Vernal Equinox, Anticipation, Changes

This week's edition of Listening, Wearing, Making. . . 

This week has been a bit of an odd one for me. . . There have been some growing pains with my studio space. I can't get into the exact nature of it here, but there is the real possibility of needing to move my space sometime in the not-so-distant future. While that is exciting for some reasons, for other reasons it's making me feel unsettled and antsy. (And, actually, if anyone is reading this and knows of a possible studio opening somewhere in the Oakland-Berkeley-Alameda area and think it might be a good fit, shoot me a direct email at tangleweedsjewelry@gmail.com. I'm looking for a space with a bit of privacy, i.e. not a communal/shared space. Also, I'm willing to consider some less traditional studio spaces. )

On to what I've been listening to. . . 

In this last week, as I sat down to write this post, I realized that I haven't been listening to nearly as much music as I usually do. Instead I've been listening to the archives of many of my favorite NPR and KPFA shows. One of my favorites is last weeks's airing of Herbal Highway on KPFA. It's titled Food as Medicine. I think you get the general gist of the show simply given the title. If you have some quiet time this week, maybe while cooking a meal, give it a listen. 

Wearing. . . 

I am working from home today and realized the photos I'd taken for this post are on my camera. . . back at my studio. Darnit! So I thought I'd share a little sneak from the up-coming lookbook for my spring/summer Essentiality Collection. You can see from the photo there's going to be some new moon pieces, bangles, rings. And color: pale pink, violet, turquoise offset by pops of eggshell, matte black, and (of course) brass. 

Making. . . This week I spent a good chunk of time working on an order for Azil (a cute little shop on Hayes in San Francisco.) The above are just a few of the pieces headed to their shop tomorrow. And of course, I made a few to stock up my inventory for my upcoming craft fairs.

On the upside about my studio, working from home is lovely on a day like today. I have the doors and windows open to let in the fresh air and sunshine. Pretty perfect. Happy first day of spring everyone! 

Planning a Garden

This last week was a study in contrasts: I worked on my taxes (almost done!) and attempted to catch up on a bunch of misc. paperwork. But then, come the weekend I had time for some creative projects and plant/flower shopping at Flowerland nursery in Albany. I think I had worked my "practical", logics-based brain muscles so much during the week that come the weekend all I wanted to do was play and make things and stretch my creative legs!

Above is some of the mess from my projects this weekend. I made one of those dream catchers with twigs and sticks and doillies that seem to be cropping up everywhere. (The project is hardly my original idea, you make it your own in the "ingredients" you choose. . . kind of like cooking.) It was a lot of fun and the perfect kind of weekend project as there's no pattern to follow, you just kind of go for it and improvise with the tools you have as you go. Below is the finished piece! I'm hoping to make some more to give as gifts. . . 

Some beautiful delphinium flowers from one of my afternoon walks through Jack London Square. I love these flowers; they were some of my favorites as a child. I even remember, once I got my first job at the age of 16, going down to the local nursery to buy some to plant in my parents' backyard. One of the plants I picked up from Flowerland was a purple variety of these. 

This is Mingus. He's my neighbor's cat and he is a GIANT love-bug. He also has the funniest/loudest meow I've ever heard come out of a happy cat. He kind of sounds pissed off and annoyed but the whole time he's purring and rubbing against you trying to get as much love as possible. 

Some shots (courtesy of Jeff) from our Sunday trip to Flowerland. Honestly, all these years living here and I'd never gone to this magical little place. It's so quaint. (At one point I said to Jeff "Even the bathroom is cute here!") There's a carefully curated selection of flowering plants, edibles, succulents, small bushes, and gardening paraphanelia in their small indoor shop. (They also carry a small slection of jewelry. . . I seriously want to get Tangleweeds into this shop if I have my way.) Jeff and I picked out a variety of flowering plants, mainly for some large planter boxes in our front yard. Hopefully, once it all makes it's way into the ground I'll post some pretty pics here.

Lastly, amidst all of the paperwork and taxes I did squeeze in some time to make jewelry (of course!). That second photo is a shot of some of the goodies that were dropped off at Gorgeous and Green in Berkeley late last week. And, yup, they now have some of my newest designs! If you're local and itching to get your hands on some of these new pieces, head on down to 2946 College Ave in Berkeley. They stock a gorgeous selection of hand-crafted goodies, and they have the best floral shop in town!