Wow. So much has happened since my last post back in August! At that point I was kinda wondering what the next step for me was. Well shortly after that post, some things began to come together for a big change. I moved my studio from my home, into The Workhouse!!!!!!

I could not be happier about this move. My studio is now open to the public. I am able to work, talk to people, have my work on display and sell my work all in the same space! It brings everything I love about what I do together. It is like having my own store within a store. The Workhouse is open 7 days a week from 10-5. There is always someone here, so I don't have to be here all the time (although I have been here 5-7 days a week!) There are seven other artist studios here. It's such a great atmosphere and a great place to come to work every day.

Shortly after I moved in, a local show called "My Window" came and interviewed me and several of the other artists for a special segment about shopping local for the Holidays. It was pretty exciting. Each day for 5 days a different artist interview ran several times a day on several TV channels. Here is my interview!

I followed my bliss....until it wasn’t my bliss anymore..... Now what??????

I followed my bliss of making jewelry which led to making beads, which led me to every Saturday at the farmers market for 8 years along with almost every Port Townsend craft fair, and some in Tacoma and Seattle. Then I, along with my family, followed our other bliss of snowboarding to Bend, Or.

I followed my bliss to bigger and better craft fairs throughout the west coast and even as far away as Baltimore and Chicago. 

It’s amazing what being fueled by passion can do. It was a lot of planning, packing, money, work and time. Overall it was a great and extremely rewarding experience....peppered by a few sketchy situations. Both the artists and customers (and sometimes artists were customers) I met along the way were so inspiring, and encouraging.

But one day, I found myself saying the words ‘I’m starting to loathe’ packing up for craft fairs, and setting up and taking down my booth. Loathe is not a word I use, maybe ever, especially not to describe anything I do. That is when I knew, even though at first I didn’t want to admit it, even to myself, that it was time to take a break from craft fairs.

At first the idea seemed crazy, like there was no way could I do that. But then it became easy. It was really simple. I just didn’t apply for the craft fairs. I let the deadlines pass......every time I would get an e-mail telling me about a  craft fair application deadline approaching I would delete it. Honestly, it was actually really satisfying.

So here I am, towards the end of my first summer in at least 13 years that I haven’t participated in one craft fair or market. Not one. It’s no wonder I’ve felt a little confused about what I’m doing lately. Now it’s time to apply for next years shows. Some of the deadlines have already passed, and guess what? So far, I’ve continued let them pass and haven’t applied to one.

I’m not saying I’m never going to do a craft fair again. I already felt a twinge of wanting to do one when I saw Art in The High Desert is happening this weekend. But for now I am taking a break. I’m focusing on the other areas of my art and business, the ones I do still enjoy and feel motivated about. At first I couldn’t even see any other possibilities, but now I’m seeing a lot.

The really good and very relieving to me news is that I am still completely and passionately in love with making glass beads and jewelry. When I sit down at the torch I feel like I am in exactly the right place and making even the smallest most basic bead makes me really happy. The other day, I sat down to make some large circles and flowers. They took me more than an hour each, but I was so engrossed that it seemed like only 10min. must have passed. 
One thing I do know is that I feel really good and am happy right now. I’m at peace with how things are and the uncertainty of not knowing how things are going to work out. It’s kinda fun and exciting that way. I’m open to the possibilities and hoping for the best :)

I've been working on some new designs for a while and here are some of my favorites.

 

 Here are some pictures that show how they were made

Glass rods, silver wire and gold leaf are made into beads

 

                                 
Various gauges of recycled silver wire become circles, links and ear wires.

                             Circles formed from wire ready to be soldered.

                           
             Circles after soldering and hammering, before being polished.

I made a little movie to show you how my earrings are made

Hearts

We don't really make a big deal about Valentine's Day around here. Mainly because we have our very own special holiday to celebrate this time of year. It is the anniversary of our very first date. Honestly, we don't remember the exact date, but do know it is right around my friend Kerri's birthday on Feb. 6th. This year was our 16th first date anniversary!!!!!!!!!!!! It just so happened that Robbie's mom was visiting so we were able to go on a dinner date without the kids. I really like celebrating our love on our own day.

I've only made hearts one time before as a special request from a friend. Other than that, I've never really wanted to until this year. I don't know what gave me the idea that I could just sit down and make awesome hearts right off the bat, especially after a two week break from bead making. It didn't exactly work out like that. These were a new challenge. I almost quit a few times, but I'm happy I didn't because I like how these turned out.