Saturday, December 15, 2007

Adventures in Silversmithing



Those whom I count as dear friends and family know that I took a silversmithing class ( and a random thread on Etsy: thanks for the advice!! ). Here is the result. It was borne of six weeks standing in line to ask the venerable teacher questions: a line normally nine people deep. I love smithing!!!!!!
But I want to dig in!! The stones are Australian Boulder Opals. Interesting, non?


Monday, December 10, 2007

Beautiful Plumage




I have a lot of friends and inspirations on Etsy. There are such lovely creators and buyers that populate that site, and I feel so lucky to be a part of it all. There is one particular desert sprite whose work is arresting and whose writing and personality are like climbing vines.
She is The Noisy Plume.
http://www.thenoisyplume.etsy.com
This picture is photographic evidence of what her jewelry feels like. The Nasturtium ring made me want to weep with joy: someone out there creates this much gorgeousness.
Smith on, Plume. Smith on :)

Friday, November 30, 2007

Simple Pleasures






Every once in a while it's nice to get away from the ornate (ok, but just for a minute becuase I love me some ornate crafting!) and make something simple and clean. These are all 1/2 inch wide leather bracelets with wee buckles or wee brass clasps.
They make me want tea and something small to nibble.
I really don't know why.
Except for a lovely line of custom orders, Christmas has not nearly been as busy as they say it gets on Etsy. Perhaps a blessing in disguise? I recorded a song today in totality: wrote and recorded it. It's called 'December' and it is the words of an old poem from the turn of the century.
'I heard a bird sing in the dark of December, such a magical thing and sweet to remember. We're closer to spring than we were in September: I heard a bird sing in the dark of December."
http://www.myspace.com/allisonsattinger

Regal Koi Collar




Red Delicious and bold as love.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Necessary Upgrades




My wonderful Fiance helped me create a postcard. OK, he said, "Choose 12 items you love best" and then he made a postcard for me, asking my advice on some of the layout. Sometimes his generosity of spirit just blows my mind to bits.
I don't profess to be an expert when it comes to Photoshop. I am still in love with effects and such, 'lensflare' has not lost its thrill for me, especially since "Sunny" is a part of my business name.
His sense of delicacy, and yet his strong sense of the eye's instinctual path is just so.....sexy.
Behold :)

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Spring in November




The little East Coast girl in me still feels the need for spring. It's still blanket and cocoa weatehr here in Los Angeles, and our lovely condo gets minimal light, so I have brought the sunshine, birds and bees into our home with leather.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Belated Birthday Gift!



My parents gave me money for my birthday.

Since, I have been trying to find ways to avoid buying this ridiculously expensive cardigan on Anthropologie.com, and I finally won because I told myself that I could buy many, many things in its place.
Many.
mannnny.

And this pair of vintage Capezio butterfly boots is one of the things I bought. On eBay. This is the look of surprise when I found I had actually WON the auction: people are rabid dogs about these boots!!!





I also got a sweater from Ramona West on etsy -- excellent vintage stuff: I cannot wait to receive all the goodness!!!

Monday, November 5, 2007

Fall Has its own Harvest




Oh, fall.
So maligned after the leaves vacate. How perfect that on a day that reminds me wholeheartedly of fall days in Pittsburgh ( by L.A. standards this is frigid ) I made a necklace that sings the praises of LATE fall. Not early fall, but late.
November has also spawned some things I adore more than green leaves ( or as much as )
1. 'November Rain' by Guns and Roses
2. Moody walks in the chilly grey, watching the last leaves let go
3. The luxurious feeling of drinking hot tea, curled up with a book under a handmade afghan next to an antique lamp
4. Thanksgiving dinner....yummm!!
5. Scarf wearing. Yesss!

I am certain there are more, but I have a book to read and tea to brew.
And a little bit of light headbanging to do to GNR.
Rawk.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Excellent!




Sometimes, ideas are born of flow, other times they are born of slogging through the proverbial mud. I had visitors from all over the country for weeks, and I was the visitor as well in many different cities. Sometimes when that good whirlwind passes, there is a sadness that creeps in and renders one bed-bound for days.
Not. this. time.
Yes, that is right: I used the fuel behind my sadness and made calls, sent emails, did, cleaned in small baby steps, organized things. I was rewarded by a song that has written itself out of my sheer force of determination and I was also rewarded by this necklace.
In cleaning out the studio I found that there were scraps of things and bits of designs I had never fully explored and tonight I was the Magellan of Leathercraft.
I discovered a new land: a necklace that is 90% leather and ten percent brass.
Land, ho!!!!!!
I will be making and listing another version on Etsy soon: this one's mine :)
I rarely keep anything yummy for myself, but I feel very much in love :)

Tomorrow I begin my first class in a series of six on silversmithing.
New land indeed :)

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Fllllllickr!!!

