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! :)

The Laurel Artisan Bazaar This Weekend!

It's that time of year again for the Laurel Artisan Bazaar! This will be my third time at the show with my jewelry (I did two years with my photography: Bloom Spirit) and I'm very much looking forward to it. It's a fun show with lots of fantastic creative items. I'm always so amazed at all the creativity I see at these shows. People making and doing such interesting things with their hands. It always makes me want to get back home and spread my enameling wings...

So, if you aren't busy and are around the east-side-of-Cleveland area then come on out and check out the show. Unfortunately it's a show with an entrance fee but I'd have to say, in this case, it's worth it.

Here are just a few of the new items I've been working on:

"Mod Drop" dangle earrings in Terra Firma color blend. 

Bloom Chandelier earrings in a a sky blue color with vintage bead dangles.  

Orbit Discs enameled in my unusual, "Funky Beat" color blend. 

Non-GMO Veggies!

This is the second summer with my deck garden boxes. I planted my non-GMO seeds and although a lot of the "crop" didn't really happen -- my carrots did! Aren't they gorgeous?! They are sweet and crispy and taste so fresh. I also had some lettuce and tomatoes (of course) and some zucchini. Unfortunately my sugar snap peas were eaten by the squirrels (which makes me think about making some glass covers to go over the boxes for animal protection as well as added sun benefits -- add that to the To Do list!) Hope your summer was plentiful and abundant... 

Home Grown!

And since the carrots were so persistent I made some earrings in their honor:

On the Trail

I went on another backpacking trip a couple weekends back. This time it was in the Allegany Mountain range at Minister Creek, which is right in Ohio's backyard -- and it was just lovely. It was a shorter trip this time, but it gave me a chance to breathe and be in the quietude of nature. 

Additionally, I made new hiking friends as well as some new non-hiking friends -- such as this little salamander:

The trip entailed lots of wooded forests as well as ancient rock formations: 

And my morning view from my tent was picture postcard perfect:

And it seems the color of the hiking day for me is teal. I seem to have acquired lots of teal for my hiking life including my pack --

-- my tent and my clothes! It's a bit much but I'm liking it.

So, with inspiration from my new hobby I made this color blend called, "On the Trail." 

Penny size (3/4" - 20mm disc) teal green earrings.

It's (obviously) a lot of shades of teal. I also made these boho earrings:

Funky Modern Bohemian Teal Green Dangle Earrings

And I couldn't resist expanding on the idea so I made this modern pendant:

Modern Enamel Pendant with Copper Wire

I'll be going on two more trips next month (during the height of autumn!) so I expect to be inspired by the browns and oranges and I look forward to coming up with some new color blends in that theme. Until then, have a great fall season!

Blueberry Picking

So......I was so inspired by the blueberry picking I did on my Appalachian Trail...with Ponies! adventure that I found a place to go blueberry picking that is close to home. It's only a few (several) miles out east from me but it certainly packs a punch with regards to blueberries. Wow! I'm talking about Voytko Farms. This farm has been around for at least about 60 years and they have blueberries, black raspberries and black currants. It's quite beautiful:

The whole experience made me very happy:

And the full colander made me most happy of all!

Natural Inspiration on the Appalachian Trail -- with Wild Ponies!

This past weekend I had an opportunity to hike on the Appalachian Trail -- and it was fantastic!

I went with a local group of hikers/backpackers and I had an *amazing* time. We left from Cleveland and drove down to Virginia to start the trip. First we hiked in on the Mt. Rogers trail (including the peak of Mt. Rogers - the highest point in Virginia at 5,728 feet) which connects with the Appalachian trail. Overall it was 25 miles over a three and a half day span including a few thousand feet of elevation changes (uggh!).

I carried a thirty-five pound backpack which held all of my essentials (tent, sleeping bag and clothes - as well as food and stove).

I certainly can't say that it wasn't tough, and that at times I didn't think I'd make it (especially since on the first day I was harboring *yet another* lingering headache), but as the turtle knows best: slow and steady persistence wins the race. Another adage that ran through my head was, "The only way out is through."

So, as a reward for the hard work and perseverance I was treated with some awesome and inspiring gorgeous views.

And did I mention the ponies? Ponies! There were wild ponies! Lots of wild ponies!

The ponies came right up to us and our tents. Some were even trying to nose their way into the tents to look for food!

There were lots of little ones too. This one never left his mom's side:

But these baby ponies pranced and played:

On the trail there were wild (organic and non-gmo, that is!) blueberries:  

Parts of the forest were super plush and brimming with green:

Which I found lucky:

 It was a fantastic way to greet the day:

And an even better way to greet the night:

So now I feel refreshed, re-energized and ready to create! This trip into nature has inspired an abundance of of ideas for color blend combinations and jewelry designs that I want to try as soon as I come out from under the influence of the post-trip glow. Until then I am still reveling in the reality that I hiked some of the Appalachian Trail and that it really is all it's cracked up to be (and even more)... :) 

The intrepid backpackers after a well-earned shower: