Showing posts with label A Little About Me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A Little About Me. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 07, 2024

Unlocking the Timeless Elegance: Exploring Anna Wintour's Jewelry Collection

     In the realm of fashion, few names hold as much sway and reverence as Anna Wintour. The formidable editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine is not only a powerhouse in the industry but also a style icon in her own right. While her signature bob and sunglasses are instantly recognizable, it's her exquisite taste in jewelry that truly sets her apart. Join us on a little journey as we delve into the captivating world of Anna Wintour's jewelry collection, where each piece tells a story of elegance, sophistication, and timeless allure.



Anna Wintour's Bold Jewelry Choices

Anna Wintour is renowned for her ability to make a statement, both on and off the pages of Vogue. When it comes to jewelry, she follows the same philosophy, opting for bold, eye-catching pieces that command attention. From oversized statement necklaces to intricate cuff bracelets, Wintour effortlessly elevates her ensembles with the perfect accessory. Discover how her signature chunky gold chain necklace adorned with large pearls embodies the perfect fusion of classic and contemporary style.

Every aspect of Anna Wintour's style is carefully curated to reflect her personal brand and the image she projects to the world. Her jewelry choices are no exception, serving as a visual representation of her impeccable taste and discerning eye. Whether she's attending a fashion show or gracing the red carpet, Wintour's jewelry always speaks volumes about her confidence, sophistication, and unwavering commitment to excellence. Her jewelry collection embodies the art of personal branding and inspires fashionistas everywhere!




Anna Wintour's jewelry collection serves as a source of inspiration for fashion enthusiasts around the globe. From aspiring editors to seasoned stylists, everyone can learn something from her impeccable sense of style and her fearless approach to accessorizing. Whether you're drawn to bold statement pieces or prefer the timeless elegance of pearls, there's something in Wintour's collection to suit every taste and occasion. Be inspired to elevate your own jewelry game and embrace the power of personal expression through adornment, just like Anna Wintour!

Anna Wintour's jewelry collection is a testament to her status as a true fashion icon. With her keen eye for design, her love for statement pieces, and her unwavering support for emerging talent, Wintour continues to set the standard for elegance and sophistication in the world of fashion. As we admire her impeccable styling and iconic accessories, we can't help but be inspired to emulate her aesthetic and infuse our own wardrobe with a touch of Wintour-worthy glamour.

Sacred Cake Jewelry is my top pick for go to pieces that ooze glamour at the best prices!

VISIT SACRED CAKE HERE! Everything is ON SALE!

#AnnaWintour

#WintourStyle

#FashionIcon

#VogueEditor

#FashionQueen

#WintourWear

#VogueChief

#WintourWisdom

#StyleInspiration

#Fashionista

#FashionLeader

#WintourElegance

#StyleIcon

#FashionEditor

#VogueBoss




Monday, September 16, 2019

Blue Hues: Statement Necklaces Echoing the Serenity of Water

As a girl growing up in the deep south, water was truly an essential elixir. Water was a beacon of hope when the oppressive heat of the Florida summer summoned every drop of moisture from my smooth brown skin. Florida heat is not a dry heat, it's steamy and sauna - like. Wading into sea green waves, cool blue swimming pools, leaning over the sides of bass boats to run my fingers through the dark waters of Lake Santa Fe. Those were the ways to escape the scorch of the summer sun.
I think of these things as I make my necklaces, setting the sparkling rhinestones in the colors of deep blues, Aquamarine, iridescent grays and pale greens. They are like fastening tiny memories together, one by one, into something beautiful and tangible.
I had never heard of Anna Wintour until about 7 years ago when a customer asked me to create a Georgian collet Necklace like the ones she is famous for wearing. More and more requests came, for different shapes and styles as I added my own interpretation of the antique pieces that inspired me.
My favorite is my signature and most popular piece, the aquamarine colored statement necklace in gold settings. The color of the stones sends me somewhere back to the white sands of the gulf coast...clean and blue and clear. Making these pieces is a meditation in beauty. For me, I'm not just making jewelry. I'm making memories. I'm conjuring goodness and then sending it out into the world.


