Merry Merry

Ah, December 25th. After a flurry of shopping, making, wrapping, cooking, decorating, and stuffing, the day is here. At 36 years of age (ahem, almost 37), all this Christmas hoopla has become an almost tedious ritual (I know, I'm grinch-ish..but don't stop reading and click off in disgust...it gets better).

Leading up to Christmas morning, Annabelle, our child of almost 2 and a half, has ooh-ed and aah-ed the various seasonal light displays on our neighbor's lawns: twinkling white, green, and red trees, motorized reindeer, glowing inflated snowmen. She has screamed with delight as she spied Santa in a window, on a card, or atop a snowbank. This morning, she actually KNEW that Santa came and left her presents under the tree!! She surveyed the tree and the presents with eyes, wide with awe. She even peeked around each corner to see if Santa had spent the night. Her smile never faded as she unwrapped every present, wanting to play or read each one before she unwrapped another!

And what was the very best gift I got this morning? I got a renewed perspective. I witnessed all the Christmas glories through the eyes of a mother!!! I experienced my child's hope, wonder, belief, excitement, and gratitude for all things jolly, sparkly, and red. Annabelle's belief in Old St. Nick is pure, fun, and entertaining. Now, I look forward to many more years of decorating, making, wrapping, shopping, and stuffing...just to see the look on my daughter's face on Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas from the Quench Bench!!! Oh, and her favorite gift? Mrs. Potato head!

Holiday Show Recap

Our first (and hopefully annual) Etsy Maine Team Holiday Craft Show was a hit with shoppers who dared to venture out on a frigid, icy Saturday! Team members displayed their very best: functional and decorative woodware, felted sculptures, upcycled home decor, jewelry creations in glass, vintage beads, mixed media, and metal, stoneware, pen and ink drawings, and lovely fabric items from children's hats to journals. Plans are in the works for more shows in 2009! Here's some pics of the wonderfully creative items displayed!

Quench Metalworks

Heron Cove Wood Carving

Suzee's Jubilees

Wordy Smith



Pamela's Prints

Karhu Moon

Helping Hands Pottery

Three Bridges Sewing Company

Front Page!

My little filigree ring made her way to Etsy's front page this morning! Melissa from Little Pink House curated this charming collection of handmade goodness! Two other pieces from Mainers, Swallowfield and Betsy Thompson Studio, accompanied my ring on her trip to the big page!

Favorite New Tool

Meet the new love of my life...the rotary tumbler. Where have you been all these years? I knew where to find you, but I denied myself the joy you would bring me. Oh, how I was so wrong!

My new friend polishes a couple of dozen items BEAUTIFULLY, all at once! So, little Miss Jeweler can get back to other bench work while Mr. Tumbler quietly rumbles away. The pic below is the media that works my pieces into that lovely luster...steel shot in various shapes and hard plastic pellets.

A generous squirt of dish soap, a little warm water, and the tumbling media is all that is required. Amazing! How did I get by all those years without one?

Seasonal Views

Christmas has arrived at the Quench Bench home. The holiday muse said her piece and I dutifully listened. Hauling the many boxes of Christmasy bric-a-brac up from the cellar (aka, my studio), I got decorating! With the ritual placement of all things sparkly, shiny, and red, a festive mood took hold and I rather like it!

This evening concludes the holiday preparations with the trimming of the tree. This will be a first in our home with a 2 1/2 year old included in the festivities. Wish us luck!

Fruits of Labor

Blogging got lost in the shuffle of the holidays...I sincerely apologize. As an avid blog reader (when time allows, of course), I know there is nothing more frustrating and upsetting than a stale blog...ok, I exaggerated here, but you get my point. I promise to blog more often now that my work load has lessened! I really enjoy blogging,too. So, I shouldn't deny myself blogging pleasure, right?

Here are some soon to be finished rings (need to set the buttons) that I had posted as works in progress last week. 8 total and $15 each. I made these for a craft show I'm doing next weekend. Less expensive and super fun baubles for the holidays! I will NOT list these in my Etsy store. If you would like one, email me or leave a comment.

These are also new earrings with 12 other siblings and cousins headed to the craft show. I will be listing some on Etsy sometime this week. The pairs that do not sell in the show will also get listed sometime after the 14th!

It's December?

Wow, this year has accelerated! What happened to autumn? Where did the sun go? Yikes! Guess what we woke to this morning? S-N-O-W. This is our first snowfall this season that "stuck". A fitting way to start the first of December (however, waking to sunny skies and 65 degrees would have been fine with me, too).



I logged in many studio hours this weekend, preparing inventory for a upcoming show. One of life's great thrills, in my opinion, is crossing off items on a 'to do' list. My pen did overtime! I plan to list a few of these items on Etsy and save some for the craft show.

This was another great thrill for me: I was notified this morning that I am the Etsy Maine Team Artist of the Month! I'm grateful, excited, humbled, elated, dumbfounded...just tickled pink! Thank you Maine Team!!! You can check out the blog here. I wrote 2 articles for the blog in November...check them out!

Lastly, how can it NOT be December...look what we brought home! Family tradition indicates that we MUST get our tree the day after Thanksgiving, and so we did. No, it is not up yet...maybe on Wednesday. Wishing you all a happy, peaceful December.

my little family