o, world.

{wonderfully} Busy.

So much happened this week{+end}. My afterschool art classes finally got into full swing. The kids painted, glued, drew, collaged, sculpted and built. I got a sticker that said 'I love you', more hugs than I can recall getting in the last several months, and two drawings of Wolverine.

I went to the thrift for the first time in awhile, where I bought several wonderful things: a cracked, kelly green coin purse that is essentially useless but un-pass-up-able, being practically perfect in every way (very green, very old, very tiny), an old, red leather bag with a very confusing strap, and...



...which quickly, excitedly became...



I made a necklace for a friend's wife...



...and something I can't show you quite yet with these Moo cards.



I spent Saturday wandering around Cincinnati, which kept my over-excited (Moo cards! Silverware to slice up! Tiny coin purses! *falls over*) brain from burning out, and made for some lovely photo ops.



The light was perfect, and I took more pictures than I had in a long time.



And now I'm here, catching up on emails, looking forward to tomorrow's dinner with my parents, and to next week's finishing of above-mentioned projects and the start, inevitably, of a few new ones.

Hello, November.

The light was perfect.









These leaves dried up before they fell. The color was amazing.

I'm ready.

Let's go.

The View From Here.

I spent much of this week preparing for the launch of my holiday jewelry line, sawing and sanding (repeat until covered in silver dust..). I took a day out, too, to make an item for Artworks" fundraising art show, Secret Artworks. Rated as the top fundraiser of 2007 by Cincinnati's CityBeat magazine, Secret Artworks is a 'fundraising event featuring the exhibition and sale of 5” x 7” works of art from local, national and international artists. All works of art sell for $75 each. The ‘secret’ behind each piece is the identity of the artist – which is revealed after the work is purchased.' I'm so excited to be one of the contributing artists! As one of the artists who has work displayed, I get to attend the fundraiser, which is even more exciting - however hermit-y I am (and I definitely am), I am always, always energized (I was looking for a less hokey word, but it's late, and I could not come up with one. I am sorry.) after spending a night with like-minded arty folk.

So, yes. The view above is what I saw most afternoons, after my run, and my quick lunch, as I sawed and sanded and soldered and polished. It was a wonderful week.

Sneak Peak.

I spent much of this week preparing for the launch of the first wave of my holiday items, and it was so hard for me to wait to take photos! But, I'm trying to be a bit more methodical, and do things in some sort of order, which is pretty opposite how I (and many artists, yeah? tell me I'm not alone, here..) normally go about things. But, I did. I waited. And today I took every single photograph that needed to be taken. Well, save for one, which is just not ready quite yet! I'm waiting on one last supply to arrive in the mail so I can finish them up. Of course, it's the piece I am most excited to show you. That's not to say I'm not pleased with how the other items turned out - I can't sell a piece of jewelry that I don't love. But I am particularly excited to watch these tiny little pendants take shape, partly because they are fun to make, and partly because I just know other people will be happy to give them as gifts. They're perfect for the holidays, and that's exciting - there's something really amazing when someone tells you that they like your work enough to give it as a gift to someone else. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Anyway! Enough artsy-feely rambling. The photos came out better than I could have hoped (it was pretty overcast - I take my photos using natural light only, with one brief burst of sunlight that I took advantage of until my camera batteries gave out), and, though the pieces are available for sale starting November 1, I had had had to share the snaps of them right now. So, you can see the Hello, Jelly earrings , and peruse the other pieces (except for one, and that one will be available on Nov. 1 as well - you'll just have to be surprised!), too, here, if you like.