Anna Wintour necklace, Aquamarine 

Anna Wintour collet Necklace in Aquamarine  and Sapphire



Tuesday, February 25, 2014

As Angels Must

     I've done it a thousand times...with each child. Jeremy (in the photo) is my fifth (and last ) child, and tonight I watch him sleep just as I did with my Jonathan, my Rebecca, my Emily, and my Christian.
I brailled the contours of their faces with my eyes, stopping for a moment to ever so lightly trace a little finger or the edge of an ear.
     As I watch, my mind overflows with thoughts of what their dreams are like, how much I want to protect them, who they will become...and of course, what they think of me and what moments they choose to remember and cherish long after I am gone from this world.
     I can only hope that my super silliness and singing and holding hands and twirling to the Bee Gees, favorite books read before bed from dog-earred pages, soft words of comfort in the stillness of nighttime and heart shaped birthday cakes and rolling down grassy hills...all of those things...I want them to remember always.
Never the impatient sighs, the old cliches, the exasperated tone or the words poorly chosen. Though I know they will.
I can only hope they choose the light and laughter and lots of the silly.
     I swear there is no sweeter sound in the world than a child's laughter...except perhaps the sound of their breath as they sleep. So beautifully as angels must; carried in sleep by the hands of God and the tangible tide of a mother's love.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

64 Gifts

Yes, that's me. The lady in the oddish black hat In isle 2. I'm the one a little sleep deprived, sniffing an open box of Crayolas and sometimes packages of Pampers. I've had that same hat for eleven years of badhairdays. --been sniffing boxes of crayons much longer. There is just something about a box of new crayons... Untouched tips full of color and of promise and they have always smelled the same. Since those summer days at my grandparents picnic table when i would break open that box of 64 gifts, so thrilled with my favorites of periwinkle and gold. A new box of crayons smells like hope to me.

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Pennies from Heaven (because I forgot the really good title)


            I found the perfect one word title for this post, and then as quickly as it came, I lost it. Which is very much like me I imagine. Forgetting things, names, words and appointments. Forgetting why I came into another room with the purpose lost by the time I entered into the middle of it. And then leaving said room frustrated with myself. I read that it has much to do with the neurological issues I have. I have so many labels...fibromyalgia, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, depression, bulging disks and torn stuff in my spine, arthritis, Fabry's disease...
            Truth is, no one really knows why I am loosing myself to whatever this body of mine decides to do. Could be hereditary, but I know very little about my natural fathers health before he died. I only know that sometimes I am scared. I am scared of becoming encased in skin that cannot feel.
            I've lost my feet to numbness and  I experience excruciating neuropathic pain that saps my energy. I've lost my shins to partial numbness and parts of my thighs. Parts I didn't even realize were gone until the neurologist started poking me with a pin and caressing parts of me with a piece of tissue paper as my eyes were closed...
"Can you feel this?"
"This?"
"How about this?"
           Mostly, I miss the feel of the grass beneath my feet. Oh, and sand too. Now I have to wear "special" shoes. I smile to myself as I write this because I think immediately of Forrest Gump when I put them on each day....these expensive pseudo-hip mary janes with fat heels and velcro straps to keep me steady.
I miss my feet.
         But none of this can stop me from my belief that it all has a purpose beyond what I can see. Because I've seen it in action, this truly amazing Grace that God gives to us each and every day.
I look for it. And it is there.
In the smallest of things.
            Last Sunday before church we were running late. The last spots were by the big mud puddles outside of the parking lot fence. I decided to walk along the fence so I could touch it as I skirted past front bumpers, secretly savoring the cool metal beneath my fading fingertips. It reminded me of my childhood, walking by fences and running my fingertips along to cool metal as I walked. I held on to the fence to steady myself before entering the parking lot of our church. When I reached the entrance, I happened to look down. At the entrance, right by the big metal post, embedded in grass and mud and leaves, was a penny.
I was not looking for pennies. It found me. I picked it up and looked closely at the date.
1969.
The year I was born.                                                                                                                                                                                                           God knows my thoughts. He knows my pain. To me, it was a sign  that I was born for a reason. That my life has a divine plan.  Not to give up.
I'm not saying that God throws pennies down just for me to find.
What I am trying to say is that if your heart is open to receive signs...you will find them.
There are little miracles everywhere. I truly believe this. Signs of God's love exist all around us.
        I could not stop the tears coming from my eyes during the whole service that day. My youngest son, looking over at me from his seat with questioning eyes and I couldn't explain why the tears would not stop.
How can one really explain to anyone how finding a penny with 1969 on it was such a touching thing...
I guess that is what I'm trying to do here.
Through an old penny, God said to me that I was born to do this.
That my life is purposeful and that I was on the right path...just watch for big muddy puddles, touch everything and everyone you possibly can. Hold on. This numbness in your body is a gift. Use it. Use your life.

