdoor music, camping by water and feeling the chill as the sun goes down, rocking jackets with shorts as required seasonal attire, and sleeping in our van after driving it down unknown forest roads, setting up our little makeshift kitchen and snuggling up with my man and our dog! One of my favorite books is Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins it’s fanciful and beautiful and all around fun. Sending you love! Thank you for the chance to win this beautiful piece. It would dance around my neck with joy!
I’m super stoked to be heading off to fly-fishing guide school so I can get more women out on the waters and involved in conservation efforts!
I am looking forward to hanging out at the park with my 3 kids, laying in the grass and soaking up some vitamin D
Thank you Jillian or your generosity.
Hi there! We have just welcome our new little daughter in January so I am so looking forward to spend some time with her out in nature, hiking, gardening and just enjoying redescovering it all with her. She’s gona be my new hiking/jogging buddy;)
Hello, from Baxter’s Harbour, Nova Scotia! Reading your blog and admiring your photos and jewelry is one of my most favourite past times. Thank you!! I can’t wait to spend some more time at the beach and under the stars with my dog Memphis! Music suggestions — A classic, Guy Clark – Old No 1 & Texas Cookin.. Jason Isbell is amazing and Frazey Ford – Done is my favourite song to belt out after a long day! Congratulations on your husband’s permanent placement.. my husband is a power line technician who recently also got a permanent position after 6 years of waiting to get back home it is a great feeling!! xoxoxo
Absolutely breathtaking! Cheers from a fellow Idahoan.
i’m 28 and have spent my whole life in arizona desert. i am most looking forward to the heat of summer! nothing makes me happier than an evening trail run in triple digit weather. i usually end my runs watching the sun set while laying in the dirt. it’s home.
i love your work. it’s inspiring. thank you for creating!
I am so looking forward to more light, more green, more colour around me. I am looking forward to new paths – one way or the other, things will change quite a lot, and I am equally anxious and excited! I am looking forward to warm, balmy summer nights spent on our veranda, summer smells and cool drinks. Above all, I can’t wait to not having to fire the woodstove for a few months – does not sound very romantic, but I really guess that is what I am most looking forward to really (says she, in still-very-cold-April-weather while running out of wood…)
Well, I would LOVE to get back to the Canadian Rockies this summer. If not there, then somewhere, anywhere “out west”. I recently enjoyed “Steal the North” and haven’t been able to pick up another book yet as I just miss these characters too much. I love everything about the necklace. It’s just beautiful. And I can almost smell the sage in the photo. Which reminds me, I need to go find mine that I got from you a few years ago.
I am so looking forward to watching my herb garden bloom and finding new ways to use them.
New beginnings the spring does bring. Just gotta breathe it all in after a long MN winter. So joyous today. Sunny, breezy and 70’s. Thanks be to God. Love your jewels, as always! Happy seasons ahead.
Hello you gorgeous creature. This summer I look forward to some renovation projects at my dad’s hunting shack. Also, embarking on staycation adventures in the lakes and woods of the Turtle Mountains area where i live with my precious young people, husband and dog.
Comment 175…WOW!!
I felt warmth for the first time in 6 months today in northern Ontario. We had a polar vortex ( so they say ) and I had a few birds die in my hands from the cold in the last few days, two robins and a pine sisken. We were all so desperate for the sun, human, bird & beast.
My plans are to hike far now that the snow is gone and start planning the veggie beds.
Win the nechklace or not, your pictures are free gifts I recieve all the time & I’m thankful for them.
Have you ever listened to Kathleen Edwards? I love her. Oh and here in northern humble-town Ontario did I not find a bootle of wine in the corner of our local liquor store from Chapelle (?) Vineyards, Snake River, Idaho!! I bought 2 bottles because of the Idaho-envy you’ve created in my soul. It was incredible.
xo
Hello from the woods and farmlands of Massachusetts! I feel so grateful to have come across your writing, photography, and amazing craft(woman)ship. Your writing stretches my mind and I get so much joy from seeing your beautiful pictures and jewelry!
This summer I am looking forward to singing songs around a campfire with friends, and going night swimming!
