Many Thanks!

I woke up early this morning with a sense of peace and gratitude I have not felt in a very long time. There have been so many things in the past year that have driven me to question the very existence of anything good. I will not saddle you with all the family adversities I will say only that there has been a lot of sadness and distress. In addition to that my jewelry business cannot seem to really get off the ground except on a very local level so again I find myself looking for a paycheck from someone else.


I have been designing jewelry for several years now and have all but given up many times. If it were not for the loving prodding of family and friends I think I would probably only be stubbornly plodding along using my stock for gifts for those treasured family and friends. I have also been tempted to sell off everything just to recoup my materials cost.

Yesterday was a marvelous day when everything seemed to come together.

Not only was I offered a much needed job, temporary in nature so we can finish our move to Vermont, but I received my advance copy of Bead and Button magazine (June issue). My Winter Frost necklace is in it, page 17 with my name so I am published for the first time in actual print.

There are 3 people (aside from family) who have been very instrumental in pushing me to publish my designs. It was first suggested by Denise Dernorsek, a friend I met while working at the VA when this venture in design actually began. She has given me constant encouragement and honesty in her critique but only when asked! The other is Marsha who is the buyer for and has been with Tardif Jewelers for more than 30 years and who has purchased hundreds of my pieces over the past few years. When her niece was getting married she came to me to dress the wedding party in bling, leaving me feeling very honored. We have become friends over the past few years and she too kept pushing me to submit my work to be published. The third is Duchess from Artbeads.com who also gave me much encouragement to submit my work.

Now it has come to pass, finally it seems to me, that my work is in an actual magazine and a very good one at that! It seems a bit silly to be so excited over such a small event but it happened at such a crucial point, as those things seem to do. It gives me the encouragement I need to market my designs in earnest. I guess now that I have something in my hand that is tangible proof that I am worthy I feel more confident.