The Golden Ring (a love story) final chapter

I met Robert through a friend. His ex girlfriend to be exact. She was fun and crazy in a way that only a Pisces can be. Wild hair. Wild words. Wild woman. One night she brought Robert to our late night, nightly Dennys coffee. She thought we would be good for each other. April 1st, 1990. April fools indeed. We talked about VW's and and movies. He was so cute and charming. I was sure they were together. I couldn't imagine him noticing me. I just had to know who this Robert fella was. So the next day I called her house. "Oh! You wanna know..." and the following spoken more loudly so as who ever might be in the next zip code would hear "...who my CUTE FRIEND IS? HEY ROBERT, GAEA WANTS TO KNOW WHO MY CUTE FRIEND IS?" Ugh. Thirty shades of crimson later she had us set up on a date. We drove around all night. Talking and laughing and having the best time. Getting to know each other. "I'm a Capricorn, January, 12th! And you?"....."February 6th... Aquarius." It was meant to be! The golden ring was for him and he was for me....

Happy Valentines Day!

The Golden Ring (a love story) continued...

One day the phone rang. "Hello?" I answered. "Let me ask my dad if..." there was only dial tone. So I walked the two or three hundred feet to her cottage to help Mrs. Bauer. As I approached the stone cottage I remember being a bit nervous. Our now tame but once feral orange and white tabby had found a comforting patch of sun to soak up. Seeing him there performing kitty yoga and stretching with all six toes in front of him made me feel more at home. I knocked on the old wooden door. "I'm in the kitchen" was the call from inside. Timidly I opened the door and entered the dark cool room. I could see her in the kitchen lit from behind wobbling atop an old stool. Her impatience to get at what ever was on top of the cupboards made me wonder if she had forgotten her recent call. Carefully she climbed down and asked me to get the little blue box on top. She asked me to open the box. Inside was a ring. A beautiful simple golden ring with a disk on top and in it a male figure dancing with a vase of water. Aquarius. I had an inkling of what the zodiac was. Destiny? It was beautiful and special. She was giving the ring to me. Me? She must have spent the summer watching us kids enjoying her property in a way she was unable to. Or maybe she was just a crazy old lady. Either way it was a special gift. One that would connect me to her and another person. I wouldn't know how special or what the connection was until years later when I met Robert.

Because I'm a geek...

The Golden Ring (a love story) continued...

"Why does Mrs. Bauer just hang up on me?" I remember my seven year old self asking. And I remember some sort of philosophical adult reason why she would not end her calls with a reasonable "goodbye" or "talk to you later" or even "thank you". Something to the effect of not wanting to tempt fate that you may not speak again. It still seemed rude.

Summer in Ojai is like summer in hell. Living at the far end of the valley put you even further from the chance of any stray ocean breeze. Thankfully our strange house had an even stranger pool. You had to walk, what seemed to me to be quite far, to reach it and you had to go past the "bee library" as well as every creepy sound known to man, woman or child to get there. It was supposed to be the main residence for the Mr. and Mrs. Bauer. But it was never completed. Cement, stone and wood as well as some re-bar were all that were left standing, as well as a completed pool. Unheated in the winter and perfect in the summer. The house was so mysterious and fun. It was all cement with organic shapes and unusual cellings. It had a gradual path that led up to the roof! Inside, your steps echoed in misleading directions which was perfect for hide and seek! There were several rooms each of which had the outside wall missing so you could just step out of one end of the room and be outside. Which was even more perfect for hide and seek. So one summer when us kids were out tumbling through the chapparell and making up mermaid and pirate stories in the pool Mrs. Bauer came for a visit...

The Golden Ring (a love story)

Did I ever tell you about the golden ring? No? A long time ago when I was little, our family, my Dad and myself, lived in a very old house. This very old house was owned by a very old widow, Mrs. Bauer. This beautiful spanish style house was on a fairly large piece of land in a very beautiful country side. It was built by Mr. Bauer and had some unusual qualities as well as a magnificent view. A place where a kid could roam and make up stories and get into mischief. Which we did. This was in the mid 1970's and as my parents were divorced we shared the house with another family, so there were always people coming and going and visiting and staying. The property also had many cottages as well as a oddly shaped library that was inhabited by bees, but that is another story. Mrs. Bauer was a well off woman and chose to make her main residence elsewhere and rented out the main house to us and sometimes the cottages to other folks. Sometimes, when the cottages were not rented she would come and stay for short visits. I remember the air changed and was charged with the electric feeling like the queen was in for a visit. It seemed like she didn't want to be in anyones way or any trouble but you could tell, the grown ups were a bit on edge and Mrs. Bauer would sometimes need help. I remember she would call the house and leave messages for some one to come and help with fire wood or move something heavy. Not unusual requests but it made people feel like they had to hop to it. Her calls did have one strange quality... she never said goodbye and would just hang up when she was finished, sometimes with out warning....