Have you listened to Elephant Revival? I like to listen to them while cooking or crafting.
Thank you for all you bring to the world!
Jillian, you might appreciate “The Last Report On The Miracles At Little No Horse”, by Louise Erdrich, a strong, daring, beautifully written story. “In the Palm of Your Hand, The Poet’s Portable Workshop”, by Steve Kowit. I love how when you most need a shining light in life, it arrives. You are a most beloved gift in this world, your presence and brilliance, your ability to send out sparks like a creative brush fire. I consume your posts as personal, deeply appreciated feasts. The last time I was moved so deeply was when I was handed, “The Artist’s Way”, and entered the stratosphere. I seem to remember your reference to writing Morning Pages in one post; I have been writing them almost twenty years now.** This summer I’ll be fishing, drawing, photographing, living in the receptive mode for all that is beautiful, kind and playful. A most excellent spring unfolding to all of your plans! Thank you for being YOU***
Morels, gardening, swimming, huckleberries, hikes, naked sunbathing, twilight porch sitting.
The snow is slowly melting here in Quebec and the days are getting ever so warmer. I’m looking forward to shedding some layers and enjoying the summer with everything it has to throw at me!
Thank you for the giveaway. The necklace is another of your wonderful creations.
Have a great summer! Will be watching for your posts…
I will spend my summer with my 4 year old, Tucker. We will plant our garden, hike, swim and eat ice cream!
I love books by Larry McMurtry… Lonesome Dove is a great place to start!
My dream of moving west is currently pacified by your adventures!
Have a wonderful, adventurous and creative summer.
Thank you! I am looking forward to the fruits of the garden as it is the first year for many new plants to bear. I have recently started reading Agatha Christie and enjoying it. ‘And then there were none’ was great and tonight I think I might find who done it in ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’.
Happy Spring to you and yours.
Oh how this speaks to me. I am looking forward to, Balmy evenings, with star gazing, long walks, with the warm sun energizing me. I am looking most forward to my first grandchild, and a marriage. So much newness in our family this year. I am also looking for great books to read. Will likely continue my addiction to Elephant Revival, and First Aid Kit.
I am so looking forward to burying my hands in the soil and all of the outside time I have been craving over the winter. I also always enjoy seeing nature come alive in the wild and in the fields, as my commute to work involves driving many miles of farmland.
Another beautiful piece! This reminds me of freedom…Gazing at the sky above and watching the hawks dance in circles around me in the wind…..Love it. Oh glorious summer….Farmers tans, panic attacks on slabs (rock climbing ;), homegrown veggies, kayaking, camping, sipping whiskey under the stars next to a campfire, beach day trips….. Yes! And moving back into a camper and heading back out West! Haven’t been to Idaho yet, been wanting to explore the Sawtooths for some time. Your pictures confirm my deep affection with Idaho’s beauty….Thank you for sharing them, and your life with us! I just watched Jumbo Wild and Pure Plant Nation. Definitely worth seeing if you value awareness. My favorite go to book is Women Who Run with the Wolves…..Best of luck on your move and congratulations! xo
Hello from Chicago! I’m always looking for ways to connect to nature! Today it is to be in the 70’s (swoon) and I’m looking forward to getting out to my backyard garden and mixing it up with bags of manure and mushroom compost. Yippee! Visions of sun kissed garden tomatoes dancing in my head! I’m currently reading “Writing Wild” by Tina Welling Loving it – a guide to aligning your creative energy with nature’s.
Feeling an uneasy energy within me and trying not to over analyze my feelings. Letting go and living in the moment can be a challenge sometimes. With that in mind, I am most looking forward to the reappearance of the blue ghost firefly. It is a tiny magical “fairy-like” firefly that rises above our forest floor here and displays a mesmerizing continual blue light. It only happens for a span of about two weeks during this time of the year and only in this region of the Blue Ridge. The male blue ghost is the only one that flies with the females lying in the leaf littered forest. I feel like it should be a sight that would be an incredible add to anyone’s bucket list. They are only about the size of a grain of rice. They may be tiny but they are mighty. We went in search of them last night. Think it is too early and still a little chilly for them. But soon! So many things to look forward to in the coming year. For now, I am going to treat my uneasy spirit to waiting for the “love dance” of the blue ghost which will put me into balance again. One magical moment at a time.
