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Archives for July 2018

The Building of Potential Energy

July 24, 2018 ·

Sweet friends!

It has been a minute since I have had new pieces to share, huh? Large collection releases require an ever-surprising amount of time and energy, though I truly delight in them. To be able to wander around within a collection theme really flexes my creative mind, and I feel more agile and confident with every passing collection. However, my spring collection featured over 130 pieces, each one carefully designed and crafted: gemstones selected with a careful eye, edges smoothed, chain links counted, leaves delicately pressed into metal, and each piece worn for a moment or two to ensure comfort and proper proportions. It was like a flower bed into which I put every bit of my energy reserves.

And so when all the Mossflower pieces that were purchased (you generous souls have nearly purchased every one at the time of this writing!) were in the mail, I laid my head down and drank in sleep and quietude deeply. Then once rested, I began the good work of scrubbing all surfaces, throwing open windows, sweeping out every tucked away place, replenishing my flux, reordering precious metals, and of course, sketching.

Whenever I talk myself into a time of rest (though honestly, more often insisted upon by my fella), ideas that have been sitting patiently in the corners of my studios, in the form of gemstone piles or roughly drawn sketches, quickly find themselves on my bench or tucked in my sketchbook. Designs that have been floating in the ether of my mind find their way to the forefront and beg to be woven into metal and stone. The world outside spills inspiration into me: leaves tucked in pockets, wading into mountain rivers, watching my fella rescue a tired or drowning bee (he is a bee whisperer, I swear!), a beloved 7-year old reciting a poem recently composed, readingย Tolkienย beneath a particular giant oak tree (which I am sure is a tree ent), watchingย cumulusย clouds through the eyes of a beloved 3-year old, colors seen only briefly each year bursting forth in the landscape all at once, and the passage of time marking every corner of my world. How can one keep hands still when ideas flow by so swiftly?!

I can feel myself beginning to crackle with potential energy again, about to tip over into another whirlwind of metal and stone.

And so over the past few weeks I have been storing up this energy for new designs while working on a tremendous bunch of made to order pieces (you lovely people keep me in coffee and silver between collections) and finishing up all the pre-ordered Yavanna earrings.

(Iย receivedย so many messages and comments from people who had missed out on them, I decided to create a final batch before finally moving on from the Mossflower collection.)

And so while quiet on the internet, my studio has been abuzz with smithing.

I have been sketching out a biggish collection comprised of honeybees and citrine, but decided to let ideas come to me slowly. I have been allowing myself to push stones around in my sketchbook, asking politely what they would like to become. But never rushing them to tell me, sometimes stones think and speak slowly. And while I have been watching the bees buzz around the gobs of honey-colored citrine, I felt called to a different small collection.

For several years I have been hoarding these porcelain owl cabochons, like a dragon perched on precious pile of gold. These are incredibly hard to come by and are rather expensive, and so I have left them tucked away in my gemstone cabinet, too timid to use them up.

But recently I was sent a handful of cast sterling silver twigs. And as I turned them over in my hands, looking at the subtleties in the bark and leaf buds, I could hear the owls cooing in their dark drawer. It is as though they could remember how it felt to clutch an alder branch in their talons, and feel their feathers softly wrapped in moonlight and leaves.

And I couldn’t refuse them.

There will be rings and necklaces studded with the porcelain owls, onyx black as night, shimmering moonstone, twigs cast from real branches, silver pebbles, and swaths of leaves.

Stay tuned for a shop update announcement! It will be a quick one.

Filed In: In the Studio, Inspiration / Tagged: art, artisan, artist, artists, creative process, inspiration, Jewelry, laura mears, lifestyle, metalsmith, metalsmithing, moonspinner, nature, photography

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Greens upon greens upon greens in the northern for Greens upon greens upon greens in the northern forests of Maine. ๐ŸŒฒ๐ŸŒฟ๐ŸŒณ
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#livefolk #staywild #quietinthewild #exploretocreate #countryliving  #folkgood #livesimple #optoutside #foundforaged #earthspirit #natureinspired #getoutside #forestlife #forestcore #wearewildness #intothewoods #seeksimplicity #hikenewengland  #appalachiantrail #hikingmaine #maine
Thank you to everyone who raised their hands on my Thank you to everyone who raised their hands on my call for how many of these necklaces to make. It is such a help! 

If you have a preference, do you prefer oval necklaces, or teardrop shaped ones? It's now time for me to choose from my gemstone collection. 

I think I will be able to make juuuust enough necklaces, though as always, everything will be first come first served.

Stay tuned for more previews!
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๐ŸŒฒ North Woods Collection: Date TBA ๐ŸŒฒ

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#agate #mossagate #terrarium #forestcoreย #handmadejewelryย #mainemadeย #madeinmaineย #forestjewelry #gemstonejewelry #maineartist #artisanmade #artisanjewelry #mossagatenecklace #madewithlove
๐ŸŒฒ A call for ring sizes for the first design of ๐ŸŒฒ A call for ring sizes for the first design of my North Woods Collection! ๐ŸŒฒ

Generous slices of moss agate, each unique and holding tiny forest-like worlds. Set atop an undulating bark edge base, textured and sawn to look like a tree slice. 

