Confessions of a Grandma

I visited a local artisan-made jewelry and bead shop and bought these jasper stones and pink pearls. I made this necklace and another of just the pearls on a gold chain. Very basic stuff, not at all at the level of the work on display at the shop. I used to wear simple necklaces, but then I hit those awful years of protracted hot flashes. A necklaces and bracelets became rings of fire around my neck and wrist. The only jewelry I could tolerate actually touching my skin was ear rings---and at that, only some of the time. I'm finding I can wear a necklace again, but I certainly am not going to sink any amount of big money into the idea. Mike has given me an antique silver pin, a gold and diamond pin, diamond earrings, pearl and gold earrings over the years. Then he gave up. All that stuff is in the safe along with my diamond ring and gold wedding band. It makes me nervous to wear it because know I'm bound to lose it and I would feel worse knowing I lost it than I would feel ...

I took a beading workshop last Thursday night at Bead Crazy ( http://www.beadcrazyvt.com/ ) in Williston . I am not a big wearer of jewelry. In fact the good stuff that I have mostly lives in a safe because I'm so afraid of losing it--which is what happens to most of my jewelry. I almost always leave a pair of ear rings at some one's house when we go to Connecticut. My sister-in-law just sent me a pair she found while dusting the guest room. I hadn't even missed them, and they have been missing from my stash since last June. But some days the creative urge just comes over me and I want to make something and I do like ear rings and bracelets, even if i can't hang onto them real well. This is what I made at the class. The stone is called unakite . I will have to research whether or not it has any special significance. It did coordinate very nicely with the shirt I had on that night, which has to be worth something.

I got busy on some ear ring projects. They are seen here hanging on a shell application that I came up with one day when I was wondering what to do with all the shells I'd collected over the years. One shell down...gazillions left to go!