As is typical of me, I looked at the photos before remembering to read the title of the post. “Wow, that is an amazing necklace!” I thought to myself. So of course I was delighted to see that you were doing a giveaway. I always look forward to the summer, but this year especially, as it will be my first summer spent outside the US. I can’t wait to lay down on the grass and spend some alone time enjoying nature. Thank you for sharing your beautiful life experiences with us Jillian.
Looking forward to Summer time off from teaching. Looking forward to adventures, camping, family, moving into a house, sleeping in, being outside and on and on. I’m currently listening to Gumption by Nick Offerman on Audible. It’s pretty awesome. Also reading The River of Doubt about Theodore Roosevelt.
Winter comes and a need for a little green house to grow and sell cacti from and grow food for the family. Building from recycled windows lime washed wood and perspex roofing! love a winter project!
I live in North Texas, and I always cherish the winter months until the very end. I love the cool breezes and crisp air that make my morning walks so pleasant! The air is light and smells of wet earth and possibility.
Lovely! Thank you so much for the giveaway!
Love it!
Looking forward to my 2nd child to be born any day now. My due date is today 4.16. Hoping I can imbue her with even half the love for nature and wild spirit you possess 🙂
Hello! I am looking forward to having my first baby and spending a lot of time outside!
just saw the new jungle book last night. gasped and squealed and sighed through the whole thing. just beautiful.
So beautiful….thank you for sharing your happiness with all of us! Looking forward to Spring and Summertime cooking with delicious farm fresh bounty and sharing the summertime with my husband and son…..also hoping to ride our horses a fair amount this year since the barn got done at home last summer!!! So nice being able to go out in your pj’s with a cup of coffee just to say “Morning” to them! Love that you two are planning on a ranch of your own……you know what that means for Miss Jillian?! That’s right……a horse of her very own!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!
definitely looking forward to stripping off all the various layers of winter xx
Jillian, this is such an exquisite necklace and you are so generous to offer it to one of us. I am glad that I read through some of your comments because Sandra’s blessing to you was so heartfelt and touching.
Last year, when at a garden centre outside of Ottawa, I saw huge pots on a rooftop and decided to copy the idea, purchased 3 late Italian pots and planted them with an assortment of vines etc.. They were on the flat roof of the garage behind our house and my husband is kind enough to make the frequent trip up the ladder to water/maintain them. They really do bring a touch of Italy to our garden and I can hardly wait to choose this year’s plants.
This morning I took my first fly fishing class. I haven’t even been out on the water and I already love it. The teachers were awesome and I met a great group of people. I have been practicing line casting for most of the afternoon in the yard. Next step is to get my fishing license!
How sweet of you, thank you!
Ever listened to Emily Mure?
This summer is our first for gardening, can’t wait to see things grow (and eat it). And lie in the shade of the big maples there, in the garden. Summer, you’re welcome!
looking forward to stripping off all the layers of winter xx
Dearest Jillian, this space. your work. life and words…thank you!!! All my love to you and this lovely summer ahead of ya! xoxo
What a beautiful, spirited piece. Your work resonates deeply with me because I am constantly filling my pockets with things I find – feathers, rocks and minerals, snake skins, antlers, nests…bits and pieces of Nature that make me feel home. Just the other morning I carried in a cracked and empty robin’s egg.
We moved to South Carolina about a year ago and I love it here. We’re near the water and the mountains and summer will mean time in/on both. I hope to get a kayak and want to try stand-up paddle boarding. Also camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains and waking up to misty sunrises with my camera in hand. I look forward to the abundance of farmer’s markets, sitting outside at dusk watching lightning bugs, and eating sweet, syrupy peaches from the farm down the road. I also hope it means selling our home in Missouri and finding one here with a wide, wrap-around porch and a garden patch.
