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Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

Friday’s Fresh Five! (11/12/10)

Posted in About me, Creativity, Gardening, Gift Ideas, Helping Others, inspiration, Photography, Recycling, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on November 12, 2010| 2 Comments »

Ever wonder why Monet produced close to 250 paintings of water lilies in his garden at Giverny during the last thirty years of his life? Standing in front of a large fountain on the grounds of Mission San Juan Capistrano last weekend, I appreciated his fascination with these exotic plants as I snapped photo after photo of them. Large, colorful, variegated leaves floated peacefully on the surface of the dark, murky water, while bright spikes of blossoms opened up to the sky. There’s a Chinese proverb that says, “When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.” After seeing the beauty of these water lilies, I understand both the proverb and Monet much better.

#1 – Monet Trivia Quiz
Want to test your knowledge about Monet? Below is a short trivia quiz I adapted from an About.com article.

1. What were Monet’s first names?
A. Claude Oliver.
B. Oscar-Claude.
C. Oliver Claus.
D. Claus Oscar.

2. What school of art did Monet and his associates establish?
A. Fauvism.
B. Expressionism.
C. Impressionism.
D. Symbolism.

3. Were the artists who participated in this show known as Impressionists before the exhibition?
A. No, they came up with the name afterwards, when their paintings had made a good impression on the public.
B. Yes, they came up with the name specifically for the exhibition.
C. Yes, Monet had been labeled an Impressionist several years before.
D. No, a reviewer sarcastically entitled his article on the show the ‘Exhibition of the Impressionists’ and the name was adopted.

4. From 1890 Monet started series paintings, repeating the same scene. Why?
A. He was experimenting with different materials.
B. When he grew dissatisfied with a painting he would throw it away.
C. He was making multiple copies to sell.
D. He was preoccupied with capturing the way light looked at a particular moment.

5. What part of Monet’s garden at Giverny was his greatest source of inspiration?
A. The rose garden.
B. The herb garden.
C. The lily pond.
D. The irises.

6. Which of Monet’s senses failed?
A. His hearing.
B. His sight.
C. His touch.
D. His taste.

7. What is the name of the Museum in Paris which houses Monet’s waterlily murals?
A. The Louvre.
B. The Museum d’Orsay.
C. The Marmottan Museum.
D. The Orangerie.

Answers: 1. B; 2. C; 3. D; 4. D; 5. C; 6. B; 7. D

#2 – Unplug to Save Electricity
There are many electronic devices in our households that use electricity even when they are not actively being used. According to an article that was put out by my local electricity provider, “Household electronics, including those in your bathroom, office and kitchen, can add up to about 15 percent of your home’s electricity use.” The article lists as culprits,”rechargeable battery-powered cordless phones, electric toothbrushes, computers, printers, cell phone and digital camera charges, music players, rechargeable power tools and video game and entertainment equipment. These chargers and adapters draw power whenever they are in an outlet.” Where practical, learn to unplug these devices when not in use and/or use power strips as the central turn off point for various appliances and device chargers.

#3 – Amazing Sculptures Under the Sea
Explore artist’s Jason de Caires Taylor gallery of photos of his incredible, life-sized, underwater, concrete sculptures. His website explains, “Jason de Caires Taylor’s underwater sculptures create a unique, absorbing and expansive visual seascape. Highlighting natural ecological processes Taylor’s interventions explore the intricate relationships that exist between art and environment. His works become artificial reefs, attracting marine life, while offering the viewer privileged temporal encounters, as the shifting sand of the ocean floor, and the works change from moment to moment.”

#4 – Books Should Be Free
Books Should Be Free offers free audio books from the public domain. You can “download a free audio book in mp3, iPod, or iTunes format” in 25 different languages, including Ancient Greek! You can preview a book before you download it to verify whether or not you like the reader’s style. Many of the books have been recorded by volunteers through LibriVox, another organization offering free audio books. “LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and publish the audio files on the Internet. Our goal is to record all the books in the public domain.” If you have a great voice and love to read, consider volunteering to read and record one of your favorite books.

#5 – A Rich Proverb
If you want to feel rich, just count all the gifts you have that money cannot buy.

Enjoy your beautiful autumn weekend!

