Happy Birthday Lucy!

Our baby Lucy is one year old today.  Thank goodness.  She sure is cute but it's been a year of extreme patience....I forgot how difficult puppy rearing can be!  She is a very intelligent, loving girl, a good watch dog and F U L L O F B E A N S....  but the training "ain't over" yet! Her favorite pass-time is digging up my husbands veggie garden (after he spends an entire day planting and weeding).....


Her first year .....

Our Rosie Ojai Abode

Inside

(when it's tidy, thanks Lucinda...she took photo this while housesitting!)

and

Out

(for only a couple of weeks....I took these today!)

"If spring came but once a century instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake and not in silence, what wonder and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change. " 

 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

So Proud!

It's been 12 years since I first met my step-daughters.... they were only 4 and 6.  I was so nervous that I meditated and prayed, hoping that they would accept me.  My future husband picked me up on the way to the beach and I hopped in back with the youngest .... doing my best to be funny and silly.  I took a big sigh of relief when they smiled...whew!  We ended up having a great time and of course, I let them bury me up to my neck in the sand.  It was the beginning of a special relationship.  

They are now both lovely young women..... intelligent, compassionate, conscientious, courageous and artistic.  The eldest is already off to college and the youngest will be leaving for boarding school in the fall.... How did the time fly by so quickly?  All I know is that I cannot image not having them in my life.  I feel very blessed.

Here's a peek of their budding creative talent....

Rachel in New York, New York

Elizabeth in Venice, Italy....Athens, Greece

Sketchbook beginnings

As an artist, I am always interested in other artists sketchbooks....and to see how their final finished pieces transformed from their first draft.  So, I thought I would share a few pages from my sketchbook and drawings.  Some were just graphic designs in and of themselves and others were specifically drawn as jewelry pieces.  All drawings have a link to the final finished fine silver metal clay pendant.

Originally a birthday card for my mom...

 transformed to the Mandala Meditation pendant. 

The top design became the Cosmic Mandala.

This design, which is about 3x3 is now ....

the Sacred Talisman pendant.

This was the first necklace I designed for metal clay.

The finished piece is a bit different...not bezel set stone.

I still need to give it a proper name.

This is another small 3x3 design that I originally made into a card.  

The necklace from this design became....

 my first blog post!

Dear Sweet Stella

Our Stella had her babies yesterday... six of them!  Three black, three brown.  Such a good mama she doesn't even want to leave her babies....

We haven't seen Stella now for about 9 weeks.  She has been busy getting pregnant, being pregnant and having her litter.  We miss her so!  Before then, we were a guardian home for her for 3 months.  In eight weeks from now, after she nurses and weans her pups, she will be spayed and ours to love forever.


Stella is the mama of our pup Lucy, who will be turning one year in about a week.  I first saw Stella when I went to meet Lucy (from Stella's first litter), at Brasken Kennels in Atascadero, and fell in love with Lucy AND Stella.  I inquired about what happens when the mommies are done breeding and was told that the breeder looks for a guardian home.  I put my name in... and was surprised and elated when they called us just a few months after we took Lucy home.


My husband and I strongly believe in rescuing dogs whenever possible. Our beloved Georgi Girl, who passed on just over a year ago,  was rescued from the Ojai Humane Society.  She was a saint of a dog... pure love.  We looked for months to find a rescue lab -poodle mix (which is what Georgi was) but to no avail.  We finally picked another sweet dog from the Ojai Humane Society that we called Nala.  But alas,  Nala loved me but was not happy around men or children which was just not going to work in our household with my husband and 4 year old.  We decided that it was important for the safety of our small child, to go ahead and find a reputable breeder and get a puppy.  I searched high and low to find a breeder that   was not a puppy mill who care for and love their dogs like we do.  I feel so fortunate to have found Brasken Kennels.  People can say what they want about "designer" dogs, but our "labradoodles" are the most amazing dogs.... loving, gentle, funny and so intelligent... AND allergy free (which is a must in our household).  


For those interested, Stella is 1/2 lab and 1/2 standard poodle.  Her pups are 1/4 lab and 3/4 standard poodle.

Sparkling Starburst Mandala

Here's my latest creation for the Gandhara Collection on Etsy.  I'm calling this fine silver metal clay pendant the "starburst mandala".  I'm having fun experimenting with tiny cubic zironias in metal clay before I try using the real thing...diamonds.  These CZs are so small that setting them is NOT easy... especially with my deteriorating eyesight...  that these days I need to work through the magnifying glass!  This design is from a sketch I did several years ago that was inspired by an ancient Indian jewelry design.


Anyone interested in east Indian jewelry should own the incredible book called Traditional Jewelry of India.  It is one of my treasured possessions. You can peek through the book on Amazon.

Happy Vernal Equinox

About two months ago, we were told that our gorgeous giant live oak on our side yard was very sick and must be taken out.  We were heartbroken but better the tree gone than our heads (the tree could have fallen into our master bedroom).  Once the deed was done and the rains came, we were left with a huge gaping muddy hole and very unattractive side yard.  So, I got to work sketching out a landscape plan with all my favorite drought tolerant plants and realized I better consult an expert for final approval.  In comes Cathleen Lynch of The Essential Garden in Ojai to the rescue.  


Cathleen has an enthusiasm for plants that is contagious.  She guided me towards a few more suitable and interesting plants that I had never heard of, massaged my plan a bit and drew up a beautiful revision. She even purchased the plants and helped me place them. Thank you Cathleen!  


After some additional grading, new drainage pipes,  fence, gravel (thank you Abel at Mar Gardening) and butterfly chairs along with the olive trees, new plantings and uplights (thank you Chris the electrician!) we finished just in time for the first day of Spring!

Before 

After

It will take a few years to fill in properly but it's all about the process, right?  When I went to pay Cathleen, she said she wanted to see my jewelry first.  And low and behold, she wanted to do a trade for her design time.... I am so flattered!  Here is the necklace she picked.....

metal clay pendant 

from antique Afghan bronze die 

with amazonite (?) drop strung with

faceted peridot and Thai silver beads