Listening to a lot of Chris Stapleton and reading Anne Lamott and every Ron Rash book I can get my hands on.
Best to you!
I love summer. I love the heat. The long daylight hours. Being barefoot. Shorts. The sound of cicadas humming in the live oak trees. Lightening bugs. Swimming weather. COLD watermelon. How muy excellente fresh clean water tastes after working up a righteous sweat on my bicycle. Summer’s my favorite season.
Sunshine, late nights, campfires, porch beers, and bike rides!
My gal friend would love this necklace. Your photos are inspiring.
Hello Jillian- thank you so much for this opportunity! Your work is my absolute favorite. I am looking forward to long, lazy beach days glittering with dips in the ocean, cool drinks, & good fiction. I just finished the enthralling “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr and look forward to Elena Ferrante’s Napoletan novels. I’m happily anticipating the latest album from Nahko & Medicine for the People in early June. Love & light to you!
Looking forward to hiking, backpacking and testing a few new pieces of camping gear in the beautiful Pacific Northwest!
Spending our first summer in our first purchased home in the most beautiful place on earth, with my babies and my love. Much love to you both as well!!
I look forward to spending long summer days on the beautiful Jersey Shore, and warm evenings lolling around outside in the cool breeze on the porch. I love your pictures and your words so much! Greetings from the garden state. 🙂
It’s raining outside right now and I’m warm and cozy inside my new studio with my husband and puppy. These are the things I love about winter – togetherness and warmth, contrasting so brightly against the outside world. In terms of books, I’ve been having a bit of a Bradbury love affair, lately. He has a zest to his writing that reminds me a little of you. The prologue to The October Country is one of my favourite things. *Squeezes to chest.*
I life a double life. I Life in Mexico for the winters and work in Canada in the summers. I am just preparing now to leave Mexico as it is spring in Canada. As I reluctantly leave behind the ripe mangos, strawberries, the sea, sand and this dreamy fishing village I also look forward to my tiny glamper and planting my pot garden and the feeling the lush green grass on my barefeet (instead of hot sand…which I love too).
Love your work, love your writing.
Love that necklace! I most look forward to spending time outside with my two german short-hairs and hitting up the golf course…..
Looking forward to ripe off the vine tomatoes, just picked and perfectly ripe berries, and swimming in the lake. One of my favorite books…When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams, seems appropriate to mention it here and now. As I am one of the quiet ones that come to visit, I also want to take the opportunity to thank you for all that you share here.
I took my first silver jewelry class yesterday at a neighbourhood community centre and made my own necklace!! Mine only has one bird since I sawed very slowly, being careful not to make a mistake that would make me start again. I can not believe how easy it was and how nicely it turned out:) Thanks for the inspiration and no need to enter me in the contest now!
I look forward to locally grown fruit, long days, weekends in the woods and my own version of “fly-fishing”, which does not involve actually catching the fish.
The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect are two great books I read recently.
And Basia Bulat’s Oh My Darling is a wonderful alternative collection of songs.
Hello!
What a beautiful piece! Your work is so captivating – thank you for doing what you do 🙂
My husband and I just welcomed our baby boy to our family, so we will have a summer of adventure-seeking to kick off a lifetime of adventuring with this little guy 🙂 We already have plans to attend some Red Rocks events, a Wyoming wedding, camping, creek walking, and fly fishing around our home in the Rockies, and a trip back east to meet the rest of his family.
I hope you have a beautiful spring and an adventure-packed summer!
It’s stunning, as always!
Life in NW Montana has been sooo busy this season but I am finding joy in the longer & longer days, in the geese on the lake, calling to one another, in my tomato sprouts shooting toward the sun and in evening canoe floats on the lake. Listen to the new Lucius album for some badass ladies making dance worthy music and read “girl waits with gun” for fun! xx
Some books I have loved recently: ‘The Age of Miracles’ (told from a 12 year old girl’s perspective of what happens when the Earth’s rotation slows down); ‘All We Had’ (a heartbreaking and beautifully written story of a young girl and her broken mother); ‘Station Eleven’ (a beautifully written book about the importance of art in our lives even after a flu wipes out most of the population – “Survival is not enough”).
