uncertainty and the evolution of a new collection

These last days have been something of a roller coaster ride.  I've been alternating between wonderful creative bursts during the day and nights that have bordered on "dark night of the soul" depression.

I go from feeling terribly uncertain about where I'm headed, what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, wandering around the house trying to do something productive, to sitting back down at my worktable, pulling out components, remembering bits and tucked away fragments, assembling prototypes and experiments, seeing potential and direction and focus and then realizing I've come around to something that feels like hope.

Here's where I am right now ...

As I sit here trying not to get lost in my feelings of uncertainty and inner confusion, trying to stay positive and know that it always works out, one thing I'm really looking forward to is the release of Jonathan Fields new book, UNCERTAINTY, Turning Fear & Doubt Into Fuel For Brilliance.  Here's the exceptionally well done and really inspiring trailer.



Could the timing be any more perfect ... I don't think so.  I had an advance digital copy that I only got part of the way through, so I know what's in store and I'm excited.  The timing is, well ... timely.

So while I'm still wafting around in my own uncertainty, I have been making some headway in putting together the new jewelry collection.  I thought I'd share some of my process and the unfolding evolution of this collection ...

You may remember, the gathering of inspiration started with the purchase of Cara May's sweater from Niche.  While chatting with the artist, ideas for jewelry started to flow fast and furious.  I got to thinking about that bag of fossilized bone I'd been hoarding and decided I needed more!  That led to putting in a request to my in-laws to see if they'd like to part with some of their stash.  Here's my massive haul of fossilized treasure.  The starting place for my new jewelry collection ...

The sweater is knitted in part with wool coated steel wire from Habu Textiles.  That led me to ordering Hadar's steel metal clay.  Okay, so the jury's still out on steel metal clay.  It's a total pain to fire and, while almost everything has survived, it's not a for sure guarantee that everything will fire properly.  Just when I was ready to hate it and chalk my $50 investment up to experience, I decided I actually like the look of the pieces.  I'm still figuring it all out and it's a pain, but I'm going to use the 150 grams I bought, turning it into a very limited collection.

The progression so far ...

One thing I had read but forgot, the steel tends to warp and curl, a very nice thing in my book.  Only thing, these pieces curled the wrong way.  So I wet them down and put some card stock over them to flatten them back out.  I really do love this shape - long, thin, curved and slightly textured.

This is my first batch of components ready to fire.  I've got some experiments happening here.  I've embedded raw rubies and sapphires in a couple of pieces and wrapped a bit of the clay around a couple of forged bailing wiring rings  ... all of which should survive the 1700 degree firing.  The pain part of the firing is that you have to fire in two stages, one to burn out the binder and the higher, sintering phase and then you can only fire a few pieces at a time ... these pieces took two firings.

I'm still trying to figure out the finishing of the components.  The pieces emerge black and crusty.  Here's the contrast between straight out of the kiln and sanded with polishing paper.  The rubies survived but the piece broke in half; I'm thinking I'll still be able to use the pieces. 

I tumbled everything in various ways ... steel shot for several hours gets rid of the crusty look, but my usual abrasive media is just not abrasive enough.  My 400 grit polishing paper seems to be the best follow-up to the steel shot, but I really want to try a steel brush and coarser sanding paper.  I've also put a coating of Renaissance Wax on everything ... just in case.

Now I've got the core components - steel and fossils ... what next?  That's been the big question and a contributing factor to my mood swings and ponderous navel gazing.  So I've been taking a few breaks to let the ideas rest, the juices mingle and stew.  Yesterday, after a short burst of cleaning and some de-cluttering, I headed back to my worktable.

I'm thinking it started with pulling out those luscious teal glass beads I bought in July.  Then drilling a big chunk of bone and remembering those other big Ghana glass beads I had stashed here and there and oh man, what about those vintage Venetian glass beads I've had for 15 years and can you believe it, they've got that same teal in them and oh yeah, don't forget those big chunks of Roman glass and doesn't this all look just amazing with the ochre of my sweater and lo and behold ... I have my color palette.

teal Ghana glass and bronze metal clay spacers

vintage Venetian glass, Ghana glass, fossils

 

Roman glass and ochre, rust and ruby bead drawers

figuring out how it's all going to go together ... flourite, Roman glass, fossils, steel

some prototypes against my sweater ... a very promising start

So that's where I am right now. 

