After a Long Hiatus...

These days, I'm a woman with a lot on my mind.  I have a little family that includes a loving partner and a wonderful little girl, and another baby on the way in September. I currently have a full time job as a housekeeper at a local gym, but at some unknown point in the near future I will be going on maternity leave.  Although my job, my employer, and my workmates have all been wonderful to me, I will be happy to leave simply because I have been cleaning on and off for almost 15 years, and I'm about done with it.

This is where this blog comes in.  I've lately been resurrecting a desire to make jewellery and other crafts, but focussing on re-styling some existing jewellery that I was not happy with from the start, such as this one:

This is a choker that started out life as a regular necklace.  It was done in the style of a tooth necklace, with the shell pieces held together by a single strand and just dangling loosely. I made the original when I went a jewellery-making bender way back when I first started making jewellery. It was ok for me at the time, but my designing style sort of matured over time, and it no longer worked.

I'm not one to simply trash something that I don't like, so I kept the same beads, but changed the style to resemble a picket fence (in a manner of speaking). The shell pieces are about 2 inches long, and ivory coloured with light brown streaking.  I have used bone rondelles, light blue glass seed beads and hematite, with a steel lobster claw fastening.

This is another redesigned piece:

It also started life as a simple long necklace. It had a radiating pattern of diamond-shaped glazed clay beads, starting with the leaf patterned beads in the centre.  Now, I've used those leaf patterned clay beads in 3 pendants that also include glass leaves and glass blue and red flowers.  The diamond shaped clay beads are spaced every couple of inches along the main strand, separated by blue and gold lampwork beads and red glass seed beads.  It has a steel lobster-claw fastening, and steel pins.

This resurgence in my crafting is part of a drive to become self-employed before the end of my maternity leave. 15 years of housekeeping is enough for me!

Along with this blog, I've also set up a facebook page, and a shop on Artfire. Aside from beaded jewellery, I'm thinking of including later on some sewing...maybe cloth diapers, reusable baby wipes, other baby gear.... and possibly a line of stuffed animals that will include children's toys and more adult-themed collectibles. And, a percentage of all my materials used- in all my products for sale- include repurposed or recycled materials.

That will all come later, though!

All of this is on top of another personal pursuit that I am working on, and one that is still in the idea stage. I'm currently working on a book (or perhaps a book series) about how to clean your home top to bottom without chemicals and using what can be found in your home. In fact, you can find daily tips on how to clean your home with simple household items on another of my facebook pages. There, you will not only find tips, but also be kept up on related topics and the proposed release date of the first book!

In the planning stage for the future is the establishment of a charitable trust fund (eventually turning that into a charity) that will be used to help provide diapers and other baby supplies to hospitals and social programs for low income families (such as food banks). This project is the brain child of my partner- and the father of my children- photographer Keith Rosenberg.

Stay tuned on this blog for the latest projects, including the creation and completion of my book and the trust fund!