BACK TO WORK

I'm happy today, not just because it's Christmas, but that rocks too! I've finally gotten the ok from my wonderful physical therapist Laurie, to get back to doing a little work. Happy Day!!!!  The piece above is a Christmas gift for my sister Jamie.  I also made a commission piece for a lady who's been patiently (I hope) waiting for it almost 2 months.   The same day I made a couple of pairs of earrings for my other sister Cindi.  The hardest thing was the wire wrapped loops on the earrings.  My hand was sore and tired by the end but it felt so good to get back to work.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Lily Leonard

I want to take a moment to wish all of my family, friends, students, and customers a very  happy and safe holiday season.  I hope you are having a happy and bright time! 

EXCITING NEWS

The cover of the 2013 Bead & Button Show Class Catalog

I got some great news today.  The Bead & Button Show chose an image of one of Gail and my projects as one of the pieces for the cover of the class catalog for 2013.  It's exciting to think of all of the many people who will see this catalog and study it and pore over it.  This is really special for me, because I was one of those people.  For many years I was an attendee at the Bead and Button Show.  I had been making jewelry years but really wanted to do it as my job.  I went to the show for just a weekend the first time and was amazed by the thousands of like-minded people at the show.  It was a game-changing weekend for me.  I learned a lot from all of the great teachers that I met there over the years and best of all, I found many of my best friends there too.  The show gave me the push I needed to do what I really wanted to do.  If you're a jewelry lover (buyer or doer) and you've never been there, you're really missing something.  Do yourself a favor and try to get there!  Maybe I'll even see you in a class :-)

THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving one and all!  I hope you are all happy and well with much to be thankful for.  I'm thankful for my wonderful family, those who are here with us and those who aren't.  I miss my parents so much this time of year (and always).  I have so many wonderful, happy holiday memories with them.  I'm thankful and lucky to have had them as parents.
I'm thankful for Paul and my sisters Cindi and Jamie, all three who I love so much.
I'm thankful for my fuzzy, sweet cat Lily who makes me laugh everyday.
I'm thankful to have had my sweet kitties, Max and Sophie, who I will always love and miss.
I'm thankful for all of my wonderful friends, scattered far and wide, many who are more like my family than friends.
I'm thankful that my hand is getting better every day and soon, hopefully, I'll be back to work. 
I'm thankful for warm, wonderful Iowa November days like today.
I'm thankful for snow, which I'm sure we'll have soon.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

AUTUMN

Early fall has come and gone.  Now it's November.  Hopefully, the cast will come off next week, if all looks well to the surgeon.  I'm more than ready for it to be gone, though I decorated it in a very awesome Hawkeye way!  Funny how the time passed.  I read a lot, sketched a lot, watched movies.  I wish I could say it was fun.  It should have been. After all, who doesn't wish for time to do nothing?  Instead it just felt like losing time.  I think a lot about time at this time of the year.  I always get reflective when the air gets cooler and the days grow shorter.  I think about all of the things that I want to do before I run out of time.  I suppose no one ever really finishes up their list.  It's not yet the New Year, but this year I'm making my resolutions early.  I want to spend my time more wisely.  I want to clear my spaces of stuff that I don't love or need.  I want to do all of this so that when I have time to sit around doing nothing, maybe my mind won't be so occupied by all of the things I should be doing.  As soon as this cast comes off........

HANDS UP!

A heart-shaped stone I found on the beach in California.

Summer's gone.  Amazing how fast the time goes.  It was a busy one.  I had a couple shows, some major construction on my house, a wonderful trip to California with Paul and my sister Jamie, and now new things are around the corner.  As many of you know, I have had some major issues with my right hand for a few years now.  I have an injury that's really common among we metalsmiths, (especially the women kind!) namely the basal joint of my right thumb is worn out and grinding against bone.  Yuck, more info than you wanted, right?  Well, it's gotten very bad in the last few months, to the point where I'm having trouble buckling my seat belt, and buttoning my jeans not to mention sawing sheet metal.  So, on Monday I'm having surgery to repair it.  I'm a bit freaked out by the length of time I have to spend in a cast, but I'm pretty resigned to the whole thing.  I'm not the world's most patient person and I have a really difficult time asking for help, but I guess I'm in for a period of personal growth.  I'm going to read books, sketch new work, tend my online store and anything else I can figure out to keep myself occupied.  I'll have a few months in various casts and splints before I'm back up to speed, but hopefully I'll be pain-free and ready to go soon.  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

MISS SOPHIE

Miss Sophie

I've been away for a while.  A few weeks ago Paul and I lost our sweet kitty Sophie.  She was 15, which I know isn't young, but she was really healthy, so the sudden nature of it was a shock.  Losing her has been really hard for us (even our other kitty, Lily), she was a sweet, pure soul, who we'll never forget.
My family has faced a lot of loss the past few years.  It got me thinking about the nature of loss and how we deal with it.  Our lives are shockingly short, though of course it doesn't feel that way when you're young.  We all face loss in our lives, that is if we have anyone or anything worth losing.  Still, we go on accumulating people, pets, things, that surely, we will lose one day.  Seems like lunacy to me.  I had a thought soon after she died that maybe I could put a wall up around myself and never care about anyone again.  I thought maybe I could protect my heart that way.  Of course, that's the real crazy thought, isn't it?  Think of all that I'd really lose if I did that.
So, to honor Sophie and all those that I've loved and lost, I'm trying hard to continue to live with an open heart, even though it gets battered from time to time.