You were born to do this.

Thursday, April 04, 2013

Surfacing



It comes when I least expect it. And I am left wondering where it came from. What triggered it...
The feeling that I cannot catch my breath...the feeling of being smothered. The helplessness that comes with a memory I don’t want to remember. The brief bewilderment, the ache and sadness that comes with it. I find myself inhaling deeply. Calming with each free breath.
            I wonder if the memory comes with  stress, or the feeling of not being able to catch my breath, or if it comes after. I just know it arrives.
 No  longer the victim, I say to myself. No more, does he have the power to make me feel afraid. And almost as quickly as it comes, the memory finally fades. We cannot control every thought, or every memory; but we can control how we react to it…
My hope is that by writing these words, those of you who were abused at the hands of those who were supposed to love and cherish you, will find comfort that you are not alone in it. I know the darkness at times can seem overwhelming, and we get weary of fighting it, but there is light. There is hope. Always hope. I believe this with all of my heart.
I find that childhood  memories usually come in the stillness when I am holding one of my children, or one of my grandchildren. Or as I watch my children from afar.
The thought that comes is how? And Why? How can anyone abuse an innocent child? A child like me? A child like mine?
It just seems so easy to love.
Among my experiences as a young girl, one particular moment is emblazoned in my memory, like the branding of cattle. I was held under water in a pool for so long, I thought for certain I would never surface again. I was only seven years old, and I was afraid of the deep end of the pool at our apartment complex.
“Let's jump in together then,” he said.  Reluctantly, I held his hand, and leaped into the pool...only I did not get to surface.
His grip tightened, and I was held under for an eternity. My lungs burned. I remember struggling, looking up at his distorted face through the ripples of surface water…and the sound of the bubbles of my last exhaled breath rumbling in my ears. And it seemed like such a long way up to the surface where that breath awaited. An eternity, it was, for me.
When I was finally allowed to come up for air, I got out of the pool gasping for air and choking on tears of disbelief and hurt.
That was the last time tried to leap fearlessly.
I am not telling this story to elicit sympathy. I am telling it because it is part of my story.  It is a part of the story of my life. Just one of the many many moments that changed me, and my feelings of security and trust for most of my life.
We who are left to struggle with the aftermath of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse often times identify as victims. It becomes our brand. Our excuse. We try to control our lives and our relationships in ways we sometimes don't even realize, because at an early age, we were completely powerless. We were at the mercy of other people and their control over us.
We worry about what people think. We become people pleasers. We demand love on our terms. We live our lives around everything and everyone but ourselves. We feel unworthy. We have inner voices that drag us through absolute hell. We put ourselves last…
And we feel broken.
For years, I lived inside of the brokenness. I lived inside of the feelings of unfairness and anger and resentment and regret. I had no self-worth. I chose all of the wrong men and tried to “fix” them to my liking. I felt absolutely unlovable for the first 37 years of my life.
 I feel like I am finally beginning to surface. Even now, at 44 years old; even when I think I have fully conquered it, it is still here.
I am sometimes still giving my past abuse, and my abuser, the power to determine my self worth. I still struggle. I'm not here to lie to you and tell you I'm leaping fearlessly and to tell you I'm all healed up shiny new and I never make mistakes. I work on healing every. single. day.
What I am here to tell you is that I know it is not easy.
I am here to tell you that we can rise above it.
I am here to tell you that you are not alone in your struggle.
I am here to tell you that we are worthy of joy and happiness and love.
No matter how old we are, we can always begin.
Give yourself the chance to surface.
 
playing with seagulls, 2012

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Assemblage Jewelry in Dreamy Sapphire Blues