Music: I’ve been loving the new Chvrches record. Phosphorescent and Jamie XX get pretty constant play.
I live on an island (that autocorrected to ‘I love on an island’ and that is true also) and I am so ready for summer. We’ve had a very wet winter and I’m ready for long days outside with my 4-year olds going to the beach and collapsing into bed listening to the ocean outside.
I’m most looking forward to sunshine, fresh air, green. It would be just beautiful to see Chicago in the springtime. I’m looking forward to finding more soul-stirring pieces of art and immersing myself in my work and in my city. Cheers from the Midwest.
Looking forward to cold gin and tonics in the sunroom, reflecting on whatever fish took the fly that morning. Read James Michener’s ‘Hawaii.’ Listen to the Avett Brothers, anything by them is pure gold. Watch the movie ‘Cool Hand Luke,’ and while watching it look for signs of religion and contemplate how anti establishment it was considering its release in the Vietnam War era.
Love this necklace, and all your work – it is so soul-full! My best Spring reading recommendation so far is the novel Black Rabbit Hall, by Eve Chase. It really gripped me and kept me wanting to steal moments to read. Hope you have a wonderful week ahead, and thanks for offering this lovely giveaway! xo Cristi 🙂
Oh how summer is just starting to tickle us! At least that is how it is starting to feel in New England these days. I am looking forward to living simply on islands, feeling the saltiness on my skin, and sun on my face. Looking into a never ending blue!
Jillian your photos and designs are breathtaking. That you for being an inspirational lady.
the necklace is beautiful! Looking forward to planting my vegetable garden in may. It was 82 degrees here and it is a taste of what’s to come. Just got a boat and look forward to adventures this summer!
after one of the most difficult winters of my soul I am looking forward to being myself, my whole self this summer. Eternal gratitude for this blog, for your Instagram, your work, as a reminder that there is magic, there is hope, there is light.
Would love to fly away with this! Gorgeous piece! Thank you for your art in metal, written, and photo form. I enjoy it all. xxx
so gorgeous!
heading into winter here – looking forward to frosty mornings, wood fires, cosy knits & boots 🙂
Hi Jillian – Thank you so much for your kindness in paying forward your joy for the dreams that have come true for you! I am happy to hear you guys will be setting up a home base in Idaho! I live in Boise, and I am most looking forward to Idaho’s warm, long nights with friends and starry skies. And, I am getting a GSP pup in August! Lots of fun to come.
Nicole
Beauty
So beautiful. I used to live in Wyoming and ache for the mountains terribly some days… Finding your blog and keeping up with your adventures makes me so incredibly happy. Thanks for all that you do.
What a wonderful necklace, it brought to mind all that I hold dear right now. My daught is graduating high school this year and is off to university in another town far from our tiny mountain community up here in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Like the birds on the necklace, she will be soaring free towards her future, while I cheer her on. But like the circle, we will always be connected and she will always find her way back home when she needs.
My short precious summer will be spent outside, with my kid as much as possible! All the usual favourites, camping, lake swimming, river floating, mountain hiking, and catching dinner off the rocks while the sun sets. Learning to fly fish as been on my list for a while. Perhaps teaching a group of woman would be something you would like to do one day? How fun would that be?! Thanks for all the inspiration.
Beautiful necklace! I’m reading a beautiful novel right now you might like – “The Railwayman’s Wife” by Ashley Hay – set in Australia post WWII and the writing is just exquisite!
Just like everyone else, I am inspired by your spirit and creativity. I’d love to have a piece of your art.
Your art is so inspiring! This summer I am looking forward to road trips, and swimming in Barton Springs here in Austin, TX!
How lovely – you really capture a feeling of circling flight in this piece. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your creativity and your life. 🙂
If you are looking for books, I recently enjoyed Emily St. John Mandel’s “Station Eleven.” I am looking forward to longer sunlight, wildflowers, and the smell of aspens budding.
