when jewelry finds a storybook home.

as much as i hated to say au revoir to this necklace, i was more than delighted to send it on its merry way to the fantastical and charming miss heather of Audrey Eclectic. miss heather paints the most magical storybook-esque pictures...they remind me alot of how i picture things in my own leetle head. so i know, bien sur, that this special piece will live an amazing life!


i came across a few more tiny vintage pocket knives, with which to make the long walk home necklaces with. i was even commissioned yesterday to make a special one for my lovely friend dani! she paid a visit and had lots of fun digging through all my little bits and bobs and charms and stones, to find just the right combination of knife, gem, and key. by the way, miss dani is a massage therapist at Sink Creek Day Spa right here in san marcos...so if you are in need of some serious R+R, she is the person to see!

i could be posting pictures of all the fleurs that have just begun blooming around the homestead but instead we're focusing on the jewelry today. maybe because i'm honestly a little too lazy this morning to head back downstairs with the camera for documentation. you see, i moved my office upstairs, to a little converted attic gable room over our kitchen...in part as an effort to get the computer farther away so i'm less tempted to spend so many hours pouring over antique lockets and cameos on ebay all day and also in preparation for the impending arrival of my nephew jj. you see, my mum was granted permanent guardianship by the georgia court system (don't even bother asking why this shit went thru georgia, it's way more complicated and lame than i care to explain) and so now she is planning on moving across the street from us here in san marcos. and the room that once housed my 'parlor' and a makeshift office will now be a bedroom for a growing leetle boy. honestly, we haven't decided who will make the official adoption through the texas court system, my mum or the katinka household...it's a delicate and complicated task and as much as i love and cherish that tiny blonde boy...i feel very afraid. i am in love with my career...i sew and jewel with reckless abandon and take off for wild junking jaunts in far away towns at the drop of a hat. this child will no doubt grow up as a gypsy if i have anything to do with it! i want the very, very best for jj...but i never intended to be a parent so everyday with him is a learning process. i've found that i'm more patient than i ever thought i could be with another human...just sitting and reading to him, quietly telling him no when he does something naughty and then explaining why it's naughty...fixing juice after juice, offering graham cracker after graham cracker...taking the time to walk through the house and point out every star shaped object {and saying "star!"} at each one. we feed the bunny, watch the chickens, walk to the post office, and sit at the table and draw. but there is a tiny part of me that feels selfish and wants to run to my workshop, crank up the stereo, and sew until my fingers bleed. i do, however, have the wherewithal to postpone such fits of creativity until after he is asleep or back with his nana. in the end, everything will come together and be as it should, bien sur.

my most recent junking jaunt took me to wimberley where i scored these awesome antique rusty scissors:

naturally, they became part of a necklace. i knew as soon as i saw them what i wanted to do with them. i love when that happens. junque finds me.

on that note, i leave you with one of my favoritest pieces {ever, i think!}...cora takes a seaside holiday:

an edwardian-era locket with beautiful etching and the most amazing little carved shell cameo...she has the most satisfied look on her face that i've ever seen on any cameo!