Beautiful Day at The Market

Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day, and we had a great turnout. Thanks to my community friends who stopped up to say "Hi." I really appreciate your support, and it's just a lot of fun to have friends stop by and chat. Also, after several weeks off from this market, it was great to be back, and to have the chance to talk with the other vendors. It's a really cool group of folks at this market.

And, it was great to meet so many new people! I love hearing your stories, your reactions to the jewelry, and helping you find that perfect piece for yourself and your loved ones. I just can't explain the feeling I get when you choose to buy my jewelry, whether as an everyday piece, or a thoughtful gift for birthdays and holidays. It's just an honor to know that my jewelry will be going out into the world with you, your friends, and your family. It's really cool.

Yesterday was an especially exciting day as I previewed some new, Fall designs. It was invaluable to get folk's feedback on these, and to hear, and see, their reactions to the designs, stones, and colors. All of this feedback is inspiration for me, and I can't wait to get back to making more Fall inspired designs. Happy Sunday!

Downtown Downer's Grove Market

Tomorrow, I will be at the Downtown Downer's Grove Market, and it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day. If you are in the area, stop up and say "Hi!"

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Face the Tweet

In addition to this blog, which I will continue to use to post new updates, event schedules, and photos, you can also find me on Facebook and Twitter.

When you visit these sites, you'll see that I've been posting for a while, and, I'm hoping that I've finally worked out all of the behind-the-scenes logistics of these accounts. So, it's time to face the tweet...

Enjoy!

Some Fridays Are Just Like That

So, before I even finished my first cup of coffee this morning. Hmmm, wait a minute. Having just written this sentence, I realize this statement could be the very reason why this happened in the first place...

The bad news is that the entire blender full of carrot-orange juice with blueberry and banana smoothie I was making earlier for my breakfast exploded ALL OVER THE KITCHEN. I mean, every square inch of our tiny kitchen, and most things in it are covered with it--the walls, the floor, the counter top, the toaster, the blender, and the coffee pot. Two paper towel rolls later, and, at last, it finally doesn't smell like I harvested a bounty of organic carrots from our kitchen floor!

The good news is that seeing all of these rich colors blended together--bright orange with bits of dark blue--gives me some great ideas for Fall jewelry designs!

There's that silver lining...okay, I need some coffee, now.
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Happy Friday, and hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy, Happy

Two days before her wedding, I delivered the above rings to the bride-to-be--a soon- to-be thank you gift for her bridemaids. Her reaction was wonderful; smiles, and even a few tears. She was so happy to see that each custom, handmade ring turned out just as she had hoped.

The next night, at the rehearsal dinner, the bride-to-be gave each bridesmaid their ring. Later that same evening, I received a text message from one of the bridesmaids telling me how thrilled everyone was with their rings; they were happy, and I was so happy to hear this news.

Happiness all around...great jewelry will do that to you!
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A big congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Bertulis. I have it on good authority that they had a very moving and memorable wedding ceremony, and an amazing wedding. Congratulations to them!

In The Now

Listening to Monsters of Folk, hand making custom rings, and enjoying the rejuvenation that remains from having spent this past weekend with my sister and family...highlights included staying up until 3 am just catching up with with my sister; laughing hysterically w/ my husband, sister, and brother-in-law, the entire weekend; watching our son playing with his cousins; spending time with our cool nieces and nephews, and spending time with family friends...it doesn't get better than that.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago: Tuesday, Free Admission!

So far this summer has a been nice mix of local activities, a bit of travel, and occasional trips into the city of Chicago. On one of my more recent trips into the city, I took our 7 year old son to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art for the first time. It was a great experience in many ways:

1) We went to the museum on a Tuesday, which is Free Admission day, all day long!!!

2) Alexandar Calder's work is on exhibit and our 7 year old son enjoyed seeing this exhibit--the colors, the scale, the mixed mediums, the story behind his work. I loved it, too.

3) We were able to have lunch with my hubbie in the city that same day.

4) Did I mention that it was Free Admission Day?! This was key to our day because, while our son did enjoy the museum, he was also ready to leave in a relatively short period of time, so free admission made it a very worthwhile trip.

All around, there is some really interesting, thought provoking, and beautiful art going on at the MOCA, Chicago. I highly recommend putting Free Tuesday at the Museum of Contemporary Art on your summer fun "to-do list!"