I love turquoise! This summer, I have been designing with turquoise stones, drawn to turquoise shades of paint and clothing, and now I have turquoise toes.   Summer is my favorite toe season & when I have a pedicure, I love to read the names of the O.P.I. toenail polish.  Some of my favorite shades of coral include names like: Dusk over Cairo, Fiji wee jee fawn, You’re a Pisa work, Suzy sells sushi by the seashore, and not so Bora-Bora-in pink.   I must admit, everytime I look down at my feet, I get a little thrill to know that I have the color mint gelato applied to my toes.

It must be an aroma of the nutty smell of freshly brewed coffee, hot donuts, and cinnamon buns or the scent of orchids, fresh herbs, and a rainbow of produce floating through the balmy morning heat…regardless, who could resist such sweetness?  My Saturday mornings begin at 4:45 AM with a rather strong cup of coffee and an even stronger will to peel myself out of my warm covers.  I arrive at the market, set up my jewelry booth, and I am immediately satisfied by the energy and passion from the farmers, bakers, and craftspeople.  Throughout the morning, I’m greeted with sleepy, enthusiastic, and lovely customers strolling through the Charlottesville Market and enjoying their Saturday morning just as much a I am…

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I’d like to share a few photos of some recent bridal jewelry I have designed for weddings this spring. Each piece is different, but still carries the same unique but classic look. I used freshwater pearls and rose quartz to create the sets.

Fifteen preschoolers held on to the 20 ft. red rope as we walked from school to Whole Foods this morning.   We finally arrived and Sandy gave us the grand tour.  We had a blast indulging in the samples “du jour” - a combination of blood oranges, cantaloupe, cheeses, turkey, dried bananas, freshly ground peanut butter, bison, cookies, pineapple, and blueberries.  Great day!

I woke up early Saturday morning and finally organized my box of “random scraps of inspiration”…everything from antique maps, photos of glass apothecary bottles, lists of biographies waiting to be read, and new-fangled music to be heard.  I’m not quite sure how to organize these random meaningful pieces, but the least that I could do was acknowledge that they need to be recognized. I put them in smaller boxes to sort.  Noon arrived quickly.  I soon realized that today was the perfect day to drive out to the country and capture the essence of lazy day on a farm in mid-afternoon.

Without a doubt, I’m ready for spring.   In fact, I have transformed part of my preschool classroom into a farmer’s market.  The kids have been filling up their crates with plastic strawberries, green peppers, eggs, blueberries, tomatoes, apples (and every now and then a lego).   They love to create beautiful flower arrangements for each other and tie them up with pipe cleaners and brown paper bags.     

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Who would have thought that artichokes, tea cups,  rusty stars, chili peppers, watering cans, potatoes and grapefruit would blend with gold, silver, and semi-precious stones?        

I had the best time with photographer, Meg Runion. We spent Sunday afternoon pairing my jewelry with fruits, vegetables, antiques, boots, flowers, and other unique objects. Check out these photos!