I like goats. They're such sweet animals, and they love attention. Sometimes they'll all come running over together, crowd up at the fence, and happily take pets and scratches under their chins (and try to nibble scarves and coat sleeves).
Swirl 'do.
I like the soft knobby wattles on their necks.
Each goat has its own unique markings.
I adore this one's long floppy ears.
Simira bracelet, with paper from India and smoky quartz beads.
Lecia bracelet, with Japanese Katazome-shi paper, and red coral beads.
Cadencia bracelet, with Katazome-shi paper from Japan, and white coral beads.
All three paper bracelets (and three other new ones) are available in the shop. Happy day to you.
Black-capped Chickadee.
Our woodpile.
Tufted Titmouse.
Today there was a Tufty clinging to an icicle with its feet. Wow was that adorable.
Dark-eyed Junco with a dusting of snowflakes.
Have a sweet Thursday all, whatever the weather.
White-breasted Nuthatch taking a stretch.
I like standing on one leg and tipping forward, balancing with arms out to the side. I love that strong steady feeling, and even the teetering. The more you balance, the quicker your reflexes are when you stumble.
The little things that are so easy to take for granted aren't so little at all. To get to balance on one foot? Perfectly fabulous, thank you. I'm very grateful for that. And birds. And movement, dance, walking, stretching, working with my hands. Good food. So so so thankful for good food (and for having a sense of taste!).
What are you grateful for today?
"Speranza" necklace, made with Nepalese Lokta paper, Swarovski crystals, and sterling silver chain. It's got a peppermint candy, holiday-esque vibe, but I can picture it so well in the summer, right? (Lemonade, breeze, sunshine).
This is one of many pieces of paper jewelry I'm bringing to the week-long MassArt Holiday Sale in Boston.
MassArt Holiday Sale featuring ceramics, painting, jewelry, fibers, glasswork, sculpture, and other lovely handmade goods. (I love thinking of all the collective hands used to create the artworks).
Where: 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston - Tower Lobby of MassArt (Mass College of Art & Design) - a few blocks past the MFA on the right-hand side.
When: December 7- 12, Monday through Saturday, 10am to 7pm daily.
Okay then! Have a lovely weekend all!
Beaver handiwork, with fresh woodchips.
Pointy like a hand-carved pencil.
Beavers are pretty amazing - the expert dam-building, providing habitats for birds and animals, the giant lodges, the ponds with below-the-ice caches of branches to nibble on in winter.
Teethmarks in the wood. How cool.
Maybe someone's coming back to finish the job?
A bunch of paper beads, before they become paper earrings. I grouped them in a random shape (love looking at all the colors together), which now looks sort of like... Michigan? No. The mitten is backward and has no thumb. A geography whiz would look at the shape and name the state or country. That person is not me. ;)
Reds! The polka-dot rectangular paper beads are going to be triple dangle paper earrings, like these, but patterned.
So what colors do people go for? Red is up there, though it's surpassed by orange (at least with my paper jewelry). People's color tastes vary quite a bit. But consistently high is greens and blues. Even in summer, cool tones outnumber warm tones.
And then are the neutrals. There's a steady interest in black and cream or black and white, and shades of brown.
The tiny squares will become earrings in the same color scheme as these, but with one extra color, and in this style.
The paper beads from the above three photos were made with Japanese Chiyogami paper, Katazome-shi (also from Japan), Nepalese Lokta, and some marbled Brazilian paper.
A lovely day to you.
Hello Monthly Goal Meet-uppers! Isn't it wild? The tail end of oh-nine. Almost 2010.
November summary (my November goals are here): Yesss! It was a solid productive month, with only minor blips of cyber distraction. I have lots of new jewelry made. Took photos and tagged along the way. Spiffed the studio, though now it's unspiffed and pre-MassArt messy - racks and tags and price stickers and stuff all over (a happy mess).
December Goals:
1. Final prep: put together remaining pieces; take photos; name; write descriptions; price; fill out inventory sheet; pack.
2. Continue making lots of jewelry and get a bunch of things on the site in time for the holidays.
3. Make custom orders.
4. Oh! Geez. Send out a holiday sale newsetter.
5. Um. Hmm. I'm thinking of a bunch of things but I need to bump them to the new year (contacting blogs, etc). Actually, that'll work: jot down goals-to-be - set aside for early 'twenty-ten' (bizarre).
I hope you all have a sweet and fulfilling last month of 2009!
I'm thankful for the big wonderfuls like family and love and health. I'm also incredibly grateful for special random moments, like chatting with people in the market about Yukon Gold versus Russet for mashed (I'm sticking with Yukon).
And the local farms around here. Seeing tables filled with homemade pies stacked up and ready to be taken home, lined up alphabetically. What a beautiful sight, all those pies, and imagining all of the happy faces when the pies get brought out and sliced.
And something about Thanksgiving... Lots of smiles on people's faces today. Everyone looking cozy. It gave me such a warm feeling, seeing people choosing their vegetables. Something so tender and comforting about baskets filled with cranberries, squash, sweet potatoes.
I'm feeling really thankful for Thanksgiving itself.
Have a happy, tasty, lovely Thanksgiving.
It's a grey grey day in the Berkshires. I dug around in my photos for a grey day antidote and found these beautiful Blue Jays. This one's from mid-May.
A Blue Jay with a peanut in its beak, and probably a bunch in the throat pouch too. (early June)
Look at these colors! And the teeny water droplets on the surface of the feathers. (mid-June) There were so many days of rain this past summer. It rained and rained and rained.
I love the shades of blue between the black stripes. (late August)
The way the feathers stack, slightly fanned, with all that gorgeous blue, is so so good to look at. And that downy white fluff. (early September)
Happy Tuesday.
