Rituals and Jewelry

The blog carnival this month is about rituals- studio rituals, the things we do to get ready to work.  I'm not sure I have any rituals.  I do have routines, routines that involve lots of procrastination and planning/agonizing.  I start off my day with all of my domestic duties, social networking, then shipping, then designing if necessary.  When I finally get to the shop, I usually do some vacuuming.  Then I work.   But I don't do anything that I would consider a ritual.  To me a ritual includes some sort of centering or spiritual activity, maybe burning incense or lighting candles.  I really don't do that sort of thing.  For me, it's enough to just get my coffee and get into the studio.  To see what the other members said, please visit

Participants:
Lorrene Davis
Marco Fleseri
Tamra Gentry
Lora Hart
Angela Crispin

So- for my studio progress:

1.  I finished another section of the never-ending railing trade.  There is one section left to go.

2. I finished up a set of 14k gold maple leaf cufflinks, for a special order.

3.  I finished some little sweetheart necklaces, adorable felted hearts hanging on cotton cord necklaces.

details here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21256826

Here is my daughter modeling the one that I made for her.

4.  I got my belly button pierced!  Yes, I needed another place on my body to make jewelry for. You can see a photo, take from my cellphone, here if you are interested.  Right now it looks like a navel piercing with a simple surgical steel barbell.  After it heals, in 3 to 6 months, you can expect to see more pictures, with some of my own creations.