Goodness, this has taken a really long time to put together and those beautiful components are calling me back to the worktable.  Plus I want to use up the other 100 grams of steel clay, 'cause it's going to take a couple of days to get it all fired ... still not happy about that, but I'm just going with it for now.

Let me know what you think!

l i g a - kvk

au revoir Port Townsend

Okay, so this has been a very difficult decision.  I've been this close so many times and, well .. it's finally time.  June will be my last month at Artisans on Taylor in Port Townsend.  It's been a great ride and it's still a good source of income, but the bottom line - I really suck at managing consignment inventory.  It's a disservice to everyone - me and the gallery and the customers - the way I struggle with keeping up or more accurately not keeping up with keeping the gallery well stocked.  That's a big clue that I've been ignoring for a long time.

So here's the deal.  I was going to pull everything the end of May and decided to give everyone a month's notice instead.  So Anna and I are going to offer and "au revoir" 20% discount on all my work through the month of June.  There's some pretty special work out there, so it's an opportunity to snag some of my one-of-a-kind pieces with a bit of a discount.  Here's a link to my gallery page.

Please check with the gallery first, but here's a couple of pieces that may still be there ...

It's a strange feeling, but it's time to move on.  I really do know that when one door closes another opens ... still.  Deep breaths.  It's not really an abyss, it's an opportunity.

l i g a - kvk

heaven awaits ... on two fronts

Okay, so I've got lots of other things to share and so much to do and and and ....
But I just had to post this - found over at Varietist Muse, my first time there and really love his blog and will go back for more visits - but the point of all this is Zoe Keating - "avant cello" extraordinaire, plus she's just amazing to watch.



Getting ready to download whatever I can ... heaven awaits.

I'll be back with updates and my new and very exciting sterling silver pmc pieces - going in the kiln after this and I can't wait - they're very thin components and I'm dying to see how strong the sterling metal clay really is.
Wow I love finding new music and new artists and experimenting with new jewelry ideas - cost of silver be damned!
and and and ... can you tell I'm excited?

off to download new tunes.
with much gratitude and many blessings - kvk

p.s.  here's an interview - lush

lucky girl

Funny thing ... I love doing things for other people, being the sleuth, creating and mailing off little surprises for friends and loved ones.  It just never occurs to me that anyone would do that for me.  So I let out a bit of a squeal when I checked my mail yesterday.  For parked right there in my mailbox was a little surprise package from Andrew.  I dashed inside and headed straight for the scissors to slice open my unexpected goody.  An even bigger squeal came when I emptied out the contents - carefully labeled ziploc bags with beautiful gemstone nuggets.  Oh my, they are so very lovely ...........

There's two kinds of amber, smooth and really rough and crystal quartz, jumbo faceted and hammered nuggets, jumbo citrine, amazing green garnet and top-drilled sunstone - just check out the copper shiller of that front piece of sunstone and how translucent the amber is.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled.  I've got my new cache of treasure sitting front and center on my worktable, visions of new creations beginning to form in my little head.  Delicious!
Thank you Andrew!  You are a gem.

with deep gratitude and many blessings - kvk

biscuits and sourdough

Well, I'm caught up with my to-do list.  This is not to say I have nothing to do - lord mercy, far from that.  But the main thing that's on my plate and that I've been dying to get back to work on, is the expansion of my Talismans.

But here lies my conundrum and challenge ...
This body of work, Talismans for Fellow Travellers (TFFT), is going to be transformative for me and my business.  It must be developed over time, mindfully, from a heightened awareness, details evolving not thrown together.  Thing is, this is not how I've ever worked.  I'm kind of a design on the fly girl - which is one of the reasons I love metal clay so much ... it allows me to conceive a design and create it while still firmly in the grips of what could be a fleeting inspiration.  Sometimes ideas flow so fast I can't get them down in my sketchbook.  More often than not, I go straight to my worktable and let the ideas flow straight from my imagination through my hands and into the metal clay.

