i smell spring.
and i am smelling it from our “true” pittsburgh home,
goodbye townhouse rental, hello 1903 victorian just east of downtown.
snow abounds, and yes, recedes and disappears in the sun.
hooray as hunter, logan and i would say!
we are inheriting the last third of a community garden and damn, to my kids and i love to dig, sow and reap.
we will have pumpkins this fall, just you wait…

in this garden/backyard of ours i envision a fabulous wee smithy of sorts, next to the pumpkins.
basically an amish barn that takes up residence in our backyard, providing a safe for me to work with fire.
a place in side for jewellery, outside adjacent, my 250lb anvil and my forge.
a smith adjacent to a jewellery studio!

grateful inside and out that our move is complete and psyched about setting up my new temporary studio (till i get this barn you know). back to work with a wave of really cool new clients (return of some old) and some new newsletter subscribers (thanks maureen-burke.com, for featuring the “life chain”!).

and i am thinking…
i want to send out a newsletter as a house blessing, create something for you guys, whilst manifesting a barn raising for me
but i would like your opinion.

what would you like to see me run a special on right now?
mother’s day, graduations, spring! all on the horizon,

would you like to see some OM pendants, wishbones perhaps…
on sale as they say?
so happy to hear anyone’s response.

it would be great to finally have the opportunity to finish the astrological pendant line.
john is a huge proponent of these little guys and i daresay, they are so simple and pretty, charms indeed.
was thinking that i could offer a really great discount to all who commission the first of their sign (leo and sag are the only ones finished).
any and all thoughts are so welcome and appreciated.
i love making OM’s, wishbones and peace signs, but perhaps you want a discount on custom creations or just good old peace signs?
so many possibilities….:)

now i must to garden exploration with my wee companions and baby wolf. the snow is melting so that i can actually see soil.
hooray

shine sun, shine
xo
heather

i make peace signs every week. next to my custom designed jewelry, peace sign jewelry is my most popular request.
 

so what makes this particular peace sign so special?
 
the man who it was made for.
 
one morning a couple of weeks ago, i received a call from a gentleman looking for peace sign jewelry. he had a 60 s peace sign back in the day, is well versed in the history of peace sign, and has a deep respect for custom made jewelry. what makes him so special to me? the grace and eloquence with which he conversed and the profound message he shared.
 
nine years ago my new friend went into the hospital for routine surgery. a grave error occurred and he was given a large dose of a medication, not meant for his condition. the medication went to his brain and emergency brain surgery was performed.
 
his speech is slow and labored, he has difficultly giving simple information such as his address and phone number. and yet, he is so kind and forgiving. his message to me was simple. never, ever, underestimate the power of the brain. in the initial stages of recovery, he could not communicate at all, yet he could understand everything. (bear this in mind if you ever are visiting someone in a coma!).
 
be so gentle with those who seem less intelligent, for inside there may be someone who understands and feels so much more than they are able to express. the brain is so complicated…
 
so when i forged my new friend his 60’s peace sign, i wanted to add something special, to let him know that his message touched me in a special way. i am a cancer survivor, as they say, and i am one of the “lucky ones”, so i wanted to thank him for sharing with me.
 
i forged a handmade “s” clasp and welded it onto the chain. it is a little expression (and we didn’t even photograph it), but he should receive it on monday.
i so hope that his new custom handmade jewelry, forged by fire brings him as much peace as the information he shared with me.
 
peace, love and compassion to all,
 
heather