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The Perfection of the Imperfect

Posted in About me, Aging, Handcrafted Cards, inspiration, Photography, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on November 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Wabi-sabi is the quintessential Japanese aesthetic. It is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional . . . . It is also two separate words, with related but different meanings. “Wabi” is the kind of perfect beauty that is seemingly-paradoxically caused by just the right kind of imperfection, such as an asymmetry in a ceramic bowl which reflects the handmade craftsmanship, as opposed to another bowl which is perfect, but soul-less and machine-made. “Sabi” is the kind of beauty that can come only with age, such as the patina on a very old bronze statue. Reading those words on Wiki Wiki Web soothed the ever-shrinking perfectionist in me. As I’ve grown older and wiser, I’ve come to embrace the notion that some things in life are actually better when they are not perfect.

For example, rows of tiny striations marred the smooth surface of a pair of shiny, black, patent leather footwear I purchased six months ago. Noticing the striations, I became distressed. “How could this be? I’ve only worn them to work a few times! Is it too late to return these shoes? Can they be repaired?” were the thoughts making noises in my head. Knowing that the shoe manufacturer was a reputable one, I did a little online research. I happily found out that a warranty policy existed, but the manufacturer would need to inspect my footwear to determine whether or not the striations were a warranty-related issue. Emailing the manufacturer a close-up photo of the striations was a possible first step. Using my little point and shoot digital camera, I snapped several close-up shots. As the photos were downloading to my computer, I saw images of dark, blue-black ripples combined with rust-colored areas. Art can be found in amazing places! Upon closer examination, I liked how the dirt speckles gave the photo a feeling of texture and how the strong diagonal line created by the rough rubber sole and the horizontal line created by the suede stitching both led my eyes to the largest rust-colored image. You’ve probably guessed by now that the photo that many of you have been staring at for the last two weeks is nothing more than a close-up of the striations on my footwear and that the rust-colored areas are nothing more than the reflections of my hands holding the camera.

From comments I’ve received, I’m guessing this was a challenging mystery photo. Sorry, for some reason I thought this one was going to be easier than the last! But thanks to all of you who participated in the contest and submitted guesses. Without a doubt, I think my readers have some of the most creative minds out there. But alas, there can only be one winner. So without further ado, I would like to congratulate Ella L. for winning the Birthday Contest! Your prize, a set of handmade cards, inserts, envelopes, and adhesive, will be mailed to you soon! Hope you enjoy the cards as much as I enjoyed making them!

What about my footwear with the striations? Bowing to the philosophy of wabi-sabi, I respect the perfection of their imperfection and they’re still in my closet.

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Birthday Contest!

Posted in About me, Creativity, Handcrafted Cards, Photography, tagged , , , , , on October 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »


What’s a birthday celebration without games and prizes? To celebrate the first birthday of What About This? I’m holding another challenging, but fun, mystery photo contest! It’s simple – just identify the subject matter in the photo above, before anyone else does, and you win!

Is the prize a trip to Paris or a million dollars? Hardly, but I can guarantee you that you’ll never come across a prize such as this in any other contest! The lucky winner will receive a set of fabulous, one-of-a-kind note cards made by moi! I will be spending many, many hours creating these note cards, so that the winner receives a wonderful collection! Some of the cards will be crafted in the detailed and time-consuming mosaic-style (see Teacup, Slice of Cake, and Bridal Shower) in which I recycle photos, calendars, magazines, and scraps of pretty paper. Some of my very favorite blog photographs will grace the fronts of other note cards. In the right hand column headed Categories, click on the entry entitled “Handcrafted Cards” and you can view more examples of my work. There are very few people in this world who have received my special cards! Note that there may always be variations on a theme, but no two cards are ever the same. This set of creative note cards will include envelopes, a selection of printed sentiments for you to choose from and adhere to the inside of your cards, and adhesive.

Before the guessing begins, please keep in mind that I only use a point and shoot digital camera for all of my blog photos and that I did not travel out of the galaxy to take this particular photo.

Here are the rules:
1. Send your best guess of the photograph’s subject matter via email to me.
2. To keep it fair, only three guesses per email address, please.
3. The contest will run for two weeks from today, so get your guesses in quickly!
4. In case of a tie, the time each email is received will determine the winner.
3. So that I can mail the winner this fabulous prize, he/she will have to provide me with a full name and mailing address.