Hi Jillian – thank you so much for sharing such beauty with us. Your blog stirs up a strange slew of emotions in me, ranging from sheer lighthearted happiness to near distress at the painful yearning I harbor for the North American west. There are days when my want for that freedom brings me to sobs, yet I would rather have the yearning, that aching, sorrowful desire, than to feel nothing but indifference towards life.
I recommend an old favorite book, one that my mother once gifted me:
“Women Who Run with the Wolves” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Looking forward to warm days, cool nights, campfires and twinkling stars. Wild and also tame adventures. Living one breath at a time! Thank you for being you! <3
My summer will be filled with hiking, climbing, and dreaming under the stars! I also am going home to Maine to meet my brand new sweet little nephew!
Tracks by Robyn Davidson is an amazing story about an adventuring woman. There is a movie adaptation of the book as well and they do an excellent job telling her story.
My partner and I are working on our little art cafe right now and we are looking forward to getting it open in the next few weeks. I want to spend summer working hard in our business, basking in the sunshine and going off somewhere in our campervan van for a while with my partner 🙂
I love your jewellery and your words – thank you for your generosity!
Looking forward to getting some hiking done in Alberta and going camping on the coast for a bit where it’s warm! I’m going to miss skating during the winter.
The Lumineers have an amaaaaaazing new album, if you haven’t heard it yet. Definitely going to be what I listen to all summer.
Thanks for you’re amazing photos and posts!
Spring and summer bring overnights, fires, laying in the grass, growing greens and happy me, happy pup and happy hubs!
That’s a beauty as always!
Looking forward to a summer full of the outdoors. Warm weather, swimming, gardening, camping, cookouts…almost every weekend, whenever I can get away from work.
Books I’ve loved: “Dear Mr. You” by Mary Louise Parker (yes, the actress from Weeds). It’s absolutely remarkable and she’s a wonderful writer. “Born With Teeth” by Kate Mulgrew. Rereading “Play It As It Lays” by Joan Didion.
Netflix/HBO Series: The second season of Fargo is crazy good. Watching “Six Feet Under” for the third time. The cast is like a second family. And “GIRLS…” Need I say more…
Film: Spotlight is so well done.
Looking forward to a vegetable, wildflower garden. Just got some snow yesterday and everything is greening up.
As always, love your work and your spirit.
Being Canadian…I’m sure you already know Corb Lund. But we saw him a few weeks ago in Banff and he was all kinds of awesome. Best I’ve ever heard him play. I’m having a cycle back thru all Annie Dillard. Her old stuff (Holy the Firm, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, the Living) are all so, so beautiful. And I’ve been reading thru Lost in the Barrens again with my wee boy. Brilliant.
Press on. Your work is glorious.
Floating/tubing the river, bar-b-ques, making sun tea, hiking outdoors, hula hooping, finding a hammock, listening to Willie, perusing flea markets/thrift stores, library trips, propagating succulents, giving my plants love, weaving dreamcatchers, decluttering, night swim at Barton Springs, making art, reading, kayaking, etc is how I plan to spend my summer. You’re a constant inspiration and the necklace is stunning!
Love
hmm…i live between both hemispheres and sometimes the bliss of two summers, two seasons of fresh tomatoes, two rounds of in season peaches, two chances to stuff myself with fresh sugar snap peas, is almost too good for my bones to contain! I’m writing from Australia where autumn is settling in and we have just had the first fire in the wood stove of the season. Come end of June I will be back in Canada for a few months, chasing fireflies and falling asleep to coyotes. It’s all gorgeous. As for music…I’m awaiting the arrival of Birds of Chicago’s new album, Real Midnight, to come in the post. It’s gonna be my cold weather comfort. And the book beside my bed that I am about to begin, is Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight, by Ursula K. Le Guin. For the coyote girl in me. Thanks for sharing your joy, Jillian. xx
Dear Jillian,
I enjoy so much reading your texts accompanied with so beautiful and inspiring photos!
