I went a little out of my comfort zone with a new design, and liked what I ended up with. I don't usually work with chain, and when I go big, I go REALLY big, so this piece goes in a whole other direction, mixing delicate chain with a large, hammered ring and hand-formed swan clasp, ending up with a mix of bold and soft.

Feedback much appreciated!

Peace!

Made a new style of earrings, brought them to the gallery this morning, sold them this afternoon! I brought my camera today to take some photos, and didn't even take a picture of them yet. It's a small thing, but at the same time it's a huge thing, and I wanted to send a thank you to the universe for this small validation that I am doing the right thing.

With a few months left before I actually become the owner, it is giving me a little too much time to second guess myself...gotta stop doing that!

Peace!

I'm sending out lots of positive thoughts! Come on over to Joye's and treat yourself to something gorgeous :)

Or come in and sit a while...that's good too!

Peace!

Have received approval for the name for the new business! Joye Designs will become Little Gypsy's Fine Jewelry (Gifts & Gallery) as of January 1, 2015. YAY!!

It's amazing how hard it is to come up with a name that reflects your spirit at least a little, that isn't already in use thanks to the millions of web based businesses. My father used to call me the gypsy in the family, and he's been gone a long time, so it's a small tribute to a strict European man who let his daughter act like a boy (probably because he never had one!) I spent a lot of time in his workshop, sitting on his heavy old wooden workbench melting solder. The trick was, if I could light the torch with a striker, I could melt as much as I wanted onto the bench top. Nowadays that would probably be considered inappropriate, but I sure loved it at the time!

Peace!

I've now spent 3 days working in Joye's gallery, and I am over the moon. Will it be all sunshine and flowers? Of course not. But pretty darn close, I'm thinking.

Peace!

Well...today I spent the whole day at Joye Designs & Stone Art Gallery, with Joye, learning the ropes of how to run the shop...and tomorrow I will be there running it on my own for Joye. And on January 1, 2015, I will be the new owner of (insert name here, ha-ha, still working on that one!)

After a lifetime of working the "day job" and then struggling to keep the artistic aspect of my life active, I have made the leap into putting the art first. I am excited, terrified, and absolutely cannot wait until the day I open the door and am there working for myself, sink or swim.

When I was driving out this morning, a truck turned left in front of my, and on it's side was written "today is the first day of the next chapter of your life" - I have no idea what it was advertising, but I felt like it was speaking directly to me.

The day was crammed with how to do everything, what to write down, what to do when I walk in the door, working the debit machine, noting which artist's piece sells and how to keep track, and laughing, and meeting the other business owners in the area, and laughing, and laughing some more.

The first day of the next chapter was amazing. Here's to many more chapters!

Peace!

In the last few months I have been painting, packing, unpacking, viewing, talking to bankers, training three different employees...everything BUT spending time in the workshop. I was supposed to be done at my job on August 29th, and then...big surprise, my replacement couldn't start until September 2nd. So I spent all last week training new staff, and I get to do it again tomorrow and Tuesday.

This morning the dog got wickedly ill...I won't go into details but let's just say it involved both ends of the dog, and it wasn't pretty. And, it lasted for several hours.

I had plans for the day that changed abruptly, and I realized that nothing was going to fall completely apart if I just stopped for today and did something else instead. And so, the dog sat in the yard with lots of water and no food, resting, and I spent the afternoon in the workshop for the first time in what seems like forever, although truthfully, it's only been about 4 weeks. Managed to start and finish a mock-up ring in copper for a client, and then just putzed around and made three simple wire knuckle rings, and then had a shower and a glass of wine, and you know what? I feel more relaxed than I have in ages.

It's been a good reminder to take time for yourself. My partner said, "why don't you just relax?". Turns out, banging away on metal and making something relaxes me very well, thank you very much.

I wish you all time to relax, and the wisdom to know when it's time to do so.

I think I may actually sleep tonight :)

Peace!