Finally, I have joined. My photos are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunnyrisingleather

and I am excited for the somewhat impending arrival of our really good camera...it might be a long impen....sion.....or something, but it will come. And there will be photos aplenty.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

All In

And miraculously, all unpacked.
Here are a few pictures of the day, Jones appreciating the comfort of a late 18th century chair, Schmilly and the Poppy ( my father ) finding studs ( insert joke here ) and bits and pieces. I am so excited to have these wooden and marble friends, so many of which I have known since I was wee.

How lucky am I :)






Friday, October 12, 2007

Uh ohhhh.....




Went home to Pittsburgh to commence trip, got food poisoning. Ack! The two or so times I have gotten ill in L.A. I have definitely wept for the lack of my mother, because when you're sick she's awesome, isn't that so?
And here I am, with her. And my Poppy. She made me homemade chicken soup, and I am struggling to digest it.

Orders are happening in my absence, and I need to walk Schmilly through the packing process tonight.

In spite of a lack of focus and tummy pain, there is something amazing about being in the bosom of those who created you when you're under the weather.

Here's to a speedy recovery :)

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

The largest of journeys starts...




With a single idea. Like making the koi necklace, having no idea where to start, but guided by an excellent mental picture that thankfully haunted me porperly until I made it real. Thanks, necklace ghost!

"Twerpie, let's do the cross-country trip soon!" ( says my father three years ago )

A big journey starts verrrrry early tomorrow morning. A plane trip to Pittsburgh and then? A long drive with my father. My parents are indeed still together, but my father took me out to L.A., rescued me from New Jersey and a heart-rending live-in-boyfriend situation, drove me to college, etc. This is something he has mentioned much more than once since I moved out here: the chance to do it all again.

Something about us and the open road brings closeness and understanding. And he's a goodly portion white knight, too.

This time we cart loads of delicious antiques for my new home with Anthony: eight-legged marble topped table, Early Tiffany style lamps, marble-topped dresser with hand-carved grape leaf pulls and a four foot tall mirror...sumptuous high-backed upholstered chairs in colors like berry stain and scarlet....my parents moved into a smaller house and are passing the bounty on to me, as tends to happen with generations.

This time my father and I will take the northern route, for the leaves. As a fall baby I have missed the leaves for four years now. Not this time :)

Hopefully there will be pictures from the road!

Monday, October 8, 2007

Trunkt Rating




So I am on Trunkt. I think it's awesome. It's beautiful, I drool over people's work and have felt some great comraderie. They do, however, have a rating system where you can see what people rated your work. Right now I have an 8.2 out of 10 from 5 total buyers ( or sellers, not sure if they have different sections ) and I really, really don't want to know that.

I would rather not know what people think of my work, other than that they buy it or don't. Feedback is always lovely, and I have had some of the best ideas and most gentle criticisms come from friends, family and associates on Etsy.
Thank goodness for that. But this rating thing, it serves no earthly purpose for me other than to make me wonder who just gave me a poor rating since it was at 8.75 yesterday.
It just feels strange. I bet it works great for a heck of a lot of people, but without any reasoning or human interaction to back it up, I don't want to read the numeric equivilent of people's opinions.
If someone could write to me and say, "Sweetie, I just don't like your aesthetic and here's why" I would at leasy know the reason behind the rating. And I would be comforted. "Everything ain't for everybody", says Jill Scott. I don't expect my work to be loved by the majority. As it stands, I just see my Trunkt shop looking like a ship listing towards the waves, and that makes me feel like a lonely third grader walking home from school alone on the last day of fall.
**Somewhere a violin plays for me ** ;)

Friday, October 5, 2007

On the Road Again

San Fran and the Bluegrass Festival this weekend, and then off to Pittsburgh and across this land that is your land and my land with my father. Then back home. Then a big gig. And a smaller gig. And back to the grindstone with my creative ideas.
Can you tell I am totally living in the moment?
( that was a joke, just in case )
Made a necklace that makes me want to be still, if only to remember certain things.