Really loving the assemblage jewelry pieces in the shop that would transcend well from the workday to a holiday party or a special date. This blue really pops and would be great if you are like me and wear a lot of pretty basic colors and styles to stretch your wardrobe.
sapphire and cobalt blue necklace
The antique cobalt blue colored rhinestone is fairly noticeable, about the size of a quarter...and it's paired with vintage french pressed glass givre rosary beads in a monochromatic look.

blue french rhinestones and flourishes of gold

I do enjoy using vintage and antique props...the above photo was shot with my good 'ol canon point and shoot using very old little peach lusterware tea pot and a tiny creamer that depicts birds and flowers. I am noticing more and more on Etsy that most of the items that get noticed and included in the front page collections are ones that use a white background. To me, it just doesn't look right and its not especially creative or fun, so I'm sticking to using the old props for now.

sapphire collet using vintage rhinestones
This sapphire collet was shot using an old ledger paper and some dried peonies from KW's spring garden. My favorite window for light is the bedroom window at about 10ish, so i have a little photoshoot area set up there. I makes it easier to shoot the jewelry if everything is right there on hand. I have my props in a basket and a stool and my favorite antique mannequin right by the window. I try to get new jewelry made the night before, shoot it the net morning, then edit and post.

sapphire assemblage earrings with vintage pressed glass cabochons

These earrings are made with gorgeous vintage pressed glass cabochons that look like you could just eat them... lots of light through the vintage crystals on the bottom. The shabby silver beadcaps and rondelles are from an antique necklace that came apart. This photo was made using a letter written to my great-grandfather, Harriman Simmons. He was a business man who at one time, had his own tea company in New York, partnered with a man with the last name of Bleeker.
Some of us in the family collect the "Bleeker & Simmons" tea tins that are still out there floating around the country.
These earrings are a one of a kind pair. My favorite thing to make. A one of a kind piece is a bit like making art that cannot be replicated. I like that. a lot.


Thursday, August 09, 2012

White Picket Fences

There is no cure for Fabry's disease or the issues I have with the resulting nerve damage. There is only wishing it didn't exist, and dealing with all the "stuff" that comes along with it. But then there is this~
queen anne's lace growing wildly right by the front step
That is when I do my "noticing" photographing exercise, that I have spoken of here before.

A lot of it centers around our home. I think because home is so important to me. It is a safe place. A constant that I can count on. A cocoon of comfort. I spend most of my time here, since I work at home, trying to make a living by doing what I love...making new things out of old things.

art nouveau, bridal, earrings, clear, antiqued, handmade
authentic art nouveau findings and french rhinestones
the lovely texture of milk glass creamer and sugar with embossed leaves
 I've opened a new little shop recently called "White Picket Fences", just for earrings like the handmade assemblage art nouveau earrings above...it's for all the things I adore and love to be surrounded with. Like shades of white, pale pale pinks, all things shabby chic, old and sparkly~
vintage chandelier sparkles and shabby tin tiles (even during renovation!)(and complimentary spiderwebs too
The new shop has vintage jewelry, antique linens and the recent addition of lovely handmade shabby chic lavender sachets that I have made from linens and vintage millinery flowers I loved creating them...thought they would make nice gifts.
french, lavender, sachets, etsy, white picket fences, millinery
french lavender sachets decorated with vintage millinery
I've always wanted to run a little "real" shop, but this online one will have to serve that purpose...

...you know, I still believe in happily ever after. I still believe in the sacredness of marriage and the promise of growing old with the one you love. I want my home and your home to be a sacred sanctuary, filled with the things and the people you most love.
I want to believe that when I'm gone, I've made a difference in this world.
I want my breaths to have mattered. Even after all this time, I still want the white picket fences.