Good Luck! Be on the look out for notification of your win in a future post!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (10/15/10)

Posted in About me, Helping Others, inspiration, Photography, Recipes, Recycling, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The days are noticeably shorter now. How can these lovely fall days have the same number of hours in them as those hot summer days that seemed to stretch on forever. If each day has twenty-four hours, why do I feel like I’ve lost time lately? With the waning daylight, so goes my ability to accomplish everything that needs to be done. Interesting, isn’t it?

#1 – Share Our Strength
The statistics tell the story: nearly one in every four children in America face hunger. Share Our Strength is an organization whose goal is “to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.” Helping can be as easy as hosting a bake sale. Check out how you can participate in the Great American Bake Sale.

#2 – Sharing Smoothie Recipes
Do you like to drink smoothies, but are bored making the same ones over and over again? Need a little creative boost? Here’s a collection of healthy smoothie recipes from Men’s Health Magazine.

#3 – Borrow, Share, Trade or Barter
Sometimes it doesn’t make any sense to buy something you’re only going to use once, so maybe it would make more sense to borrow it from someone else. Or perhaps you have an extra saw in your garage and would like to trade it for someone’s extra hammer. With the struggling economy, websites that promote borrowing, sharing, trading, bartering, or just plain giving away are popping up on the internet. Check out these sites:
NeighborGoods
Freecycle
Share Some Sugar
Snap Goods
Trashbank
U-Exchange
Care to Trade
Trade a Favor
Joe Barter

#4 – Sharing Fabulous Photos of Faraway Places
Photographer Steve McCurry is probably best known for the photo he took of an Afghan refugee girl whose story was told through her piercing green eyes and whose portrait graced the cover of National Geographic magazine twenty-five years ago. Referring to his body of work, Mr. McCurry says, “Most of my images are grounded in people. I look for the unguarded moment, the essential soul peeking out, experience etched on a person’s face. I try to convey what it is like to be that person, a person caught in a broader landscape that you could call the human condition.” Kodak gave Mr. McCurry the last produced roll of Kodachrome film. The photos he captured on this roll will be the subject of an upcoming National Geographic documentary. View some of Mr. Curry’s photographs on his website – they’ll make you want to grab your camera and travel.

#5 – Stop to Enjoy Happiness
“Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.”
William Feather

Share some happiness this weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (10/8/10)

Posted in Health, In The Kitchen, inspiration, Photography, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

18,969 was the number displayed on the screen of my pedometer yesterday. My goal of walking 10,000 steps every day has been made so much easier by the delightful fall weather we’ve been experiencing. Some people run for fun, but I walk to talk. Walking with my husband or my friends is amazingly therapeutic for me and it’s provided me with some of my best brainstorming, problem-solving sessions yet!

#1 – Pictures of the Week
The adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” was never more true than in this collection of photos posted by the Denver Post. The site reads, “Each week, the Denver Post compiles some of the week’s most poignant photos from around the world.” They indeed will tug at your senses and are most definitely worth viewing.

#2 – Black is the New Brown
We probably all know that brown rice is more nutritious than white rice, but now brown rice is being bested by the antioxidant-containing black rice. Not my usual source for health information, but according to an article in Elle Fashion, “black rice may be the next big superfood, boasting more antioxidants, fiber, and Vitamin E than blueberries.”

#3 – Boost Your Brain Power
“Researchers found that a woman’s memory can be impaired for at least a year after giving birth, although the effects are minor.” Well, too bad my kids are beyond the age where this excuse could work for me! In an online article titled, 14 Research-Proven Ways To Boost Brain Power by eMedExpert, I learned a few new things about keeping my brain “nimble.”

#4 – More Games
Speaking of brain power – the Bitsong site has some interesting activities to play at your computer while you take a short break. Some are more of the relaxing-distracting type and others are the brain-boosting sort. Some of the activities have music (think harp) or sound effects, so turn down the volume if you don’t want people to know you’re playing games instead of working or studying! Instead of writing this post this morning, I played these: Star Rescue, Sunroom, a flower arranging activity, and Match Flowers, a concentration-memory game.

