must recommend a remarkable movie that was passed along to me by my parents. i can hardly believe i knew nothing of it before now.

"like stars on earth"

so good. so many ideas in quotes of dialog and song that are carried in my heart's understanding. such a sweet story with a predictablility that i knew it's direction but i totally wanted to go there, a place of validation and elation for adults and children alike.

understanding and awakening to your purpose and in it finding such happiness and joy. the perfect theme for this new season. joyful springtime wishes!

thank you for your recent uplifting and affirming comments jennifer in my march 9th post. currently pondering all. i spend so much time with my head pieces in production of them and i get so used to their details that in the end they always seem so...yes... common. thank you for your commiserate commpanionship: )

oh my goodness...classes...me? i've never felt quite grown up enough to picture myself a teacher : ) i help my neighbor with sewing projects and while she calls me her sewing teacher, i am much more of a gentle guide, a creative guide on her creative quests (not all sewing projects). in fact, that is actually my favorite part about the format of the metal clay open studio i am attending currently. 6 women just doing their own thing and receiving guidance they need along the way.

pictured is a recent swishy fishy in unfired bronze clay. his tail and bubble are separate free moving pieces that are kept inside his hollow body by slightly larger ends. his texture is made with vintage lace. his remarkable lacy backdrop is art from a children's book called "swimmy" by leo leonni. he will be back from firing next week and i will post again of him. loving the texture of vintage lace when pushed into metal clay and can't imagine a project without it.

recently brewed bronze rings from my metal clay play.

in person they are very ancient fairy realm and their success makes me want to brew more.

delivery day today on 4th street in berkeley, 65 pieces of spring.

always bitter sweet to pass forward things crafted from such a heart place. but i am so excited to share its paper, velvet, wool, recycled wool sweaters, beads, hand dyeing and especially copper clay charms with all who will heart back.

visits to anthropologie and castle in the air always make me want to try harder and...then again just give up trying. so inspirational, so unattainable. why is it inspiration leaves me with a bit of feeling deficient?

today begins the process of attatching all the handmade tiny details, flowers and dangly things, to my spring collection of 65 crowns. after 7 weeks of production it will be grand to finally sit and hand sew all those details into their places. pictured are some of the tiny, handmade metal pieces that i will be parting with this season. who knew metal and wool could find such a happy union?

i am feeling very lucky today as i entered more
deeply into the world of metal clay by going to the 1st of 6 metal clay open studio sessions taught by certified metal clay artist mary neuer lee. open studio offers the opportunity to play with metal clay in the perfect flexible environment. all levels of students from beginning to advanced coexisting in one classroom means you get to learn through others questions, tools and experience as well as your own. so good.
today feels like wishes coming true as i plunge forward, with guidance, via my imaginings of raw-er earth inspired rings made out of bronze clay. more updates on that in weeks to come as i refine and find ways to add delicacy and intricacy and test the parameters of this happy medium : )

i have been using beeswax a lot in the last few years, (lotions, salves, wood finishes, candles, paper flowers) and i have gotten to learn a lot of it's properties. did you know that unfiltered beeswax has too much of a resinous substance called propolis (with beautiful anti-microbal properties) which will clog the wick if used in candle making and extinguish the flame no matter the size of the wick? i have found this to be the case and have begun to buy beeswax with little propolis for candlemaking from Beekind in Sebastopol Ca.http://beekind.com/ who shared this candlemaking tip with me. the smell is much more earthy perfumy and less honey-like but my candles are much more successful and it is a blonder version of beeswax which keeps the pinks and whites truer on my tiny paper blooms.
hmmm...what to do with all my unfiltered beeswax scraps...? i decide to make my own floral tape (a waxy tape hidden in the construction of my crowns), adding another greener layer to my work. my handmade version is messy and not as workable as the ready made floral tapes (which uses some unknown sticky parafin ingredient) but the scent and natural properties make my heart sing forward with this new experiment. and we shall see if this new invention becomes a workable permenant feature in miss teapot's future collections.