Time for a Challenge.....

well I'm sorry I've been so maudlin the last few entries.  My Dad had a heart attack a week ago Sunday.  He's finally doing better, dare I say OK, so I finally feel like I can type it out loud and not burst into tears.  I'm still alittle sniffly thought.  There is other stuff going on as well but I really can't go into it just right now.   

brass stamping bar from B'Sues which I bent to fit the wrist, added holes for the chain and crystal to dangle.  fun!

But it does remind one how short life is.

I've been watching Glee ( the tv show) in the studio the past week.  I netflix the first season and then we picked up season 2 & 3 cheap on a half-price book store run. (10 bucks for both!! thanks to my sis in law Karla for spotting them!)   While the Sue character just breaks the suspension of disbelief way too often, the marvelous singing and dancing more than makes up for it.  And it deals with real issues -- bullying, sexuality, religion, wanting to be popular and how that drives crazy behaviors, mental illness, etc.

I totally forgot  (spoilers!) that Kurt's father has a massive heart attack in 2nd season.  oh my, I bawled like a baby considering I was going through the same sort of thing.  If I had remembered, I might not have watched it!! But all the magic music helped calm me down.   ( the episode based on Fleetwood Mac's rumors album... one of my favorite albums of all time!)

Anyway, the major, over-reaching theme of Glee is accepting and facing the challenges of life, and when you fail you pick yourself up and charge again.

I feel like I need that challenge in my creative life right now, in my business.  In the winter in past years I've often done online challenges like Year of Jewelry, the Bead Party Blog Hop, etc.  I've enjoyed them, and I love being challenged in this way.  It's so easy to let life distract you from your art, especially in the winter when I don't really have shows and deadlines to worry about.  (and let 's admit this, sometimes art helps me distract from the ugly of real life)

This year Brenda Sue of B'Sue Boutique is offering a unique challenge: build a line of jewelry.  It's an exciting opportunity, and I'm really glad I'm doing it... I hesitated.  I've mostly been doing OOAK jewelry, and even with a "repeat" a design it always turns out differently.  But what I'm really looking for in this challenge is greater cohesiveness in my jewelry overall.  I think with my Mechanical Romance line I'm getting there, but this should help me really find my sweet spot.  And in general, I love a challenge.  And it's gonna be fun!! so far there are 57 of us and they all seem like a great bunch.

there will be "assignments" and they will be documented on my blog, so you will be hearing more about this in the next 3 months.  Here is my introduction to the group :
 
since folks are introducing themselves, I guess I ought to have a go at it myself. Hi, my name is Kat. I've been making jewelry for 19 years, selling it for 17. I started out as a seed beader, then did stringing, metal smithing, wire wrapping and flirted with PMC, lampwork, etc. The last few years I've been having a blast making steampunky like jewelry ( which I call mechanical romance) using mostly cold connections and real pieces of history from typewriters, sewing machines, cash registers, clocks and watches. Heck anything old and junky with mechanical moving parts has a big old target painted on it. I love the variety of the parts!

I've been doing this as a side business while I work full time, raise a hubby, kid and 4 cats. 3 years ago my hubby lost his job, so my job and my business has keep us floating while he's gone back to college. He graduates this spring with a degree in applied mathematics and a BA in education, math certification. The hope is he will be employed as he graduates... since match teachers are in short supply, it's an actual possibility.

I admit I dream of him supporting me as I quit my day job and go full time on the jewelry front, but even if that's possible (when student loans are paid off, and the kid is done with college) it's 5-10 years down the road... but a gal can dream right? Part of the reason I finally decided to take the plunge on this class is figuring out if that's possible in that murky wistful 5-10 years down the road. While I'm one of the OOAK queens, if I do jewelry full time it's gonna be more limited addition lines of jewelry, not each piece individualize. I'm not sure I'm cut out for that world but this seems like a really good way to dip my feet in that pond.