oh, bracelets bracelets

gemmy, luxe, cocktail-ring-style bracelets, on narrow chocolate leather with toggle-button closure

(perfectly sized for any wrist!)

I just L.O.V.E. them in a stack!

find them here

xo

heal the bay

at the end of 2010, I worked on a wonderful collaborative project with Buy the Bay, a part of the wonderful ocean preservation group Heal the Bay.

here are the fruits of our labor

(oh my, look at that -- they're almost gone!)

(and a little bit about me)

autumn season workshops

this day

an eighteen hour work day.

some days are just like that.
and it's good.
I'd rather have eighteen hour days than zero hour days.

the bling:
a twenty carat aquamarine. right next to my grandma's one carat diamond.
thanks, Gram.

what we do....

oh, yes please

yes, yes, and YES some more!

he and me, me and he

the love story of my life.

I want everything good for him. happiness. security. peace.
never a moment of self doubt. never a shadow of unhappiness.

growing up isn't easy. everyone struggles over something or other, as we grow and learn who we are.

this boy and I went on a drive over the weekend. it was a drive I have waned to take him on for years now. to show him a few select, beautiful places that have left their imprint on my heart and soul.



the drive from Tomales Bay to Point Reyes Station, then from Inverness through Samuel P. Taylor State Park to San Anselmo. if you have never been, it is a lovely drive. if you took this drive, and looked around with eyes and heart open, you would really understand who I am.
I would feel happy to share it with you.

the boy and I were able to relax with each other, which feels like a huge gift to my heart. we shared moments of laughter. in some ways, I am sorry I had not taken him before. but not really, because I know we were really waiting for the right moment. now.


::lipinsky's dachau::
in Inverness - over the sea
this is someone's home,
and it is so wonderful; I am in awe that it even exists

this is how I really feel

this pretty much sums up how I feel about my life and everything in it....

::MORE DETAILS HERE::

after a long sleep

after a long sleep

my busy hands make plenty {PLENTY} of jewels

I am loving my work

loving family

loving life

and soon, again, will be loving blogging......

to celebrate ::LIFE:: I will be
giving away one of these diamond-set ingot pendants,
with your custom letter (or two!)

made with my antique steel letter tools.

and love

STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS
bring along a friend!

look here for more details

double wow, metalsmiths

WOW. and DOUBLE WOW.

this sculpture was formed from ONE SHEET of metal.

which makes me weep real tears of JOY.

this was made by Steve Shelby of Indiana.

{an incredibly talented maker}

read more about the piece and his process HERE

tension ring workshop

tension set gemstone rings from Sunday's workshop at the STUDIO...

rings by Melissa, Andrea, Karen, Pam, Sandra, Lori (and samples by me)

GREAT JOB, LADIES!

I know it was a challenging project

super beach surprise

my dear friend Ginger and I went on a 5:00 am beach walk this morning,

and something TRULY AMAZING happened...

(sadly, we were unable to capture this spectacle on film)

when we stepped into the wet sand, there was a MAGNIFICENT GREEN GLOW radiating from our footsteps, for about ten inches!

we threw sand around and watched it glow.

we splashed around. it glowed some more.

we rolled up our sweats - a look we call "business shorts" (coined after a favorite tune)

and went in to our knees.

we contemplated a swim, but alas we had no suits & no towels, and the morning rowers & runners were starting to come out by then.

we squeaked and squealed and played with joyful abandon like little kids.

(and, yes, I know the dinoflagellates are some sort of toxin, but...)

WHAT MAGIC.

AND A BEAUTIFUL START TO THE DAY!

sometimes i amuse myself...

well... I recently fulfilled a large order of silver jewelry.

it was a fun project, a labor of love, and I feel lucky to have been

helped by so many SKILLED AND WILLING hands...

just to entertain myself, I put up a display in the shop

a handful of the hundreds of pieces that were shipped.

yes, they are ALL the same!

entertainment

rings in silver with 14k granules, all size 8

views from the garden

spring has indeed sprung in our succulent garden....

the colors are popping out here!

such inspiration

a life of abundance

some days I am very in-touch with the abundance in my life....

a bounty of lemons that will yield the perfect lemonade

a jar of ALL COPPER pennies

(I am going to use these at the bench for solder-lifts)

{{I used a zinc penny by mistake recently and plated a complex and gorgeous ring. ugh. more on that later}}

and a great job

{{making LOTS of jewelry}}

these days

yesterday: I metalsmithed in flip flops (hey, I know it's a no-no)

and I worked on what is JUST POSSIBLY the coolest ring I have ever made

AND HERE IT IS

a wedge of tourmalated quartz tops a bold and modernist reliquary

on a wide band, with a super-smooth brushed finish

THE RELIQUARY HOLDS

rough diamonds. twelve of them.

{{nope. I'm not kidding you}}

here are a few other treasures.

I also made a ring from a STUNNING 20 carat star ruby

today: I metalsmithed in ugg boots (chilly day)

and I worked on a (somewhat tedious) production project.

not quite as cool as yesterday, but still a joy to be doing what I love

today in california...

clear blue, perfect skies...

beauty, appreciated, in the moment.

photos taken today by Ian, my most wonderful 16-year-old son.

{{thanks for sharing these with me, Ian}}

virtual metalsmithing...?

I am pretty much a hands-on, old school, manual arts type person.

this said, I was recently shown this amazing metalsmithing tool - the imakejewelry app for the iphone (or ipod touch), by incredible jewelery artist Victoria Lansford.

I would usually scoff at some techie thing like this... but this is AN AMAZING BENCH TOOL. every imaginable gauge, weight & length conversion, ring sizing by gauge, and all sorts of info on stones... IN YOUR POCKET!

all that and it's under four dollars. worth it's weight in silver.

looooooot!

I had a very productive afternoon... I made some loot!

ruby, giant dendritic quartz, druzied agate, lapis & pyrite

all in the etsy shop

I made a mess of the desk...

and a bigger mess of my bench... I mean HONESTLY,

how many tweezers does one person need to have out at the same time???

super sale

free worldwide shipping AND 25% discount on all items (made before the flood)

RIGHT NOW

in the etsy shop

if you write a note telling me you heard about the sale via my blog....

I will toss in an extra super-sparkly pair of handmade earrings along with your sale purchase.

they'll be gorgeous, trust me :)