I am sitting here with a nice big pot of french press coffee in my funky robin's egg blue coffee mug from the Clay Lab listening to an eclectic mix on pandora of Beastie Boys, Adele, Yeah Yeah Yeah's, and Bitter:Sweet, and smelling the incense I bought in Ann Arbor reflecting on the past weekend. I feel like I totally recharged my batteries, made new connections, created new metal pieces, and found out I actually like soccer.
Every Friday morning a group of parents get together and have breakfast together while our kids are in school. It's a great time to vent, chat, share ideas, and laugh. Last Friday was the last Friday before the kids all get out of school so to make it special we met up at Cafe Muse in Royal Oak. It was a great time and amazing food! Vanilla bean waffles, egg scrambles with exotic mushrooms, boursin cheese and truffle oil, and egg scramble with ammoglio sauce. AMAZING. Afterwards my friend, Julie and I drove to Ann Arbor to drop off my piece for the Alumni Show. After that we drove over to the Ann Arbor Art Center and dropped off new jewelry. Then it was shopping shopping shopping! We walked around Main street then wandered down to State and up Liberty. The store on Liberty with all the exotic clothes has converted half of their shop to a $15 and under zone. I got this amazing dress made from recycled pieces of silk and a really chunky thick black beaded necklace with this really unique wood clasp in the back. I wore it the next day and my friend Penny actually counted how many times I got compliments and we got up to about 18!
So yes, it was a good buy!
So yes, it was a good buy!
I bought some incense from Falling Water that totally reminds me of college. Now my whole house smells just like my room in Ann Arbor. I drove by the house I used to live in too. Ah memories. Sometimes I wish I could go back and relive some of those days. I also pulled out my old portfolios filled with large charcoal drawings and came across some drawings of old roommates and friends when I got home. I didn't realize I still had some of those.
After we got back I still had some time to make some jewelry. Here are some of the new pieces I listed over the weekend or plan on in the next few days.
Double brass chain with swarovski crystals and Chinese glass crystals.
I am predicting a trend: jewelry made with old keys and also jewelry made with recycled silverware!
Another cute 2010 graduation necklace.
I am so proud of this piece! I worked so hard on it. It is oxidized sterling silver and the little pendulum moves around too!
Then we dropped the kids off at my parents house and got to go out to dinner. We ended up at the Post Bar in Auburn Hills. It was fun.
Saturday!!!
Ah Saturday. I had such an incredible day with my friend Penny. The kids had a sleepover with my parents (had their own fun on my dad's boat) so I was completely and totally free. We started out at the Berkley Bash, which was even better this year. Next year I hope to be a seller there! We stopped at Catching Fireflies for their annual sidewalk sale and I got a big white purse to doodle on, a hand knit baby hat for some friends baby, and these awesome metal boxes with wings that hang for only $1 each. Not completely sure what I will do with them yet...
Hey, that's my photo! ;)
I don't usually buy jewelry since I make so much of it but when I saw this robot necklace made from recycled watch parts I just couldn't resist! I LOVE it. And her display rocked too.
After the Bash we headed over to Royal Oak for lunch at Black Finn and then the Clay, Glass, and Metal Show downtown. Well....we ended up spending HOURS in Black Finn. The USA/UK game was on and the place ended up packed with crazy fans! It was so much fun. Penny is from the UK so she felt a bit odd--her accent totally gives her away! Ha. When the U.S. team scored a guy was running around the bar with an American flag on his back. It was so loud that our ears were ringing. We ended up having 3 Peach Bellini's each. I like soccer now but probably would only watch if I were at Black Finn.
When we finally left, we briefly walked through the art fair on Washington then headed over to Black Lotus in Clawson.
Sunday was spent making more jewelry and getting some stuff done around the house. The kids tried to swim in the pool but quickly turned into popsicles. It was chilly! I worked all the way until dark on the front porch and I couldn't see anymore! This week I need to work on my displays and get ready for the Pleasant Ridge show and then the Peacefest on Sunday. I feel like I was on vacation over the weekend. I cannot believe how much fun I packed into 3 days! Good times, good art, and GREAT friends!!