hope

At long last, I have photographs of the pieces of jewelry I made earlier this summer. Without further ado:

You can't tell from this photo, but the stone is
a deep green, with little orange-red flecks. Clearly, this one is Pond.


The concept behind this one was Fiddlehead, but I didn't really get the shape I liked, in the end.
Still, I'm proud of that tiny bezel, and the way the bracelet loops perfectly around my wrist.
Again, the stone is green, but you can't really tell.


This one you've seen before. This was my final piece, another pendant.

I still haven't found a chain for either of my pendants, but I'm optimistic. I've contemplated stringing the latter on to a piece of black velvet ribbon entwined with a gold filler chain, but I think I'll keep searching for the perfect chain before I give in to that easy fix.

For now I'm without a space to continue working, but I've taken to carrying a sketch book with me to work, and keeping it on my nightstand, so I'll become a little more accustomed to drawing out my ideas. Haven't seen much improvement yet, but hopefully I'll be able to express myself a little better as time passes.

And that's all for today. Off for a week-long jaunt to the Garden State, then back to reality -- just in time for my mom and sister to go back to school and leave me all by my lonesome.

It's going to be a long, lonely descent into the endless Vermont winter; any distractions welcome. More boldly put, have I got any readers yet??

love to the anonymous (imaginary) masses,

Emily

baby steps

One of my coping mechanisms, when looking to the future and reminding myself that I will indeed be living with my parents for the next several months, is by renewing my promise to experiment in the kitchen and become a decent cook. I hope to be proficient and a little adventurous, even, by the time I'm ready to get my own pad.

The other day I started off slow, with this delicious 'Sunny Sunflower Spread' so generously shared by Little Red Fox. This woman is a domestic goddess, a real icon in my fantasies of becoming an accomplished homemaker (in my spare time, of course, when I'm not busy celebrating my wild success as a jeweler). Anyway, the spread is fantastic, especially as a condiment for sandwiches. I decided to indulge the strange form of narcissism that prompts girls like me to photograph every step of the food-prep process, so please, sit back and enjoy as I demonstrate how to make a simple sandwich:

Klinger's sourdough bread + sunflower spread


+ slices of orange bell pepper


+ thinly sliced cucumber

+ shredded crisp romaine

+ thinly sliced Hunter's Sharp Cabot cheddar
(made here in Vermont and always in our fridge)

+ voilà!

Well, it's not much, but it's a start! And man, was it good.

Go eat something delicious, I know you want to. I think I'm having corn on the cob tonight, my first this summer. :)

Emily

booties & beaches

It's been a month since I last posted, so there are a few items of interest today. For my own peace of mind I'm going to dedicate a post to each train of thought. So, here's the first:

This post (at Charade) on individuality and self-expression through fashion is now the most long-winded mantra I've ever had.

Though the soggy state of Vermont has robbed me of a proper summer, I have to say, there are now fleeting moments when I become so excited about the prospect of autumn. I haven't been home for a good leaf-peeping season in four years, I can't wait. And of course I can't wait to don again my fall wardrobe staples, old and new. I got some great grey boots at H&M the other weekend that I can't wait to debut. Though last winter seemed to last forever, already this Glamourai post seems exciting and inspiring, again. (Also, part of the appeal of the aforementioned H&M booties was their vague resemblance to her favored footwear, the Patricia Field for Payless booties.)

But, enough of that! Because, at last, I'm going to the beach!! Tomorrow morning I hop a train to visit the boyfriend in sunny New Jersey for a week. And on our lovely To Do list, underlined, italicized, and dreamily doodled upon is 'go to the Jersey shore'. I can't really put into words just how strongly I long for the seashore. Expect pictures.

New addition to my all-important staff shelf

The other night, finally, after over a year of forgetful anticipation, I pressed 'play' and sat back to enjoy The Fall. For those of you that have yet to see this film, do. It is visually breathtaking, and toys with your emotions in all the right ways. A peek at the delights available to you at your local video rental store:


Emily

givin' up on vegetarianism

In the interest of continuing to provide my faithful readers with aesthetic delights, photographs of stunning objects that engage that part of you that is daily suppressed, but still knows how to fantasize, how to dream... I present you with this mesmerizing series of photos posted by Jak & Jil Blog.

