Awesome vacation ...

means finally getting some fun stuff done in the studio. I'm trying to create pieces with all the goodies I've been collecting and resist buying new stuff until I've made some space. This one is made from milk glass beads I got at Michaels with a few left over quartz crystal coins. I've linked with them all together with annealed steel wire that is on a huge spool that is greatness. I'm scared I'll never find such a large amount again but I don't let it stop me from being my go to wire. The length is actually fairly long and close to a flapper style necklace that I plan to pair with a piece I made over the summer for some yummy jadeite style goodness.


For this one, I had a bag of leftover charms that I've collected in the last year with a vintage charm bracelet I bought last Christmas and thought I'd go ahead and start adding the charms since everything was just sitting here; half hour later I've got a full travel charm bracelet that even hubby thought was cool. I really love it and feel it's especially festive now as I jingle every time I move! I'm contemplating starting to collect shield charms like these but I need another collectible like a hole in the head. Please note this is not necessarily a strong no. :)


My final accomplishment for the day was finishing the mammoth biography of Julia Child I started in May. The author really covers all the details which kept making it hard to stick with the story but the last month I buckled down and got it finished. Strangely, now that it's done I kind of loved it but it's definitely an investment in time. It's amazing to read exactly how dedicated she was to changing the way Americans cooked and felt about food. Her commitment to her profession, her husband and her causes is incredibly inspiring.

Latest fun

I have been obsessed with Lisa Kaus's Dollies and wanted to take one of her workshops but so far it hasn't been doable with the schedule or the budget. I decided to tackle one on my own and it's been in pieces on my desk for a couple of months but she finally came together. I decided to layer her necklaces just like I would mine and added a little sparkle. I definitely have not mastered Lisa's beautiful glazing and layering, or the limb attachment trickery, but as a studio muse I think she's pretty good.

Now, for my other obsession, charm bracelets. My husband started one for me forever ago which is gold, not the most budget friendly, so I decided to start one in silver for places we've visited (pictured). I'm not sure the chain is going to work since it tends to get tangled but I love all the little collected charms. One of my favorites has to be the carriage from New Orleans and the Sherlock Holmes collection from London. This is giving me the perfect reason to scope out more trips!