Four Things:

November 26, 2010 by
1.  Isn’t this positively beautiful?  
Can you guess what animal made this track?
 2.  Just when you thought it wasn’t possible, she became more adorable!
Behold, Penelope, queen of the snow!
 3.  I made some earrings.  I’ll be updating the shop around 8PM tonight (MST).  See you there!
4.  I hope all my American friends and family had a beautiful Thanksgiving Day!  A dear friend of ours hosted a straggler feast in town and we had a delightful time at a long table with a handful of friends and wonderful food.  RW and I took a gluten free chocolate chai cake for dessert and oh, for the sake of Pete, I would love to share the recipe with you but it belongs to a bakatista friend of mine and I don’t want to steal her thunder…but let me tell you, it was as though heaven fell into my mouth when I tasted it.  And when it was baking??? It smelled like sweet baby Jesus came down and let out a little toot in our house — yes.  It smelled like heaven.  I might perish if I don’t bake it once more this week.  PERISH.

I hope life is beautiful where you are.
xx
Plume
Filed Under: farley and penelope, idaho, nature, New Jewelry

Fresh Off The Bench

November 25, 2010 by
 [sterling, natural druzy agate & 14 carat gold]
[sterling & green quartz]

Available in the shop on Friday!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Ruby Red

November 24, 2010 by
Bonjour!
It’s only 10AM but I’m going to give this day a big bright fantastic for the following reasons!
 Ruby red.  
There’s nothing like fabulous citrus in the winter.
Watching RW eat ruby red.  
He always does the weirdest things with his cutlery and I can’t help but laugh out loud.  
It’s fascinating.  I liken it to watching someone hold a pencil in a bizarre fashion whilst drawing or writing.  Weird.  
 Hanging on to the Farlinator, feeling thankful for his animal warmth, the kindness in his amber eyes and realizing that taking a bit of animal therapy throughout the day is very good for my cellulars and my soul.
 Stepping outside into frigid weather and wandering through beautiful wind formed snow drifts on an early morning walk with the puppies.  
Being bundled up!  I hate summer clothing.  
I love being swaddled in layers and layers of clothes.  
It gives me an excuse to wear everything I love all at once.
Watching Pene plough through snow that is deeper than she is tall!  
That’s some cute weenie action.  Trust me.
I’ve promised that I’ll crochet her a little sweater this week.
The wind continues to blow fiercely in sharp gusts.  It picks up snow crystals and suspends them in the air and the world is glittering as far as I can see. 
Winter is so darn magical.
 Talulah at the curb wearing a perfectly white winter coat.  
Silver, behind her, with perfect icicle fangs coming off the front grill.
Coming inside after our wintery stroll with frosted and frozen hair tips, dumb lips and rosy cheeks.  Feeling like my pores have been scrubbed clean.  
Fixing cups and cups of tea to warm up.  
Dark chocolate hot chocolate made with milk on the stove top in a sauce pan.
Pumpkin soup for lunch.
I’ve put on my Ugg boots, tights, tall socks, a corduroy mini skirt, plaid flannel button up, my favorite toque and a pair of earrings. 
I’m going out to the studio.

xx
P.

PS  Did I tell you that last night we made a crazy pilgrimage out to the hot springs where we soaked for a couple of hours?  The steam billowing off the pools made thick white walls in the night.  I kept my head above water but still had hair icicles within minutes.  We had to dunk our ears in the pools to stop them from freezing in the wind! It was fabulous!  Come over tonight, we’ll do it again.

PSS  Thanks for your lovely comments on Typewriter Tuesday.  I’m feeling much better of body, soul and mind today. xx


Filed Under: idaho, pocatello, winer

Confessions of Typewriter Tuesday

November 23, 2010 by

Filed Under: Confessions of Typewriter Tuesday

Quality Versus Quantity And The Great Canadian Glimpses

November 23, 2010 by
Today was my first day back in the studio after a two week hiatus.
It went well.
I made a ring and a pair of earrings and I also ruined a ring and had to scrap said project.  But all of that wretched ring ruining really supported a statement I made to a lovely lady today:

She had asked me, in an email, if I could tell her all the things I did to market my work and become successful in the world of Etsy.  Anytime anyone asks me something like this, I feel kind of stupid because I don’t really have any answers!  Despite the fact that there is a small business aspect to what I do, I’ve always been a major failure as a business woman.  Really.  I just do stuff and everything works out beautifully.  I just stay true to who I am and everything has always fallen into place for me.  I’m a bit spoiled rotten by God, I think…which isn’t to say I don’t have my own crosses to carry in this life.  I do.  I just try not to dwell on them here…or anywhere, for that matter.

What I told her in the end — the scant advice I had to give was:
You need to identify your definition of success.
Which of these do you value more:
Quantity or quality?
Success, for me, in this crafty world of mine, is when I enter into my creative space and perfectly translate a vision I have into metal and stone.  Success for some others is in numbers:  Numbers of Twitter followers.  Numbers of Facebook friends.  Numbers of sales.  Numbers numbers numbers.  

Does any of that matter if you feel unfulfilled in your work?  Does any of that matter if you aren’t true to who you are in your work?

I prefer to downshift a bit, put my blinders on and settle into perfect translation out in my studio instead of spending hours with an abacus, counting coins, faces, social networking golden stars…
[sterling, 14 carat gold, chrysoprase]

Today I experienced a glorious nibble of success.  
I finished three pieces of jewelry.  I scraped one piece-of-crap-ruined-jewelry into my metal recycling bin on my workbench.  I went for a walk in the weather.  I loved my husband.  I connected with a few wonderful folks out there in the interwebs.  I gave my cat a belly rub.  I made a delicious pizza for supper and now I’m going to go eat it, with a glass of Malbec.  I’m all about the quality in this life — to hell with the numbers (please do pardon my French).

This kind of day to day success is so delightful.
It really is.
What else could matter?
Just live each day well, I say; just do your best, the rest is not your business.

***

The weatherperson is forecasting blizzard conditions for Pocatello tomorrow.  RW doesn’t comprehend the term blizzard.  He thinks a blizzard means snow.  Ha!  I continue to attempt to define the word for him but he just doesn’t get it.  I hope it’s simply awful tomorrow so he can finally understand the term. 

Can I just say…can I just attempt to convey how much I love the weather we’re having?  It feels so Canadian to me.  Today in the grocery store I noticed a shelf display for Kicking Horse Coffee, which is a roaster located in British Columbia, and I squealed with delight because ever since I arrived home on Friday of last week, there have been little moments, little glimpses, of Canadiana filtering into my life and it makes home seem closer and the Great White North seems a little more South.

In a few moments we’re going to tromp down to a local pub for a drink with a few friends.  I’m going to wear my long down jacket, a toque, mitts and my Sorel boots because baby it’s cold outside.

Put on the furnace, sweet lovers of mine!
Hold your favorite one close and put another quilt on the bed.

xx
Plume
Filed Under: New Jewelry, weather
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