RAW 2/52

RAW 2/52
Originally uploaded by Lunasa Designs

This is my second ring in the RAW (ring a week) challenge! I like how it turned out but do NOT like how the pictures turned out... I'll be taking more tomorrow when (hopefully) the light will be better!

RAW52 #1 (ring a week 2011)

RAW 1 (ring a week 2011)
Originally uploaded by Lunasa Designs

I recently joined the RAW challenge (ring a week) and have completed my first ring for the year!
To see more about this project, check out the group organizer's blog here: http://metalriot.blogspot.com/
click here for a post about the project on the lark books website: http://www.larkcrafts.com/jewelry-beading/ringing-in-the-new-year/
See pictures of the whole group here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/ringaweek/

I'll be making a ring a week and will try to finish and post a ring every THURSDAY for the rest of the year! Wish me luck!

Let's talk about blog - Where do you aspire to be in 5 years?



Sawyer and Honey the horse



I'm really late with this post!  The Handmade Division team does a talk about blog every month - where each member writes about the same subject.  This month the subject is: "Where do you aspire to be in 5 years".

Planning for any future event is always hard for me.  I've lived my life in a way that anything and everything is possible and I may have to move across country at the drop of a hat (no, I'm not an escaped convict). 

Right now though (living in what I call suburban hell) I strive to make enough money so that my husband doesn't have to work - I want to move back to our property in Michigan - right next to my dad's farm.  We have 10 acres there - all wooded - all trees that I grew up with...  Our property is comforting - the one place we've always felt safe and completely ourselves.



Our road through our woods - and campsite

 We've never been able to afford to build a house there but for the last 3 years that we lived in Michigan rented a small house nearby instead.  We would camp out all summer long and I often joked that we should just put our stuff in storage for the summer months...  stop wasting our money on rent while we live in tents.

Since my dad's death, my brother has been living on the farm - and with the help of all of my siblings has been rebuilding and reviving it.
I must say, I'm a bit jealous.  I would love to live off the land again.  The way I grew up.  Relying on the earth for heat and power and food and no longer paying utility bills!

I would love to wake up every morning in our woods - the sun coming up through the trees...  The soft breeze smelling of Michigan sagebrush (not the real name but that's what we always called it) and sweet smelling orange hawkweed.  I would love it if my husband was no longer tied to a 9-5 job - or in his case a 6-9 job...  I would love it if I could restore my dad's studio...  wake up and walk up the hill every morning...  Say hi to the sheep and horses on my way... Help weed the magnificent garden my brother has grown...  Refill my coffee cup at the farm house and then make my way to the studio.



our woods and rock pile



Gardens at the farm





Ahhh....  even thinking about it makes me feel like I can breath again.



Imagine only living on my etsy income.  It would be impossible living in suburbia but with no utility bills, no rent or mortgage..  We'd be rich!  In many more ways than just monetarily.

My kids could play on 87 acres - the way I used to play - with complete freedom no annoying parents watching their every move.

To read other blogs on the subject:



Andes Cruz: http://www.andescruz.wordpress.com/



Tess Norberg: http://www.nova-designs.blogspot.com/

Jewelry by Natsuko: http://www.jewelrybynatsuko.blogspot.com/



Bella-Bijou Jewellery : http://www.bellabijoujewellery.blogspot.com/

JJ Papke: http://www.rosyrevolver.blogspot.com/

Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/



Tosca Teran: http://www.nanopod.wordpress.com/

Thomasin Durgin: http://metalriot.blogspot.com/

Lisa Hopkins Design: http://lisahopkinsdesign.blogspot.com









“Where do you draw your inspirations for creating from?” September Talk About Blog

Today's Talk About Blog from Etsy's Handmade Division Team is:  Where do you draw your inspirations for creating from?

GOOD question!!

I would love to write about how I draw my inspiration from nature's simple lines, or from my children's laughter (definitely not their screams), or from some simple moment of pure bliss when something just hits me!

The truth is, I get it from all of these places and more.  Not talking about jewelry here  ;).  Jewelry is a little bit different.  With jewelry I admire the simple, rustic, not so perfect lines in nature and I want to make it into a piece to wear...  I admire the tools and materials spread out before me (yes, they are ALWAYS spread about) and I want to put this with that and add a bit of this and voila!  It's a necklace!

And sometimes I DO get that simple moment of pure bliss when the perfect design just flashes in my head (usually right before I'm about to go to sleep).

But with sculpture...  well, sculpture is different.
Some of my best pieces have been made after spending a whole day viewing thousands of pictures from the Holocaust or right after getting into a particularly bad (and usually quite frustrating) fight with my husband (thankfully those are few and far between these days but they have made for some great art), or a particularly chaotic day with the boys when I feel like the worst mommy in the world (if you're a parent, you know exactly what I'm talking about).  Some days can make me feel insane.
Using my hands to carve, either out of clay or out of wax to be cast in metal, turns the very chaotic things in my head into something tangible, touchable and REAL.
It is a release.  Like writing in a journal.... Suddenly I don't have to obsess about those random thoughts any more.  They're there, right in front of me.  I can touch that thought.  I can let it out of my brain.
I imagine it's quite like how Harry Potter's character's pull memories from their brains...

So I guess you could say, it's not so much inspiration as it is clearing out my head...  making room for more...  inspiration??


