01.10.22 Happiness Blooms

Fresh flowers AND tomatoes in January

I don't like winter, never have...

it's cold,
it's dreary,

and January is the month that my Mom died, 20 years ago.

I usually pretty grumpy about now.

But after the warmest December on record...my favorite local grower has flowers, and there are tomatoes at the farmer's market...so here's hoping we don't have another winter like last year.

Anyhow, since I promised in my Thanksgiving post to write about flowers (and it's my goal to return to posting something once a month even though I'm not back in the jewelry studio)...here you go!

The very first Petals Ink bouquet - June 2018

I discovered my favorite local grower - Petals, Ink  - at the Mueller Farmers Market several years ago. My first purchase from them was a small bouquet in a hobnail milk glass vase.  My daughter was moving into her first aparment in California, and wanted a vase to take with her...she really liked this one. 

At the time (in 2018 - the before times), trips to the farmers market were a fun outing, but not part of my regular routine. 

I wasn't doing a lot of cooking - we were too busy enjoying our empty nest - I was at the jewelry studio my husband was riding his bike almost everyday.

In March 2020, all that changed.

With grocery shortages, and curbside options few and far between, the Sunday farmers market became my primary source for meat and fresh produce - and it has definitely been a silver lining in the dark clouds of the past two years.

The bluebonnet bouquet - March, 2020

It wasn't too far into that first pandemic spring that I saw the Petals, Ink booth had returned to the market, and in addition to lots of fresh food, I started picking up flowers every week.  I also started following them on Instagram. In March, just as things were warming up, they posted photos of spring bouquets with bluebonnets, available for delivery...so I ordered one.

It might sound silly, but I realized having flowers in the kitchen (where I was spending way more time since we were eating three meals a day at home) made me happy - really happy - every time I looked at them.  

When they started offering a weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) subscription for flowers...I signed up right away.

Bonus heirloom mums - Nov 2021

Starting in the spring of 2020, I picked up my flowers from their booth every Sunday until the season ended...and in 2021, I signed up again.  Initially, I was going to continue picking them up at the market - but circumstances changed, and they switched to contactless home delivery.

For 32 weeks - from March to November - I would get a text message mid-day on Saturday with a photo of my delivery in front of my house.  It was a highlight of my week, and without question one of the most important acts of self-care I took in 2021.

Then, to my great suprise - while I was in St. Thomas with my high school girlfriends - I got a message from my husband, that the "flower ladies" as he calls them, had left a bonus bouquet (and the sweetest note) at our door.  He put them in a vase, and they were waiting for me when I arrived home from my wonderful trip.  

Around the same time, I had also received a wonderful gift of flowers from a friend - but they weren't fresh - they were Legos!  I resisted the urge to open the box immediately, and instead waited until our daughter came home for a couple of weeks at the end of the year. She and I built them together, and put them in another hobnail vase that came from Petals, Ink.

The Lego bouquet

I'll keep the Lego blooms on my table until March, when my subscription deliveries begin again...except for this week...because I have the anemones.

The past two year have been rough, but they haven't been all bad, and they certainly have taught me some life lessons...not the least of which is do things that bring you joy.  

No matter what life looks like going forward - I know that I will continue to spend time in my kitchen; cooking with fresh ingredients from the farmers market, and keeping flowers on my table.  I only hope that I'll be sharing that space with family and friends again, sooner rather than later.

Until next time.

04.02.18 Wildflower season

Photo credit - SmartSeeds

I love spring - and not just because I hate winter. The sun comes back - the days get longer and warmer, and in Central Texas, mother nature paints virtually every patch of open space with vibrant color!

It's starts with deep purple mountain laurel, which smells like the most fragrant grape kool aid you can imagine when it blooms.

Photo credit - Emily Ling

Then come the wildflowers popping up along the sides of the road. No matter my mood, I can't help but smile when I see the bright colors - blue bonnets, yellow black eyed Susans, pink primroses and red paint brush in the medians on city streets and along the sides of the highway.



Jewelry inspired by wildflowers is certainly nothing new.  I have vintage pieces from long time Texas jewelers Jeep Collins and James Avery that belonged to my late mother.  More recently I discovered the work of fellow Austinite (and fabulous instructor) Vickie Hallmark.

Photo credit - Vickie Hallmark

When I first spotted her mountain laurel earrings, I knew I had to have them! Then, after taking a precious metal clay class with her, I asked if she would make me a pair of bluebonnet earrings - and she did.

Photo credit - Vickie Hallmark

If you follow my daily earring posts on Instagram, you know that both of these pairs are in regular rotation - especially this time of year.




