We've been published!

This is a beautiful new book by Garth Johnson that just came out last week. It is so fun to see just how creative people can be with objects that surround them on a daily basis that would not be an obvious choice for art materials. Bryan and I are thrilled beyond belief to have three of our jewelry pieces in this book. We are on pages 144-145. You can purchase a book here or at your local bookstore.

Can't take my eyes off these..

I am absolutely in love with these and all paintings by Lori Early. Her website is definitely worth perusing for awhile.

Mac Tonnies 1975-2009

Hello again all. We wanted to give you some more info. about Mac and a few more pictures. It was a week ago today that we lost the great Mac Tonnies. He passed peacefully though in his sleep sunday evening due to a problem with his heart. Mac had told us once that many years ago he had some irregular heart beats. Tests had been done then but nothing was found; obviously there was a problem! Also, Mac did not believe in taking up land for burials so his body will be cremated and the ashes spread at Kauffman garden here in Kansas City. It is a beautiful garden located near the art museum and the fact that there is a cat that lives there makes it a perfect spot for Mac. He loved his cats and that was almost always a topic that we talked about. When I got my 2 new cats this year I think he was just as excited about it as I was. When Bryan and I would go to visit the kitties( before we could bring them home) he would tweet to us to take photos.

We put together a collage yesterday to hang at the coffeeshop where we would all hang out.We have been there every night since finding out about Mac sharing stories and just being a comfort to each other. I took these next few photos last night. Dave shared some drawings with us and his business cards that Mac drew for him. The little crop circle figures were part of Macs collection that his mom graciously let us pick a momento from. His parents definitely want to see Mac's most recent book published so rest assured that it will be taken care of. There have been some great remembrances of Mac but I would like to point you to Chris's blog post here because I really think it describes Mac well.





Thank you for all the comments left here. It was most definitely an honor to have known Mac, I will miss his witty comments on my blog and we are all going to miss that great smile of his at the coffee shop! I was teasing the other guys in the group last night that one of them is going to have to start reading up on Mac's interests to keep that element in our conversations. I would like to try and post on this blog the types of artists that he posted on his. He introduced me to several folks I was not aware of. Our last conversation the night before he passed was about art. I had picked up the latest issues of Hi Fructose and American Craft before hitting the coffee shop and we were just sifting through the magazines oohing and ahhing over all the great stuff.

Our Friend Mac

Bryan and I could hardly believe it when we found out that Mac had passed away this week, how could that be possible. We had just been hanging out with him saturday evening at the coffee shop,drinking coffee and talking art and whatever else popped up.

We wanted to share some of our photos with all of you. This is the way we knew Mac on a daily basis. He was always interesting, fun, and a great conversationalist!















We went out this evening and had dinner at his favorite restaurant then walked over to the coffeeshop for a couple of espressos in his honor. None of this seems real and we half expected to see him come strolling by the front window. We will certainly miss him!!

New design is gonna ROCK!

Started on a design this evening and am really thrilled with it so far. Thought I would photograph it each night as I work on it.

Time for a little SUGAR!

Shame on us for not introducing our newest family member sooner! Her name is Sugar and we added her to our household just after we got back from New York. She's also a Maine Coon like Mikey and what a handful she is! It's been so long since I've had a kitten,forgot how mischievous and energetic they are.

She and Mikey get along great and were friends from the first night. Think Mikey really enjoys having a friend in the house during the daytime. Sugar says Mikey makes the best pillow for napping.

We have a few pedestals in the house and they both love sitting on them. Guess they are aware of what beautiful works of art they are.


Sugar's tail is beginning to fluff out,she is so jealous of his. In just a month she has gotten so much bigger. Mikey just turned 1 in August and Sugar is 4 1/2 months old. Can you imagine in another 8 months she could be the size of him and he still has a good 2 years of growing himself. We weighed him a few weeks ago and he was 15 pounds,love that big boy!

trunk show at POPPY

Arrived in Columbia, Missouri late this afternoon. We checked into our hotel before heading over to Poppy and were really surprised by this sign in the bathroom, how funny. I also have a sign in our studio that says welcome to camp-run-amuck.


He we are at Poppy,ready to demonstrate how we work in the studio.

They did an AMAZING job creating this workshop and showcase for our jewelry. I think it's funny that as a visual merchandiser myself I have been transformed into the window dressing this weekend!


There was a good, steady crowd all evening. Everyone was super nice, we had a great night.

Tuesday night at the bench

Bryan and I have been in the studio trying to build up some inventory for our trunk show in Columbia this weekend. We took a drive out their this past weekend and dropped off 44 pieces, but we are still making more that we will bring up with us on friday. I'm loving these new skull brooches!

Sketches for new ideas that I can't wait to try out.

Skull cut-outs for necklaces make a neat pattern on the bench.