PNW adventures - Oregon

Ever so often life surprises you and brings you on those spontaneous unplanned adventures to roads you have only dreamed of taking. This summer was one of those life surprises. It all came and went so quickly.. as most adventures do. The pacific northwest has always been a calling for me. After this roadtrip I can say, it still is. I will definitely be back for another adventure or who knows maybe a long stay very soon.  You guys have always told me I would love the PNW and you know me well. I adored this side of the country, especially this state.

This adventure began early this month in Bellingham, WA where I met up with my two traveling amigos (yes, i cheated on roman this summer for a frenchie). The first night was spent at a little pup-friendly casino off the coast outside Bellingham. From there the drive went quickly through Seattle, into Oregon, spent an afternoon in Portland, and then onto the 101 highway down the Oregon coast. Portland has always been on my list of cities to visit, even though we only stopped for an afternoon we did get to enjoy a few spots and a quick visit with my friends that just moved to Portland from Vegas. The magic really began when we entered the coast. I have traveled to many parts of the US, but this was my first time on this coast and I will say there is no drive as beautiful as this any where in the country. Every view was like "picked for me" straight from my pinterest feed. The trees, beaches, fog, sunsets, colors of Oregon.... are so dreamy. The morning fog was my favorite, usually lasted a few hours after sunrise and came back late afternoon just before sunset. One of the most memorable nights in Oregon was tent camping right off the beach outside Newport. That night was funny because the car wheel got stuck in beach sand when we first arrived, but luckily got the help we needed with a tow from our tent neighbor and then enjoyed an evening of cooking dinner over his campfire on the beach with his family. Funny how things just work like that, synchronicity. That was also the night of the meteor shower and I couldn't have asked for a better viewing. At first it was quite cloudy but cleared up just before midnight when the meteors were in full effect. They looked like shooting stars everywhere in the sky that night. With that and the half moon lighting up the sky over the ocean that evening was more than a gift. And the weather was just perfect. Summer at its best. Oregon you are beautiful, can't wait to explore more of you.

California coast.. up next.

The rose gardens - Portland, OR

jewels that travel - Portland, OR

beers. pups. vegas friends in new cities Bar Bar Mississippi - Portland, OR

Falafel bowls for the road - Portland, OR

Camping out off the coast with a frenchie - Cannon Beach, OR

waking up to the smell trees and fog

wifi, coffee, and GF berry pancakes - Bunkhouse Cafe - Nehalem, OR

coastal viewstops

Neahkahnie Beach, OR

half moons, beach camping, and meteor showers of the decade

South beach state park - Newport, OR

Newport, OR

tacos for the road - oceanbleuseafoods - Newport, OR

Nesika Beach, OR

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that afternoon fog

Brookings, OR

Small town brew stop - Chetco Brewery - Brookings, OR

pup friendly pubs :)

sunsets that make you forget about time.

bts summer jewels

Here's a peek from last week on the bench at some jewel prep for the renegade craft show we had in NYC this past weekend... and a few custom gems. More in the works when we head back west next week! Stay tuned..

home of the cacti

cacti, roses, air plants, succulents, moon cacti, ferns, lavender.. make this home happy. to start off this spring season we replanted a few and added some new. welcome to our home. 

Pioneertown, CA

Can we talk about how cute this town is?! If you're ever driving through Yucca Valley, California put this stop on your list. Any town with a homemade soap shop called, "soap goats" is a town I want to be. I had a short and sweet stay in this old small town, which is just 10 minutes outside of Joshua tree.

Pioneertown was originally built in the 1940s as an old west movie set. The motel was established in 1946, and has been home to over 200 Western movies that have been filmed there on-site. There's one saloon in Pioneertown called Pappy & Harriet's which happened to be across the street from my motel, so for a late dinner and drink I walked over. I was pleasantly surprised that the bar was packed on a Monday night, considering it was late and Pioneertown is so small! The bar is actually closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so I'm glad I was passing thru on a Monday.  They have live music there every Thurs-Monday night. Mondays are open mic night. There were some really good bands and people that came out that night. And my drink was served in a sweet lil mason jar which is always a favorite of mine. I would have loved to stay another night.. until next time Pioneertown, you are a gem.  Xx

Salvation Mountain

This has been a place on my list I've been wanting to visit out west for awhile, but it has always been so far off the direction I am going. On my way back from Arizona this time I decided to take a new route home with Roman my pup, to stop at some of these places I've never been. A much longer drive but definitely worth it. Salvation mountain which is located in California near Slab City and the Salton Sea was one of the most surreal and inspiring visits I've experienced in awhile. I thought I'd be the only one there on a weekday especially since whenever I mention this spot in the desert still so many have never heard of it, but to my surprise there were many visitors passing through that day as well. The artist Leonard Knight had built this mountain as a tribute to God and his gift to the world with its simple yet powerful message, "God is Love." The mountain not only shares biblical and religious scriptures throughout but also showcases a dreamlike land of colors inside and out with trees, flowers, hearts, clouds, and other objects that can't help but make you stop, smile, and feel the love if your religious or not.

