Lunch with a sweet friend

Yay for me! I got to meet up with Miss Leslie of BeiMondi for lunch while she was visiting family here in Tennessee. This was our second get together, it was like meeting an old friend (no pun intended, I think I have "old" on my mind) We now have a place that we like to meet, a small Mom & Pop Italian place with yummy food! After lunch we did a little antique browsing, but did not find anything we had to have. She gave me a sweet goodie bag of gemstones and I can not wait to play with them. Why is it someone else's beads are always better than yours? Leslie is a sweetie and I can't wait to see her again around Christmas!

Home Sweet Home

It feels so good to be home! Although I have been home for 4 days I am looking forward to Monday to get back into some sort of routine. We had a great trip in Connecticut visiting with family and friends and attending the wedding of our good friends son Matt.

~ Matt & Erin~

When you live away from all of you family it is always tricky trying to fit everyone in and to try to see all of your old friends as well. It was nice that the heat wave of New England mellowed a bit for our visit and gave us a respite from the heat of Tennessee as well.

 my brother Tim and my niece Lisa

During our visit I celebrated my birthday....the "BIG" one, if you know what I mean. I am not saying it so you are on your own for that. My girlfriend Eileen hosted a birthday celebration for me with some of our good friends. It was so great to see everyone, I realize how much I miss them all. I did some antiquing with the girls and had a full suitcase of treasures to bring home. There is nothing like old stuff from New England...I am in my glory in an old shop full of junk!

I also got to visit with my best friend Donna from high school. We had not seen each other for 8 years and it felt like I had just seen her yesterday. That is a true friendship.

We stayed with my sister Susan the last 3 days of our trip. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the beach and I finally got to have the lobster I was dying for....it was so good!

 Our boys...

My son Nick on the (L) and his cousins Nate and Chad

...and we can not forget her other "son" Wilson. It is like have another person with you.

Back to whatever normal is tomorrow...

thanks for stopping by.

Welcome to the office...

 ...my place of employment, my studio.
I thought it was about time I share with you my work space. Yes, I did clean up for company, just pretend it is always like this. So come on in and have a look around. 

It started out a sitting room then I slowly added a table in the corner then added and removed a few more items and now it's sole purpose is for the design of jewelry. I love this room, it has great light and is in the front of the house where I can keep an eye on the goings on in the neighborhood (kinda like Mrs.Kravitz). 

The sofa needs to go, if you want it, come and get it! I was hoping it would be easy to give away but apparently no one wants a two ton sofa bed, not even for free! If you over look the many cat scratches it has it's a beauty! 

I am in need of another table and that is where it will go.
The old butlers tray table is my "photography studio" along with that very expensive plastic bucket on the floor...yes, yes I know, very high tech! This room also has a huge walk in closet, I will save that for another day, it really is too messy and I would be highly embarrassed to share it with you. See, now you have something to look forward too! 

I just love little bowls...I hate to have stuff all closed up, I need to see it, I tend to forget what I have. 

...all though it tends to get a little cluttered and messy. 

Yes, I do have a thing for mirrors, especially old ones. It all started 29 years ago when my mother in-law gave me a heart shaped mirror for valentines day. 

Some reading material if you would like to sit and try the sofa out.

A little something I made for myself...jewels to wear to the wedding we are attending on Saturday in Massachusetts.  It seems it is as hot there as it has been in Tennessee, so much for the reprieve I was hoping for. So off we go and I hope to have lots to share when I return, have a great week!

A little piece of heaven...green that is.

Green Heaven

Sometimes, well especially lately in this terrible heat....I like to wear a long lightweight necklace. My new favorite chain is the snake chain at 24" in length. So here I have something you just might see me wearing. You can find this green agate drop necklace in my Etsy shop.

Time for some shopping with CSN Stores!

Vacation plans are in the works...Shopping to send our college boy back to school, there are lots of things we need to purchase. So where do you go to buy a variety of items in all different categories? CSN Stores is the place to go! CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from cookware to toys to specific needs such as dining room sets  and bedding! 

I have been asked to be a preferred blogger for CSN Stores, how exciting! Last month I had a $60 gift certificate giveaway and this month I will be doing a review on one of their 1000's of items. What to choose, what to choose? So stay tuned for a CSN review in the near future.

Step By Step Wire

I am so pleased to have two projects in the Aug/Sept issue of Step By Step Wire. First I need to give a big thanks to Cindy Wimmer for encouraging me to submit to the magazine. It has been a great learning experience and I am proud to  be amongst such talented people....especially my friend Mary Jane Dodd, her earrings in this issue are just amazing!!

  Modern pearl bracelet

 ...and a fun ten minute project

Wired Focal Pendant 

Blogging has been a wonderful experience, I never would have thought I would meet such wonderful people and learn so much. I am ever so grateful to you all! 

The Face of a woman

A woman..she has many colors, here heart is filled with love, she can be luminous and she can be guarded. The simplest thing can bring her to tears and she stands strong to what she believes. She is intuitive and feminine. She dreams... 

I am a woman in process. I'm just trying like everybody else. I try to take every conflict, every experiece, and learn from it . Life is never dull"  Oprah Winfrey 

One is not born a woman, one becomes one.

Simone de Beauvoir:  

The Face of a Woman can be found on my website

JudithBDesigns.com