Please visit all our participating members this month:

Andes Cruz: http://andescruz.wordpress.com/

Susan Moloney: http://susarto.blogspot.com/

Alice Istanbul: http://istanbuldesigns.blogspot.com/

Jewelry by Natsuko http://jewelrybynatsuko.blogspot.com/

nanotopia: http://nanopod.wordpress.com/

Bella-Bijou Jewellery http://bellabijoujewellery.blogspot.com/

Beth Cyr http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/

ArtJewel Designs: http://www.artjeweldesigns.blogspot.com/

Lisa Hopkins Design: http://lisahopkinsdesign.blogspot.com/

Thomasin Durgin http://metalriot.blogspot.com/

Abhaya Fibers http://abhayafibers.blogspot.com/

NEDbeads http://nedbeads.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow is my birthday...

DCP01021
Originally uploaded by Lunasa Designs

and instead of feeling happy and excited, I just feel completely overwhelmingly sad.
I miss my dad.
He was the one person in my life that ALWAYS made a big deal about birthdays (in a real way, not a 3-ring circus kind of way) and never forgot my birthday.
Probably why I'm really feeling the that aching void right now.

I wish I could just hear his voice one more time on the other end of the phone, "happy birthday babycakes"...

Day 7 - Limerick sale of the day!

P1140103
Originally uploaded by Lunasa Designs

There was a tiny bit of confusion yesterday about the earring sale - So I'm going to extend it for a few hours today! ALL earrings are 20% off (with a limerick) plus FREE shipping. This includes earrings in my "one of a kind" section so make sure you check those out too!

Easiest thing is to do a search for "earrings" in my shop.

Looking forward to reading more limericks!!
In the meantime, here are some I've already received:

There once was a sweet girl named Av'Ry
Who lived WAY too far from her Gram(me).
But on August the 8,
We can ALL celebrate
After all, she's your own birthday Buddy!!

We will celebrate Avery's fourth birthday on 8/8 together it is a big deal because she is in California and we are in CT.
And I would like to order these earrings.

-Terry

There once was a girl from Carolina,
who loved Lunasa Design-a.
The tiny stackable rings,
were her favorite things,
nothing could be any finah(er) :)

-Karen

There once was a librarian
Who was utilitarian
At a Uni in Philly
Her students are silly
It’s all too proletarian
-Marietta

Avery's sister is called Miss Katie
WHo's birthday bud is Great, Great Aunt Bea
Oh, they sing and they dance,
You should see them prance
Small and Tall, one 6 and one 93.
-Terry

Limerick Sale of the Day!!

Carnelian post earrings
Originally uploaded by Lunasa Designs

Day 6!
Write me a limerick and you will receive 20% off ALL earrings in my shop (including one of a kind items)! Plus FREE shipping!
If you don't write a limerick, you still get free shipping. :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lunasadesigns

Remember, after today there are only 2 more days left!

Here are a few limericks I've received so far! They are FUN!

there once was a man who insisted,
by his wife he would not be enlisted,
to write a limerick today,
for a sale she did say,
but at last he couldnt resist it.
-Karen

There once was a graduate scholar
Who'd count microbes just for a dollar
While bent over the scope
She tried not to mope
But thank god they're not any smaller
-Erin

I inherited from my Bubbie,
Some fingers that tend to be chubby,
So I will need a size 8,
Yeah that would be great,
I love rings like this that are nubby.
-Deborah


These are great and should inspire you plenty!

Limerick Sale of the Day! August 5

Garnet Earrings
Originally uploaded by Lunasa Designs

If you write me a limerick you will get 30% off any One of a Kind item in my shop! I'll be adding more today! Get them while you can, once they're gone, they're gone!

Click here to view One of a Kind section in my shop!

I'll also be posting some of the limericks written so far.... so stay tuned! They are FUN!

Garnet earrings --------->
Will be listed some time today!
                                                                                    Evolve Ring

Limerick Sale of the day!

Gold lip oyster shell earrings
Originally uploaded by Lunasa Designs

August 4th:
Today is a special day - its the halfway mark to my birthday (only 4 more days)!
If you write me a limerick and purchase any item from my shop I will make a FREE and new and spectacular item just for you! A nice little gift!
I'll try to use my psychic abilities when making this piece of jewelry for you but you may tell me things like, "I don't wear earrings" or, "I hate the color orange"....
Have fun with writing me a limerick and I will have fun in my studio creating a one of a kind gift just for you!

Lunasa Designs SHOP!

Tiny Stacking set

Today's Limerick sale (day 2) is (drumroll please.... )
Buy any one Tiny stacking ring (pictured) get another at 50% off! Buy any stacking ring set and get the same amount of stacking rings at 50% off!! Such a great deal that I'm biting my nails right now!!
Don't miss out! This deal is only available today (August 2nd)!
I'm even throwing in FREE shipping!
Now right me a limerick! Its fun! :)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LunasaDesigns?section_id=5877769

DAY 1 - Limerick Sale!

Tiny Stacking set
Originally uploaded by Lunasa Designs

Today's deal is 10% off ALL rings + Free shipping on your entire order!

*Remember, you can take advantage of every sale for 8 days and I will combine shipping at the end....

But you do have to write a limerick for me every day that you take part in a sale! (I'm a limerick whore, what can I say).

♥