The Kennebec River

Our tidal river had been the talk of Maine. Usually used for boating, kayaking, fishing, icefishing and more, this past week it has been sought out by tv crews, photographers, and sight seers. Jon and I went to Augusta to buy ourselves a new mattress set, and to get to Augusta you have to follow the river. It blew our minds! I've never seen it look that way before! Jon got lots of photos along the way.

There has been much flooding in certain towns everytime the tide rises.

There are three breakers that have been working for miles and miles along the river. This is the Coast Guard ice-breaker "The Bridle" that we chased in our vehicle until we could get a good shot. She was going at a pretty good clip, amazing since she's breaking huge chunks of ice!

We spied lots of ice shacks that didn't make it out of the water in time. As you can tell some of the chunks are as big as an ice shack.

Just another day in Maine folks!

Upta camp

A small gang of us headed up to camp on Eustis Ridge last night and woke up to a gorgeous and sunny day. A few of us and Abby went snowshoing through the woods and to the lake. This was my friend Brodies first time and she loved it..... We have Wifi here at camp now and there might be a bit of guilt as I type this post. Camp was always a perfect excuse for not having to go near a computer, but it has been nice to check my emails and play on Facebook.

The laptops have come in handy for research as well. Another guest this weekend is Jolene, one of my dearest friends and soon-to-be-partner. A very unexpected Chrsitmas crafting project, has turned into an unexpected business that we plan on launching in the early Spring. More to come on that soon...... OH, and I still plan on playing with my jewelry in between our little project!

New in the shop.....

I've finally been able to get some time in the studio to work on jewelry and other bits of art. I was inspired to create this simple and elegant piece after reading the poem, "The Lady of Shallot" by Tennyson. I wanted to keep the simplicity of the sterling cross and chain that I recovered from an antique rosary, yet added a bit of drama with a handmade ruby glass choker.

THE LADY OF SHALLOT

The pieces from the winter issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry showed up on my door step last week! Though a couple were allready spoken for, there are a few left to be sold!

I hand cut the cuff and dragonfly from the copper scraps, then smoothed, sanded and hammered away at the copper. I added "DREAM" onto one of the wings and then finished the pieces with a gentle patina finish.I twisted up the beaded body with black glass beads and copper wire, then attatched the dragonfly to the cuff.

DREAMING DRAGONFLY

The best part of these pieces is that the wings can be gently bent up and down to give more or less the impression of flight.

Today ended up being a Sunday all to myself.... so guess where I'm headed?

BACK TO THE STUDIO!

*in Austin Powers voice* YEAH BABY!

Yessah....

Snowshoeing and shoveling,

life of a Maine girl & boy (and dog)

Hope you all have a Happy New Year!