Sneak Peek

I've been feeling nostalgic lately. Two times in our lives we lived by the sea. Well, technically we lived on the Gulf of St Vincent and then Port Phillip Bay. So not really the sea but, hey, it was salt water. I loved walking on the beach. Even further back are memories of my children plucking sand dollars from the sand with their toes in Costa Rica with their new friends who spoke no English and they no Spanish. But the shared experience transcended language. And, even further back in my nostalgia is the memory of seeing starfish clinging to the rocks at Pescadero Beach on a visit to my California family. It was my first ever experience of the ocean. It still takes my breath away when I see in my memory the wide expanse of the Pacific ocean spreading out to the horizon.

This little sojourn down memory lane found me sketching and then refining into the design for the bronze pieces up there. They are in cooling down in the kiln right now. I'll have to wait for a few days to see how they come out. This is just a wee sneak peek at what I'm hoping will turn out just fine. I pretty much never know at this stage. But I'm always hopeful.

Most likely by the time you read this I'll be off for a long weekend celebrating the new baby that will be here at the end of June. Celebrating Mother's Day and I'll be seeing the Green Butterfly Princess, which is not just a bonus but maybe the very best part of all. Of note about the butterfly princess is that she chose green. Not pink, not purple, but green. So there are definitely more than two crayons in the box. Yeah!

There is a special request pie being delivered to my son. Yep, Mother's Day weekend and I am making a special request desert but, then, for me one of the rewards of mothering is to have these traditions and specialness.

There will be 6 mothers, 2 aunts (who do there own special mothering), 3 grandmothers, and 1 great grandmother. I am so very excited to be there for this weekend.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who mother. You know who you  are.

Beads, Buttons, and Toggles

Shop update coming Wednesday night, 7 pm EST. Along with some of the usual bronze pieces and some that are usual but haven't been there for a while, there will be a handful of these shank back buttons. I am personally in love with the bunny most of all. And maybe the lady bug too. Maybe all of them because I love buttons. They make me think of my Oma and her sewing room and the countless hours I spent making clothes out of 'terimal' for my plush bears.

Remember those bronze toggles? Finally, all finished and ready to go. These are a nice substantial weight and have forged bronze toggle bars. Not too big, not too small. I'm keeping a couple of these for myself. In fact maybe that is why it has taken so long to get these ready. I'm a secret hoarder of components. At least components are small and there is no danger of creating a horrifying episode of Hoarders where they find me trapped under a pile of bronze. No, that would be the episode where they find me trapped in a room full of towers of books. I would be completely kitted out with granola bars and bottled water so there would be no real danger.

And a handful of new beads including one of the boo boo beads. It's got a nice large hole in it so you can get chain or heavier cord through it. The other one like it is going into a secret project for my daughter's birthday which isn't until August. I am ever hopeful that I will not be finishing things last minute. It's May, I have 3 1/2 months. Shall we take bets on how soon this project will get done?

Just as a little update. I'm doing well. Dreadfully tired a lot of the time and food tastes funny but otherwise well. Moving slowly but I think this might be my time to enjoy a slower pace and learning to listen to what my body needs. Thank you all for your support. You are amazing and such an incredibly integral part of my healing. I really do not have words for how much gratitude I feel.