The story behind the making of the mountain is incredibly inspiring for an artist like myself who is on a journey of faith and constantly trying to figure out where the next day will lead me in my own creations and dreams, and over come any struggles and fears that stand in the way. When Leonard got to this site he thought, "I was just going to stay one week. It's been a very good week" - L.Knight 1996

"Forever trying to promote what was burning so deeply inside of him, Leonard decided to stay one more week to make a "small statement" before he left for wherever his van and his faith would take him. Armed with half of a bag of cement, he fashioned a small monument. One thing turned into another - days turned into weeks and weeks turned into years. Each day, Leonard would put a little more cement and a little more paint on the side of a forgotten riverbank. One day after about four years of work, with the instability of all of that sand undermining it's structure, the mountain fell down into a heap of rubble, sand, and weak cement. Instead of being discouraged, Leonard thanked the Lord for showing him that the mountain wasn't safe. He vowed to start once again and to "do it with more smarts."

And that he did. With three decades of work put into this mountain while living out of his truck on site, it has now become a monument of love for us all to see. Knight had passed away a couple years ago at age 82. Salvation mountain will never be completely finished as it was home to his imagination and perception of the capabilities and powers bestowed upon him by God.  Although there are many volunteers that pass through to help clean the grounds, donate, and re-paint parts of Salvation Mountain to keep the art preserved. It was Leonard's dream that his message of LOVE would be seen all over the world and that all people everywhere will show more love and compassion for their fellow man. #inspiredalways.

"Love Jesus and keep it simple." -Leonard Knight

"If somebody gave me $100,000 a week to move somewhere and live in a mansion and be a big shot, I'd refuse it. I want to be right here."  -Leonard Knight

Custom gems

Just getting back from a month of gem hunting and gem shows throughout Arizona with a whole new collection of gemstones for 2016. I'm excited to share many new gems in to the collection this year that I have never worked with before.. along with many fine jewels as well. I'll be taking a few more days to myself traveling the southwest for drafting new designs and inspiration, although I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on all these new gems when I get back in studio next week.

Custom gems are always offered to our customers as an option to pick your own gemstone from our collection, choose your own design and size. The process for custom pieces may take any where from 2-6 weeks. If there are any jewels you have seen on the Nikdreamer instagram or facebook page that are not in the shop, or if you have a gemstone of your own you'd like to have hand made in to a design from our collection, send a message through our contact page. I'm currently taking new custom orders - in any gemstone and design you see below. You can check out our new custom listing gemstone option deposit in the "one of a kind" section to see what's available here. Once order is placed you will receive an email with more information with that gemstone selection and pricing. Currently all the gemstones you see below are available. Very limited seven dwarfs now listed!

Petrified wood, Wild Horse, Green tree agate, and Seraphinite

Seven Dwarfs mined in Nevada

Currently available for custom jewels here

Royston Ribbon Turquoise mined in Nevada

Royston one of a kind sample size 7.0 - this gem is currently available in shop here

All white buffalo gems are also available for custom

Last weeks petrified wood custom ring

2016//one day at a time

The beginning of 2016 collection. One jewel a day//One day at a time.

This week we fell in love with mystic quartz. A new gem in the collection. I'm still on a hunt for topaz, hoping to find some at upcoming gem shows we will be visiting over the next few weeks. But for those of you asking, there will be many more mystic quartz gems coming soon.. keep watch here. Here's a few of my favorites from the month so far.

One jewel a day/365 days

During the last week of reflections and goal making I've thought about changing things up a bit in 2016..  2015 was an amazing year for business with learning new techniques such as casting and lapidary, working with new metals, launching four collections and two look books, being a part of an editorial shoot, Kristin Cavallari's fall look book for Chinese Laundry's, participating in our first LA and local pop-up shops, and even getting out to travel the southwest in the RV this past summer. But at the same time I look back at all these accomplishments and can't help to feel as though I could have challenged myself more. Moving forward one of my goals for the year is to take a step back from the seasonal "collections" as we've done in the past and focus more on customs, classics, and one of kind jewels to add to the collection this year as a whole.

This year I'd like to challenge myself as an artist, learn more of this skill, create more, and document the progression daily (or at least weekly) throughout the year. I hung a new 2016 calendar in my office today and I'm going to be printing a photo of each new jewel I design daily (even if that means a drawing, concept, finished piece or not) and posting it up. The first new jewel design of the year I finished late last night is the sleeping beauty stacked gem ring and is now available in shop. Sleeping beauty is one of my favorite turquoise mines located in Globe, Arizona which is now a closed mine. The gem is becoming harder to find, and more valuable since the mine closed in 2011. The gems are now only obtained from private stashes. I love the way this design came out making for the perfect turquoise statement ring and simply paring it with a classic stacker ring or the new little floral detail bead ring which is how I wore it today. This was my day 1 of 365. So really if all goes as planned I should have 365 new designs when the year ends! Stay tuned for day 2 jewel design.. currently in progress on the bench.

