It's been a quite few months...

It's been a little quite at the bench around here, with good reason. I've been working on a big project.

For the past nine months, studio work has largely been set aside given the small but not negligible amount of chemical exposure making jewelry entails. I will say, after feeling like I was just getting started with shows, it felt a little disheartening to stop working, but it was for a good reason. At 38 weeks now, there's an end/beginning in sight though. In the mean time, I have applied for the Patchwork show in Long Beach on June 12, and am waiting to hear back sometime later this month. I have no idea what trying to get bench work done with a baby in tow will be like, but it's going to happen!

Not wanting to be completely out of the jewelry and art world for too long, I did keep up with my Meet Up group which connects craft makers and sellers in the OC area. We've been getting together on a monthly basis to talk about our experiences as sellers and makers, and share our collected wisdom/mistakes. One of our dedicated members put together a lovely blog post on her website regarding my work, which I feel very grateful for.

And since I've had more time outside of the studio available, it was high time to get a good garden started. Although our yard is great for fruit trees, there is too much shade for a good veggie garden.

Thankfully, there is a community garden just a few blocks away, which had plots available so I snagged this one. It hadn't been maintained in a bit, so there was a good week of weeding needed.

This was it just a few weeks ago, freshly planted with tomatoes, chard, arugula, kale, bell peppers, herbs and beans. Everything has been growing beautifully so far!

Hopefully we will be enjoying a lot of meals courtesy of these plants in the coming months.