When I saw your this necklace, I said to myself: “O my God, I never thought that it would be possible to represent the Holy Spirit through jewelry!” 😀 And you did it! It’s so amazing! The Holy Spirit like a breeze brings joy to each heart in quest of the way, and in the same time the true joy is always linked together with the great pain. So when you ask what will be my wish for the next summer it would be to share our joy through the world in order to reduce a little bit the pain that surround us.
If you want to read something really beautiful, I permit myself to suggest you a contemporary french author Christian Bobin. Only two or three of his books are translated in English and among them this one: “I Never Dared Hope for You: Lyric Essays”. Hope you will enjoy!
Kind regards!
And all the best to you!
this summer you will find me playing with my big red dog, fishing, roadtripping & reading magazines in the backyard on a lounge chair with painted toenails.
I’m looking forward to fresher bounties of vegetables on my table, BBQing in the evenings and longer days.
This is so beautiful, and again, it would go to Chloe so she would have a second little part of your soul with her…in Japan. X
I adore your blog and all of your amazing jewelry!! This summer I’m looking forward to so many things – taking tiny polaroid photos of everything I adore to plaster my walls with, eating snowcones by the pool, beach days with friends and dogs (so many dogs), road trips to Austin for concerts, and attending weddings of dear friends. I am so excited 🙂
I’m leaving school this summer, so it’s going to be my first one in “freedom”, which makes me super excited and scared at the same time! I will probably travel around Europe with one of my best friends while trying to figure out what to do with my life after that! 🙂 also I can’t wait to return to summer camp. Always such a magical time.
Oh and I am desperate for some sun. It’s been so cold this spring here in Germany.
This is a beautiful piece! I’m reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and loving it.
I’m looking for going to the sea as much as I can and spend a lot of time with my kids.
Enjoying still evenings, and summer fruits. Listen to the night birds and smell sweet, spicy summer air.
Thank you, Gillian, for this giveaway!
Wishing you a wonderful summer too!
xx
Beautiful beautiful piece of art, as always!!! Thank you so much for giving it away, I am sure it will be much loved.
My Southern Hemisphere winter here in Australia will be spend on our little timber sailboat with my husband and the “Book of hours” by Rilke.
Have a wonderful summer!
Eternal circle of the necklace. What a talented person you are! I’m so happy for you and Robert that finally your dreams came through. It is such a pleasure to marvel at the things you create and words that you spill on the “pages”. You are emanating such a joy of living. Whenever I feel down you always manage to bring my spirit up. This summer I’m going to see Island for the first time, already thinking about going on a glacier and if I’m lucky your necklace “will walk with me” to free the birds.
Beautiful! We still.have about 3 feet of snow so I’m just excited to feel the grass between my toes!
Thank you for sharing!! This summer…. I turn 50. Not sure if I’m all that excited ’bout that, but will enjoy summer anyway!!
I’m looking forward to all of the new flower varieties we are growing on the farm this year! Can’t wait to make some stunning monster bouquets with them!
I am looking forward to laying in the grass with my eyes closed and the sun on my face. Bring on the freckles!
In summer, I look forward to hitting the pillow with a little bit of river still in my hair, and dreaming about more of the same for the next day. I’m also looking for some listening/reading inspiration, so I’m excited to peruse the comments here for good ideas. Thank you for your generosity, and congratulations on dreams coming true. xo
~been 12 years since we went to a concert which was a wedding gift for my love! after missing the boat i stumbled upon two lumineers tickets at marymore park on the day of our anniversary!!! this would be a delectable piece to make the evening even more enchanting than it already will be…
there is a force within the unity of birds and everlasting is the strength of a circle round…simplicity at its finest…
blessed you are to be celebrating home…i wish you two well as you settle your soul into your place called home…much love light and blessings~
What a lovely necklace! I’ve been reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Her essays on Mother Nature from a First Nations’ perspective are beautiful and affirming. I hope your first Summer in McCall is outstanding!!!
My summer will be filled with graduate classes and audio books. When I get cabin fever, I run to your Instagram to refresh my eyes.
