Day 4. For real this time.

This was one of my favorite booths!  Mainly because I LOVE Crystal.  She is the owner of this booth, and Jessi and I always have so much fun sitting there and talking to her.

I think she makes the funnest stuff.  If you could see how these start out and how they are "built" layer upon layer, you could maybe appreciate them even more.

I bought lots and lots of her components, because I am SURE that I will be offering classes to encourage people to get creative with metal patinas, wire, cameos, and rhinestones!!

I've also been keeping my eye out more for unique metal finds or trinkets around the house (or out in the street even) that could be added to necklaces, for FREE, but still look pretty cool!!  The first upcoming jewelry class at MoJoy Studios is going to offer something similar.  Did you get the newsletter?!

Jessi and I just stood and imagined and thought and planned, and BOUGHT so much of her cute stuff.

These are plain, flat ring blanks.  Then, for instance, on the bottom one, a Mary cabachon was glued to the ring blank.  The ring was treated with a patina to make it look old.  Rhinestones were cut (they come in a roll) to fit around the periphery.  And voila.  How cute are these?!

Same with these!

This is cute too, but might be a little heavy for my taste.  In the jewelry class, we will be teaching how to add beads to the chain, such as the turquoise rounds in the picture below.

The below earrings started out as flat, filigree pieces in bright gold.  She added the crosses with glued on rhinestones, and added beads to the bottom.  She patina'd the filigree discs and the jumprings above the main attraction.  Seriously, only your imagination is the limit!

L.O.V.E. this one.  I really love how the lobster claw is used in the front for ease of donning/ doffing.

Check out these metal tassels.  With and without patina.

We made cute little key necklaces at the Color Finder Retreat.  Hey, ladies... any of you still wearing your custom made jewelry?!  In the next Color Finder, in March, we might make something a little different than the key.  I bought some FUN tassels in Tucson, and I have been trying to dream up a project for using them at the upcoming retreat.

A few more ideas.

This one is like a lariat.  I think its really great when a piece of jewelry clasps differently than is expected.  And there's Crystal in the background.  She is willing and ready to fly to Louisiana from California to offer a jewelry class.  Who'd be interested?  Maybe a  Saturday/ Sunday class?!  I'd LOVE to have her come, but of course, I'd want to have a good class for her to make it worth her trip!  I need to find out what kind of supplies I'd have to have a the ready for each participant before I could determine the details.  Let me know if you are interested.

This is ONE of my trays of goodies I bought from Crystal.

And this was my phone smack in the middle of all this wonderfulness.

I found this restaurant, which we went to last year, totally by using my visual memory!  It was crazy.  I even could "see" in my mind and told Jessi, "we are about to pass a mattress store.  And then we'll see the restaurant."  And sure enough.

We didn't know the NAME of the restaurant nor where it was, so we couldn't google it.  And yet, I, who has NO short term memory or memory of names, numbers, sense of time, etc, made my way all the way across town by having "pictures" of where we were going in my head from last year.  WEIRD!

This story should make an interesting example when we have our upcoming inservice to teachers and moms about how kids (and adults) learn differently!  Some of us are right brain dominant, and some are left brain dominant.  I'll tell you more about that when we get closer to the date.

I sent that to Todd the Bod.  I thought maybe I could talk him and Jessi's husband, Jeff, into coming next year.  They'd probably just sit here for all five days!

We'd come visit them in the evening.... for THIS !!

If ever in Tucson, consider BJ's!  It was delish!!

And now what you've all been waiting for.... I know there have been a lot of O's with hearts (otherwise known as I's) called, so someone might be getting close by now!!

Oh.  And one other thing.  I'm in Dallas, TX for the weekend learning some extremely cool stuff about chronic pain!!  Can't wait to get back and help my patients!!  I'll be here til Sunday.  If in Dallas, holllaaaa!

Mo