It is the moon. The moon I sigh over and exclaim to Anthony, "It's a perfect crescent!!" -- or -- "It's Waning!!" with an urgency that makes it seem as though I am witnessing its exotic changes for the first time.

Anthony is my Sun. A blonde, exceptional sun.

I think Jane and Jones are Venus and Uranus. ha!! Haaaaaa!!!!!

Perhaps I should quit my tooling and mine my comedy gold at The Laugh Factory ;)

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Working my way back to blonde, Babe!!




With a burning love inside
I keep working my way back to Blonde babe, and the happiness that died
I let it get awaaaaaaaaaaayyy
(Paying every day )

Yes, I lasted about a month. I am one third of the way back to blonde. The lighting in this pic makes the hair look slightly green: It's a whole lot nicer in person :)

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Revival




So, I have a question, and she is a valid one. Why is it that every time I hit a slow week I lose confidence and faith that this indie artist thing can be done? This has happened every month or so for a paltry six months, but the only reason it didn't happen before that time was the fact that I was too afraid to leap into what I knew would be a wave pattern: you must have the ups, and then come the downs.
In the 'ups' I am fearless, on fire... easy to laugh and quick to sleep.
When I am in the trough of the wave I lose trust that there will be another upsurge, that life isn't monochromatic...I lose sight of the pendulum swinging the other way.
Somehow I'd like to trust more. I am certain that somewhere a deity must laugh at me for my middling thoughts because they (the thoughts) are so silly -- AND doomsday -- which doesn't help since I live in L.A. and the apocolyptic possibilties are endless!!!!!
I have drawn several conclusions as my last slow week ( two weeks ago ) left me with some understanding I hadn't gotten in earlier dunkings. These are my notes to my self. Ahem:

1. I am lonely. I work out of my home. I used to be a receptionist for a large company, which was slightly painful, but easier because I adore people. I really, really do. My cats and houseplants will never be able to receive my scintillating conversation the way I'd like them to, which means I have to get out of the house for at LEAST two hours every day.

2. Dismal begets more of the same. When things suck, practice gratitude. The list of things I love and fold into my heart is endless. If the fear hits, remember you have been here before....here in the trough. Check your pulse: you are still pumping blood, which means you survived the previous down-time. Get to listing, chica!!

3. I must stop looking at online gossip sites!!! Ack!!! What a waste of time!! And no, you ( I ) cannot use the excuse that you are trying to find out what the latest fashions are by way of the bedraggled celebrities out getting their morning coffee. You are supporting a terrible trade, missy!!!!

4. Exercise is essential to a healthy mind as well as a healthy body. Keep it up :) And walks on the beach totally count, by the way.

5. What if I gratefully look at this time of quiet in my store as a sort of vacation? A time to fill the larder, figure out tax stuff, grow in other directions?

6. Desperation smells like garbage. Trust is like Chanel Number 5. No one will be able to tell me what I need to do differently. In times of confusion seek thy own counsel. And maybe thy Mom's.

7. You can totally do this thing, I know :)


So next 'slump' period I am going to re-read my list and remember that I have been in this place before and it is nothing to be feared. Perhaps someday I may even learn how to celebrate it :)

Friday, September 21, 2007

Something New



I had an idea that I just couldn't shake, something about a necklace that curved around the neck, made completely of leather.
Yesterday, just like when I am writing a song that comes out in completion, the necklace just kinda appeared out of the leather with the help of my shears. I just sat and let it be what it wanted, and what it really wanted to be was a peacock feather.
I know that sounds silly, but I think sometimes listening to the ideas of a supposedly inanimate object is the smartest thing.
I wish I had taken advice from my teddy bear regarding my high school boyfriend ;)

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

"Do you have.....the WING?"




Yes, finally, We do :)
When Anthony proposed to me he gave me my wedding band: he wanted me to choose my own ring, as he is aware of my desire for certain things:
1. Moissanite
2. A combination of white gold and yellow gold
3. Opals

So I found an incredible artist online. His name is Kevin Jones and he makes the most beautiful stuff. In Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Let me know if you need his info :)


Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Crikey!!!




