story time. or the tale of the sterling silver hoops.

once upon a time, a young musician set across the country from seattle on a tour with his band.  before he left, he gave his sweetheart a set of silver hoops earrings that were his and asked her to keep them safe until his return.  after a tearful goodbye, he left her standing in the rain and promised to write.

soon after, the young musician met the real love of his life in a crowded club in a sleepy corner of texas, and, following his heart's desires, swept her off her feet, and married her.

when he returned to his hometown and to the girl whose heart he had broken, he begged for her forgiveness, asked her to give him her blessing, and for the earrings.

of course, she refused, and the young man left bereft, to continue his life with his beloved bride.

the years passed, and the young man could not get the earrings out of his mind, even though he did not regret for one moment the rest of what happened with his love life.  despite several written to his ex, asking for the earrings, she would not release them back to him.  one day, sitting at his computer, halfway across the country from his wife, he searched high and low and finally found a pair that held all the promise and shine of the pair he had lost.  he purchased the set, sent one to his wife concealed in a love letter, and kept the other for himself.  and they lived happily ever after.

(t - soon these will be on their way to you!  enjoy - and i hope that these are luckier than your previous pair!)

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the open hoop. again.

 yes.  i am obsessed.  the idea of the open hoop earring is floating through my brain all the time lately (that and that darned katy perry song "california girls" - the mini is crazy over it and we've listened to it about 50 times in the last two days - don't ask) - probably because i have about 10 feet of gorgeous, reclaimed sterling silver sitting on my worktable and i can't stop myself from fooling around with it.  (oops.  that sounds kind of dirty.)  i just pulled these babies out of the tumbler and i think they are my new favorites.  they are a larger version than the ones i made earlier this week and are more along the lines of my "wishbone" earrings.  they are lightweight and just full of silvery shiny goodness - the little rustic balled ends are also a nice design element, i think.

i had asked my friend julie for her feedback on the earlier version and she said that she preferred the "wishbone" design rather than the crossover.  (like L, julie has impeccable taste and is a fantastic model for my jewelry - not the mention the inspiration behind the original mini open hoops)  and i think i have to agree.  i'm loving the more improvised, informal shape of these, as well as the softer lines and rounder forms.  i think that i'm going to make myself a killer iTunes playlist, melt a little metal, and go a little larger with the next set of earrings. 

hmmmm.  stay tuned for more.  i'm psyched.

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designs of an insomniac.

for some reason, i can't sleep lately.  too much going on in my head, but nothing creative, which for me is equally as frustrating as not sleeping.

finally, last night i crawled out of bed and sat in the cold basement, thinking about an idea for a hoop earring that my friend julie had suggested.  a couple of sketches and some melted silver blobs later.. and voila!  the most perfect tiny earrings!  nothing like watching firey metal melt into a molten ball to fire up the imagination.  different sizes to come as well!

so, julie, these are for YOU!  (and now i'm off to make some for myself!)

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