The moment our Thanksgiving festivities died down, daughter #2 and I dove into our work for her holiday jewelry push. With her magazine article hitting stands on Dec. 1, Cyber-Monday just a few days away, and the Christmas gift-buying frenzy well-underway it was time to pull out all the stops! Plus, she is doing her first arts/crafts fair on Thursday and Friday of this coming week. She is busy measuring, clipping, hammering, oxidizing, wire-wrapping...creating all the beautiful designs seen below plus many more. 
I am busy creating earring cards, bags for customers to carry their treasures in, business cards, displays and all the other behind-the scenes bits and pieces to market her creations. We are both happily exhausted. Just a few more hours and then, let the sales begin!
Our youngest daughter is at college orientation this evening, and I find myself looking around at her things, excited for her, yet feeling a little sad. She is blooming in so many ways...she had her first real job this summer, working for a greeting card company part-time....she and her boyfriend became engaged this summer and have promised to wait to marry until she has completed her undergrad degree.... and, she has become a jewelry artist, self-taught so far. She has both purchased and created a variety of beads, and while she has finished some pieces of jewelry, she wasn't satisfied and took them all back apart. I think some completed pieces are on the horizon, and no doubt her perfectionist tendencies will pay off with some beautiful work.
She is drawn to birds as a theme for much of her art...and it shows in her jewelry making too. Her bead box has flat bird beads and 3-D birds, alongside a few specially designed birds and various purchased beads and findings. This one calls to me with its outstretched wings and coiled tail feathers.....I'm looking forward to see how she uses this little guy.
I am busy creating earring cards, bags for customers to carry their treasures in, business cards, displays and all the other behind-the scenes bits and pieces to market her creations. We are both happily exhausted. Just a few more hours and then, let the sales begin!
She is drawn to birds as a theme for much of her art...and it shows in her jewelry making too. Her bead box has flat bird beads and 3-D birds, alongside a few specially designed birds and various purchased beads and findings. This one calls to me with its outstretched wings and coiled tail feathers.....I'm looking forward to see how she uses this little guy.