Where I am right now reminds me of something from an Abraham session I attended years ago, something to the effect of, when you've got ideas forming or a project in development, stay with it and follow it to it's full potential, don't release it to the world until it's really ready to go - like baking biscuits ... as excited as you may be to dive into those warm, crusty little delights and slather them with butter and honey, don't take them out of the oven until they're really done or you will be seriously disappointed, "you'll cook your biscuits into a squat."  You know I love visuals and this is a great one.

The biscuit analogy has gotten me to slow down my TFFT plans.  I'm thinking this project is more like the process of making good sourdough bread - it takes time for the starter to develop followed by the careful blending of all the ingredients/elements as they come together into a delicious, richly flavored final product ... and whatever you do, don't take it out of the oven until it's fully done.

For the last few days I've been going to Colette Baron-Reid's website and 'pulling' a card from her on-line oracle deck ... they're really good!  This is what I got this morning ...

So whether it's biscuits or sourdough, it seems best to take a lot of deep breaths, slow down and proceed with clear intention, fully engaged and awake, not planning every detail so I remain open for the arrival of the miracles that are sure to come.

I found out about Colette through a bit of synchronicity that's leading to more and more little bits.  I'm reading her new book, The Map, which has me so enthralled I can barely get to sleep at night.  I'm thinking I may have to stop reading it before bed 'cause I just get so excited about the coming chapters.  I have a very strong feeling that her work is going to be hugely influential in developing my Talismans and so I just ordered both sets of oracle cards and another book about the power of oracles called Messages From Spirit.

Basically, I'm just following my gaze and my intuition and enjoying the ride.
And regarding enjoying the ride ... I'm heading over to Nashville on Wednesday for a couple of days to help my brother do some space clearing.  More time to ponder and let my 'TFFT starter' develop.

A much more inspiring stewing than the annoying blogger stew from the last few days.

ta ta for now......
blessings - kvk

p.s.  not being able to let well enough alone, I went back to Colette's site and pulled another card - okay, I'll behave now ...

following

reposting this to get the dern things back in order.......

So I've been debating about doing this for months.  What's my motivation, do people pay attention to this sort of thing, do "I" pay attention to this sort of thing, is it about my ego or, I don't know, just what is it?  So I put the "followers" gadget on my sidebar.  There aren't that many official followers, fair number of readers, just a few following.  But bottom line, I really do like the idea that I've got followers!  And I really really appreciate the readers and love comments.  I mean really, why else would I do this?

I'm thinking this little shift is tied into two of the books I'm reading right now, actually re-reading ... Do the Work and War of Art.  One of the sections is about being a "pro" at what you do.  So I've been making my living with making jewelry for a good while, but I'm seeing places where I'm kind of lazy or not fully engaged.  It's all tied into that "following my gaze" thing and seeing where it lands.  I'm starting to see a lot of things more honestly and really making an effort to get fully congruent.  The process involves lots of deep breaths 'cause basically, it's a real challenge getting my extremely introverted self to step up and out and go for it.

And another thing about congruence or the lack thereof  ... there's that sneaking dairy thing I mentioned yesterday.  What's that about?  Why the sneaky nonsense?  Why do I feel like I have to sneak anything?  Ah, and then there's my other little secret ... I'm a fast food junky.  When I get off the green juice wagon I head straight for Taco Bell and a grilled stuft chicken burrito.

So, in the interest of staying honest and getting congruent and stepping out of my comfort zone and being more of a pro, I'm going to plug in that little gadget and see how I like the looks of it.  And after having to throw out a ton of slimy greens yesterday, I'm getting back on the green juice, no dairy wagon.

We'll see how long it lasts this time.
I mean really ... If not now, when?

green blessings - kvk

crazy day

well, this is a rerun due to blogger being buggered, but if you missed it the first time, here you go, if you've read it ... sorry.  Still trying to figure out how to get things back to the right order.

Sheesh!
It was a long hot night ... we were determined not to turn on the A/C.  Not so bad with windows open and fans going, but big storms blew in and windows got shut.  Add in allergy annoyances - I've been sneaking too much dairy and took several antihistamines yesterday (they're the 4hour variety).  May and June, I might take one a day.  Yesterday I took three - never a good thing.  So between the heat and the nasty hangover from OTC drugs, I woke up feeling like I'd been clubbed.