There are good days when I feel strong and energetic and invincible...but I know that my "quality of life" is not going to get better. I am not the type to feel sorry for myself, but I do now and then because I'm not superwoman. I try to use my sense of humor on the really hard days and ask myself, "Are you above ground?" "Yes,?" "Then it's a good day." And then I chuckle to myself because I know it is true.
Truly, I only have today.  This day. This moment.
If you are anything at all like me, you forget on a daily basis that this could be your very. last. day.
So, I find my joy, wherever it is that day. In a dancing shadow on the wall...or a favorite song...spending time with the ones I love, or even ironing vintage linens...or in the joy of creating just a little something every day.
This poem by Mary Oliver deeply resonates with me. Especially the very last line. forgive the morbid title, but if you haven't read it, I wanted to share it with you today~
 
When Death Comes
When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse
to buy me, and snaps his purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox;
when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering;
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,
and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth
tending as all music does, toward silence,
and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.
When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened
or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.

me and "Birdie" June 2012


Wednesday, June 27, 2012

New Georgian Collets, Inspired by Anna Wintour

etsy, vintage rose, jewel necklace, statment, sacred cake, jennifer valentine
collet in deep pink and gold
I've got new Georgian styled collets in the shop! These go beyond the Anna Wintour inspired collet necklaces that I have previously done. They are entirely my creations! and they are quite lovely.
hand antiqued jeweled collet in rosaline
collet in Montana Sapphire


The stones lay like little jeweled flags around your neck, and I have made them in many colors! You can see them in my Etsy Shop. Unlike the other jeweled collets that are worn short, these can be worn at varying lengths, so they are wonderful for layering!
layered collets in Peridot, Montana sapphire, and clear antique rhinestones with gold plating
I have gotten the sweetest compliments on these new "like little jeweled flags" collet styled necklaces...little labors of love, they are, but one that the brings satisfaction of creating something lovely. Something to be enjoyed and treasured. I've also been working on a few historical reproduction type pieces that I have seriously enjoyed creating...such a luxury to create these gorgeous and decadent jewels. I think custom orders are my favorite for this very reason!
sacred cake, emerald collet, jennifer valentine, etsy, vintage collet
Royal Emerald Collet with beautiful crown settings
sacred cake, jennifer valentine, collet, anna wintour, costume reproduction, ruby
Royal Ruby Collet
 Here is one I created out of a stunning vintage brooch sent to me by a sweet customer...a wonderful collaboration between she and I, that turned out swimmingly~
custom created collet in pale amethyst with vintage brooch
Did I already say how much I love doing custom work?

I'll be back very soon with a funny little bird story...
me and "birdie"
Did you know that I have a facebook page? You can keep up with new products, posts, sales and free products on Facebook , right here.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Messy Middle

Below is a poem that is currently on SARK's call line. Read by her.  I call it when i need someone to tell me that I really matter. When I need someone to give me a virtual hug. When I need a cheerful voice of affirmation and I can't think of anyone to call that I'd like to burden with more of my life "stuff". SARK doesn't mind. I'm grateful that today her inbox had room for my message of thanks back her. If you'd like to call it, here is the number~ 415-546-3742. Her website is www.PlanetSark.com ,for more inspiration, free printable things, wallpaper, workshops and books.

Benjamin
Life has become so much more full, since we've become full time caretakers of our little grandson...so full of joy and smiles and song and fumbling for what works; full of so many shifts that were sudden and stressful and rewarding and a whole mixture of joy and sadnesses as well. Susan Kennedy calls it "the messy middle", where most of us spend a lot of our time living.
I find myself blaming myself for the way my youngest daughter E. has "turned out" so far,even though I know in my heart that I have been the best mother I could be. Wondering where it was that I went wrong. She is 19 now. Watching her destroy herself again and again when I've spent so many years doing my utmost to build her up and foster her dreams, is so difficult. For me it is akin to watching a terrible car crash coming that I am helpless to prevent. For my husband and I, it is a feeling of fresh grief and loss, mixed with hope and fervent prayer that she will one day find her way. And a feeling of exhaustion from trying to juggle my work, his work, new baby, homekeeping, our relationship and two other boys (ages 7 and 17) that need us too.
I can say that I am proud of E.'s selflessness when it comes to doing what is best for this precious and happy go lucky little fellow. She knows his best place is here with us until she "sorts out her life." I am grateful for that. And so incredibly grateful for this~


And grateful for SARK (Susan Arial Rainbow Kennedy) and her message line, and for introducing me to a now favorite poem that resonates so deeply with me.

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.


Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.


Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.


Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and
purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.