#5 – The Purpose of Life
“I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.”
Leo Rosten

Make a difference to someone this weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (9/24/10)

Posted in About me, Creativity, Health, inspiration, Photography, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 24, 2010| 1 Comment »

Yesterday morning while washing my breakfast dishes, I looked out my kitchen window and saw, just yards away from me, the most beautiful hummingbird. I ran and grabbed my camera and with one arm propped on a compost bin and the other on the sink faucet, I waited for more hummingbirds to come. Because they are quick and skittish, they are tricky to photograph – but good things come to those who are patient!

#1 – Modern Day Etch A Sketch?
If you enjoyed playing with your Etch A Sketch when you were young, you will love this site. As a kid I was a horrible at Etch A Sketching, but this morning I had to pull myself away from creating more colorful designs. This site presents you with a blank page that has circles gliding around it. Drag the circles to see what colors and patterns appear. There are 20 “tools” at the bottom of the page for your creative enjoyment! Take a study or coffee break and create a masterpiece!

#2 – Sound Memory Game
Tune up your auditory processing today! At the same site as above, there is a link to a sound memory game. Click on a square and listen to the song and then click on another square to see if you’ve found the musical match to that song.

#3 – Check Out These Rocks!
No, they are not diamonds, sapphires, or rubies, but some equally amazing rock formations. An article in Mental Floss features a short photo essay on some incredible natural stone formations around the world and the folklore that surrounds them.

#4 – Adjust Your Mood with Food
According to an article in Woman’s Day there are 7 Foods That Boost Every Type of Bad Mood. Who knew that if you feel sluggish you should eat a spinach salad or if you are cranky, you should eat an apple with peanut butter? Does that mean that if you are stressed, sluggish, cranky, anxious, angry, and sad because you have PMS, you have to eat all the foods listed?

#5 – Hope
Hope is that thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops . . . at all.  ~Emily Dickinson

Have a great weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (8/6/10)

Posted in About me, Creativity, Gardening, Health, Husbands, inspiration, Photography, Recycling, Style and fashion, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 6, 2010| 10 Comments »

” Smash it! Smash it! Smash it!!” the crowd chanted. Goaded on by his peers the bridegroom smashes a piece of wedding cake into his young bride’s face and then ducks to miss her intended aim. What you don’t see is the next frame in which the angry young bride (angry that he had the nerve to duck) grabs another handful of cake from the bottom-most tier and firmly plants it on his face. Turnabout is fair play after all, right? And thus our marriage began. Amazingly, we celebrate our 33rd year of marriage today and through the years we’ve learned the art of compromise and diplomacy, and that there’s no ducking when the cake flies!!

#1 – Two Foods
The Two Foods site offers food nutrition comparisons. In one space type in a food item and in the other space type in the other food item you want to compare it with. The site will give you the calorie, carbohydrate, fat and protein breakdown of both foods.

#2 – Running the Numbers
Okay, here’s my seemingly weekly link to a photo series. Had to pass this one along because it depicts the huge environmental impact of our “throw away” society.

#3 – Color Scheme in a Snap
In my Friday’s Fresh Five post dated 10/23/09 I wrote an entry called Simple Color Theory about determining complementary colors based on primary colors. My son, the artist, told me that this site makes a snap out of determining color schemes for projects and has almost infinite possibilities. Well maybe not infinite, but close to it!

#4 – Making Cut Flowers Last Longer
A. Cut garden flowers early in the morning, avoiding the heat of the day.
B. Remove all the leaves from the part of the stem that will be submerged under water.
C. It is better to cut the stems under water. Cut at a 45 degree angle with sharp pruners/scissors.
D. Change the water everyday to keep the bacteria level low.
E. Adding a teaspoon of sugar to the water will help refresh the flowers. Some use a crushed aspirin instead of sugar.
F. Avoid placing the flowers in direct sunlight and or in drafts.
G. At night store them in the refrigerator or in the coolest room of the house.

#5 – Soul Mates
“A soul mate marriage does not at all mean that you have found someone
you match up with on all the cards – on all the issues, on everything. That
would be the most deadly dull thing to even imagine. Instead, it means you’re
with someone who wants to take care of your soul – they want to make sure
your soul continues to grow, they don’t ever want to blow out that little light
inside you. And you feel the same way about them.”
Diane Sollee, NPR, The Real Life Survival Guide


All’s well that ends well . . .