I was determined to turn the icky feeling around.  Nice cup of tea, morning meditation, nice shower, little bit of on-line surfing.  Found this site, Mythical Ireland and now I'm feeling the need to make some metalclay stones with Celtic inspired glyphs and carvings.

And I'm absolutely dying to get back to working on my Talismans and Reliquaries, but I've got to finish updating my wholesale catalog.

So in the middle of working on catalog updates which is mostly a comprehensive re-evaluation of all my pricing due to skyrocketing silver prices which is math and more math then plugging all the new prices into the catalog and doing a bit more updating and trying to get dinner started in there somewhere and getting flustered with stuff boiling over on the stove and cleaning up and then working on the catalog some more and more stuff boiling over and cleaning up again then spilling scalding hot chicken stock on my wrist and then getting really flustered.

Like I said sheesh.  So I've blown off what I was making for dinner and am getting ready to order takeout and heading to the store to pick up something for my burned wrist.  I'm looking forward to sitting down with a cold one, eating a meal I didn't have to cook and watching a mindless and immensely entertaining movie.  Probably Hoot or Away We Go.

Okay, bye.
blessings - kvk

p.s.  lavender oil for my wrist and the A/C on with fresh filters ... I'm doing better now
nite nite

postscript

Well, the pearl necklace was an enormous success and I quote, "I'm never taking these off ... well except to take a shower."  I'm happy and my sister's happy. 
Perfect. 
Need to do more of this sort of thing - lots more.

blessings - kvk

Jackie O's pearls + new jewels

I'm always on the lookout or listening for bits and pieces and clues for ideas and inspiration.  Include in that keeping my radar tuned for potential nice things I can do for someone else.  Nice things, little things, things that are easy and joyful for me, but could have great meaning for another.  Making jewelry is a small thing for me.  It's what I do, it's what I thrive on.  In the last couple of weeks, in between working on wholesale orders, I've had the opportunity to do some custom pieces.  A rare thing for me as I am usually quite hesitant to take on special requests.  All I can say is, I must be loosening up in my middle age.

The most recent one just went out in the mail.  It wasn't a special order, but one of my radar picks.  A recent conversation with my older sister gleaned the tidbit that she is obsessed with Jackie O's three strand pearl necklace.  Of course I remember seeing the necklace and there's been lots of 'first lady pearls' in the news thanks to Michelle O's stunning assortment of contemporary interpretations, bringing the pearl necklace to a whole new audience ... I especially love the Tom Binns pieces.  But my sister said the Jackie O version.  And I thought, "hey, I can do that!  The gem show's coming up and I'll do a bit of research and see what I pull off."

So yesterday I headed to Franklin for the gem show with my miniscule shopping list, perused and shopped for a couple of hours, found the exact pearls I was hoping for and headed home.  I had already made the 'bling' piece for the three strand closure.  Jackie's was emerald and gold, mine is pmc, white topaz and sapphires - close, sort of.  Since I got home early, I set to work right away and, well, see what you think.  Here's the clasp ...

And the full necklace.  The shortest strand is 17", graduating to 19" ...

There's something enormously satisfying about knotting perfectly graduated strands of pearls.  This is in the mail today ... I'm hoping a nice little surprise for my sister.  Unless she reads this, which I'm thinking is not likely, I don't know, we'll see.

Then there was the Talisman style necklace for a friend ...

I don't normally do text in pieces - there's just so much out there, it's hard to do anything different.  But a friend had asked if I might be able to do something with her word choices plus a couple other elements and I figured I'd give it a shot.  The other unusual thing here - the text nuggets are sterling silver pmc.  Yep!  My first batch of mixed and fired pmc3 mixed with pmc Pro.  My letter stamps were kind of big so I wanted to use the sterling for the additional shrinkage.  There will be more sterling silver goodies to come - hopefully later this month.

And then I got to make a special order version of one of my favorite new pieces.  This one is for the woman who cuts my hair, I guess that would be hair stylist, but the stylie part only lasts until I wash it.  I'm not known for fancy hairstyles or fancy product usage.  Anyway, she's buying this for a birthday present to herself.  