So, I made this necklace a loooooong while back: my first Koi. Sigh. So much fun :) I have just had a few requests for redos, but the only problem is this: when I googled the item to see if it got press anywhere, I notice that its price is $38.00 dollars. I sell them for 59-74 depending on chain and stones. Always have. The problem, is that I sold that particular item to a wonderful buyer who requested the leather fish only -- no chain, no sterling pendant, just the fish, and she is a lovely woman so I cut the price down from what I would charge for the fish alone.
So now people are looking thinking that the cost of the necklace should be 38 dollars. This is awkward and I am referring everyone who asks to this blog entry so they don't get the wrong idea about my pricing.
ACK! Thanks, internets for your sheer informational staying power :P
Thanks a LOT ;)

Monday, September 3, 2007

Fade to Light




I learned a new technique today, self-taught. It was not as hard as I imagined it would be: I am making a custom order for a rock star, and I wanted it to have a very special element; the initials fading to pale. It turned out well, and I was holding my breath the entire time. Two different shades of antique + lots of water + a furrowed brow = the result!

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Malaise

Every once in a while it happens to someone who creates, to someone who parents, to anyone whose purpose feels strong and stalwart...the mental fumble, the tide going out: the lapse in confidence that feels like trying to breathe underwater.
It's happened to me musically enough times that I totally don't fear it: I just go forward understanding that maybe it is best to take a solid break of two days: walk the beach, read that book, concentrate on the baking of a good pie.

Leather-wise it's happened once before on a custom order, and the end result was fantastic and I grew. Today I stumbled on the harder thoughts again. The catalyst was something so silly and non-threatening, really. Subsequently, I wondered if all was well, if it is really possible to make a living doing leather. I am always wanting to make everyone happy while knowing that statistically it's really hard to do.
I have always tried to prepare myself for the things that are harder, for the things that make you wince. Four years in NYC and going on five in L.A. and I still get way-laid by the very things I need to learn how to brush off. See, the flip side of what we all want to do is that it can break your heart: when I had a corporate job it was easy to complain, simple enough to do OK, to remain distant from my tasks. I found my prayers were always, "Someday I want to work from my heart and make the things that I see in my dreams and live my creative potential fully." Now I see that when you get there and you are doing those very things that you cannot BELIEVE you are lucky enough to do there's a doubt that steals in sometimes, unbidden. And the fact IS that the more of your love and devotion you put into your art or your music or your child, the more you have invested ( by simply caring passionately ) and the sharper the sting when someone's unhappy. Or when the feedback's not so hot. Or when you can't get the little one to stop crying.

It's a leaden softness, a general blanketed feeling, a need for cocoa and a good cry...I like to think at those moments grace comes and 'leads me home' as the hymn so astutely puts it. For whatever reason a well needs refilling and I need to sit quietly and see what comes...to pray for rain and strength.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Early Morning Meteor Shower




There are very few things I will wake up for at 3:00 in the shucky-darn-ding-dong morning. I almost missed one of them today when Anthony's phone alarm went off...all I could think was how unfair it was to have slept only two hours thus far...but I shrugged on a huge sweater and wrapped my hair in a silk scarf and we were off on our early morning drive to Malibu. I had never seen a meteor shower. After seeing that first bright streak across the sky, the leavings of some distant comet, I was breathless with joy: nothing quite like the sight. It dwarfs you, stuns and lulls you. I saw at least seven: this was a rare and sparse storm.
We watched for an hour and some change and drove home at 5:30 A.M. to reconnect with our still-warm bed. I am groggy and filled with cupcake ( Sprinkles has been ousted: there is a new cupcake sheriff in town that answers to "Yummy Cupcakes". Sorry Beverly Hills, I know you're hurtin' for commerce ;) ) and the renewed realization that life is sweet and wonder is still abundant at nearly thirty. I'll read this and laugh when I'm eighty and still surprised by life's Cracker Jack prizes. If there is word of a meteor shower near you, don't grumble -- nay! -- LEAP from your bed at the appointed hour and rush to the car. I promise it will recharge you in every way :)

Friday, August 31, 2007

Cabbage Rose




I could tool roses all day. Every day. There's such a method to the folds and peeling back the layers of the flower...it feels religious, like discovering God is in nature. Lately all the work I am doing feels so reverent, because it's all nature-inspired.
I need a Pennsylvania wooded hillside and an afternoon. I would just sit really still and watch things live.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Huminna Humminnnna




I feel strongly about this necklace. I almost want to hug it, as it reminds me of seasons I no longer experience, becuase I live in paradise. Wah. ;)
I am truly the luckiest son-of-a-gun I know and I don't take my luck for granted, but there are days when I want to see the sky grow dark with clouds that promise the first snowfall...the first day when the fall jacket has to become the parka...the first morning coffee that's just as much for warmth as caffeine. And then I want to go back to California where, even in the height of the chilly winter nights I could still maybe possibly get away with flip-flops. Maybe not. It's summer, I can't remember anything but 85 and sunny :)

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Overwhelming Thought...