In other news the little turquoise gem moscow mule mugs are now in shop under gems. 

#onejeweladay

contact for customs

Reflections

2015.

It's wild to think how much can change in one year.. or even one day and then at the same time sit in one spot for one hour and see how quickly every thing around you visibly changes. I am grateful for moments like this that make me stop and remember time is really a gift. At the end of every year I like to take some time to myself and reflect on the past year and set goals for the new. While writing this post I went back to previous years 2014. 2012.. all the way to 2009.  It was exciting to see that while so much has changed over the years.. my heart, dreams, passions, and wishes are something that remain pretty constant.

As I always have kept my blog personal and honest, I'll share some of my years reflections. This was a year of change. A lot of changes in everyday routines, learning self-discipline, the people I connect with, people I've let go, places I've visited, books I've read, music I listen to, and even food I eat.. I had some health issues mid-year that has changed my entire diet to gluten free. It has been quite the adventure considering I LOVE food, and I'm the least picky eater ever. I usually will try anything. I still get embarrassed to ask for the GF menu at restaurants. I really don't want to be that person who has everything served with red flags on it. But in all honesty I've never felt better. I've suffered horrible allergies, stomach problems, and skin rashes my whole life - but in the past few months I've been allergy free, my skin is clear, and my stomach has never felt better. My love for pasta, pizza, chocolate cake, and donuts struggle has been real! Although many restaurants now offer GF pasta and my local bakery does make fresh GF donuts every Saturday morning. Not to mention Dominos delivers a pretty good GF pizza. I'm actually quite impressed. I'm still learning a lot about this allergy and diet, but it's exciting meeting so many fellow GF friends in this process. I still miss my NY pizza, very much.

In other changes, this was the first year I've officially been self-employed. I still can't believe I did it! So many times this year I've thought about getting back in to marketing or finding a part time job. But every day I tell myself, I got this. I've been practicing a lot of self-discipline, waking up earlier, saying no to friends nights out, and weekend getaways. Although I do my best to still travel some where new once a month. I don't have a set schedule in place hourly like in all previous jobs I've had, but I do plan out my month and week accordingly and work to meet my deadlines, budgets, and goals set in place. The hardest struggle daily is really just conquering the fears of self employment. What I've taken away from this year is there is nothing more important then ending my day with a grateful heart, feeling blessed to be able to do what I love every day, thanking god for all that he does for me, letting him take care of all my worries and fears, and then waking up in gratitude knowing he will guide me on the new days journey.

Which leads me in to another significant shift in my year which has been my journey of enlightenment in faith. I would say I've always been spiritual but over the past few months I've been questioning and relearning the essentials of faith. I was born and raised roman catholic, went to church every Sunday, went through Sunday School and confirmation. It wasn't until when I went away to college I started not believing in my faith as much and stepped away from the catholic church. So here I am, 32 years old and I'm just now beginning to believe all over again. I'm still uncertain where I'm headed on my life's path, but I've been enjoying reconnecting myself with someone who understands this journey and I can now talk to on it. I don't feel so alone. In this process I've learned that when you're not communicating to God you're pretty much telling him that you don't need him, that you can do things on your own, and that you are capable of going through your life under your own power. I had been doing my own way for quite some time. Probably explains why my twenties was full of such detours, always feeling lost and misguided. If anything I am now certain of this. “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” We are not made to do it alone.

During this reflecting week, I took a drive out to my closest mountain escape, Mt. Charleston. It's the one place I go when I need inspiration, peace of mind, a meditation, hike, or just breathe in some fresh air. This time I took Roman my pup, who has filled my heart every day since I adopted him two years ago. I could not imagine what my world would be like now without this little dude by my side. I know it sounds silly but when you work from home, there are often times you get lonely but with this little guy here there is always laughs, singing, and dancing in my house every day. This was actually his first adventure to the mountains with snow! I'm not so sure he liked snow, I think because it is so foreign to him.  He doesn't move when he gets his paws wet, it's so funny he just freezes up. We drove up to lee canyon to watch the sunset. I captured the changes in the sky east v. west every 15 minutes during the 4 o'clock hour which was incredible. Photos don't even do justice for the colors in the sky, but like I mentioned earlier in this post, it's wild to see and document all these visible changes happen so quickly. I'm looking forward to the new year, again with no resolutions or plans set in place but just reflections to remember how far I've come and faith in the steps that guide me from here. We can make our plans, but the lord determines our steps. // Proverbs 16:9

Thank you for stopping by and reading, sharing your support, and love. I am truly blessed to be able to share my love and creations with you daily. Please feel free to comment and share your reflections and goals for 2016, I'd love to hear them. Here's to a new year of adventures, LOVE and DREAMS!