Summer is in full swing

Summer already seems to be flying by as we're busy as ever shuttling kids to their various activities. Silly me, thought that the arrival of summer vacation would mean a less hectic schedule. This has not been the case. Every day of the week, including weekends, has something on the calendar. July looks as busy as June. I keep telling myself that keeping the kids, especially the teens, busy will keep them active and hopefully out of trouble.

We did manage a family day a couple of weeks ago. We took all the kids to Longwood Gardens for the day. Our family has been visiting Longwood since 1992 so we have lots of great memories there. Longwood Gardens has recently reconstructed their indoor children's garden which is a site to see. The kids, as well as the adults, didn't want to leave this indoor oasis that stimulated the imagination with architectural and fresco-like details. Their outdoor gardens are always beautiful and lush with flowers but this year they added 3 tree houses. Zoe was our little trail-blazer, leading the way to the next tree house. We couldn't wait to climb into the trees and take in the beautiful views.

As you can imagine, with 4 kids, the house can get very noisy. It's been very challenging to get work done between refereeing the fights and arguments. How do I have time to make jewelry? I have noticed that my pace has slowed since summer began. I'll start to work on a piece and stop to make lunch, return to the piece, stop to change a diaper, get a sippy cup, do a load of laundry, by the time I finish working on a piece of jewelry it might be day 2. Time management is my friend. I find that most of my marketing ideas come to me while in the shower!! No one is in there distracting me!! I'm sure any mom reading this can relate.

I did manage to make this necklace last week. The center piece is chalcedony, which is flanked by pink opal nuggets. Rhodonite climbs each strand, ending in a hand-tooled and sterling silver wrapped toggle clasp.

Last week was my first office trunk show. It was a great success! I can't wait to do another one! Much thanks to the hostess and all of her co-workers who shopped.

Well this busy mom still needs to get to work! Enjoy your summer!