Translation: Enjoy the beefcake, ladies!


Mmm,

Emily

lasers, bowlers, hostels, oh my!

For awhile now I've been promising a post featuring photos of my jewelry pieces. Today was the day I would finally deliver... until I discovered that my camera not only had very low battery, but is also suddenly incapable of focusing on small objects. Cross your fingers that this was a momentary glitch, please. In the meantime I'll have to satisfy us all with this single photo, taken by my teacher, Laurie Peters. It's a bit washed-out, but it gets the message across. It's my third and final piece, a pendant.


The book cover is made of copper, the keyhole is cast silver, the bookmark is silver as well, and the pages (not featured here) are nugold. Hopefully I'll be able to get up some more pictures, both of this piece and the others, soon.
On a related note, I welded with a laser today! It was very, very cool. I have an acquaintance who is a local jeweler, and he was kind enough to show me around the studio, answer a few questions, and showed me how to use a laserwelder. It was a moment of intense heat, and then it was done, the two rings were fused together. I can't wait to tell my geek scientist boyfriend.

you may have the get-up, but I've got lasers

Hmm, I probably should've checked with him before I uploaded that gem... ah well. Haha!

Lastly, I'm wishing I had expendable income, because this piece by Danny Robert (the guy who does those great bloglovin' illustrations) has got me drooling:

Now that it's quite clear I'll be living with the folks for a good chunk of time, I'm wishing I had made more of an effort the past four years to make my room my own. The walls are bare (though a lovely rusty/eggplant shade, much nicer than it sounds), except for a nice photo I tore from a Nylon magazine yesterday and taped to the wall. Sigh, it's a start.

Back to hostels.com -- I'm trying to work out an affordable NYC weekend in late July for two MJSA shows and a brief reunion with Apron Boy (above). It'll coincide nicely with the Red Sox tickets my dad scored for the following Monday on the Budweiser Pavilion at Fenway. Amtrak and I have become best friends these past few years....

Until next time,

Emily

it's my half birthday, today

So, it's been awhile. I'm back living at my parents', post-B.A, or rather, B.A.-impending. I was 3 credit hours short as of Commencement, so while I got to wear the cap and gown and pretend I was now a graduate, President Cornwell actually handed me a be-ribboned blank piece of paper. Sigh. It's not all bad, though; every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through mid-June I join my mom on her daily commute and take a Jewelry making course at UVM. It's just been a week and I can't believe how much I've learned and created. It's unbelievable, the class is from 9am to 1pm, and it doesn't even occur to me to look at the clock until about 11 -- there's just so much to do! Everyone keeps saying it's like summer camp; I never went, so I can't know for sure, but it is pretty damn fun. Once I've got my pendant finished I'll take a few photos of it and share my work.

That's pretty much it, for now. We still use dial-up at home, so I haven't really been able to follow all the fashion blogs (I've got a backlog of 359 posts on bloglovin'), and all my time is currently devoted to class/work/eating/sleeping, so there isn't much creative thought going on. However, I did renew my library membership, so hopefully soon I'll be crossing a few off my Books to Read After College list. First up: To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf. Somehow I've never read any Woolf, I can't wait.

Lastly, I did manage to get a job. I'm replacing a friend of mine at the indie/offbeat video rental in town, and while I'm just happy to have a steady income, I also get free rentals of anything non-new release. Yes! This is fantastic. I love films, but have never been able to watch very many. Living on a mountain in the middle of nowhere with parents who didn't allow me a driver's license until I was 19 kind of limited my options. Anyway, it's been great so far, I've now crossed Blue Velvet and Paris je t'aime off my list. Blue Velvet was... interesting. I feel like there's something I'm not getting. And I felt totally manipulated and violated by Lynch at some points, but I guess that's his M.O.

And then there's Paris je t'aime. A collection of short films by many different directors, all placed in Paris; I had seen a few of them before, when I took Francophone Film last spring, and have been meaning to check out the whole thing since then. There were a couple that I didn't like as much, but overall, they were beautiful vignettes that got my wanderlust at a dangerously high level and my emotions spiking in every direction. I highly recommend it.

Well, to quote our favorite Bunny, That's all, folks.

Emily