Beads Just For You: July 2011

Beads & Chocolate

It all started with my friend Lynn and a pair of earrings. I purchased a freshwater pearl and amethyst necklace in Spain a couple of years ago. The store where I purchased the necklace had no earrings to match. I wasn’t worried; I could find those anywhere. I searched local jewelry shops, online shops, and even my favorite jewelry store in Bermuda, and could not find a match. After returning home I told my friend Lynn of my dilemma. She told me that we could just make a pair of matching earrings. And she took me to what has become one of my favorite bead shops, Creative Destinations in Mesa, where I found the perfect amethyst drops and tiny pearls to match. The rest is history.

In 2007, I reached my long-term goal of a BS in Finance from the University of Phoenix. My experience working in banking before my children were born, led me to the desire to help women understand the basics of money management. I never imagined this would lead to my latest passion...creating beautiful jewelry!

My new goal is to find a way to combine two of my favorite things: beads and chocolate. In my travels I have always searched out the best chocolate I could find. I have been known to bring back an entire suitcase full of chocolate from Europe. And this past summer (2009) I brought back a suitcase full of beads from Venice and Murano along with some delicious chocolates from Venice, Switzerland, Belgium, and England. I also picked up some beads and pendants in England. The chocolate is nearly gone, but it will take some time to create enough designs with all the beads. Fortunately, I have lots of help enjoying the chocolate and creating the jewelry.

How fortunate am I that I have finally arrived at a time in my life where I can do what I love which is creating beautiful, wearable works of art? While my daughter runs the business end (computers and such) from the North Woods, I design and create from the sunny, hot Southwest. I have been doing this for at least 10 years starting in Chicago. I sell mostly from home, through word of mouth, and at shows. I also do a lot of custom pieces.

I do not say I work with beads, I play. I have so much fun
creating, I simply can't call it work.

For more information on what Sparkling Elegance is about, visit our blog to see where we are going and how dreams do come true.

WHEN WE PARTNER TOGETHER, MIRACLES HAPPEN.

I am currently attending Mesa Community College, and acquiring my associate’s degree in merchandising. I enjoy reading classic literature, taking photographs, watching old movies, and listening to jazz. Some of my favorite things in the world include: cheese, elephants, pirates, buttons, trips to Disneyland, and rubbing bald heads on babies. My biggest aspiration in life is to open a 1920s themed deli/bakery/art gallery/performance space. In March of 2009, I was designing the jewelry for my best friend Erica Neel's wedding. The theme of her wedding was whimsical garden, and I loved the idea so much that I named my accessories line after it. I'd like to thank my Aunt Kathleen and Lynn Conner for bringing me into their entourage of amazing creative women.

I have a life long obsession with sparkly objects, a magpie like attraction to anything shiny, and a life long love affair with art. So for me discovering jewelry design was pretty much inevitable. My inspiration comes from everywhere and once inspired it’s like an itch I have to scratch, and I can’t move on until I manage to gather all the pieces I need to bring my vision to life.

I am the proud new mom to the world’s cutest baby boy and I live with my darling husband and our three cats in central Arizona. I have my bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in English Literature from Texas A&M University. In addition to jewelry, my obsessions include: chocolate, reading, arts and crafts of all varieties, and yoga.

I am part of this endeavor mostly because I am living vicariously through my friends’ artistic escapades. It’s NOT that I am not creative. I actually really enjoy designing and composing all sorts of things. It’s just that I know myself and if I dive into the path that would take me to jewelry artisan, I would not come up for air. Ever. So, for now, I am the blogger, the document creator, the facilitator, the marketing novice, and currently the token blonde* of the group. (Any one of my friends could change her hair color any time and then such a claim I will no longer make.)

And if you're remotely interested in my qualifications, I do have an M.A.Ed. from Arizona State University in Secondary Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis in English. (Yes...I realize that this makes me qualified to teach English to people, not blog or do any of the other nonsense I'm saying I can do. But I'm going to try anyway, if that's all right with you.)

*I must note here that my hair is blonde and that none of the other connotations associated with the notion of “being blonde” apply in my case. At least not on a regular basis. I am human, and I do make mistakes. But I never blame it on my hair. Really, it has nothing to do with it.

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Saturday, July 9, 2011

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