Inspired by the landscape, these jewelers, and my love of the saw - I started creating my own variation on the wildflower theme -  pendants made from millefiori and vintage glass with a Texas cut out on the back.

I'm excited to report that a few of my Texas themed pieces are now available at Russell Korman Jewelers here in Austin. I have a long relationship with these folks, and was thrilled when they asked me if I would be interested in having my work in the store.

Photo credit - Russell Korman Jewelers

Spring is definitely a time of new beginnings - and I'm excited to see where things go from here.  I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me by liking, commenting on and sharing my posts, reading the blog - and, of course, buying my jewelry.

It definitely takes a village, and I love the new creative home I have found.

Until next time.

10.16.17 A Thousand Flowers

Murrine frits (pieces)
Photo credit - TahitiNights on Etsy

The term millefiori means "a thousand flowers" - and describes a particular type of glass made in an ancient tradition.

Millefiori is created using murrine - canes of glass which show intricate patterns when they are cut through.  There is evidence of murrine use as far back as 4,000 years ago - and it has been incorporated into the work of Venetian glassmakers for over 500 years.

The pieces - called frit - can be combined in a number of ways to create either finished pieces (such as paperweights or other decorative glass), cabochons to be used in jewelery, or slabs - which can then be cut by a lapidary artist.

When I made my first Texas Wildflower pendant with a millefiori glass heart, I knew I was on to something...but I had no idea how wildly popular these pendants would be.

I've made several, and they've been flying off the bench - with people claiming them even before they are finished...which is fine with me (because I can't keep everything - and I have to pay for my materials somehow!). Eventually, I do hope to keep one.

However, because they are so popular, I have been going on regular Etsy scavenger hunts trying to find more glass. So far I've been successful - I currently have about a dozen hearts.

As I've said before - I would love to try my hand at glass work - and creating fused millefiori cabochons might be a good place to start.

In the mean time, I'm working with what I can find for sale.  Most recently, I sold three small hearts - all to the same customer - as part of my effort to help with the hurricane Harvey recovery in south Texas.





If you are interested in seeing how millefiori glass is created, take a look at this 5 minute video from "How It's Made".

Until next time.

01.23.17 Lady Bird

LBJ School Class of 87 with Mrs. Johnson at the Ranch

Being a metalsmith is my newly found alter-ego.  For most of my adult life, I've been a policy wonk. 

At 22, I relocated to Austin to attend the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.  Never expected to stay here - but it was the best move I ever made.  I found my professional calling in education policy, I made friendships that are now in their third decade, I met my husband, and I had the pleasure and privilege of multiple interactions with Lady Bird Johnson.

Photo Credit: Wildflower Center

Every year, Mrs. Johnson invited the first year class out to the LBJ Ranch for a "get to know you" event.  She was warm, and gracious, and funny - and she had memorized something about each of us. In advance of the visit, we were asked to provide personal information for security reasons, and one thing we wanted Mrs. Johnson to know about us - I shared that I had worked for her son in law, Chuck Robb, on one of his campaigns, and had come to Texas from the University of Virginia, where her granddaughter was a student.  She worked these details into the conversation when we were introduced.  

Over the course of the next several years while I was still in school, and then out and about in Austin, I would run into her occasionally - and even if she couldn't remember my name - she recognized me and always said hello.  She is the only First Lady I have ever met, and to this day, she remains an inspiration.

Photo credit: Vickie Hallmark

Her focus as First Lady was the beautification of America, and her legacy is the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.   Texas is famous for its wildflowers - and I look forward to them every spring.  As corny as it sounds, my heart leaps a little bit when I see the first few bluebonnets blooming in the green spaces throughout the city.

Wildflowers have been cropping up in my jewelry recently, too.  First it was the pair of bluebonnet earrings I commissioned from Vickie Hallmark, after taking her metal clay and argentium class.  

Then I bought a millefiori glass heart from an auction on the Cabs and Slabs Facebook page.  The pattern in the glass made me think of wildflowers, so I cut a Texas out of the backplate, and called it my "Lady Bird" Love Note.

Within minutes of posting photos of the pendant, I had a message from a bride who is getting married later this year at the Wildflower Center - she bought it as a wedding gift for her mom.  My heart just about exploded!  This is the second time someone has chosen one of my Love Note pendants as a gift for a member of their wedding party, and I am so honored that my work is going to be part of such a special day.

I'm starting my year with a regular schedule of being in the studio two days a week, and not only am I finding the work therapeutic and fulfilling, but it's making other people happy, too.

That's the best part of metalsmithing.

Until next time.