Happy St. Patrick's Day

And just like the color of the old St. Patty's Day, Emerald is the color for Spring.  What's so great about Emerald anyways?

1. Green is for luck
2. Green is soothing
3. Green is healing
4. Green is the color of harmony
5. Green is the color of balance
6. Green symbolizes hope

So think about your green a little differently this Patty's Day, think about the Saint who the day is for and think about all the reasons you through a little green on, any day.

Time Goes By....

It's always amazing to me how time flies, and not necessarily while you are having fun.  It just goes by.  In one part of your life you are wondering how will I get through this, in the next you are thinking, I don't want this to end.  It is bittersweet more often than not, from my perspective.

That's why I love this time of year, regardless of where you are at, this "new" time brings such great things, even on your worst day.  Can't help by seeing the new blossoms, the fresh leaves, hear the birds chirping, and the know that so much newness is in the air.

I try to base my designs on that feeling that I get every spring.  Sometimes it is a great success, sometimes I fall short, but regardless, I enjoy what the new season brings!! Excitement and a fresh start to a new year!!

Spring.....

Ever find the desire just to make it simple.  Everything simple.  For instance, your clothing, simple but tasteful of course, and yes on a budget.  Or what about your home, just the pieces you admire, you need and the rest is unnecessary.  Well that is how I go about creating my pieces of jewelry, I want them to be pieces that you can wear daily, you can wear with anything and you can layer with everything.

Just a little tip for Spring....simplify.

Some days....

Some days are so different from others in so many ways. For instance today it has been 6 years since my grandma passed away. She was an amazing person, sharing, teaching and never boring. She gardened, did the crossword puzzle and read the San Francisco Chronicle every day.

Every one deals with loss differently. I know for all the loss I have had the last few years, I have dealt with them differently. It has been a few years now and I think about her with great fondness. How deep blue her eyes were, how much she loved to talk about politics and world events and just all around how lucky I was to have her in my life.

So today I sit in San Francisco were she spent most of her life, doing a jewelry show and honestly being thankful for her, for all the reasons I listed above, but also for all the gifts that she left me with so that today I could be here and feel confident  about where I am today physically but definitely on the inside.

Something new....

I don't know if I read it somewhere or someone said it to me, but one of the things that I have learned over the last few years is to try something new every day.  Doesn't matter what, just something.

I first decided to do this when I was going through a difficult personal time and realized that I was getting stuck.  Stuck in my thoughts, my actions, in general.  So I decided, how do you grow?, do something new everyday.

So I have taken on that outlook over the last few years.  Here are just a few things you can do to push you outside your comfort zone:

1.  Try a new food
2.  Drive to work a different way
3.  Ride your bike to work instead of driving
4.  Shop at a new grocery store
5.  Read a new website
6.  Talk to someone new
7.  Pamper yourself
8.  Read a magazine that is new for you
9.  Try a new exercise or class
10.  Go to a new restaurant
11.  Read a new story to your kids
12.  Play a new game with your kids
13.  Do a picnic inside the house
14.  Call an old friend
15.  Tell someone new how you value them

Lots of different things to do, big and small.  The point is to try them, none of it is permanent, but whose to say, as you grow you may find new things that you want to take into your daily life.  What a gift that would be.

Nobody's Perfect...

Nobody's perfect, especially me.  I like to try to be, but let me tell you that is a failing art.  And so I try my hardest to let things go, and say I am sorry when I am wrong, apologize when I am not right, and do better the next day.

Most of the time it works, but sometimes you find someone who is just darn set on not forgiving, moving on, and going forward.  So what does that do to me, you ask?  Well first off, to be honest, I am not the best at forgiving and moving on perfectly, or even slightly perfectly, but I know it is something I have to work on.  But when someone decides to continue to pick at something that I have done, apologized for, and tried to make amends, it eats at me, my soul, my thoughts and my feelings.

Now, when I talk about moving on, don't get me wrong, I am speaking of the smaller things in life, someone cutes in front of you at the bank, you have to wait longer to see your doctor, you get the wrong item that you ordered.  The smaller things....

So during this holiday season, I propose that we all try to forgive the little things that happen and don't go right.  It will make dealing with the bigger problems in life, that much easier!!!

Catching Up...

I am so fortunate to have so many friends in my life, from all different parts of my life.  College, first jobs, outside activities, currect work, and the list goes on.  Everyone should be so fortunate.  I get that and yet, I still find it hard to get together with everyone.  Life takes over, something comes up, and sometimes it can be something as simple as the time change, or I feel like I need to clean the house.

But then there is the time I say, no I am going to meet up with so and so.  And then the next day it is another friend, and a week later another.  And amazingly, I feel reenergized.  I feel creative again, inspired, focused. 

It's the sharing with friends, the talking through, the understanding, the compassion that you get from spending time with friends that rejuvenates, at least for me, the rest of my days.

So I have to say thank you to my friends out there....you know who you are!!!  I wouldn't be able to do what I do without my friends!!!

Thank you to my friend...

I am so fortunate to have a friend who likes to make videos...she did a great job showing off current and past designs of mine.  Some I forgot I did....take a watch...

Displays for Jewelry!!

Not an easy thing to do, find a way to display pieces, have them still show, but make sure the display isn't overwhelming.  It is something I struggle with myself when I am doing shows.  I am forever changing my displays, and often getting feedback from people at shows, therefore often keeping my questioning what I am doing.  So in my every changing goal of finding the perfect display, I figured I wasn't the only one looking for the right display....so here are just a couple and there are so many more.....you can use branches, use old bottles wrap pieces around the top of the bottles, use pieces of wood just on a table to lay pieces on, use staggering of boxes to add heighth, door knobs out of the wall or a piece of wood...the list goes on and on...do you have any ideas?

 

I brake for anything fun!!

So in addition to jewelry I like to do and create just about anything.  Recently I had surgery and so I have been more still and stagnant than I have ever been, but I have caught up on all the tv shows as well....but I came across "I brake for yard sales"  by Lara Spencer.....this great show about yard sales, flea markets and creating rooms with the items purchased....amazing show if you like to reinvent things, your house, a friends place, or even your work space....so guess what, she also wrote a book about it....so in my medicated state I went on amazon bought her book, and 5 other books....have I lost my mind....possibly to some....but I think I have found my mind...with lots I want to do, now when can I get back on my feet????  Soon!!!