120 in 7

my first kids - 


the only ones i got pictures of! 


i spent last thursday and friday at our county's teen arts festival - about 2000 kids come over the course of the two days to have their work critiqued... they are in competition to go to the state level in visual arts, theater, voice, film making, music, etc... i had been there before as a parent when my kids had pieces entered... 


but this time i was asked to teach a workshop and jumped at the opportunity... first i hemmed and hawed over what i could teach them in 45 minutes... what didn't involve metal or fire (don't laugh, that's hard for me!)


weaving - as a teen, i loved macrame, weaving, knotting... it was the first way i used beads... 


so, ok - let's do that! 


3 workshops per day... 


let's be sensible and limit the classes to 15 students each... 


sounds good... 


i even posted sign-up sheets so that everyone would know if there was availability or not... 

but then, what do you do when a kid comes in and says, 'your lists were full by 10:30 and i was with the judges'? well, you let them in, right? and they always travel with a friend... 


do the math above and you get 90 students in 6 workshops -


i had 120... 


120 kids in 7 hours... 


and i can honestly tell you that i looked into each child's eye, touched each piece they worked on, gave each one attention... 


because i didn't just want them to finish a bracelet... i wanted to teach them a technique... i wanted them to go into a store or look in a catalog and think 'i can do that.' and then do it... to make more, to teach friends, to give gifts, to (hopefully) keep experimenting... to not just think of it as a bracelet - but as an anklet, a belt, a necklace, etc... to see a button as a clasp or closure in a different way... 

can i tell you i was so worried no one would want to sign up for it that i brought a book just in case?

can i tell you it was one of the most rewarding things i have done since i started this path?


one aspect i appreciated so much was just being in a room with different kinds of creatives - there were the ones that were happy to make randomly colored bracelets, ones that had to have the pattern lined up ahead of time, one that had to center 2 beads in the middle (and i taught her how to do that)... 


that part made me think of my own kids... and em was there - but she was helping our photographer friend with his workshop... 


huge thanks to the monmouth county arts council for the opportunity and for hosting an incredible event year after year... 

through the eyes of a fifteen-year-old

me: hey alex, can you help me rake the yard?

a: mom, seriously, there is nothing to rake... 

me: right, let's go... 

after we were done, that man-child and i headed to the backyard where he dug the hole we needed to bury his sister's bunny...


have i told you lately how grateful i am for these kids? and how much i love them?

everything dances

'everything has rhythm.

everything dances.'

~ maya angelou

metal 

wind, water, clouds

two hearts

where did the week go?

'difficult times have helped me to understand

better than before,

how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in 

every way,

and that so many things that one goes worrying on about

are of no importance whatsoever.'

~ isak dinesin

a happy face found in a bowl of spaghetti-os

chuck gets a bath

(emily was named after penwomen emilys, 

chuck was named likewise - think 'fight club')

crocus

philly

ceiling of an elevator

the fog rolled in 

i have had a post rolling around in my head all week - hope to get it up later... i need to empty it onto 'paper', as the room in there is at a premium!

grateful for a 64 color world...

life is like a box of crayons. most people are the 8-color boxes, but what you're really looking for are the 64-color boxes with the sharpeners on the back. i fancy myself to be a 64-color box, though i've got a few missing. it's ok though, because i've got some more vibrant colors like periwinkle at my disposal. i have a bit of a problem though in that i can only meet the 8-color boxes. does anyone else have that problem? i mean there are so many different colors of life, of feeling, of articulation.. so when I meet someone who's an 8-color type.. i'm like, hey girl, magenta! and she's like, oh, you mean purple! and she goes off on her purple thing, and i'm like, no - i want magenta!

- john mayer

this quote made me smile (it doesn't limit itself to partners in my mind) and  i just wanted to share it...

the blogging community that i have found myself now very attached to has really stretched me in so many ways... there are people doing awesome things creatively with their art, people thinking deeper and sharing insights, people allowing us to see the world through their eyes... it's awesome...

i find that my thinking is altering from 'can i?' to 'i can sure try'... and my kids do the same - one is involved in writer's realm & loves photoshop, another draws and does impressions (you should hear his mrs. doubtfire) and another is a creative thinker who is addicted to glass blowing... they inspire me... while the goal is always to be a great role model for my kids, i really do want to maximize whatever time it is i have here...

the final line of the song 'can't stop' by the red hot chili peppers (love their music - we were at the concert where they recorded their 'snow, hey oh' video) always leaves me mindful

'this life is more than just a read through.'

kids off to school this am, feeling a huge itch to get going doing something, but having too many ideas at once... inspired by what you all are doing and thinking... need to take a breath and center...

thanks for sharing your 64 color world!

the forbidden 's' words

in our home, from the end of school (late june) until about now, there are a few forbidden words... 'school' and 'september'... well, the time draws near... we have been avoiding the back corner of target since july (what is it about stores not getting the concept of being in the moment?)... but i was there yesterday and saw these pencil boxes... i loved the name on them and the colors & figured/hoped those things would help to dip our collective toes into the waters of the inevitable! the bus pass has arrived for one child already... we don't bother to do bts (those commercials are changed immediately) shopping as it is always hot anyway and they just wear their summer clothes...

so i guess i feel like it's ok to officially begin making jewelry inspired by autumn... i live in nj, where we have full change of season and i love it... autumn is actually my favorite one (though i appreciate the others tremendously)... it was a little weird to be doing this as i had just gotten in from a walk in 1000% humidity - not.even.kidding. in nj summers are hhh or hazy, hot & humid - and i was sweating profusely, pretty image, right?

one of my new loves is antiqued copper... i used some pond green spacers from mary ann at linden avenue designs for these ones... they are meant to be like branches, with leaves spaced randomly... the ends are paddled for a more organic feel...

these porcelain charms by mellisa at chinook jewelry designs have been accented with mykonos greek ceramic beads in different colors of changing foliage... i realized that the color of the charms was rather like the deep red-browns that will be arriving...

'to be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind
than to be hopelessly in love with spring.'
- george santayana