Every second of every day someone is creating something, certainly there are times when that idea is a fraction of what's really happening: perhaps 2,000 works of art in one second? Who knows, really....it makes me think of a giant rose constantly blooming, a rose the size of the sun, lit like it had 100,000 candles inside making a noise so bass-rich and slow-motion-crackly that you have to cover your ears if you're close enough to see its motion...
Creation is never ending. I was looking in the mirror tonight, checking the way a newer necklace sits so that I can safely list it on Etsy and I thought, 'This particular design and particular combination of tooled leather, shell roses and antique brass chain has never existed before.' A small thought, but then it made me think of all the other artists all over the world marvelling over the fact that they had created something where there was previously basic elements to work with.
It's so overwhelming and gratifying. Even as I wrote this, 10,000 beautiful things were born out of patience and inspiration.
How sweet is life?

Monday, August 27, 2007

Blue Day




Under my nails, around my fingers and almost on the side of my nose is a slight tint of blue I cannot seem to wash off. Perhaps I need to wear gloves when dyeing things. I hate not being able to feel exactly where the color is going. It is by "feel" that I color leather. And sight, yes. So the flowers I have been obsessed with? I made them cobalt and attached them to a leaf and made a daisy chain belt. It winds and weaves and is totally asymmetrical, which, like imperfections, I have a thing for :)

This is the belt.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Obsessed




When I was little I had a thing for color in fashion...if there was a shirt I wanted to have it in three or four colors, if not more. I remember when "the Limited' was the big store in my neighborhod, and they had these layering henleys...one summer vacation the whole ride home I dreamed of which colors I would layer and which I would put around my waist...
I made this flower necklace in peach and white and discovered a way to make a bracelet from the same design in pink and white, and now all I can think of, salivating, are what color combinations are next. The flower design and the type of leather I am using gives all choices a softness I covet. I am dreaming of the colorful possibilities of this bracelet like the Outback Red henleys of my youth. I guess that means I have to make one for myself :)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Going back, back to my roots!



Yes, I am a redhead, believe it or not. I am giving up the blonde for a little while: we'll see how long I can go :)

Friday, August 10, 2007

Captured




The sun rose, I photographed and listed the bracelet...I feel attached to it, as I do when I create anything that feels dear or important or which has been swirling around the head for a long time...there's an intimacy there. I might need to make one for myself, too :)
I love getting up in my PJs and setting about to photograph and list...I have been finding a ryhthm to this shop-owner experience, and mine begins at 8:30 with the listing of last night's creations. I say 'last night', but in reality it was FINISHED last night and most likely began days before. As much as I am diligent about customs I also have to be able to suss out dreams and continue realizing ideas, or I'd feel deadened.
After the listing there's breakfast and showering and going to the Post Office to mail out the things I sold, and I so need to start writing out fashioned letters. Side-Noted.
Then there's customs, working a bit on a few at a time so the design stays fresh and there's some variety of tools being used: keeps things sharp :) I am loving deeply what my custom customers have come up with lately: so fresh and fun.
Then there's reading break, and a walk on the beach if I can and then socializing with Schmilly or travelling to see a girlfriend and then at night I tool more than ever....why? I wonder. Perhaps my days are now longer than eight hours, but it's my dream and so it feels effortless.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Pre-Etsy




I made my first picture bracelet, something I have been working on developing for a while now: I have to wait until morning to list it, taking good pictures and finding the right paper background...until then, grainy and horrible though it might be, my Mac photo is evidence that it exists.

Last night's earthquake really....er...shook me up, for lack of a better term. I want things to be concrete, though the place I live in has constant seismographic movement. Could I really trade this city for stability somewhere else?