These also have a secret message inside the band.

I have about a dozen more of these in the making, all with wonderfully different gemstones. 

If this ring calls to you, let me know your ring size! They will still be first come first served, but I will try to make the most requested sizes. 
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#moss #mossterrarium #mossagate #agate #agatejewelry #gemstonejewelry #gemstones #terrarium #terrariumjewelry #mosslove #mainemade #madeinmaine #maineartist #forestcore #forestlovers
๐ŸŒฒ๐Ÿ” We have begun hiking (in most cases โ€œre ๐ŸŒฒ๐Ÿ” We have begun hiking (in most cases โ€œrehikingโ€) the Maine 4,000-fters with the goal of consciously ticking them off starting now. 

What a gift it is living in this area for the summer. Towering granite cliffs and each road a tiny corridor through endless green. 

It seems every moment my fella is dashing out the door to mountain bike or hike part of the AT or fly fish his favorite river or go running on the trails.

And I have been gathering up the entire valley in my arms, the one our cabin is nestled in, to spin it into a bold, rugged collection for you.

We been relishing all the clearwater, bluebird-sky moment of these north woods. (Despite those early summer black-flies.)

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#livefolk #staywild #quietinthewild  #countryliving  #theartofslowliving #folkgood #optoutside  #earthspirit #appalachiantrail #getoutside #forestlife #wearewildness #naturelove #intothewoods #seekthesimplicity  #wildandfree #natureisbeautiful #naturesbeauty #beautyinnature #mainelife
I am gathering up the forests of northern Maine an I am gathering up the forests of northern Maine and translating them into a big, earthy collection for you. I hope you will love it!๐ŸŒฒ๐Ÿ’ซ
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#moss #mossterrarium #mossagate #agate #agatejewelry #gemstonejewelry #gemstones #terrarium #terrariumjewelry #mosslove #mainemade #madeinmaine #maineartist
๐ŸŒฒ I have been soaking up so much chlorophyl, I ๐ŸŒฒ I have been soaking up so much chlorophyl, I must be nearly drunk on it by now! 

Being in this cabin near the Bigelow Preserve has been like a tremendous exhale. The first thing we did when we got here was to turn off the alarm clocks on our phones, and now summer stretches out like a yawn. I feel like I am 8 years old again with a summer vacation just beginning.

#moss #mossagate #naturelover #wildflowerseason #getoutsidemore #mosslove #mainelife #naturegram #beadedlily #lilygarden
My endless thanks to those of you who plucked some My endless thanks to those of you who plucked some amethyst earrings! About three dozen pairs were claimed, and are waiting to be packaged up. ๐Ÿ’ซ
๐Ÿ’ซ Everything is in the Etsy shop, sweet friends ๐Ÿ’ซ Everything is in the Etsy shop, sweet friends! ๐Ÿ’ซ

The easiest way to see everything, is to click the * Violet Linings section on the left in the Etsy shop! 

(Direct link to the shop is on my profile.)
Goodness how these earrings glow! For these summer Goodness how these earrings glow! For these summery earrings, I sawed a tiny window from the back of the sterling silver base so that the light comes pouring through while being worn. I hope you love them as much as I do!
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๐Ÿ”ฎ Violet Linings Earrings: TONIGHT at 7pm EST in the Etsy Shop ๐Ÿ”ฎ
๐Ÿ’œ ๐Ÿ‘พ Amethyst Vines and Stranger Things ๐Ÿ‘พ๐Ÿ’œ
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Goodness how I love these earrings, I am wearing my pair as I write this. 

Light and long, they twirl with the wind and make the gentlest susurrus. These will all bloom in the shop in two days!

Until then I will be eating vegan peanut butter cookies and rewatching Stranger Things (currently on Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer) before we hop onto Season 4. Have you watched it yet? (No spoilers, please!) 

Also, I rather enjoy giving my posts chapter titles, a la Stranger Things.
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๐Ÿ”ฎ Violet Linings Earrings: Sunday, June 5th at 7pm EST in the Etsy Shop ๐Ÿ”ฎ
โ€œMorning Gloriesโ€ by Mary Oliver Blue and dar โ€œMorning Gloriesโ€ by Mary Oliver

Blue and dark-blue
rose and deepest rose
white and pink they 

are everywhere in the diligent 
cornfield rising and swaying 
in their reliable

finery in the little
fling of their bodies their 
gear and tackle 

all caught up in the cornstalks. 
The reaper's story is the story 
of endless work of 

work careful and heavy but the 
reaper cannot 
separate them out there they 

are in the story of his life 
bright random useless
year after year 

taken with the serious tons 
weeds without value 
humorous beautiful weeds. 

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๐Ÿ”ฎ Violet Linings Earrings: Sunday, June 5th at 7pm EST in the Etsy Shop ๐Ÿ”ฎ
We are fully ensconced in a cabin for the summer, We are fully ensconced in a cabin for the summer, tucked against the Bigelow preserve in northwestern Maine. 

Long verdant days tinged with birdsong, and crisp nights, full of stars and mountain wind. 

And coffee has never tasted so good.
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