The process of choosing a color combination is a huge part of my process. I walk around my studio and find beads which speak to me. If they're enough to tell the story alone, then I go with that. If not, then I find them some friends to help them along.

In this case, I was creating  a birthday gift for my nail tech (Debbie Segura http://www.debzartsalonspa.com/). The glass flower beads have been sitting quietly for over a year just waiting to be chosen for a special occasion. My eyes scanned the shelves of jars, bottles and glasses filled with beads of every color and shape. They're organized by color and when I reached the red section, the flowers nearly audibly screamed at me to be used for Debbie's birthday. I found the little red filler beads and I was on my way.

To take a pile of beads from nothing to something is such a thrill for me. In my mind's eye, the outcome is fairly clear and there is no bigger feeling of satisfaction than for that vision to become reality. I can remember my mother saying something similar about fabric. She is an excellent seamstress. She used to say that she got not bigger thrill than to take a piece of fabric and turn it into a beautiful outfit. 

I wrapped the necklace with a beautiful ribbon and gave it to her this morning at my nail appointment. She opened it and I was met with a big gasp and huge smiles. When someone loves my work, I am filled with a feeling of accomplishment. 

What do you do which brings you joy and/or a feeling of accomplishment?

This is my dad. My aunt brought this picture to me knowing I would love it. I uploaded it to Facebook and my good friend Glenna told me that I look a lot like him. I hope so because I think he always looked joyful. He left this world when he was only 54 and I was only 29.  There are so many things I wish I had asked him, and SO many more I wish I had told him. 

My dad had three daughters. Nicki (the baby of the family) looks exactly like my mother. Linda (the older sister) looks a lot like my mom and a little like my dad. I (yes that makes me the middle child) took mostly after him. Hopefully I won't have the Clint Eastwood receding hairline though, but WILL have this smile.

Dad worked in the same industry his whole life. He ended up being an entrepreneur owning his own business which Mr. Wonderful and I bought after he passed in 1996. Now that we've sold the business and are renovating the building into my jewelry studio and showroom, I am reminded of him. He built that building with his own two hands and I am now going to occupy that same space as an artist. In addition, my mom and aunt will have shows with me in the building. There's just something so stinking cool about all of us creating beautiful things in the building my dad built and worked in for so many years. 

I'm looking forward to the day (hopefully May, 2013) that I can officially open the doors to "Second Saturday Martketplace". I think Dad would be very proud of me. 

Do you think I look like him? 

I am hugely blessed to be surrounded by some amazing people who love me. I am rich with friends, family and one amazing man. I affectionately refer to my group of girlfriends as the Festeez. I’ll explain the Festeez in another entry because trust me when I say, you’ll want to hear about their shenanigans in detail. They are the kind of friends every girl hopes to have in life. They love me not in spite of my imperfections, but because of them. 

Volunteering at The Blue Whale in Catoosa, Oklahoma provides me with even more wonderful friends with which to play. 

I’m rich in family who always call me bossy. I’m convinced that deep down in their hearts, they appreciate how I get things accomplished and organize events. At least that’s today’s delusion. 

And last but absolutely not least, I’ve been married to Mr. Wonderful for 25 years. By my Festeez, I am fondly referred to as “Spoiled Festie” and Mr. Wonderful gets to take all the credit for this name. He says it’s how my eyes light up which motivates him to spoil me. Whatever it is, I’m not complaining. 

I consider myself one of the richest people on earth, most certainly not by the world’s standards, but my own. Money cannot buy the friendships, relationships and family which surround me.

My first ever blog. Wow. What to say? What to tell? How about this... I just randomly list things about myself. You can make sense of it in your own way. 
Let’s see, I make jewelry. I’m creative in lots of ways besides jewelry but I’m really trying to FOCUS right now.  

• Oh, this is kinda important, I come from a small family. I married Mr. Wonderful who is from a H U G E family. All of that is really cool. I get the best of both worlds.

• My creativity is genetic (I don’t know if that’s scientifically possible but I believe there’s something to it). My maternal grandmother could play any instrument…..self taught and didn’t read music and played by ear. I have a cousin on my dad’s side who plays piano too.

• My mom has mastered every imaginable form of art without an art education. 

• My younger sister has her MFA in ceramics. 

• My older sister’s daughter loves art and often randomly creates beautiful works of art from little to no instruction. 

• Mr. Wonderful and I do not have children. That’s a blog for later…maybe….if I feel close enough to you to share something that personal.

• My dad had an engineering mind and could build and fix anything. He built our house with no prior experience in home construction (which I purchased and live in now). He could look at anything and figure out how it worked and how to fix it. 

• I think I am an equal mix between my parents and I am happy to be able to say that. 

Ok, that’s all you get for now. Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. I’ll regale you with my crazy, happy and wonderful stories of my life journey soon. I promise.