There is always a trade-off in life :)

The Pretty Girl

**Happy Sigh**

One full day back from NYC and I am full of gratitude for a trip that was so perfect, even in 95 degree heat...and I came back to my Schmilly and Jane and Jones and my studio, full of wonder at how good life is. I survived and thrived in the featured position: I have a long list of customs that I am diligently working on, and I am restocking all of my pretty packaging: the last seven or so packeges went out in bubble wrap. I love having them ship in little white boxes and cotton clouds. Not that there's anything wrong with bubble wrap...
I am also restocking findings and such, and I feel like a little squirrel getting ready for winter. I plan on having a deliciously full shop for the holidays, and the new ideas that are coming are just so much fun.
Here is a picture of my prettiest koi maybe ever, color-wise. I love them all equally, but she is really colorful.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

dur!

What's my name again?

:)

I am made out of coffee and leather. Those are the only tow things I know. Oh, and love, lots and lots of love.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Monday, July 30, 2007

ummm...

The nap never happened. All numbers jumped. more customs, 5 simple orders off the page, convos and more convos...and while this is all happening I feel high on life, on creativity, on the challenge of it all: I am one woman supplying this little store that, before today, was a lot sleepier :) This push of energy I give is in honor of the last seven years spent sitting behind a reception desk, answering phones for someone else's dream...for all the nights I said 'If I could just live off my creativity"...for all the fear, the mornings awake wondering if I did the right thing by leaving the corporate world and trusting that this random love and skill for leather and music would pan out...this is one of those times I could have never dreamed was possible. Now I don't want to get all 'The Secret' on you, dear reader, because it's kinda annoying sometimes, but I will say this: deciding to be adventurous and trusting that your next step is the right one is the way to go. Every day I repeat certain words, and they have been an excellent chauffer. Drive on :)

I am now getting to the level of tiredness where I start referring to myself as 'Mama', and I don't have any children. Perhaps things can wait till morning? Nope...pressing on. There are koi to be born, leaves to let fall...onwarrrrrddddd!!!

xo

Turn on your heart light!!




Wow, I just looked at my hearts on Etsy ( a guilty pleasure if there ever was one! ) and there's like ten gazillion more than there was earlier this morning when I woke at dawn to list, list, list. I feel so honored to have been chosen, and to be visited so very much. It feels amazing. I used a NikonD70 SLR to take these last pictures, and I don't know how I am supposed to go back to the little grey camera that has been my constant companion...she looks so dejected over in the corner with her USB cable all bunched up...my studio needs to be reorganized and packed back up...I had twenty four hours notice of the featured seller spot as the good folks at Etsy had a last minute emergency cancellation. Don't get me wrong, I ain't complaining, it just meant total frenzy. And tons of pictures. I think I am going to take a nap: four hours of sleep never did a body good :)

Sunday, July 29, 2007

ETSY FEATURED SELLER!!

Oh my goodnesss!!! I am going to be the featured artist starting tomorrow afternoon until Thursday afternoon...later that same Thursday I leave for NYC. I am going to be pretty busy between now and then: not sure how many posts there will be...my fiance borrowed a camera from work Friday and I have been taking beautiful pictures with it, perfect timing, non?

Friday, July 27, 2007

Today's Offering




Receive my endeavor, oh ye Leather Gods.

Silva Fox

In a world ( this sounds like a movie trailer ) where the art seems mostly dominated by men (leatherworking ), Silva Fox stands out to me as an inspiration and a trailblazer. On her website you can see so many examples of tremendous technique and perspective, she just amazes.
She is feminine without sacrificing some sort of regal toughness in some of her subject matter, and her coloring just blows me away. Please do yourself a favor and go see her beautiful work

http://wdstudio.net/foxart/main.htm

Thursday, July 26, 2007

P.S.

Whe I look at the post below, it looks like I photoshopped orange around the edges: nope! That's the color of the walls in my studio, the color that struck fear into the heart of Anthony (until we filled the room with gorgeous furniture in mostly neutral shades )....the color......of....Mango Madness ( duh duh duhhhhhhhhhh )

It makes mornings vibrant and nights warm and creatively inspiring.

Guess I have a 'whole belt' now...




Hee heeee!! There is another half-belt listed on Etsy. I don't think this is going to stop anytime soon....this one is lighter and more flexible...the usual leather weight I use for them is somewhere in the area of 8-9 oz. leather, which is slightly inflexible and really truly lasts forever. The lighter leather is only a sacrifice if you're using it on something that is going to get brutally worn down, and well, I think we're safe with my fashion accessories, ya know?

Wednesday, July 25, 2007