I LOVE pulling out my oversized shopping bag filled with all the bracelets I've made. I do it before and after every art fair. After the holiday season I relax and don't think about bracelets for a few weeks - until application season kicks in, which it has. : )

First count of each year is so interesting.  First count informs me of what sold well in previous seasons, what style or size may not be working  well and what sizes, colors and styles I need to begin making. I've been selling my beaded bracelets for nine seasons! One of the most interesting pieces of information is the total number of bracelets I sold each season.

Later this week I'll begin doing "set-ups." I'll share that part of my behind the scenes operation later.

Until then, enjoy the bead hoard!

I'm feeling hopeful.
I have to believe that we will see each other this summer at our beloved art shows.
Believing that art shows will return this summer is a necessary tool for my survival these next few month. Winters in the midwest are always toughest in January and February. Since January 1, I have seen the sun twice. Today is January 19th.
I check my spread sheet of art shows and when applications are due, I don't want to miss any critical dates. This year the application process  it feels different, more tentative, more precious. "You don't always know what you've got 'till it's gone," Joni Mitchell.

We all know what a worldwide disaster 2020 was.  Tragedy, grief and loss spared no one anywhere. Life as we know it has undergone a massive reset. Life will forever more be divided into "before' and "after."

2021 will be different.
I predict that in 2021 we will all know how to be safe, many of us will have been vaccinated and we will gather again in joy.
Get ready, show season 2021 will be a joyful celebration all year long. I don't need to tell any of you why, we all know, we've all lived through 2020.

I can't wait to see you all again. I've missed you.

xo,
Lynda

This weekend, FINALLY! A real honest-to-goodness-not-virtual art show. I'll be joining a small group of super creative, imaginative, highly skilled, fun makers and craftspeople in Glenview, Illinois at Art in the Garden, a Grassroots Art Show.

Above is a cuff bracelet I made last week. It makes you feel good when  you put it on. It's sort of like a weighted blanket, if you know what I'm talking about, you KNOW what I mean. Come visit us if you're in the 'hood this weekend. I promise you'll be safe, we'll all be safe and we'll all feel SO much better at doing something we love, together. That what's been missing, is the together.

It's mid-March, we're all hunkering down during our extended stay-cations to wait out the world-wide pandemic. I believe the threat will pass in a few months. I believe we will emerge from our homes and yards to visit our local Farmer's Markets. I believe we will all emerge and be kinder to our neighbors. I believe the pandemic will pass and we will resume doing the things we all love - and I believe we all will have better hygiene habits that will stay with us. I believe I will see many of you at the upcoming art shows several months from now. Take heart! Enjoy your time at home, deep clean your houses like our grandmothers used to do every spring! Learn to bake, dig deep and do that yard work you've been dreaming about all winter. Read those books, write letters, pick up the phone, call friends, watch the birds. Our collective staycations can be a good thing.

OMG!!
Rejection season is in full swing, that's why it's SO thrilling to announce the first few shows I WAS NOT rejected from for the 2020 season. I  just learned I was accepted into Artspire in LaCrosse, WI on Saturday, June 13th. I'll be at the Door County Wearable Art Show 2xs this summer...I am humbled to be included in this tremendous line-up of very talented makers. I also know I've been invited to participate at Art in the Garden in Glenview on the weekend of August 29 + 30. It's so lovely to be accepted into a show. It's the simple things that can make me so very happy. Acceptance is one of them.

My online store is closed. TRUTH...it's a gigantic pain in the a*s to keep the online store stocked and up-to-date. I think many of us have chosen to make 2020 the year of simplifying our lives.

Here's what to do next.
Pop open Facebook-I'm sure it's open in another tab, navigate to: Braceletluv by Lynda Wallis
LIKE the page.
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TaDA!! We are now connected, you'll see all the lastest and freshest bracelets I've made. You'll have up-to-the minute notice of upcoming shows. And we can communicate as well. I DO love hearing from you.  xo, Lynda

Note: I found this post unpublished from 5 years ago. I was going to take photos of the bracelets I made using these beautiful beads. Now, five whole years later, I think I don't have enough of any of these spectacular beads left to make an entire bracelet. lol.

I have perfectly justified my resale shopping habit. Thank you Universe.

This story is still true today.

The continuous hunt for material to make more bracelets is one I totally enjoy! The hunt demands that I visit numerous resale shops on a regular basis, scouring the shelves for dreadful old jewelry made with beautiful stones and beads. I feel I'm doing a great service each time I liberate forgotten lavender jade or tourmaline or hand blown pink glass beads and give the stones new life, a new purpose and some day, a new forever home, on the wrist of someone who is thrilled to find just the right bracelet!

A whole series of different birds move into this birdhouse - that my bro Eddy made in 1970 as a Cub Scout project - every year to nest and raise families. Black-capped chickadees are the first family of the 2017 season to move in and keep me company as I weave new bracelets out on the patio. First show of the 2017 season - see that segue? - this Sunday, May 21st at the inspiring and historic Woodstock Square, in Woodstock, Illinois. I guarantee the chickadees will be there too.

Remember sorting stuff when you were little? I had a flashback moment this morning. I couldn't help myself. The light was just right for picture taking. I am a color addict.
What did I learn?
Sorting things is still TOTALLY satisfying.
I'm extremely short on bracelets with blue stones and beads....hmmmmmm.