Sugar Me Sweet ~ Pendant: Cindy Gimbrone, Enamel Bead: Sue Beads, Lampwork: J Savina Beads, Ceramic: Golem Studio.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Little Thrills

I'm kind of in love with my mailman. OK, not really, he's kind of old and I am happily married after all, but I do get a little tingle of excitement when I see that red truck rolling down the street. Why? Because he always brings me little yellow envelopes filled with goodies. How thoughtful of him. ;-)

I consider myself to be a treasure hunter. My husband on the other hand might call me a shopaholic. Either way I have to admit I get a bit of a thrill shopping for pretty, shiny things. Shopping on-line is the best. There's that tingle of excitement when I find some beautiful beads and a second one when they arrive in my mailbox. Do I have a problem? Maybe...

Yesterday's little yellow envelope of love contained these frosted coral/red crab agate beauties.


I didn't have a plan for these when I bought them but I've already been putting them to use in a new necklace that I hope to finish today.

Here's a sneak peek:


What have you got for me today Mr Mailman?

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Mmmm, Apple Martinis...

My lips pucker just looking at these! I just added them to my shop.


Apple Martini Earrings

Don't they look juicy? They kind of make me want an Apple Martini right now.....

Apple Martini Recipe
1 Part Vodka
1 Part Sour Apple
1 Part Apple Juice
Apple for garnish

Yum!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

A Creative Mess

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this but I'm a kind of a slob. I don't like dirt. Dirt is gross, but I am A-okay with mess. My kitchen cupboards are disorganized, my living room is filled with toys and my dining room table looks more like an office hit by a tornado than a place you'd like to have a dinner party. But my studio... my studio is a mess in a league of it's own.

But I like to call it a "creative mess".

For example, here is my desk. As you can see I've given myself about 2 square inches of work space which is surrounded by little piles.



I don't know, maybe it's just the way I work but I like to see my favorite beads laid out in front of me. They often serendipitously come together in ways that probably wouldn't happen if they were neatly tucked away in drawers. I try and work this to my advantage and have a collection of little ceramic dishes and boxes that I fill with goodies that I think might work together. Sometimes they come together into a great piece of jewelry!

This pile...


Became this bracelet!


And a pile like this...



Became this bracelet!


Every now and then I do clean. Just like I'll clean my dining room table for Christmas dinner my desk gets a good cleaning every once in a while too.
This was taken several months ago.



It's kind of nice when everything is in its place but I have to admit, I do my best work in a creative mess. Now I know I'm not the only artist who works this way. Just Google "creative mess" and you'll see some studio photos that make mine look as organized as a kindergarten classroom!

I'd like to think though that "a creative mess is better than tidy idleness" ... right?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Let's Dance

Hello and welcome to my new blog! This blog represents a new chapter in my life. A new beginning if you will. My journey to this point has been a crazy one with lots of twists, turns and bumps in the road. Those of you who know me may know that I was once the owner of a successful on-line bridal jewelry company. This great little business was something I was extremely proud of. It was my creative outlet, my source of income and like a baby to me. Then, I had a real baby. My beautiful little boy was born in January of 2008. I took only 6 weeks off before I returned to my business. Luckily I worked from home and had great support so it was manageable. Stressful, but manageable. Then less than a year and a half later my world was turned upside down. My little boy wasn't meeting some of his milestones and was later diagnosed with PDD-NOS a form of autism spectrum disorder.

My entire world came to a halt and the path that I had carefully laid for myself became unclear. I knew that things had to change. I started reading every book I could get my hands on about autism and learned that it was treatable. There were things that you could do and that some kids even recovered, losing their diagnosis completely. This gave me hope but I knew there was a big hill to climb and much work ahead of us. It was then that I decided to close my beloved business to focus on my son's care. It was a very difficult decision. I felt like I had lost a part of myself. But I kept moving forward. I continued to read, found some great doctors and therapists and began seeing some positive changes in my son. With the help of my husband we kept moving forward, trying new things and little by little Tyler began to improve. We are still on that journey and have high hopes for our little man.

Tyler, August 2010

But then there was me, missing my creative outlet and feeling like my life was out of balance. But what could I do? There simply wasn't enough time to reopen the business but I needed something. I went downstairs to my studio, which was disorganized and covered in dust. As I began to reorganize my beads, bracelets, earrings and necklaces began to take shape. Before I knew it I had a small stash of jewelry. Not bridal jewelry but wild, bright, fun everyday jewelry. But what's more, I felt a sense of balance and peace within myself.

Emerald City Earrings

I found part-time daycare for my son which I knew would benefit him as well as me. I played around with my beads when I had the time and each time I did I felt a little more like me. The old me, before any of this happened. I knew this was something I had to continue for myself and my sanity. And so, Lisalu Jewels was born. I hired a fantastic web designer Emily from Emmarie Web Design to design my new look and here we are! A fun logo and a great new website!

My hope with this blog is to share my love of beads and jewelry with you and to take you along for this crazy "stay at home autism mom/business owner" ride.

There's a quote that I love in my sidebar:

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain."

Let's dance baby, let's dance.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...