A wee-bit of an announcement

I will be closing my Etsy shop at the end of November and will reopen my shop later next year,

So grab anything you desire now if you can,

or wait until later in the year and see if YOUR item is still around...

Let the Wind Blow through you...

Just as the great winds from the North can seem angry and vengeful, when survived they will only make ones roots grow deeper and character that much stronger.

Words can try to whip your pride, knock you down, break your stride, never mind those words that bite...

"If you let the wind blow through you, you will take away its power to blow you down. If you let the words pass through you without letting them catch your anger or pride, you will not feel them" -Joseph M. Marshall III

..............

These windydays enduring handforged sterling silver earring hooks swirl into a gusty spiral, they hold a 9 mm smoky quarts faceted crystal that is movable and lets the wind pass through...

Seed Saver Earrings

Mariposa Silhouette

At times its best to be elusive as a butterfly, It is favorable to let your wings flutter away from commotion... Whimsically dance unaffected from unsatisfying situations, places, and persons...

Many times one needs to be like the mariposa and stay in the sparkling bokeh to listen...

To follow only the sunlight into the pollen and rose petals...

To be known as a gentle spirit because her better nature has been proven time after time, a spirited grace under fire...

An ora of mystery can only serve her best, armed with a sweet smile, intelligent eyes, and a silent reserve...

which keep her silvery wing dust... her spirit and her essence... preserved.

This butterfly knows when to offer and gift,

and when to remain a silhouette of calm silence...

She knows when to speak with a voice to hold attention and how to posses a calm and confidant respect from others...

She is generous though, yet only offers what she knows will be appreciated and appropriate...

She has learned not to sacrifice her own precious wing dust to those who hold her gifs without care.

She is a silhouette of allure, hammer hardened planishing on a 20 gauge sterling silver plate... with three magical faceted garnets stones secured to the most delicate string of three sterling silver chain lengths {feels like silk to the skin}...

Windy Days 'pauper {to remind one to be humble} button insignia' and stamp of wind is attached to the tiny hook clasp...

Be reminded of your own inner nature of the mariposa...

Don't let this lesson flutter away.

Love and light,

Michaela Dawn

I also would like to announce with much anticipation {and apprehension at the undaunting task and skill it takes, even in the most elementary stages of the craft} that I am exerting my jewelry designing efforts by unfolding my silver loving wings to take flight. You see, I've desired to smith jewelry ever since I inherited {at the age of 12} my first bezel set turquoise cuff which was crafted by my father, he was an extraordinary silversmith, he crafted with silver and stone so eloquently that just wearing one of his pieces makes one wonder how there could be such sterling strength and divine delicateness in such a timeless treasure... I have decided its time to pickup the hammer and forge ahead in this wonderful and encompassing world of earth fire and metal, heck its time to honor my birthright... the history of my fathers mastery of silver is quite poignant, and very soon I will tell you all of it in a post, first I am taking time to work on my own designs with the art of metal smith, as I desire to do something quite a bit different from him, yet similar and I wish to carry on his insignia... distinct from what I see from so many on Etsy and as much as I like the influences of the South West for that matter, I'm searching for something more feminine, ethereal, with a dash of boldness, and a hint of warmth, well, actually a heaping bunch of warmth... I also know silversmithing is such an elemental and forgiving medium and there are vast ways to express ones own style without gleaning off inspiration from other designers {that is why I am revamping my flight pattern, and staying near home for now on, I'm doing this so the influences that catch my eye come from my heart and the spirit of my home and life in South Dakota} yet it still comes down to what energy and spirit goes into each piece. We all know no one creates in a vacuum even if they say they stay in their own space so its important to understand where ones creative edge stems from to search within to find what sets fire to the heart... travels to the mind... and thus, then takes tangible form from the hands into a relic of the inspiration... my hope is that it be pure, it be of my creation, and it be set apart... I hope my work can hold up to my fathers light, to my fellow crafters inspection and critique and I wish that you would grace me with your presence as I walk into this new adventure... hopefully not alone.

The man Pat Bradshaw worked with was Chuck Norton, a Master Metalsmith and bench jeweler. Chuck liked Pats' work and they were good friends. This was the time that the new Black Hills Gold stores were being set up. Chuck and Pat worked as a team making custom and production line jewelry . They set up the shops where people could come in and see them working through big glass windows. This fascinated people. They felt like they had a part in making their custom work.That would be where the most talented people would work like Pat and Chuck. As for production work, they set up stations where different jobs were done from start to finish. That way they could quickly train people to do a small step well and get a huge amount of quality work done quickly and cheaply from a team of who did not have the experience Pat and Chuck had. The gold companies still needed someone to look over the teams work continuously to insure quality. Pat and Chuck did that as well as creating the new product line and doing costume work for high paying customers. Their work was being sold all over the world, as it still is today. This was the birth time of Black Hills Gold on a world wide scale. -Mike Bradshaw {my uncle, fathers brother)

Forgive the behind the scenes activity before the curtain call in my shop, as items hiding behind the stage are waiting to be listed or re-listed and will appear with descriptions when I have found the time to photograph them and make a twin set instead of just one, all that later next year {very difficult to carve out time to do with two kids at home, yet I'm not complaining, no, I enjoy every second of the lovely process of my life} also, I would like to set myself apart form the familiarity of my fathers jewelry just enough to embrace a quality in myself that leans towards rich jewels, as I am developing my collection primarily in the semi-precious realm of things, so even though large gemstones that are exquisitely polished, or rather AAA gemstones that fit my fancy are far-and-few between and darn expensive to boot, I'm seeking these babies out like truffles in an enchanted forest... FOR YOU... yet, for now though, the white blanks are just a place holder that guarantees the signature name for my FOUNDATION collection, which will remain a permanent copyright... and it also gives one a glimpse of what they may expect in the future {hopefully all will be in gear for the Holidays} from Windy Days....

Oh dear a bit of suspense.

S P I R I T R I N G

Spirit is...
An attitude of gratitude...
Passionate animation...
Encompassing ardor...

Spirit is having a backbone of steel, and the boldness to carry out your will. It is to breath deeply and know of the gift of life as precious, it is to cultivate your character with virtue and a gracious complexion of faith...

It is courage, dauntlessness, and a disposition of patience, coupled with earnestness with priority and responsibility, energy to do what needs to be done, it is enterprise, enthusiasm, essence... Spirit is the fire in your soul, the force that delivers you through tough times, its the frame of mind that shows people your gameness, grit, and guts... That glows like your heart of gold, and shines like your fine humor... It plays like jazz while you dance through life with liveliness, mettle. Its your mercurial mood, your upstanding morale, your undaunting motivation, nerve, oomph. Spirit is an outlook of positivity... of identifying quality. Its the resolution and resolve. Spirit is sparkle and spunk. And spirit is stoutheartedness and substance. Sometimes its your temper, other times its your tenor. It shows its self in your vitality and warmth.

Your Spirit is irresistible.

An Iroquoi Cuff, with my Wind Insignia.