a good day

My friend and I scheduled a "day o' thrifting" on Wednesday and we managed to just drag ourselves home after hitting 3 separate Goodwills in the Portland area. There was a nice interlude for lunch at Elephant's in between, but still, by late afternoon we were wasted...

This was my big find of the day, a Flapper dress from the 1920's with lovely beadwork on fine silk. Layers of silk...

The sleeves are strips of beaded silk with a cuff at the end.

It looks like there's been some early alteration around the waist area, and a few small holes in the silk, but considering it's age, and the fact that I found it all messed up hanging on a hanger at the Goodwill just crammed into the dress racks, it loos pretty darn good for it's age. We should all be so fortunate...

I'm trying to find out more about it, so if anyone knows about 1920 couture, I could use some advice on how to care for it. I am storing it flat and it seems to appreciate that, but there may be more I need to do to preserve it. Meanwhile I just love looking at it!

Yachats

Had a chance to spend a few days in Yachats  on the central Oregon coast this weekend. We used to come here when the kids were little for a week each summer. This time it's just me, my oldest daughter, and sister-in-law. The weather has been cloudy, but not too cold and since it's a pretty sleepy little town, not too many people. 

One of the things I like about Yachats is that you have the sandy beach if you feel like it, or the rocky, tide pool filled wilder side.

The sea anemones are my favorite, and this year we watched grey whales spouting off very close to shore each evening...

Pinks were growing everywhere in these rather harsh coastal conditions yet they don't seem to last more than a season or two in my garden.

Nice scarf, Caelen...

Japanese tsunami debris is beginning to turn up on the beaches.

 our catch of the day!

Happy campers, or I guess I should say happy beach housers...

Father's Day...

Not only was the weather fine on Father's Day weekend, but both the girls were home with us. We took a drive south, through the Willamette Valley towards Stayton in search of Shelburg Falls. Oregon has great places to hike and this was a good one.

First, some refueling at the Java Stop on Hwy 22.

Daisies, and foxglove were lining the edges of the fields as we began the hike along the road toward the forest. The temperature was in the 70's all day, perfect as far as I'm concerned!

and Flores found a mud puddle within the first 5 minutes...

 then had to suffer the indignity of being carried over several cattle guards.

The lower falls were not far into the forest

we then began to follow a trail toward the upper and larger falls

Taylor spots it in her trendy hiking gear...

The trail continues behind the falls, which is pretty cool and pretty muddy.

walking under a humongous ceiling of basalt...

 lots of maiden hair fern growing in this area.

Slugs everywhere of course...

But there were also wild roses along the trail

and in the patches of sunlight, wild iris were popping out in various shades of purple.

The dog jumped into every body of water we came across. We kept him securely on the leash around the falls...

All in all, it was a great way to spend Father's Day

and it makes me wonder why we don't do this more often...

my new love...

Well, maybe not that new, but ever since I was offered some Hell's Canyon herringbone petrified wood a couple of years ago, I've been smitten! 

Discovered in the Hell's Canyon gorge in the late 50's and a portion of what was there was removed just prior to the construction of the Snake River's Brownlee Dam, which subsequently flooded the area. So there's a limited supply, which helps with the mystique, but it's lovely herringbone pattern and vugs, or voids filled with druzy, makes it stand out all on it's own! The wood has been since identified as sequoia, and I'm happy to have a few pieces left and am soon to have more,yay!  

this ring is just the most recent piece to come out of the studio, below are a few previous ways I've used the material...

Cufflinks. These were given as a graduation gift.

A beautiful treasure ring which also features a freeform pearl and raw diamond.

currently available...

And I'll soon be doing my best to see that I have a large supply for lots of future work!  Anyone interested in having something made just contact me through my etsy shop!

more plants...

This weekend was the Master Gardener's Spring Garden Fair out at the Canby fairgrounds. Happens the first weekend of May each year and there are lots of local growers and garden artists struttin' their stuff... 200 to be exact.

Today was a beautiful day and there were lots of people about despite the fact that I seem to have this big, empty space in the front of my photo!

These striking blooms really caught our eye. Abutilon, Red Tiger. Hardy to zone 8.

We stopped by our friend, Marta Farris' booth to check out her garden sculpture and stash our purchases while we continued to shop. That's my pal Linley on the left with Marta. Marta's metal sculptures are really fun, several live in my  backyard. Her husband, Steve, makes these gorgeous steel urns. I already know where I'd put one...

 David and Linda Neff of D & L Woodworking, make the most comfortable Adirondack chairs this side of, well, the Adirondacks. Here, David tests the merchandise. We have one of their rockers, and it's the favored chair in our backyard during the summer.

This was one of my favorite displays. The Shady Lady Nursery in Aurora had put together these bright orange pots and baskets filled with purple coleus, orange and red begonias, and a trail of lime green. Brilliant color to liven up a shady area, and those orange pots, genius. 

The Shady Lady Nursery will be hanging out at the Milwaukie farmer's market on Sundays from 9 -2, for those in the Portland area. I really want to check those pots out again...

Along with all of the great plant material and garden art, there are educational talks by master gardeners, soil testing, exhibits, and of course food. So if you live in the Portland area and have never visited the Spring Garden Fair, put it on your calendar for next year, it's well worth it!

A few new pieces

It seems like the past week has been all about rings! I've finished several new rings, all wildly different from each other, and each one extremely satisfying!

a very cool bumpy pearl on a simple sterling band

freeform pearl and rose cut diamond in sterling and 18kt and 14kt gold. These rose cut diamonds are my new love. And I just purchased a new parcel of various sizes and colors I can't wait to get into...

malachite and stick pearl in sterling with 14kt gold

and today I finished this pretty little fossil coral ring in sterling with 14kt gold rivets

My next project is in the works. Moving away from rings for a bit and concentrating on combining various elements in a necklace for David Frank Gallery. Depending on how it comes out, I'd like to do more and perhaps utilize some of those diamonds in the design.

Here I'm using rose cut tourmalines, peridot, ocean jasper and freshwater pearls. Still a bit to work out... I'll be posting it when it's done though!