And lastly, this wasn't a special order, but it's a piece you may recognize.  I made this component a while back - channel set tunduru sapphires in a bar of pmc.  I originally planned to attach it to leather, then changed my mind, then decided to list the component on Etsy, it got several 'hearts' but didn't sell.  Then one day my eye caught a zip-loc bag full of bits of chain - a tiny rolo link that I've had for years.  I've always loved this chain and seeing it in a pile I finally figured out what to do with that little sapphire bar.  I'll be re-listing the finished piece on Etsy first of the week. 

Silver prices have been all over the place in the last couple of weeks and took a nose-dive in the last few days.  Normally I price things based on replacement costs, but because I've had this chain for a while and there's a lot of it in this piece, I'm going to price it at the old chain price.  Yeah, I'm softening up. 

And new jewels! 

Like I was saying, I didn't really need much of anything, but I'm always on the lookout for new and intriguing jewels.  Lately I've been obsessed with hammered gemstone nuggets - really rough, chiseled looking facets.  They're pretty hard to find, but they are out there.  Some on Etsy, a few on some gemstone sites.  I saw very little of this sort of thing yesterday, but did find a few strands to play around with.

I love the warmth of this quartz.  So much of it looked plastic and glaring and garish.  This strand was perfect.

I had to get two strands of this green amethyst - looks like green ice don't you think?

A bit of a splurge, but this gemstone is so so so hard to resist ... this not quite so chiseled moss aquamarine.  A bit more refined, but still rough enough for my plans.

And this was my big splurge, golden rutilated quartz ... $50 for a really short strand, 5 bucks a nugget - oof!  Thing is, I saw it first thing in the morning and kept thinking about it the whole time I was there, so I knew I better succumb or regret it later.  It's just so raw and I know it's going to look amazing with some big chunky something to be designed sometime soon.

All in all, a good trip and a good couple of days and, come to think of it, a good couple of weeks.  

I can't wait to see where these new jewels inspire me to go next.  That's the whole point, discovery and exploration and innovation and the delicious unknown.

Onward.

Blessings - kvk

pondering a couple of "r" words

The first "r" word that's had a hold of me is resistance.  I've been considering it in the context of fear ... what am I afraid of, what do I resist, what makes my breath catch, what makes me want to curl into a small wretched ball?  I'm trying to see the big things and, with just as much determination, looking for the small ones.  I've bought two books by Steven Pressfield about resistance and doing the work it takes to push through that insidious barrier.  Insidious feels like a very strong word, but at this point in my journey, it feels like the right word.  I'm feeling a delicious resolve ... another good "r" word.  You know me and my visuals ... the one that comes to mind right now is, I've been slogging through thick mud for an eternity, I've just had a bit of a rest and am re-engaging with renewed vigor, anticipation and enthusiasm.  The mud seems to be thinning and I'm making progress, moving forward, excitement building.

The other big "r" word I just came across this morning and haven't had time to explore - reconciliation.  Turns out there's an astrological thing happening right now that I read about here, "Towards Reconciliation: Taurus New Moon."  What hit me straight away, for me right now at this moment in time, it's not about reconciliation with another person, but with a part of myself.  I want to re-read this blog post and do some more pondering.   

What I'm also noticing right this very moment, I've got a slew of things to do today and I'm watching the clock as I write this and thinking, "girl, you better get busy doing what you're s'posed to be doing!"  Thing is, this felt important.  So I'm just going with it.

Must say, I do like starting my day with good words to ponder.  Kind of puts a theme to the day, a bit more purpose added to my intentions.

Do you have words that drive or motivate you?
Do you have recurring themes in your lives?
Are there words that feel enormously important, but are like mercury, almost impossible to hold onto?
What's popping up on your radar? 
What feels absolutely necessary - right now?

blessings - kvk 

p.s.  the digital edition of Pressfield's new book, Do the Work is FREE on Amazon  - how cool is that?

the third millennium light brigade

So I came up with the Third Millennium Light Brigade idea on Friday. 
Then after posting a response to a comment on seeking recruits , it seemed like it deserves a post of its own ...
I think we've got some potential here.  If nothing else, we've got a conversation going  ... our thoughts and words have enormous power. 