Wonderful offering! And yes, when we can, we should all pass on the joy and blessings we are given to others. I’ve been re-reading The Artist’s Way these last several weeks. It is reminding me of the many creative traps we can fall prey to while simply living and surviving. A great book for any creative spirit. What I’m looking forward to most this coming summer, is change. A change in my day job, a change in my creative live, and a change in scenery. Change is good!
Beautiful. I haven’t quite made peace with the summer heat down here, so I’m looking forward to brief Northern excursions for breathing in summer air, spending a day on the river, and catching up with old friends.
Gorgeous necklace.
I’m looking forward to just putting on a pair of shoes and walking out the door. In winter I have to get 4 kids into winter underclothes, suits, hats and gloves. Just slipping on sandals and just going is bliss.
We live close to the equator at the moment but will be travelling back home for summer holiday. What I’m missing and waiting the most is long summer night and all the familiar summer scents. Being in the summer cottage, heating up the sauna and listening the birds. Heaven!
Have you listened Jose Gonzales?
Btw. I read you blog when I miss fresh air in this hazy city…
feeling the heat in my bones, camping trips with friends, garden fresh tomatoes(!), and iced coffee come to mind as a few of the things i look forward to when the weather turns warm. cheers to happy anticipation!
Summer in Los Angeles isn’t my favorite, but I won’t shrug off the fact that riding my bike to beach days with friends isn’t the best way to spend a Sunday. Also, have you read ‘H Is For Hawk”? I think you’d like it. xo
You are so generous- and lovely. This necklace is stunning- you always create such quality in all you do. I know I’m late to the party, but I’ve enjoyed reaping such a rich reward in all of these book and music recs! I remember you saying a long (long) time ago that you’re a fan of fantasy… I’m in the middle of a new one now that is really good so far: Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw. Other great series are The Starlight Archives and The Kingkiller Chronicles. As for music, Marius Ziska is my new favorite. His song “Going Home” is soul soothing. xoxo
So so beautiful! Your posts are so inspiring and so genuine. I love your passion for living outside.. I’m looking forward to a summer in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. My current favorite read is A River Runs Through It. Movies: Meru, Unbranded, Jumbo Wild. Music- Nahko and Medicine for the People (he’s not for everyone, but I love him) and The Oh Hellos.
Thanks for inspiring 🙂
Beautiful! Ah…summer, finally. Shedding layers of winter clothing, our blooming magnolia tree, fresh fruit pies,and a naked toddler running around outside….
Wow, what an incredible idea mixed with beautiful craftsmanship…I am inspired by your aesthetic. Summer began a little while ago down here in Austin, but I’ve loved getting out on the river, relaxing in my Argosy, and just getting out into our open spaces. Oh yeah, and if you haven’t seen 180 Degrees South it’s a great film and story. One I’m sure you and your crew would appreciate.
la chaleur, la liberté, les longues nuits etoilées…l’aperitif dehors et marcher marcher avec les chiens…
Spending the summers half in FL and the other half pending time with a camp full of kiddos in ME. We teach them how to grow food, hike mountains and build friendships. Whenever I need to de-stress down here in Tampa, I just picture myself back on top of a big rock with ocean breeze in my hair. I hope you have a great summer this year and keep the pictures coming! If you get a chance to read something, you should read The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman; if you haven’t yet already. Love and light, leah
While we had a fairly mild winter this year, the last few months of record breaking snow fall has us welcoming spring and summer with wide open arms! We can’t wait for cottage days, camping with friends and spending time in our gardens.
Yay!
-Kate
I’m looking forward to all the good veggies we planted in kittle starter pits, going into the ground and then growing into freshness! And all the lovely after dinner evening walks my hubby and I will take when it gets warm!
I’m looking forward to all the good veggies we planted in little starter pits, going into the ground and then growing into freshness! And all the lovely after dinner walks my hubby and I will take when it gets warm!
I’m looking forward to warm weather! Living in Norway we almost haven’t seen the sun for several months, and now it’s slowly coming back. And you can feel nature wake up as well, I love it!
Your blog always gives me inspiration and your writing is so special. I always feel something when I’m reading your blog posts 🙂 So thank you!
Please add my name into the hat! Love this
The smell of the trees!