New Earrings & Free Shipping!

I finished up a new set of earrings and uploaded them all in my etsy shop. These earrings all feature bits of the Krebs Northern California Cycle Touring map. This map was gifted to us by another cycle touring couple and led us through some amazing areas while we traveled down Highway 1 North of San Francisco. (If you're interested in cycle touring this area, I highly recommend this map!) I decided to use parts of the map that represented some of the best areas you rode through: the Redwoods, Elk Prairie, Bodega Dunes, Samuel Taylor State Park.




And, in honor of the big after-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy, I'm offering Free Shipping on all purchases in my etsy shop from Friday, November 27 through Sunday, November 30.

Happy beginning of the Holiday season!

Join in the Mustache fun!

In case you haven't noticed, the Bike Mustache has gotten all sort of internet lovin' lately. I guess the facial hair trend isn't on it's way out, yet, which is great news for me! And great news for you!

I've been making mustaches on the road as we're traveling... in campsites throughout central California and at the homes of various hosts... and decided that it would be fun to let folks know where their mustaches are being created.

So, now, when you order a Mustache on yer Bike, it'll come with a note about where it was made (and maybe even GPS coordinates, if we can figure that out).

Here I am working on a mustache outside of Yosemite National Park...

Earrings!!

I am thrilled to announce that I have new work available! I just finished up a whole bunch of earrings and they're now available in my Etsy shop.

Some feature bits of Madrona bark and Eucalyptus leaves that I collected in various locations along our journey of the past few months. Others feature bits of newsprint and an old Spanish map.

Matter Gallery Grand Opening

I won't be able to make it to the Grand Opening, which I'm bummed about, but I invite each and every one of you to go on my behalf and explore all the wonderful hand-crafted goodness that Jo has brought together in Matter! Gallery.

Friday, November 6th, 6 - 10pm

113 Fifth Avenue SW (between Capitol & Columbia), Olympia, WA 98501

Live jazz music & refreshments



Also... Mark your calendars for December 4... First Friday at the gallery (and all of downtown Olympia). Extended hours and a holiday focus!

Sitting and thinking...

It's raining today. A hard, driving, steady rain. Supposedly, it's the tail-end of a typhoon that hit Japan earlier. At times, the rain is actually coming down sideways. It's running down the road in a steady river and the wind is whipping the trees. It feels like winter. And I am ever so glad to be inside. We're staying with friends south of San Francisco, and we made it here just a few hours before the storm broke. In this moment, I feel so very fortunate. Not only are we inside, we're warm and dry, with an entire day to read, do laundry, catch up online, and there's no pressure for us to be pedaling down the road today. It feels very luxurious.

Lately, I've been thinking about how amazing it really is to be able to go on this completely open-ended journey. To have the freedom each day to decide what we want to do and where we want to go. It's not un-ending bliss, every moment, but it's a sense of complete self-reliance and ownership of my life that I haven't ever felt before. And that feels very luxurious as well.

Being on my bike, riding down the road, for several hours each day, provides an opportunity unlike anything else to think. Just think. Brainstorm and work through ideas. Some days, I ponder jewelry designs. Other days, I think about how I hate the way houses look when the garage is right in front, or how terribly sad (and smelly) it is to see so many dead dear (and raccoons, foxes, skunks, etc.) on the side of the road.

Without a doubt, the hardest part of this journey has been finding the space and time and energy (both physical and creative) to create jewelry. And, to be perfectly honest, I have my moments when I wonder if I shouldn't just put it on hold for a little while, and focus exclusively on the cycling. Except that, eventually, I'm reminded of just how fascinated I am with studio jewelry and how much it continues to intrigue and inspire me and be something that I want in my life. So, I give up the notion of giving up on making jewelry, and I go back to trying to figure out how to keep creating while we travel. And this is, quite possibly, one of the most amazing lessons of this journey so far... learning how to make the time for the things that I want to do with my life.

So, now, I sit inside, dry, while it continues to rain outside, and I'm thinking about just what type of jewelry to work on over the next few days of non-riding time in the Bay Area. And I find my brain waffling over whether to work on more complex, one-of-a-kind, gallery-appropriate pieces or smaller, simpler, more affordable pieces. Of course, there's no right answer, and if I can figure out the workflow, I'll probably end up making both styles.

Tomorrow, I'll probably still be huddled inside, as this storm is supposed to continue for a bit more, and it will give me some time to make sense of the myriad ideas running around in my head... and, hopefully, finish up some of the pieces that are in pieces in my studio bag. Cheers to the Japanese typhoon!

Matter Gallery

Hi everyone!! I am lost somewhere in the redwoods right now... it's beautiful and oh-so-inspiring. Squeezing in the time to work on new pieces is proving to be quite tricky, but I'm certainly not giving up! Yesterday, I actually set up shop at a picnic table at a state park, surrounded by tall trees and fog... not bad, huh?!


I hope to have these pieces wrapped up and photos to share soon... but, in the meantime, I have an exciting announcement... Matter just opened!! Matter showcases functional art with a reclaimed/sustainable theme... and my jewelry is featured!! If you're near Olympia, WA (or feel like making a field trip), stop in and say hi to Jo and check out all of the creative goodness!

Confession: It's a bit strange to be on the road...

As an Etsy seller, I'm signed up to receive emails from them about updates and tips and all the goings-on. Lately, there have been a lot of great improvements and happenings. And, to be honest, as I scrolled through them all the other night, I found myself feeling a bit detached from it all and kinda sad about it.

I used to spend hours trolling through Etsy and thinking about my shop there and reading the EtsyMetal forums (and, basically, being virtually connected to the whole hand-crafted world). These days, I'm rarely online. I'm having a fantastic time exploring and learning - and I really need this time of pushing myself to think outside of my "usual" - but it's finally starting to all sink in that I'm living a very different life these days.

Part of the goal, in bringing all of my tools with me, was to keep working and keep growing my jewelry line - and to not just totally run away from everything. Over the past month and a half, I have effectively run away and learned how to "be" on the road for an extended period of time. But, I haven't quite figured out how to be "productive" while traveling.

The other day, I created a pair of headbadges for a couple that we've been staying with out on Orcas Island. I finally broke out my portable studio and did some work - and it felt really great. So, I know that I can find that happy medium - I just have a lot work ahead of me to figure out how to incorporate these things that I used to be more connected with into this vagabonding experience.

In the meantime, a few more photos of things that have been inspiring me on the road: