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That's why he's my future husband. Thanks honey!

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Wedding Geek

The big day is approaching. I did not think I would nerd out about the wedding, but I have gotten pretty into the crafty. I do love the crafty. As mentioned in an earlier blog, our colors are yellow and brown. I have become quite obsessed with the theme. Above is the cake topper that I made. I totally snagged the idea from PatchNYC. I would have purchased it from them, but our budget has gotten a little tight. In the end, I did not spend quite as much on it as they charge, but with the time, thought and effort put into finding everything to go on it, not to mention painting those faces, the ones they sell are totally worth every penny.

Steve and I did the invitations together. He, of course drew the cute little people and did most of the design. Ok, I will stop geeking out about our wedding. This is a jewelry blog, right?

Speaking of jewelry, after I sent the charms out to the contest winners, I received a lovely surprise from two of the sweet people who won. Michaela sent me this beautiful drawing. It actually looks like my dog Frankie. She won with the word "Dogs Rule". And now she knows they rule because it is stamped on a necklace. She is eight. Don't you think she is going to be a famous artist one day?
And, Lynn Kaiser sent me this beautiful purse charm. She sells these in her etsy shop. It just so happened that one of my bridesmaids gave me this vintage purse for one of my showers to use at the wedding. I think they look so nice together.
Thank you ladies!

Strong Deer

I have so much to talk about, but so little time. I will post more in a little bit, like tomorrow, but here is a new piece I made. Another one of the set of deer that I cast in my class, decorated with 14kg filled wire, fresh water pearls, and the prettiest turquoise I have ever seen in my life. I like this one because it's another doe, but the gold reminds me of the buck's antlers. Almost like she is carrying the weight of both mother and father. I think she is so sweet and graceful.Have I ever told you about that time, when I was in college and my dog Bailey was attacked by a deer? I was at my parent's house getting ready to leave the country and they were watching Bailey for me. The house I grew up in backed to some not-so-serious woods, yet we always had deer in our back yard. I was making breakfast, and all of the sudden I heard, Bailey howling in pain, crying like I had never heard him cry before. I ran out to the deck only to see a buck lifting Bailey (a 75lb English Setter mix, mind you), and Bailey rolling while being trampled by the deer. I watched this happen three times before I could get down the steps to very wimpily clap my hands. It was enough for the deer to pause and let Bailey loose. The deer stared me down, until I yelled, "Get out of here." And he did. Bailey was ok. I am now late getting ready for my first dance lesson. I'll let you know how it goes. yikes!

Juicy

I just read my cousin and fellow artist, Heather Haymart's, latest blog entry. She has a fabulous idea about an awards ceremony for artists. Kind of like the Emmy's or the Grammy's, or the Tony Awards and such. Wouldn't that be great, to at the very least, be able to watch on tv, attend or win an award! I think it is such a great idea. Maybe we can get something started by just blogging about it. Pass on the blog until someone picks up the idea with some connections. The arts could definitely use more recognition and funding in schools than what they get, and maybe this would be a way to get that initiated. 

It's Friday! I hope everyone has a super weekend. I am starting it off right by going to Chaumette winery with my friend Sarah to get massages and drink wine and eat delicious food. Chaumette is where Steve and I are getting hitched. I think I am more nervous about this massage than getting married. I have never had a professional massage before, and it kind of creeps me out to think about. But, Sarah insists that it is the best thing ever, and I trust her, so here we go. 

Circus Weekend

I made this necklace yesterday. The center piece is an old dime that my Aunt had cut out and made into cuff links for my late Grandpa King. I cut the back off of the cuff link and then made a surround for the dime out of silver. The green button sits in a 14kg bezel. It was my Grandma's button. She gave me a bunch of pretty buttons a while ago. The back has the word 'Love' stamped on it. It is not for sale because it is a little near and dear to my heart.

Yesterday I had my first wedding shower. I am not used to that kind of attention. It makes me paranoid. But, I had so much fun and my cousin Heather did such a beautiful job putting it all together. I wish I would have brought my camera because she made this fabulous Tiramisu style cake. And there was this oh so delicious fruit salsa. I need the recipe for all of it.

Kind of a circus weekend here at the King/Simmons household. I have two wedding showers, a trivia night/silent auction for my rescue, and an artist friend is coming to stay in town with us! I love circus weekend. I also have a friend coming in town for one of the showers, from Indiana, who I wish I had more time to spend with.

Speaking of the trivia night, I would just like to thank all of the folks who donated to our rescue. Peg Fetter, a brilliant jewelry artist here in St. Louis gave a gorgeous necklace and a beautiful bracelet. If you have not yet checked out Peg's jewelry, please do! She made both my engagement and wedding ring. Cindy Neal of Neal framing donated gift certificates to her fabulous frame shop. She does not have a website, but can be found in a phone book. Remember those? Also, Purina foods donated a years supply of dog and cat food. It is amazing how generous people are.

I hope everyone is well, and you have a relaxing weekend. I think I will be able to relax again after May 10th. Well, definitely on our honeymoon.

Howdy Doody

Steve and I were talking tonight at dinner about what a strange thing the food chain is. And what strange creatures we are that chew, swallow and digest food. Anyway, I used to think about it a lot when I was young and thought it was even stranger then, than I do now. My brother and I used to have this ventriloquist Howdy Doody doll that seemed, to be at the time, life sized. (kind of looked like the one in the picture above, except I remember it having a gray suit.) I used to feed it potato chips. Read, didn't understand the digestive system at the time. Suffice to say, my Ma threw the darn thing away. I was so upset. Apparently, it had a pretty foul smell. Now that I think about it, I don't know where those chips would have landed. I guess his stuffing. I do not remember the smell. I just remember Howdy Doody, who really liked ruffled potato chips.Today I finished this piece that I thought of in the middle of the night a couple of days ago. The deer was done in my lost wax casting class. The copper is hand cut and then I use a patina on it to give it that blue effect. A pearl is set in a 14k gold bezel. I call it 'Guardian'. The deer seems so maternal to me, sitting on her beautiful egg with all of that insanity going on around her. Just like a mama.