Having a busy summer ... you, too?

Just received a convo--Etsy lingo for email--from a previous customer at my West As the Crow Flies shop on Etsy. Back in July Brian purchased two listings I had of Birch Bay driftwood and some faux beach glass. Brian was kind enough to share what he created using some of those components. See photographs below.

Brian, who lives in Florida, started his Etsy shop in 2007. To see his Etsy shop The Glassman or Glassman, go to www.etsy.com/shop/Glassman.

Thanks for sharing, Brian!

This is the first piece Brian made with the listing
from West As the Crow Flies, and it
is currently listed for purchase
on his Etsy shop

Created by The Glassman

This is the driftwood listing Brian purchased,
and the faux beach glass listing shown below.

Nature Inspiration ...

My sister has a Chinese Lantern tree in the backyard and she brought in a couple of the pods for me to see. I love them! I've put a little brass wire through them and they're hanging on my earring stand to continue to inspire me.


Chinese Lantern Pods

I've looked at them now for about a month and decided to sketch out something on copper and see if I can make little copper Chinese Lanterns. This will be FUN!

I've been reading about coloring copper and want to experiment with this, too. Hmmm, do I color after I saw out the shape, but before I shape the pod? Or do I saw, shape and then color?

I'll let you know how it goes ... or better yet, if you've done this process already, send me an email with your recommendation! Yeah! That's a great idea!

Here we go ...



Ready to saw out the design



Beginnings are invigorating, aren't they?





Bits of sterling and a Birch Bay shell
on my workbench

 Beginning a new dialog, sharing personal secrets and musings of an artisan from her studio is a little daunting. I work in a solitary environment, and seldom have anyone to chat with about what I'm creating or what inspires a particular piece of jewelry.

It's time to reach out. So many people who have purchased my jewelry online at http://www.birchbaykay.etsy.com/ or at shows I've done in the past have expressed a desire to know more about what goes into making the jewelry with which they have chosen to adorn themselves. They want to know more, can you believe it? What can I tell them? They have good taste in jewelry!

As I've said, this prospect is a little daunting, but let's have a go at it!

This word "prospect" brings to mind prospecting, mining, digging. With a little digging and mining, we just might uncover a nugget or two of interest. If you have specific questions, please feel free to email me and I'll be happy to reply either through this blog or to you personally.

Within the last two months, I've made a radical lifestyle change. It will be interesting--to you, too, I hope--to see what effect it will have upon my jewelry. I've moved from Birch Bay on the west coast of Washington state to just about as far east east as I can go without stumbling into Idaho. I'm now living and creating in Spokane. However, at this early stage, much of my aesthetic is still affected by the ebb and flow of the tides on the beaches of the Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia. But there is a different feel to Spokane, a different energy. How will Birch Bay Kay transition into a warm, dry environment far from my beloved beaches?




Seaweed on the beach at low tide

 Environment is very important to my sense of well-being. Although different here, I've already started finding places that feed my need for connection with the earth. The grasses sway in the winds much like the seaweed. With my eyes closed and the sun shining on my face, I could be just about anywhere ... everywhere!

Yes, I think this transition will bring about a welcome change!