Celebrate your weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! ( 7/9/10)

Posted in Creativity, Handcrafted Cards, In The Kitchen, inspiration, Marriage, Photography, Recipes, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on July 9, 2010| 1 Comment »

Hearts and flowers and joy and excitement fill the air at bridal showers. Generations of women gather to shower the bride with wisdom, laughter, and gifts. Thoughts of times passed for some mingle with hopes of the future for others. Women coming together to support one another is always a good thing!

#1 – Champagne Punch
2-12 ounce cans of frozen lemonade or limeade
1-46 ounce can of pineapple juice, chilled
2 bottles of champagne, chilled
1 quart orange juice, chilled
Fruit for ice mold

Dilute one can of the frozen lemonade/limeade with 1 can of water. Pour into tube pan or any mold of choice and add fruit slices, berries or mint leaves for decoration. Freeze until solid.

Mix the remaining frozen lemonade/limeade, pineapple juice, orange juice, and champagne. Place extracted frozen mold from mold pan and put into a punch bowl. Pour mixed beverages into bowl.

#2 – Explore the Sistine Chapel From Home
If you’ve ever visited the Sistine Chapel, you were probably awestruck by the it – you and the other couple hundred visitors crammed into the Chapel with you. It’s difficult to appreciate the magnificence of the art there because of the wall-to-wall bodies. Here’s an interactive site that lets you take a leisurely virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel. On your computer screen the Chapel is completely devoid of people and is available for your complete exploration. Using your computer mouse, you can navigate to any area – the walls, the mosaic floors, and of course the glorious painted ceilings. You can even zoom in on any particular area of your choosing to see details. I wish I had taken this virtual tour, before I visited the real thing!

#3 – Chilling Drinks Quickly
Chill beverages quickly for a party by placing beverage containers in a ice bucket/ice chest and adding layers of ice alternating with layers of salt until almost to the top. Fill your ice bucket/ice chest with cold water just below the top of the ice.

#4 – Instructables
Instructables is a site where do-it-your-selfers can search for step-by-step instructions for a myriad of projects. I came across this interesting project the other day – How To Hide Your Stuff In A Tissue Box. Although it seems easy enough, I’ve not tried making the project, yet. I like the idea, but my biggest problem would be preventing my hubby from using up the tissues and throwing the box away! Maybe one of you could benefit from this idea, though!

#5 – From Within Your Heart
“Find the seed at the bottom of your heart and bring forth a flower.”
~ Shigenori Kameoka

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (5/7/10)

Posted in About me, Gardening, inspiration, Photography, Recycling, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 7, 2010| 3 Comments »

I lost myself today. I mean I lost myself in the sense of not caring where I was or what time it was. Feeling a little creatively blocked this morning, I grabbed my camera and went outside to photograph my rose garden. There is nothing quite like losing yourself in the magnificence of nature, in my case a rose garden during its first bloom of the season. The first bloom of the season is always a show stopper. After being dormant for many months, the roses put forth a tremendous effort to produce a caliber and profusion of blossoms not seen during the rest of the year. One hundred and sixty-four photos later my head cleared and creative ideas flowed again.

#1 – Flower Power
Here’s a thoughtful way to recycle flowers! If you are planning an event that has flower power, such as a wedding, contact the Flower Power Foundation. Its web site states, “The Flower Power Foundation is currently working in association with world-renowned hospice care centers, nursing and rehabilitation centers, rape crisis centers, Alzheimer facilities, and hospitals. Since inception we have facilitated millions of flowers from being discarded and turning them into heart opening experiences for the receivers and the givers. We are passionate about living in a society that takes care of each other now.”

The wheels of this foundation may not have arrived in your area, yet, but the concept is still viable. Why not recycle and rearrange flowers from an event and give them to those who would really appreciate beautiful gifts of hope?

#2 – Wine Bottles In Your Garden!
If you have a lot of empty wine bottles around the house, here’s a way to recycle them. An an article in Lifehacker suggests using wine bottles as garden edging. Bottles are stuck neck down into the soil, two rows wide to form a protective border around vegetable gardens.

