Turquoise and Cowboying
Time is Escaping me
How are the holidays already here? I feel as though I haven’t even caught my breath from Summer yet. Fall came and went with lots of time spent in the saddle. And then back to the shop I went. Trying to practice my skills and learn new ones. I can see the progress I have made over these past couple of drops and that excites me. But I watch the makers I love and study their work. Not only do these makers inspire me but studying their work helps me get better. To see my mistakes and tweak where I need to.
Cows and Horses
Clyde and I standing our ground so cows go out the gate instead of down into the brush right behind me. They weren’t quite ready to leave their summer grass. I spent lots of time around Avon and Townsend helping gather and sort. It was busy and hectic trying to find everything before the calves shipped at the end of October.
Now that all the calves are loaded and on the truck cow work is coming close to an end. A few more days of preg checking and then it will calm down till the snow starts to fly.
I am not ready to put my horse away though. So I had signed up for a horsemanship clinic with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law in Deer Lodge, MT. A small group of us rounded up our horses to learn from Dean Sanford. My brother-in-law brought the cows and we spend two days working.
I learned a lot from Dean, most of my horses problem was with me. My lack of awareness of my cues. My legs and body saying one thing and my hands another. I am excited to put these new skills to the test and really work on slowing myself down making sure that Clyde is getting a clear cue of what I am asking him to do.
Sonoran Gold Turquoise
Back to the shop I go. Like I said how are the holidays already here! I know lots of people are starting their Christmas shopping so I am trying to knock out some pieces for you guys!
In one of my instagram posts I asked what people want to see more of in my drops and most everyone answered with earrings. Which surprised me because the cuffs are normally the first things bought. But I am listening. This new drop has more earrings than anything else.
Sonoran Gold Turquoise is the stone for this collection and it is a very sought out stone that many makers I follow use. It is from Mexico and has the prettiest vibrant blues and greens with gold or sand colored veins almost looking like earth. These stones are classic and will not go out of style. Eye catching from every angle.
The next collection will be December 12th with a variety of stones to be shown off.
Silver Costs!
These silver prices! They are insane. I had to adjust some of my pricing due to the cost of silver right now. But if these prices don’t come down the inflation will show more in the next collection.
When I first started dabbling in silver in 2024 it cost twenty nine dollars a troy ounce and I thought that was expensive. And because I started out self taught I was croaking at the amount of silver I was ruining. During this collection I saw prices go up to fifty four dollars an ounce but now it’s sitting at forty eight. I hope the silver continues to trend down.
Which I am so thankful I wised up and signed up for the Be A Maker School by Nevada Watt. I can not recommend her school enough! She has videos that you can refer back to anytime and she offers Q&A sessions if you are still needing more help. I am now addicted to the courses and I am contemplating taking the photography class. She only opens her courses quarterly so if you have an interest in being a maker of cowboy arts go check her out. https://www.beamaker.school
Goals
My goals for the next couple of months is to practice engraving. I want to add engraved pieces of silver to my belt buckles and jewelry. I will circle back to the classes I took from Nevada and study them. It also means lots of time to spend in my sketchbook cause drawing is half the battle.
Squash Blossom necklaces are a dream of mine to make. A statement piece to really showcase what skills I have learned. I look forward to challenging projects.
I also plan to change my essential line so for the next few drops it might be an empty shop. But stay tuned for those updates.
Thank you for reading and I plan to get better at posting on my blog. Not only will I be keeping you guys in the loop as to what is going on in my life but I plan to add in blogs about the process of being a silversmith and maybe add in other makers who I look up to and other makers who I believe deserve your support.
