Oregon Tough!

Out walking the dog this morning, I came across this in the local park. These are seven-year-olds playing their weekly soccer game. What you can't see in this arguably way blurry phone photo is that it's raining pretty hard. The kids don't seem to mind. I guess if you want to play any little league sport in Oregon most any time but summer, you have to be rough and tough enough to play in the rain!

Today's Laugh (?)

Dear Spring,

I'm ready for it to not be windy rainy and cold. Thank you.

Still wearing too many layers in Portland,
Judi

After The Rain Stacking Rings

This is actually a design that I've made before. It was a while ago and I only made one. I saw it again when I was flipping through my design sketch book and thought I'd made a newer version of it. This time I've forged a wider, heavier hammered band for the main ring. The two side rings are also heavier and hammered. It gives the whole thing a more organic feel. I like the look of the three rings not being the same width. And, of course, they can be worn together or individually. Obviously, due to the way the mushrooms? droplets? antennae? are created, each ring is one-of-a-type. This one is a size 7.5. I call this design After the Rain and it's currently available in my Etsy shop.

Is It Raining With You Necklace

Inspired by my vacation to Oahu...
Not.

Of course, inspired by our lovely Portland weather. This cute necklace developed organically starting with the cloud idea and having it sit on my bench for a couple of days. Then there was the "raindrops". And then there were a lot more raindrops. I really like it!

Besides, "vacation to Oahu"? *dreaming*

Make Up Your Mind!

Mother nature seemed a bit confused today. I was headed out to lunch with my friend Guenevere (a fab painter! that's her work on the right and more can be seen here). We were only going about 12 blocks and were deciding, based on weather, if we should walk or drive. At the time we left it was overcast, but not raining - it had poured earlier in the day. We decided to walk. Five feet from the door, it starts to drizzle. In another block, it turned to light hail (yes, freaking hail). A few more blocks and it was storming hail. By the time we got to the restaurant, we were pretty wet. While we were eating it went from clearing up to pouring rain - which at one point was blowing sideways. Once it stopped, we made a break for it. A few blocks from the restaurant, the sky cleared and the sun came blazing out. We both literally stopped where we were and stood soaking it in. This was all in the course of an hour or hour and a half. Ah, crazy Portland!

My Year in Portland

In June, I celebrated my one-year anniversary in Portland. Here are a few things I’ve learned in that year:

• All work and no play makes me a dull girl – to myself and to everyone else – and more than a bit neurotic.

• Portland is an incredibly wonderful place to be an artist/crafter in. There are tons of people who also craft and the community itself loves and supports crafting.

• People in Portland do not believe in rain. Unless the water from the sky is falling extra hard, which it doesn’t do too often, people tend to just ignore it and act like nothing is different than a sunny day. Since during some times of the year it rains a lot, this is a very healthy mindset to have.

• You can’t swing a mildly sedated cat without hitting a coffee shop. In Portland, caffeine is one of the 4 basic food groups. Beer is another.

• People in Portland actually do take time to stop and smell the roses. Being the “City of Roses,” they are everywhere, in every shape and color. I often find myself sniffing blossoms and I see other people doing the same.

• Crows are really very clever, quite mean and terribly noisy.

• Closed-toed shoes are considered dressing up. Unless they are bike shoes.

• One of the nice things about living in a smaller city is that, although I’ve only lived here a relatively short time (and never leave the house – see the first bullet point), I already run into people I know when I am out and about. It’s nice. It makes me feel connected to the place.

Rainfall Necklace

I love the bold graphic of this new piece, Rainfall Necklace. It's simple and modern, but has a distinctly tribal feel also. The contrast in materials of the hard sterling and soft leather cord adds another dynamic that really brings this together for me. I guess I'm just really fixated on circles and should just come to accept this about myself!

This was another jewelry design that appeared to me fully formed that I was able to translate into metal. Lots of my ideas don't necessarily work out when I try to fabricate them and, literally, end up on the scrap heap.

I did discover something funny and potentially dangerous when working with tubing: when you apply fire to the piece after quenching the piece or pickling it, the water left in the tube quickly (in seconds) becomes steam and shoots out the ends. Scared the poop out of me the first time it happened! This necklace is currently available in my Etsy shop.

I'll believe it when I see it

73 and sunny?... Sunny?... Really?