My original comment, "I'm working on figuring out what the Third Millennium Light Brigade would like to be. I'm thinking it's about choosing positive over mean spirited, celebrating good work and efforts in every part of our lives, the golden rule and viral gratitude - then sharing this passion and spreading the word.

What is isn't - is fighting against anything. "What you resist persists" or in Borg speak, "resistance is futile". Celebrating and uplifting, moving lovingly forward guided by our hearts - yes, absolutely."

Defining a thing is very limiting and so I think it's also going to be a user defined interface; an exact description will prove next to impossible.  So far (since last Wednesday anyway), it seems like a good addition to my mindfulness toolbox.  If I'm putting this out there for everyone to see, it will help keep me 'honest' and maybe less likely to succumb to the dark side.  It's having an effect already.  I don't watch much regular TV, but I'm a lot less interested in watching Jon Stewart, I'm watching my words and thoughts more and looking for ways to make my life more congruent, having a smile at the ready and if I don't give money to the buskers, I send them a silent blessing and wish them well.  Oh yes ... joyous anticipation, I want to look forward to each day with joyous anticipation.  Not a polly anna approach to life, but acknowledging and embracing the ebb and flow, the good and bad.

That's where I am right now. 
It feels pretty good.
Any thoughts?
You know, inquiring minds and all that ....

with deep gratitude and blessings - kvk

seeking recruits

I'm thinking of calling my new army, the "Third Millennium Light Brigade".  Not nailed in stone, but for a working title, I'm kind of liking the idea.
Whaddaya think?
Any thoughts?
Wanna join?
Guess I best get to work on our crest and coat of arms.

onward!
blessings - kvk

call to arms

Hmmmm, maybe it should be call to, I don't know - gratitude or human kindness or equanimity.  Jonathan Field's current post examines this and it's an ongoing challenge for me and a lot of people I know ... how to operate a forward thinking, successful and heart based business in this world where the mean-spirited and underhanded is celebrated and emulated and held up to be the standard mode of operation.

I had lunch with the Thorntons today, Cynthia and Andrew, and of course we got around to talking business.  We've all been in the biz for a good while and got to swapping a few horror stories.  Lord mercy, the things we've seen.  Those stories got me to thinking - Why does it seem like the trend is towards the dark side?  That Darth Vadar has the upper hand and Obi Wan and Yoda are struggling.  Am I wrong or missing something?  Now, I have no delusions that the world will ever be all good or all bad.  I guess my main hope is that we might find our way to some kind of balance, no not balance.  I'd like to see it weighted towards the light, towards that equanimity.

So here's the challenge ...
  -  How can we shift the balance from dark to light?  
  -  Anyone have suggestions for new paths to blaze in the world of heart centered business?
  -  Anyone have ideas for subversive techniques?  For instance, I think the proliferation of yoga classes is an excellent subversive technique.  A good, solid yoga practice first changes you physically, but it ever so slowly changes you emotionally and spiritually ... very very sneaky that way.
  -  How do you stay focused, awake and aware?
  -  How do you avoid the intoxicating and alluring world of gossip and reality TV or would-be snarky friends - you know those black-hole people that live in a dreadful mean vacuum and want to suck you down with them?
  -  Can we be straightforward in our approach or does it call for being sneaky?  Hmmm, probably a combination.

Inquiring minds (me in particular) want to know!

I firmly believe in and make every effort to operate from a place of deep love and gratitude.  That's what I want to share, that's what I want people to feel about my work, that's really the only reason to do anything - spread the light.

One more thought - viral gratitude?

Wanna join the party?  Yeah, buddy - jump in ... the water's grand!

with deep gratitude and multitudes of blessings - kvk

p.s.  don't forget - these guys are doing it - the Daily Good: News that Inspires
p.p.s.  thanks to Cynthia and Andrew for the exceptional meal and inspiring conversation

reliquaries of hopes, dreams and intentions

That's kind of a mouthful, but that's what they are ... the newest addition to my Talismans For Fellow Travellers collection.  I can't remember now when I started thinking about the concept, it's all kind of a blur - but here goes ..........