Sweetest things

I am typically not a valentines sort of gal. I love hearts, flowers, pink red and the like, but don't feel like you need one specific day to express all that pink, red and heartiness. But this year somehow feels different. Maybe it is the elections or the economy or just the way I'm feeling, but I'm really into it this year! I must need a fun distraction. I am having so much fun with the heart and skull charms! I have been wearing them and totally feeling it. Maybe it's because I've been trying my darndest to keep on a healthy eating plan and get out and exercise that I've not been indulging in the typical Valentines goodies. The jewelry has become my no calorie sweet treat. They are the sweetest things! This song gets me every time!

They Are HERE!!!

What a learning experience! I should have made them less chunky or hollowed them out some how. There is more than $150 in raw materials (silver) and I don't know HOW much in labor costs! and it was all at Caitriona's expense! I am sending a few pieces back to get melted down because they are a bit chunky and maybe a bit unwearable and OMG! The cost! Not that I didn't "earn" it but COME ON! Caitriona and I will argue endlessly until she will not let me play with wax any more. I am officially addicted to the silver!

Patiently waiting...

I have been exercising much patience lately. I've been patiently awaiting the silver goodies to come back from Caitriona. Patiently waiting for orders to happen (bad economy anyone?). Patiently waiting to get control of my bad holiday eating pattern... Patiently waiting for my child to learn how to communicate in a way that not only a dog can hear. I have been making some fun new necklaces. Robert informs me that "It looks like you threw a bunch of crap on a chain. I'm just being honest." "Yes honey, but it's pretty crap!" : ) I love him. His critique did have truth in it and he did have good suggestions. No really he meant it in a good way! I am currently obsessed with pale yellow and pale pink. Cupcake inspiration!

I finally did it!!!

Literally for decades now I've wanted to learn a bit about working with silver. My dear friend Caitriona (caitrionameek.com) is an amazing jewelry designer who works in silver and gold. I've been working with her to create business cards and and other promotional materials for her jewelry design business and she agreed to show me the ropes! She creates with wax and has it sent out to be molded. So we spent yesterday working with wax! Amazing! I worked with it like I work with clay which was different from her technique so we got to share a bit with each other. I made a few "frames" to dangle a ceramic bead and a few rings and ring bands to add ceramic pieces to later... I was able to squeeze out a few photos before my camera batteries died... I can not wait to see them when they come back from being cast...
An excellent day!

Day late...

and a dollar short! It seems to be the running theme for my life! I always seem to be inspired by what is happening now and not what will be happening later, like holidays. I guess I'm not great at planning ahead. I had this fun idea for these "True Love" plaques that could be customized to have the names or initials of your loved ones or just a general "True Love" plaque. It is a bit late for this Valentines day but true love is really a year round deal! The sketches are all I have at this point and can't wait to play with the ideas more. Playing always take me some where unexpected. Even a smaller plaque could be a necklace...

In my head they have a tattoo feel. Black, white and red colors with maybe a few pinks.

Our friends are our family...

It was my birthday on Saturday. Today is Joelle's Birthday (Big smooches to you!!) We had a great little party together on Saturday! If you are as birthday shy as we are, I highly recommend a combined birthday! Our little group of friends and family came for Sheryl's FABULOUS meat balls and pasta (schwetty balls! HA! SNL joke!) and let the kids free range it, so we could all relax! Wrangling 6 and 2 year olds in a restaurant is not our idea of fun. We ate, we laughed hard, ate some more and laughed even harder! Best birthday ever. 38 is looking great, grey hairs and all! How can you go wrong when you choose to spend time with the best people ever!

Bead sisters...

I had a chance to read Melanie of Earthenwood Studio's blog today (thanks for the mention Melanie!) She was talking about simultaneous inspiration, and how this occurrence has happened to us quite frequently. We've had more that a few instances where our creative minds would have very similar ideas at the same time (bubbles, goddess figures, nature, words, lips...) I'm sure we are watching some of the same shows (Project Runway!!!), movies and listening to some of the same music, so it would be natural for any two like minded gals of the same generation to have similar view and ideas. It also seems natural for our works of clay to lean toward similar styles and themes. But it also almost seems supernatural when it happens with great frequency! We have never met in person (I look forward to the day when we do!) and have only spoken on the phone once, but we definitely have this fun and mysterious connection between us! Our styles are different, so similar themes are done in a different way (fun!)

When I was about 8 my Grandma Betty gave me a very beautiful and special necklace of cloisonné bubbles. It is very old and my Mom has a portrait of Grandma Betty wearing the necklace in the 1930's! It is such a special memory of my Grandma and it was the inspiration for the bubble pendants and beads!

What's around the corner...

and out of this world... tee hee!

Chunky Monkey!

I've been rolling other bead designs around that were a bit more chunky and masculine...

The count down has begun...

7 days and counting... to the big 38! Whooo hoo! I found a gnarly grey hair yesterday and I am hoping that it was one that escaped from my true love (he is completely grey and sexy!) and found it's way onto my shirt. Wishful thinking. I didn't think I would have a problem with grey hair. Apparently I am. I don't think that coloring it is an option for me though. The closer to 40 I get the more I find... I think it can look dashing as sophisticated, on other people. So. What to do....

I've had these "bubble" pendants on the back burner along with the "Mens" jewelry for ages and can't wait to see what will happen with some glaze...