birds on wire

I guess I'm in a flighty mood because my pendants are all sprouting birds. Now available in my little etsy shop http://jenniferstumpf.etsy.com.

A mix of metals. The opposite side of this domed pendant has a single stamped bird under the sun.

I'm working on some submissions for not only jewelry magazines, but fiber magazines as well, with several interesting projects in the works.

My parents visited this past weekend, leaving their little dog with us for autumn doggie camp, while they travel in the Northeast. Since my mom and I saw the movie Julie & Julia, we have both become veritable Julia Child freaks. Since we saw the movie, we have been deeply coveting the original non-book club Mastering the Art of French Cooking book. My mom, who has a vast cookbook library, called my husband last week before they visited, all excited! What could be going on? Well, she knew she had the part two book in book club version, but! She rooted around in her vast cookbook library, in a hidden away part of a cupboard and VOILA! She found an original first edition copy of Part One Mastering the Art of French Cooking! We both screamed with excitement! And she didn't even remember she had it before... Goes to show, folks-- never throw anything away! I, being of meager means, have been drooling over the first editions on Ebay but they are going for HUGE prices. Good heavens.

We spent part of our time over the weekend trolling the thrift shops in search of an older edition of this cookbook and today I stopped at another Goodwill, still searching in vain. Until I come across a treasure, I am consoling myself with the fortieth anniversary edition. Price? $24.95 from Costco. That's more my speed.

Keep checking back on my etsy site, if you wish, and...

Bon Appetit!

bird under sun/bird under stars

I've been working with copper and nifty blue patinas lately, after having purchased a lovely blue patina copper pendant necklace from the amazing Amanda Davie. I fell so in love with Amanda's beautiful creation, this my most favorite necklace of all my necklaces, that I asked her how on earth she did it. She told me, I got my ideas in order, set up my little chemical lab, shoved the cat out the door, put my pieces of worked copper inside, and then waited. and waited. and waited. After 1/2 a day and one full night, I eagerly opened up the container. And found the pendant that I so carefully constructed was black. Yes, it was black. I felt sick.... Not a lovely blue, not a glowing turquoise or even a faint green. Black. So, persevering creator that I am (read OCD at work...) I made another. Waited again. SAME RESULTS!! I'm totally puzzled by now. WTF?? I did everything right! But, it didn't look bad with the black as it worked into all the nooks and crannies, but I wanted blue. *sigh* So I tried an unorthodox method not highly recommended because of mess. And I waited again. Got up yesterday morning and dashed into our studio, kind of expecting the usual. But, no! It was bea-oooooo-tiful blue blue blue!! And here is what I created with it:

A double sided domed pendant with tinkling bell inside, secured with brass eyelets. Does anyone know how much I LOVE cold connections? Anyway, let me get a hold of myself. Isn't the blue lovely? A bird under the sun stamped on one side...

A bird under the crescent moon and star on the other. Paired with some gorgeous twinkling gemstones, an elegant little pewter bird from mamacita beadworks, a vintage brass clip, vintage brass chain and sterling clasp and voila! It is for sale right now on my etsy shop http://jenniferstumpf.etsy.com. Go take a look!

September 13 found me a birthday boy in my household. My husband turned 47 on Sunday, which called for special events all day long. Above, something we eat about twice a year, real peppercorn hickory smoked bacon, care of our neighborhood butcher shop. It was absolutely divine.

Morning, honey! Nice bed-head. Happy birthday! He wished for whole grain blueberry pancakes and real bacon with lots of syrup and butter. Coming right up... Yum. Good stuff.

We spent a good part of the day lounging. And eating, apparently. Here is the man himself on his big 47, looking a bit spiffier in front of a homemade roasted walnut and carrot cake with cream cheese and zest of lemon frosting. We took it over to our artist friend's house and shared, both so we could have a little socializing with friends and also so we wouldn't eat the whole cake ourselves. Two kinds of ice cream, hot fudge, strawberry sauce, fresh raspberries, whipped cream and coffee rounded out the binge. Oh, and Michael and I went to a Chinese buffet right before and ate three plates each, plus tackled one heck of an amazing sushi bar. By the time of this picture, I was seriously wishing for two things: an antacid and an elastic waistband.

Earlier in the day... a kiss from my girl Lucy. What a sweet dog she is. She turns 13 this month. And she loves carrot cake.

Last night we walked til we could almost drop and I made a huge pot of vegetable soup. Cooler air is coming, I can almost feel it. More blue pendants are also coming.

new etsy listings/visiting the parents

This etched copper pendant with silver swing bar is now up for sale on my etsy site http://jenniferstumpf.etsy.com. It was created with the upcoming fall and winter seasons in mind, a nod to Zen mindfulness in the quieter months of contemplation, or so I would like it to be. This pendant is featured on a necklace design of mine that is in the soon-to-be-on-newstands Stringing magazine fall 2009 issue.

"The Forest" etching on copper. This deep etching is the single version of the above. Now available on http://jenniferstumpf.etsy.com.

I am at my parent's house since this past Tuesday, to celebrate my dad's birthday and to spend some time with my mom and dad for almost a week. Yesterday my dad took us out on the beach in his four wheel drive truck, where my dad looked for interesting photographic opportunities and my mom and I went searching for interesting shells or whatnot. Can you believe we were really cold out there?? This is us huddled together wishing we had brought down parkas (seriously!) and examining a wood pegged log that washed ashore during the last storm. My dad thinks it to be vintage mid to late 1800's ship part, due to the sturdy wooden pegs. My mom and I, naturally, thought it would look smashing in their yard with flowers around it, but it's not legal to remove such things :( and also, the sucker weighed a TON. Yes, I tried to lift it.

More interesting things washed ashore in the form of this fishing boat, ran aground during the summer, emptied of its fuel and left to die on the beach. I don't know why it wasn't able to be towed or removed. On the beach there were hundreds and hundreds of small horseshoe crabs, all dead or dying, again I don't know why, but they brought a plethora of shorebirds to the area. My dad, having been a wildlife biologist, knew all their latin names but the only ones I knew at a glance were the obvious pelicans and oyster catchers. Dozens of pelicans were congregated around this boat, a delight to watch.

My lovely parents, the evening after my dad's birthday, posing before chowing down on a couple of pounds of Alaskan king crab legs, giant steamed shrimp and the best corn on the cob I've had in years. Mmmm. good stuff.

We've had a wonderful time and I still have the weekend before heading back to Richmond. Michael has headed to PA to his own large family reunion, so I am here alone with the doggies and my parents. Home is where your heart is, don't you think? xo