Lovin' Linen

As I sip my earl grey tea I am thinking about my love of linen.  I love everything and anything linen....sheets, dresses, napkins, pillows. Old, new....I adore it all.  If I could (maybe I've said this before), I would probably live in white linen (layered with cashmere in the winter!) adorned with jewels for color! And now, I have added a new favorite to my list.... waxed irish linen cord!


I had previously used natural hemp linen thread to create braided cords for my silver pendants but my friend Tegan, the fabulous antique letterpress printer, let me in on a little secret source..... Royalwood Ltd.  They are the ultimate source for basket weaving supplies and Irish waxed linen cord.  For a small fee, they will send you a sample card of every color and size of waxed linen you could ever hope for.  I ordered spools of about 5 colors to try out and now I'm itching to order more....purple, red, indigo, mint, fuschia.  


My first experiments with the dyed linen making knotted necklace strands turned out so well, I have more colorful jewelry creations sprouting in my head. I feel like an excited kid with the anticipation of new box of crayolas!

field of flax...birthplace of linen

The necklaces are all for sale on Etsy.

Solid Foundation

I finally got my act together the last two weeks and put my rear in the saddle again.  I've been busy assembling pieces that I made at the beginning of summer, photographing the finished pieces and loading them onto Esty.  My creative juices are flowing again.... I'm sketching, pulling out my beads and ordering more findings and clay. And, I sent my first order to a jewelry fabricator to have some of my original pieces duplicated with molds and the lost wax technique so I can create more elaborate pieces with better price points!  I can't wait to see the results.


Considering I've been under the weather the last week it's a miracle that I've been so productive .... maybe it's the new birthday year cycle getting in gear (my birthday was Monday the 20th).  I'm 44 years young now and I've heard that 44 is a powerful number. The number four "vibrates with paying attention to detail and building a solid foundation for the future.  In 44, the effect is doubled".  Well, that's what I'm doing!

Here's some of what I've been working on... all available on my Etsy shop...

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him."
 ~ David Brinkley ~