Facets

And, finally, we are back with some new offerings. Custom faceted rings and some serious brass faceted pendants. We've been carving wax, honing our soldering skills, and playing in the realm of 3D printing.  Right now we're launching the Facets, and we are so excited about them.  Cast in Brass or Silver (or, Gold--if you want it!) Each is one of a kind and the rings are each created as a custom order. We carve the wax by hand and cast from that piece directly--no molds involved ensure that each piece is completely unique.

I love the imperfections in each piece. Because we do the finish work ourselves, we can choose to highlight the areas we like (such as the beautiful irregular mark on the pendant in the photo above) We've received a lot of feedback on this series, and we hope you love them as much as we do!

Check them out in the link here!

Faceted, polished, smooth

We recently dropped off an order at Honey and Hazel with some new faceted wooden charm necklaces.  Each of these are completely unique, handmade from scraps of exotic woods. They are cut into a faceted shape, then sanded down win increasingly finer grit paper until they are super-smooth. Finally they are polished with a beeswax based finish that makes them feel downright silky. They have a great tactile sense (for those of us who like to play with our jewelry) and they look cool too!  Right now these five necklaces are at Honey and Hazel, so get 'em while they last!

Tea and Sugar

I just got these sterling sugar tongs, and I like them.  Now I can be all fancy when I serve tea. One lump or two?

Baby raccons!

This weekend I had the opportunity to sit a pair of baby raccoons. They are being rehabbed by a girl who works at a veterinary office (and they have been vaccinated against rabies) And they are the most adorable creatures I have ever met in my life (sorry, kittens)  They make these purr-like noises and squeaks and I can't get enough. But they definitely have wild animal genes; their hands are almost primate-like and they are incredibly smart and curious. They remind me of a super intelligent cat on speed, except tiny and cute. Especially when they fall asleep on my shoulders. Squee!

You can tell they are up to something.

They also tried to steal my ring and my watch. Shiny things=fun to play with

too cute!

I know they are going to become adults and will be much less cute and much more wild, but I am going to enjoy the adorable baby raccoons as much as I can before they grow up! (can you hear my squeaky voice?)

I thought other people would enjoy the cuteness too, so I'm sharing photos (I took over 200...yikes)

Toad Lilies!

My toad lilies are blooming and it is so very exciting. They are my favorite flower in the garden, and I was afraid that they wouldn't bloom.  Hopefully they'll come back next year.

These were the first two, but right now there are many buds ready to bloom, and I can't wait!

Trash Beach, Post Irene

I know I'm always showing pictures of of the loot I find at Dead Horse Bay, so I thought I'd show some pictures of where it comes from.  The Hurricane blew out tons of new detritus, so it was kind of an amazing wonderland of, uhhh, trash. I'll show my treasures soon.  

I know there are differing opinions on Dead Horse Bay.  What do you think; is it great for amazing treasure hunting or a sad instance of ruination? 

Vintage French Postcards

I picked up some old French postcards at a thrift store the other day. One is missing a stamp (was it worth lots of money?) and I think the postmark says 05.  That would be 1905, making these more than a century old!  I love the fancy handwriting in the bottom photo. They also make me nostalgic for handwritten letters (not that I have had many occasions to write them)  I have a hard time coming up with things to write when it's to easy to facebook/email/text/videochat with most of the people I know.  I'd have to hold off on communication in order to have anything interesting to say.

But these postcards may inspire me to try!

Airplanes in the Sky

We live under a flight path--either planes taking off from JFK or landing at La Guardia--I can't tell which.  There's something I really like about pictures of planes in the sky. I love flying: you are completely untethered to anything that is touching the ground. It fascinated me as a kid, but now I just think it's fun--I'm sure the whole "destination" part of it helps, too!

Crochet Box

I'll often make small crochet motifs to try out a new yarn, or just for fun. I like to keep them in an old wooden cigar box, and use them for gift toppers, or sew them onto cards (fabric postcards, anyone?) but mostly I like collecting them and then taking the box out and taking pictures. Enjoy!

Pieces of lace, flowers, snowflakes and the beginnings of doilies. I love to crochet, but apparently I have the attention span of a ten year old.

Trash Beach Treasures

We had a good run at dead horse bay last week. Sometimes I get pulled away by the rest of my party when there is still so much searching to do!  But we stayed until full high tide this time--and I'm getting better at culling my collection:  the final haul was relatively lightweight (and certainly exciting!).  Here are a few treasures from the recent trip:

Look at this nearly perfect old doorknob.  Somehow it's more exciting to find one on a beach than buy it at a flea market.  And the glass stoppers--I'm always on the lookout for them, but I got lucky this time.

Look at that glass dish and all of the beads.  I must admit, the beads have been collected from multiple trips, but the dish is from the most recent visit and it is in great shape.  

Some of my favorites are the military collar pin and the old locket below.  I can't open the locket without breaking it because the hinge has completely corroded off. I'm sure anything that was inside is long gone, but we'll never know!

New Crochet Bottles

Finally, I've completed a new set of crochet covered bottles. Most of them have been done for a while, waiting for the thread ends to be woven in and all of them needed to be photographed. They are all posted to the shop, if you'd like to purchase one!

They were fun to photograph.  I especially like the set of champagne colored thread bottles with fancy patterns, like the ones above; I think they look good together.  I've been trying to expand upon my patterns lately, using more than just a simple netted stitch (although I still do like those).  I've found that the ones I like best are the most open patterned bottles.  They let the light through nicely.

little blue flowers

Recently I've had these blue flowers pop out in the garden.  I don't know what they are, and I thought they were just weeds (but I let them grow anyway)  They only last a day or so, and are teeny tiny, but I love their color and the curlycue stamens. Also, the spider hanging out in one of them waiting for a snack. 

Heat Wave

I love cucumber water and recently stumbled upon this variation: rosemary cucumber water. It's as simple as any recipe can be and great during a massive heatwave like we have now.

For a pitcher's worth I slice roughly half a cucumber and about 5 or so sprigs of rosemary in a pitcher (I also like to use repurposed looza bottles)  You can drink it right away, but it's best if left to steep overnight.  It is. So. Good.  If you only want a single glass, about 4 or 5 slices of cucumber and a couple sprigs of rosemary is all you need. Enjoy!

What are your favorite summer drinks?