Hollow forms in pmc - be it an amphora, lentil, rectangle, cube, cylinder - enscribed with symbols or text or glyphs.  Ahhhh, but within the form lies the magic.  Written with graphite on onionskin paper ... a prayer, a name, a hope, a dream or an intention is rolled up and inserted in a cavity in the cork clay core.  The cork clay core is fully enclosed, sealing the prayer, the intention, the hopes and dreams.  When fired, the cores burn up, embedding the essence of the well intended fragment within the metal clay.

The idea for my reliquaries came from one of my favorite programs of all time - the National Geographic special, the Living Treasures of Japan.  One of the Living Treasures is a maker of enormous and exquisite bronze temple bells.  Surrounding the enormous cauldron, parishioners, priests and patrons drop prayers written on copper foil and thin pieces of paper into the molten bronze, forever a part of the finished work.

I've got four prototypes that I'm listing on Etsy ...

The Forgiveness Reliquary, has OM on one side and the Adinkra symbol for "by God's Grace' on the reverse.

The message that went inside, "I forgive myself and am released from all regrets."

 This amphora, representing the body and life force,  is a Reliquary of Hope - a stamp representing the spine and chakras on one side, the spiral of life on the reverse.  

The message inside, "That which you are seeking is within you."

... and this one is another Reliquary of Intention for Transformation.  Three words are stamped into the sides, "Portal, Gate, Transformation".  See and acknowledge the Portal, walk through the Gate, experience the Transformation.  The message inside, "Leap and the net will appear."

And the last of the prototypes is another Reliquary of Intention - the spiral of life on one side, OM on the reverse.  The message inside, "honor your vision, follow your bliss."

When I nail down the shapes I want to use, I'll be doing custom made Reliquaries.  The most important aspect will be the personalized messages and intentions.  I'm still mulling over the logistics for this part ... the easiest approach would be to email me the message and I write it on the paper.  A slower version would be the client writes their intention on lightweight xerox paper and mails it to me.  An even slower version would be I mail onionskin and then it gets inscribed and mailed back.

I like the aesthetics of the graphite on onionskin paper, but am wondering if clients may want to have their messages be private and known only to them.  Any opinions or feedback are welcome.

Well, it's getting too late for me to be on the computer and expect to fall asleep any time soon.  So I bid you goodnight and sweet dreams.

celestial blessings - kvk   

inspiration download

Thursday, during my morning meditation, I got what felt like a big ol' inspiration download.  Images of two necklaces and a matching bracelet flashed into my, aspiring to be empty but definitely not, mind.  It was a tough one ... I wanted to jump right up and get to work, my breathing grew short and my pulse quickened.  I took some deep breaths, acknowledged and thanked the universe for the new ideas, managed to calm myself down and returned to something of a quiet mind.

Yeah, but when that half hour was up, boy howdy I headed straight over to my worktable and started hauling out components.  The resulting pieces are what I'm pretty sure will be the theme of my KVK Luxe series.  They feel luxurious and kind of over-the-top.  No scrimping on materials, no worrying about the cost, no hesitation ... and I am thrilled with the results.

I debated and debated about where, if anywhere (for right now), they should go.  My first thought was to hold onto them and build the collection.  Then, after our morning outing for breakfast and a blitz trip to the used bookstore, I came home and decided to put them on Etsy ... kind of a run the flag up and see who salutes marketing approach.  Here's the first three pieces of the collection:

the Vertebrae Pendant

 

the Standing Stones Pendant

The Vertebrae Bracelet will be listed tomorrow

And for the same reason, I also decided to list the Starry Night Cross ... ahhhh, it is just lovely.

I've also got the prototypes for another new series adding to the Talisman Elements collection, but you'll have to wait a day or so as I nail down a few more details.

Goodness, so much to share!  I've still got St Augustine photos and stories as well ... so look for more posts to follow.

with deep gratitude and many blessings - kvk

geekin' hard

I've got pics to share from our St Augustine trip, but just found a couple of things that have me about to explode ... they are so bloody cool and incredibly incredible.  Wow, can you tell I'm excited?  So you absolutely must visit  AntlerMag.com and then there's this jewelry site - BjorgJewelry ... exquisite ... this will be me, sighing in ecstasy at this discovery.  The lookbook is divine.


back later with pics and tales to tell.....

blessings - kvk