#3 – Aphids, Aphids, and Aphids
How many different types of aphids exist? I must have seen at least five types in my garden today. According to Wikipedia there are about 4,400 species! To rid my rose garden of aphids, I dislodge them with a blast of water or run my gloved hand along the stems to brush them off. For more ideas on how to get rid of aphids read this article.

#4 -Reusing Parchment Paper
When I bake cookies I always cover my cookie sheets with parchment paper. Most of the time it’s parchment paper that’s been used before. Every time I’m done baking, I wipe the grease and crumbs off the paper with a slightly damp cloth. After it dries I store the paper on the cookie sheets so they’re ready for my next baking adventure!

#5 – Find Beauty Every Day
You cannot control the world outside, but you can choose what you bring into yourself. If you do not see anything of value in life, begin by finding one thing of beauty every day until it becomes a habit.
Ron Rathbun, meditation teacher

Happy Mother’s Day to all you wonderfully dedicated mothers out there!

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And the Winner Is . . .

Posted in Creativity, Gift Ideas, inspiration, Jewelry, Photography, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 6, 2010| 1 Comment »

Remember the contest I ran in March to see who could identify the mysterious subject matter in one of my photographs? Wildly creative guesses came in, but, alas, the subject matter was not a galaxy, a burst of confetti, a drop of water magnified a 1000 times, or a flash freeze photograph of an atomization process. At long last I am happy to announce the winner of my mystery photo contest. Sorry for the delay in revealing the winner, but I actually had two winners which meant two prizes!

The sleuthing teamwork of the winning pair paid off. One day while sitting in class, obviously not focused on their studies, they noticed I had published a new post on my blog. After reading it they decided, since they were already on my blog, to go back to the mystery photo and examine it once again. Very cleverly they clicked on the photo to see if I had titled the photo when I’d saved it on my computer. Much to their surprise when they clicked on the photo the image became larger. They clicked on it again to see what would happen and it was even more magnified. They found themselves looking at honeycombed-type clusters of spheres – that’s when they knew the photo was of bubbles!

To my delight and my embarrassment, my son Adam and his girlfriend Melissa won the contest! Adam actually submitted the winning answer, but I learned later that Melissa was equally deserving of the prize. They live in another part of the state so they had no unfair advantage over anyone else. To those of you who say this is not fair, I can only respond by saying, they played by the rules and, in my mind, won fair and square.

Designing their prizes/necklaces was my next task. Adam’s necklace was the first masculine piece I’ve had to design. Not only did I want the piece to be larger, I also wanted it to look heavier. I accomplished this by incorporating different metals into the design. Cutting first a square out of copper and then a rectangle out of sterling silver, I was able to layer the two metals on top of one another and still have both metals show. After hammering the letters into the metal, I finished off the piece with a sterling silver leaf charm (to cover his words for privacy) and added a rustic looking Peruvian opal. Although, I presented the necklace to him on a stainless steel ball chain, this piece would also look great if worn on a leather cord.

As in the past when I’ve designed affirmation necklaces, determining the exact words to hammer into the metal is always my greatest challenge. This time was no different. How to encapsulate all the thoughts of what I want my son to hold in his heart forever – in only a few words? Besides my desire for Adam to “love life,” I want him to remember to always try, no matter the difficulty of the task, and to always try his best. This is all anyone can ever ask of another person. I want him to continue to dream and to always hold onto his dreams. And to support his dreams he must always believe in himself, no matter what others say or what obstacles are presented. Hence:  Always – Try, Dream, Believe.

Melissa’s necklace was also designed in layers, but this time with three layers of sterling silver. The simple heart frames the word “be.” After much thought and some discussion with my son, we decided our wish for her is to always be loved, to be endlessly happy, and to be strong in her beliefs. Hence:  Be – Loved, Happy, Strong. Her piece was finished off with a beautiful fluorite gemstone dangle.

With every piece of jewelry I create, I experience a huge growth factor. Outwardly, I am learning to manipulate the materials better and better, but inwardly, I am absorbing all of the positive energy that comes from deep thought and soul searching.

Desideri means wishes in Latin. Look for desideri . . . in all my  jewelry creations! Contact me if you have questions about my Desideri jewelry line or would like me to design a piece for you or for someone else as a gift.

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