Welcome
to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak
peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a
related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an
incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner
This weeks winner is Aileen Clarke Crafts. Congratulations! You have won a pair of earrings from Rebecca Anderson. Send Rebecca an email with your address and she will get them right out to you.
Welcome to the Humblebeads Studio today.
Before I moved from Texas to Michigan there were certain things I missed about my Michigan summers and they would work their way into my beads. Now that I am here I find that I need to slow down and enjoy them. Like fireflies - you never saw them in Texas and now the fields around my house light up with these magical creatures. I need to spend a few nights outside stargazing and enjoying those fireflies as things twinkle above our heads and around our feet instead of working away on beads and blogs into the wee hours of the night.
The second thing I love about summer are tiger lilies - my favorite flowers. They grow like weeds around here. They are along the highways, at the edge of forests and in all their glory in well pruned gardens. Digging in the dirt and enjoying the farmer's markets are another thing on my summer bucket list.
And then there is the beach. We live an hour away from Lake Michigan. I love the feel of sand under my feet and the sound of the waves splashing the shore. In fact, that is where I am the most happiest in the whole world.
So what does this have to do with today's Studio Saturday? I just want to remind you guys to enjoy those small moments while you are chasing your beady dreams. Maybe for some of you beads are an escape from work and everyday stress. But if you work in the world of beads or as a business owner of any kind, it can be hard to find the balance where you are enjoying your life while forging out a career.
I'm off today to enjoy the farmer's market, walk around the small tourist shops of my hometown and I will not head home until I watch the sunset on Lake Michigan. Sometimes you just need to take a day for yourself.
How do you stop to smell the roses and find balance between work and family and doing things that feed your soul? I'm all ears! Leave a comment and we'll pick one commenter to win an urchin bead shown above.
You can find all sorts of summer-inspired beads in my Etsy shop today.
28 comments:
I make time for a yoga class once a week, and a dog walk every evening, which helps de-stress after a long day. Also, there is something amazing about the black silhouettes of palm trees against a night sky and a full moon.
I purposefully - and it's been hard! I didn't realize how many things I normally did in the summer! - didn't sign up for any shows, exhibits, extra volunteering or markets this summer.
I want the chance to do my work so that I'm prepared for the fall and to dig in the garden, eat better, exercise more and enjoy the summer a little more.
The fall shows signs of insanity so I want to spend real time preparing for it.
This is one of my favorite features...Studio Saturday. Love reading about what inspires jewelry designers. Thanks for sharing your story a bit with us. And love the unique sea urchin beads!
Beauty, art, nature, feeding the five senses, these re-fuel me. Add some laughter and friends and I'm good to go. -Marlene
I have always liked to escape to other worlds with good books. But,sometime ago I realized I just did not have time to sit and read.
I have discovered audio books!
I plug into my teeny little Nano player and I am transported.
A good book in my ears and beads in my hands is heaven to me!
m.e. :)
I have two. We live in a community with a tributary of the Wekiva River running through it, which just so happens to back our property. Sitting on the patio and watching the cranes, and other wildlife that come along, or even just the raindrops on it and that beautiful refeshing smell is bliss. My other peaceful moment comes when my cocker spaniel curls up next to me and gives me that "You are so wonderful" look when I scratch her ears.
I am with you on trying to find the balance...but if you don't feed your soul with fireflies and sand in your toes you will run out of creative juices for sure! I know this sounds morbid but if I would die tomorrow what do I want to leave behind to my loved ones... a clean house, a piece of jewelry that I made or a memory of a great day spent at the beach with them. I choose the time with them first, something I make second and a clean house third!
Heather, Enjoy - it should be a beautious sunset as it's bright and sunny here on the other side of the Lake today.
i hope you enjoy your day to the fullest, heather...
i have no suggestions as i am working through this myself... working from home means you can always do work (and feels like you should as well)... time passes, kids grow, we grow... thank you for the reminder...
Balance is very important no matter what you do! While I love to make jewelry, I also knit, read, swim, play the piano & lots of other things with friends.
I love your beads, they are so very pretty! I need to actually make up my mind & buy some!
I hope you have a lovely day!
~Catherine
I am trying to find a balance in my life right now. I just can't seem find a solution, but I'm still trying. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks for this reminder to stop and enjoy life, Heather! Much needed, I bet by a lot of us!
I tried to think of what it is that makes me happy, and the list is long. I guess I am easy to please :)
But most of all, I love traveling, hanging out with friends and reading. Sometimes trying out new recipes. And ALL of this...I have not done in a while! Will try and pencil it into my schedule ;)
I try to take advantage of a summer class at a local community college, or now that I've settled in Arizona, the Arts Center. I can be creative, I learn something new, and it gives me time to myself. One year it was belly dance. This year it's lapidary. One night a week, and it's something I look forward to all week!
