metalsmith-to-be. maybe.

as of late, i've had some downtime (huh.  it feels like i've had a lot of downtime lately.  what does that mean?) to think about what i really want to do with my creative life.  (besides win the lottery and buy a tiny little cottage studio on the banks of a river)  and i'm thinking that i want to expand my metalsmithing skills.  for people who have maybe been following me, i chose a introductory metalsmithing class instead of pre-natal courses when i was pregnant.  while it was a struggle because of my temporary carpal tunnel syndrome, and the fact that my belly wouldn't let me get close enough to the table, i loved it.  and it definitely led me in the design direction i was mean to move towards.  i ordered several jewelry fabrication books and devoured them - but still find my skills rudimentary at best.  either that, or i can't seem to move past the joy of melting things.  (don't worry, i've already ruled out pyromania.)

now i feel "itchy" (not in the STD sort of way) and want to learn more.  i am in love with gemstones and feel like i want to move beyond simple bezel settings.  not that there is anything wrong with my bezels, but i feel that even though i am not sculpturally-minded, i think that i could probably handle carving a setting out of wax and casting it.  channel setting, prong setting, tension setting... yum.  i just hope that i can overcome my impatience to get to the end product to learn properly.  in my latest indigo books run, i've added tim mccreight's fundamentals of metalsmithing in the hopes of expanding my skills.

i really admire people who teach themselves how to do something and do it well.  i'm hoping to add myself to that list one day.

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he couldn't put a ring on it.

my newest obsession - whisper thin 14K gold filled hoop earrings.  these are tiny and so cool.  i can't stop making them.

so i'm working in the basement last night (yes, insomnia again, sigh.  but see what i made?) when my BlackBerry trills and a text message comes through from L.  her most recent ex (and the one she fell for the hardest) has reappeared in her life.  we had not heard from him - let's call him mr. robot - since i had a frank, heart-to-heart discussion with him last winter asking him why he could not commit to her and if he couldn't, he needed to leave her alone.  (i usually stay out of my loved ones' romantic lives but this called for extreme measures.  plus, the dude ASKED me what she wanted.)  L is pretty easy going and seriously did not want a huge committment from mr. robot - she just wanted to know that they were in a monogamous, committed dating relationship and she would have been happy.  and a diamond would have been nice too, but not required.  however, mr. robot is an admitted committment-phobe and despite the fact that, on paper, he is quite the catch, he has never been with anyone longer than a year or so, has not really lived with anyone ever, and has a notorious wandering eye.  (or two.) 

however, over the past four years, i have watched mr. robot be drawn inevitably back to L, after every fight, after every crash-and-burn, after every breakup. (he is the nastiest breaker-upper ever.  seriously.)  even after she changes her contact information (email, phone number), he somehow finds her.  because we run in similar social circles, any time mr. robot hears anything about L, or catches a glimpse of her, she gets a call at the office, or a lighthearted email.  which is what happened this time - he saw her, and once again, was a goner.

so i worry about my sweet L.  i know he is her achilles heel, her kryptonite.  she misses him but knows how hurtful he can be.  and the guy is a smooth talker, easy on the eyes, and knows how to treat a girl well - when he wants.  she has put up her boundaries, but as anyone who has ever been in love before, those can be slowly (or quickly, depending) eroded and you end up in a place you vowed you'd never be again. 

for some reason, i hear that annoying, stupid beyonce song in my head when i think of him now - 'you should have put a ring on it'.  yes, the song is tremendously vapid (you will NEVER find a link to a beyonce song on my blog), but seriously?  dude, you could have anything you wanted from L, just if you could commit just a little bit.

don't hurt her again, you jerk!  i have no problem breaking up with you again.

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wedding. ring.

we didn't have a wedding. the husband and i hoofed it down to city hall, me in a purple a-line mini dress, clutching a fresh bunch of wildflowers from the corner store, and he in a jean jacket and his doc martens. we tied the knot at 9am in front of the most quebecois justice of the peace on the planet. we took our wedding party (our friends cindy and steve) to breakfast and then we drove out to the husband's mom's house for some polaroid wedding pictures next to the st. lawrence river.

i don't regret for one minute not having a huge blowout wedding. i kind of regret not getting married by an elvis presley look-alive in vegas, but that's another story for another day.

however, my friend jerseymaids is thinking about getting married and slowly has been formulating ideas about what she wants. of course, she would love everything to be handmade (we are card-carrying etsy members, after all) and had included me in some jewelry conversations.

being on a budget, she talked about how she wanted things to not only be affordable, but also beautiful and timeless. (like she is!) which inspired my new wedding ring collection. in staying away from the conventional diamonds and white sapphires, i am hoping to make a handmade wedding and engagement ring set that is affordable to the new bride. i'm loving the results. and these rings also encapsulate the informal quality that i loved so much about my wedding day.

ah, romance! thank you, jersey, for being my inspiration!!!!

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