Do you want to be a jewelry artist?

I have to admit. I’m a bit of a jewelry snob. Creativity means much more to me than gold, diamonds and a hefty price tag.

That is why Susan Lenart Kazmer is one of my favourite jewelry artists. Her work is amazing! Last fall, I Jumped at the opportunity to sign up for Susan’s first 6 month Intentional Metalsmithing online jewelry course, a mentored program for beginning and advanced jewelry artists. There was no pressure to complete the course in the six month period as the videos continue to be available indefinitely. This worked well for me.

Susan is once again offering her mentored e-course, Intentional Metalsmithing. Susan teaches her techniques for creating exceptional artisan jewelry while encouraging and guiding participants to discover and use their own unique symbols and talismans in their designs.

Early bird pricing For the course ends tomorrow, July 14 but you can still sign up until July 16. The course starts on July 20. Even if you have never picked up a jewelry torch before, if you love creative jewelry, you’ll love this course!

100 Day Project - Day 2 - I quit!

As soon as I made the commitment to do this, I knew I didn’t really want to do it. One of the things that I love about retirement is having the freedom to wake up every day and decide how I want to spend the day. So why do I keep telling myself that I should do more or be more? I get done what I need to do. The rest is optional.

I was going to just delete the previous post and pretend this never happened😂 but I might as well own it.

100 Day Project - Day 1

Most of you have probably heard of The 100 Day Project #The100DayProject. You choose your own creative project to commit to for 100 days and post daily in the Facebook group.

Day 1 Getting ready

Retirement from my job away from home already meant I had lots of time to finally focus on my art and jewelry making. And now that social interaction has been restricted because of COVID-19, I have even more time. My problem has never been time, I realize now. I'm just a procrastinator.  There is always tomorrow, right?  But this pandemic is also teaching us that....maybe not.

So my 100 Day Project is to build a habit of spending time every day creating in my studio. No set times, just a commitment to do something. 100 Days to Build my Studio Habit.

Yesterday was Day 1 and I reorganized my jewelry studio to make my soldering area for jewelry more efficient. 

Happy 2020! May your foresight be as clear as your hindsight.

Another whole year has gone by without me keeping my word to blog more often. I also did a really lousy job of sticking to my Depth Year for 2019. And in the spirit of my goals for the new year, I don't care. It obviously wasn't my priority.

For 2020, my goal is to play more and make enjoying life a priority. If something doesn't give me pleasure, and it doesn't absolutely have to be done, then I'm not going do it. I am 65 years old and unless something miraculous happens, I don't have a whole lot of years left to waste doing things I don't want to do. Easier said than done, I know, but I'll try my best.

I've lived in this area for over 40 years but I only recently discovered this beautiful lake less than 10 minutes from my current home. There are so many more discoveries to be made.

On summer weekdays I am often the only person there so I can sit on the dock and paint or just drift on my floaty chair in beautiful peace and solitude.

Journal/sketchbook - enjoying the summer sunshine on my floaty chair

I look forward to more of this in 2020! How about you? Do you ever feel like time is running out and you would like to be doing more for your own well being? Try using Marie Kondo's technique for getting rid of clutter and ask yourself, "Does it spark joy?" If not, let it go!