Hello Heather! My name is Diana Kolowski and after years of work, work, working whether it is our 40 plus hour a week jobs or yard work (which we love) or taking care of our home, my husband and I have decided to make time to sit in our back yard and soak up the beautiful area that God has created! Those simple things are so relaxing! And enjoying the sun setting over the fields behind our home is breathtaking!
I planted a veggie garden this year, not only to feed us healthier, but to force me out the door throughout the summer months :). Also take time to take the kids fishing several times a week during summer vacation, they fish, I bait and return fish to the water.
Great post, Heather. I love Michigan Summers, and need to spend more time outside enjoying them! Balance is so important and so hard to attain. I'd like to read more for fun.
This is something that has been on my mind a lot lately.
My health lately has been bad and I feel tired all the time. Yesterday I stopped and thought to my self, "When was the last time a actually took a day for my self and just did...well not much at all?" and the surprising answer was I don't remember. I have a lot going on in my life, two little jobs, family to see, studying to do, jewellery to make, a house to keep, and a man, I say yes to a lot of things, and I think I need to perhaps so no sometimes to allow some time for me, I think it could be liberating!
Moving to Hawaii and taking classes to learn to make jewelry were part of an attempt to bring some balance into my life. Having spent years devoting every minute and bit of energy training and working as a physician, which I loved, I knew it was not healthy. Unfortunately, I waited too long, and became very ill. I would urge everyone to make time for yourselves, for your famlies, for the things that feed your soul. Don't wait until your body is too sick to do the things you love :)
Balance is also what I am striving for this summer. I work in a school, I have summers off so I have lots of time on my hands. I start to feel guilty when I spend my time reading or hanging out with my adult children but then again when I spend the day in my studio, I feel summer is getting past me. I am working on balance!
Between work and all the socializing that is part of summer on Mackinac, I've learned that sometimes I just have to say "NO" and that's okay and that I don't owe anyone an explanation when I do say no.
It also helps to be very aware of the little things that make life here so special and are so easy to overlook - a freighter going thru the Straits, the soulnds and smells of the lake, etc
Heather, we must live pretty close to each other in MI (I'm in Kalamazoo). Just last night, I thought about spending time watching the fireflies. Since there's been so little rain, those pesky mosquitoes aren't bad yet. Could actually enjoy being outside.
I take lots of pictures of my garden to look at during the winter months. No wonder flowers and green and garden bugs show up in my bead embroidery so often!
II get out of bed, pull on some clothes, and head outside. I feel the air, the cold chill of winter the welcome cool of summer mornings. The sun light is creeping down the mountains to our west, the angle changing with the seasons. As I walk thru the yard the horses begin to nicker, anxious for breakfast. I check in with each horse, feel their energy. I hear the birds, they also change with the seasons, and maybe there is a lizard warming itself on a rock or a rabbit just under the edge of the bitter brush. Loading the hay in the bag, I check the smell: sweet or musty? Feel the weight on my shoulder, too much or not enough? Then the slick cool feel of the metal gate and the sound of hooves on sand, muffled by soft sand in summer, sharp and clear on frozen winter ground.
Just find one part of your daily routine and really be there.
Beads and jewelry making are my escape from being a family law attorney. The Screw City Saints, my Irish punk band, was my first escape from running my own law practice. Then came beads. I spent a week taking classes at the Milwaukee Bead & Button show. I have a very good friend who gets as obsessed with her job (and she's working on another degree)as I do so we plan time together for adventures. She celebrated her birthday in Milwaukee with me and I took a day off from beading (and the law).
mY husband lived on lake Michigan and when he moved to Minnesota he really missed the lake, the water, the sounds the smell so much he almost moved back. I like to work in my art journal.
Like another commenter here, I stayed too long in the workforce and became unwell as a result. Jewellery making has become my personal therapy as I recover. I would encourage everyone to find that great outlet BEFORE your work life overwhelms you. Don't fool yourself: the more devoted you are to your job, the more you need a break from it (and that goes double for all our volunteer commitments!)
This post is such a great reminder that there is more to live than working! Besides making jewelry to unwind after a long day, I usually sit on my porch and pet a kitty on my lap, for maybe 10 minutes. Ah, exhaling (me) and purring (kitty)!!
I work from home for my day job and both my office and my studio are in the basement which leads to a pretty solitary existence. One that I really don't mind as I could be a hermit as long as I have my internet. But to overcome this inclination of mine, we make sure that we have lots of BBQs during the summer with friends. It's great to be able to chat with everyone and share good food.
Just returned from a fantastic beach trip and time with family, we laughed a lot and I am already plotting a return trip. I grew up 10 blocks from the beach and the smell and sound alone make me relax me like nothing else. I plan on really living in the moment during summer vacation and getting to the water as often as I can.
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