Spring and Creativity Run Rampant ...

There's something so primal and invigorating about seeing crocus bursting into bloom, leaf buds ready to burst with life on bare branches, spring green grass appearing as the snow melts away. And, of course, we, too, participate in this surge of energy, growth.

Jewelry projects I've had on a back shelf are being pulled out and finished ... finally. New ideas are crowding in so fast, I can't get one sketched before another 5 blossom. I love this flood of energy!

Here are a couple of new things I've added to my Etsy store at http://www.birchbaykay.etsy.com/:

I love the nubby handmade, hand-colored yarn made by Juaquetta Holcomb in Newman Lake, WA. I met her at an art fair here in Spokane, and she had short lengths of yarn for sale. I don't come anywhere close to using a whole skein of yarn in my brooches, so I was ecstatic at being able to get some of this yummy stuff without forking over a bundle for a whole skein.  Her website is GardenPartyFibers.com and she also has a shop on Etsy with her local mohair and sheep yarns. You'll love her yarns, too!

Computers oftentimes confuse me. The No.6 glass beads in the brooch are a pearlized PINK, but on my computer they look orange; perplexing because all of the other colors in the brooch seem to be true representation. So, why just those beads??? Hmmm, maybe the pearlized surface?

As for these lime and lavender faux beach glass earrings, I first made them a different way. They looked nice, but I could not force myself to put them up on Etsy. There was something "not right" about them. After about a week or so, I redid the lavender earring and took off a sterling silver swirl that I had on the lime green dangle. They are now more contemporary, simplified with no distracting gimmicks. I guess, that's what bothered me before, I wouldn't have worn them they way they were before I redesigned them. I would wear these!

You call it fibre, I call it fiber ...

Same-o Same-o

Working with fibers is so tactile, I love the feel of the different weights and consistencies. One might think that threads are limp and ready to go wherever you want to wrap or coil them. Au contrare! I have started many a brooch or neckpiece with fibers and let me tell you, they have a will of their own. When I thought I would turn the design one way, the fibers resist and insist that another direction is to be taken. When I thought a section of the design would be smooth and sophisticated, oh no! The piece wanted to be roughly woven or knots included.

As with life, one goes with the flow!

I've usually made brooches with my fiber-wrapped designs. But lately, I've wanted to expand beyond my self-imposed boundary, to make some lariat style neckpieces, or cuffs.

Several of my customers have urged me to make fiber-wrapped pendants. In this regard, I have started adding jump rings to the pinbacks, so the wearer can alternate between wearing the adornment as a brooch or as a pendant.

Here is the latest of the fiber-wrapped lariats: