After shutting down my studio in October to finish packing up my part of the marriage house, I finally made my way to a very small, quiet town deep in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. I am beginning my brand new life here, in a place where I know absolutely no one except some immediate family that recently moved here as well.

I have always had a dream of living in a cabin in the mountains in the woods. It’s something I have been creating in my mind for years, but never knew how I could possibly make it happen. As fate would have it, my personal life would change, making space for this life long dream of mine to come true.

While building my cabin, I have had quite a bit of down time. During this interlude, I am able to observe the building process as it unfolds, watching as each layer comes together to complete my long awaited cabin. The process of building a home is so similar to the design process of building a piece of jewelry as a silversmith, fabricating each part to fit together flawlessly, layer upon layer, to finally form a completed piece of jewelry. It’s really interesting to watch the process on a much larger scale.

One of the most exciting parts of my cabin is my new studio space. My cabin will have an upstairs loft studio area which is probably three times larger than the space I originally occupied. As much as I loved my previous studio space, it was very tight quarters for all the various equipment I use to design jewelry. And since I will be expanding my business to also teaching silversmithing, more studio space was needed to make that a reality. It will be nice to have the space to expand as a designer as well. More space also means more equipment to help my design process to be a little more streamlined and hopefully a little more efficient as well.

Very exciting times are in store for me as I enter this next chapter of my life. I hope you will continue to follow along. I will keep you updated as things progress.

~Danielle