—Naomi Shihab Nye from Words Under Words: Selected Poems

Blessings to You and Yours,
Jennifer Valentine

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Really Noticing, and Thoughts on Simplicity and Enough-ness

natural decor dried hydrangeas antique books display
antique books from my mother, antique creamer, hydrangeas
Today I took just a few minutes in an exercise I call "purposeful noticing". I do this when I find myself sinking into the cavern that sometimes opens beneath my feet if I let it. It begins with pangs of self doubt, a bit of worry, thoughts focused more on the lack than on the abundance...and before the pit opens and I fall in, this is what I do. (all of the photos you see here, came from the same ten or so minute exercise this morning).
vintage linen curtains sacred cake blog
vintage linens in the bedroom window
I find it is always the simple things during this awareness exercise that catch my eye. The shadows of the old linens in the windows, the one favorite sugar bowl filled with dried hydrangeas; that I've taken from one end of this country to the next and back again; intact, I might add...and I remember when there was a simpler time, when that one sugar bowl along with one favorite plate was all I really had, on a shabby little white mantle in the country in the deep south. It was all I needed. It was all I could afford. And I was still a happy person.
There has been a noticeable little undercurrent throughout my life since the days of my walks in the woods as a young girl of 9...and the undercurrent consists of the love for the simplest things. Poetry stuffed into an old suitcase. One extraordinary wildflower. A shabby old book. Vintage linens. Pressed leaves...the shape and look of hydrangeas...painted white walls and salvaged furniture....a favorite old brooch...walks in the woods...laying beneath trees...

When did my life become so complicated? The sugar bowl has now become a vast collection of antique ironstone platters, plates, pitchers and vases and a big 'ol cabinet to house them all. The brooch has turned into vast amounts in stacked boxes and containers of vintage jewelry pieces and parts that I can never in a lifetime use up, because I keep buying more before I use what I have. The old suitcase has turned into at least twenty two vintage suitcases, along with countless little boxes, antique trunks and containers.
vintage assemblage bridal jewelry french nouveau sacred cake ooak
bridal earrings I made, atop little antique paper boxes from my (shrinking) collection
I feel like my life has lost its simplicity somewhere and there has, along with that thought, come the revelation that I am not being true to myself in so many ways. I'm not honoring my true spirit.
Fear is what is keeping me from myself... it took writing that word, "fear" just now, for me to realize exactly that.
What if I do simplify back to the days of that one suitcase? Back to the days when I made jewelry to please myself...before it became all about selling jewelry that I cannot even afford to buy for myself...while my first love, vintage assemblages, gathers dust on my desk? I fear what will happen financially if I stop creating the jewelry that has now become what I sell most of and most often. The jewelry that is of my alter high society event ego?
Maybe I fear how empty this big house would look without the stuff that it is stuffed with and then maybe realize that this much space isn't really necessary. Maybe I fear my Etsy shop will just be overlooked.
And in exploring this feeling of not enough-ness, and fear, which comes right along with the cavern that I discussed in the beginning of this post, comes the camera exercise. If you try it would you share your thoughts and photographs with me?

morning feet

I am asking myself lately, what exactly can I live without? What possessions do I truly need to be happy? Are any extra possessions needed at all? And what is considered extra?
I heard of the 100 thing challenge awhile ago, but never thought I could do it. While writing this post, I realized that I already had done it by 1998. I really had. Before Dave even began talking about it I think. But then came the backslide into acquiring more and more.
You can read about the 100 Thing Project at www.guynameddave.com.

What is enough?
I want so much to get back to that one plate, one sugar bowl, one suitcase mindset...to let go of the material things that need dusting and shuffling around and finding a place for.
Even if they are just cheap old things that only cost two dollars and it was such a great old pitcher how could i go home without ONE more old pitcher for two dollars?
                                                           sigh.


This word was brought to me yesterday, with a visit from a dear friend, Michelle Stambaugh, an amazing potter whom I adore. And my word mantra has become this~
A One Word "simple" Bowl by Michelle Stambaugh on Etsy
Simple.
A glorious soothing pool blue swirl of simple. (that is far from simple!)(her work is extraordinary, highly detailed and vibrant)

I think I'm going to call this "The Simplicity Project". I don't think I can narrow it down to just 100 things like Dave. At least not just yet.


**More of Michelle's Work Can be found right here:
www.mudluscious01.etsy.com