Wild Working Weekend

Last weekend I did all things enamel jewelry as I'm gearing up for the upcoming busy holiday shopping season and thought I'd share some of it with you. Sometimes I can become overwhelmed with the thought of the work I need to so but other times I get energized by it and I jump right in. I'm very happy to say that the latter is what happened last weekend. (And we hope it continues this weekend too!) And it's coming just in time because as of now I am set to participate in three craft shows and I'm also in stores and of course there is the Etsy shop to fill. Lots to do!

(At some point I want to do a proper post on my torch fire enamel jewelry making process but for right now I'll just show you the main points.)

Firing station with torch and exhaust fan. (Taking a break with Cooper).

All the fired pieces go here while they wait for finally assembly such as ear wires and chains for pendant necklaces.

Of course everything is organized! Half of the fun of making jewelry is the organizational system I need for it! :P

Cooper oversees the entire production and gets me back to work when I want to slack off. 

So it was a productive weekend getting lots of pieces underway and I'm hoping to continue it this weekend (and several more to come, of course). I hope you have a nice and productive weekend doing that which you do that you enjoy. :)

Rocking the Red River Gorge

Geared up for the next adventure.

It's been a while, I know, but the impact of this the second trip of my summer hasn't left me. This trip was to (of all places) Kentucky -- and it was fantastic! I went to a place called Red River Gorge. I went with my backpacking group. We had a veteran among us who knew the place, but for the rest of us it was new.

That's me, heading off into the wild green yonder.

I've been told that Red River Gorge has the most natural arch formations after Arches National Park (one of my favorites!).

It also has lots of rocks to climb and scramble up:

I'm happy to be near the top.

Scoping out the task at hand. (Okay, I didn't tackle that one but next time I will!)

Scrambling up Indian Staircase:

And scrambling back down Indian Staircase:

And other sides of caves:

Group shot!

Need to rest every so often...

Lovely flora.

Amazing rock jumping!! (that's not me jumping but I *did* jump -- twice!)

Vista.

Don't know specifically where I was but I loved being there.

Cool fauna.

Group shot.

We were able to do what every backpacker loves -- Cowboy Camping!

Camping without a tent -- under the stars.

So incredible to wake up to this view.

I have one more trip planned for this year (somehow didn't get in as many as I wanted!) which may be interesting since it will be in late fall when that white-stuff-that-will-go-unnamed could happen....

Introducing ---- Cooper!

This has been a busy summer! I've just come back from a fantastic backpacking trip and I've been working on improving the house (both to be detailed in later posts) but most exciting of all is that I have a new child -- a new canine child! His name is Cooper -- and he is very handsome!

"I love my new haircut."

Cooper is 5 1/2 years old and he was an owner surrender. That means his family loved him very much but didn't feel they could take care of him as best as he needs so they made the difficult decision to let him go to someone else who could lavish him with love and attention -- and that someone is me! I'm so lucky. We are in love:

"You're my new mom!"

Cooper is a "Cocker Spaniel mix" but I suspect there might be some Welsh Springer Spaniel in him. He is a little bit bigger than a regular Cocker Spaniel and he has the red/orange coloring of a Welshie. But no matter, he's my boy. Cooper loves napping on the seat back cushions of the couch and when he does, and I'm there napping too, he likes to touch me while he sleeps. How cute is that?!

"Are you there, mom?"

"Don't go anywhere, mom."

 Coops also loves car rides - which is a great thing because I love taking him on errands!

"You can go faster, mom, I'm hanging on."

"I hope we're not going to the doctor."

"Turn left here, mom."

"Are you taking me to the doggy park?"

 He's a sweet, curious, sensitive, contemplative lover of a boy and I feel very lucky that he found me. 

"I hope mom gets home soon..."

On the Trail 2015

The summer 2015 backpacking season has begun! A week and a half ago I finished my first trip of the year which was to circumnavigate Trout Run Valley in West Virginia. It was a three day hike covering 27 miles and, for me --- it -- was -- tough!

The whole trip was up and down, up and down and that was at an elevation of 2000 to 3000 feet and it was on incredibly rocky terrain:

But there were many gorgeous views:

And lovely flora too:

And of course fun around the campfire with the others:

I have a couple other trips planned for this summer but I'm hoping they won't be as tough as this one! In the end though, I did it and it was quite an accomplishment!

So now I'm on to more jewelry -- stay tuned!

Springing into Stores!

Spring is finally springing -- and thank the turning planet for that! I'm certainly ready after that long and nearly interminable Cleveland winter. It was beginning to give me flashbacks of my college days in Montreal...

But I've broken out of the winter sludge and I am back in action again -- yaaay! I'm very happy and excited about that -- and what's even better now is that I have someone to assist me with getting displayed in stores (which, of course, was always the hardest part for an introvert like me). Leah has worked her magic to get me into three stores already! Woohoo! These are local stores around the Cleveland area including:
The Artistic Attic:

The Artistic Attic on Mayfield Road in Mayfield Heights, Ohio

Blush Boutique:

Blush on Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights, Ohio

And then the newest is a gallery:

Fiddlehead Gallery on Larchmere Road in Shaker Heights, Ohio

Getting into these stores has inspired me to work on new spring colors, which I'll be able to show you soon, but until then I wanted to share with you that Blooming Enamels Modern Bohemian Jewelry is now located in three stores around Cleveland. If you have a chance check them out! :)