Preparations...

Excitement is a brewing! I applied & got into my first major wholesale show. I have less than 20 days to get everything made, packed up & ready to go before we hit the road for Las Vegas! I am thrilled, excited, nervous, anxious all at the same time. It is a little daunting to try to prepare for a show of this size. My wonderful little craft shows are great but just a teeny shadow to what I need to do to prepare for ACRE. I want to do well & write TONS of orders however, I am walking into the unknown...

I have too many ideas flowing through my creative veins at the moment & need to focus. I am not so good at the focus. I like to flit around from idea to idea. Things have been coming together a little better & I am finally finishing new pieces.




I have many more hours at the bench to go before I feel prepared for the show. Numerous hours at the computer trying to figure out layout of the booth & lighting. The route there & back to plan, what shoes to bring. Thankfully, I like to keep busy. My brain doesn't like to turn off & currently it doesn't have time to shut down. Working hard to be prepared, wishing hard for a successful show. Wish me luck!

I recently completed a custom wedding set based on one of my bands but with modifications. The client wanted to add diamonds to a 2mm wide band. I nodded politely & said "no problem." I remember being taught how to flush set stones but MUCH larger ones. I didn't even have all the proper tools yet. I ordered three extra stones just in case I lost, broke or chipped one (or two.) The mans version was easy. 6mm by 2mm hand hammered, brushed & oxidized, done. Her band was simple but I decided to make three. One for practice, one for potential mistakes, one for real. Of course, I used all three.

It is always a wonder that if you plan for it, you almost make your own destiny. The first one was fine just one diamond got set a little lower than I wanted. I salvaged the first one for my shop with some minor adjustments. The second one I broke a drill bit in it. Not much fun to get out but not impossible to do (usually.) I decided to go ahead with the third one to save time. It came out great! I didn't even loose one of those tiny teeny diamonds. I think I might incorporate them into my regular line. The diamond band is just so darn cute!