Year End Reflections on Love, Connections, and Gratitude

I began the year with my Language of Love collection.  I sought to capture the spirit of love, a spirit that is open and vulnerable but also strong and resilient. This project got the year off to a strong start, and the spirit in which it was undertaken sustained me through these challenging times.

Connections with friends not only sustain us emotionally; they can drive us creatively. Over the course of the year, my clients have shared inspiring stories that have formed the basis of custom projects. These projects bring me closer to them, while guiding me to explore new creative ground. The pieces become a web of connection between me, my clients and their families and friends.

In other professions, people can produce something and never know who is on the other side of that product; rather than forming bonds and relationships, the thing that is made stands between them and the consumer or user. I’m so grateful to work in a profession where my work can bring people together. More than just a transaction, the joy of creating gets poured into each piece and passed on to the client, who then shares it with friends, family and in some small way everyone who sees it.

Those new friends and new clients (and clients who became friends, and friends who became clients) allowed me to move into a new location back in 2019. It has been perfect from the beginning, and took just a little work to get it up and running. This year, all that work paid off, and the store was featured in the “America’s Coolest Stores” series in Instore Magazine, taking 3rd place in the “Small Cool” category.

All of my success comes back to the friends I’ve made with my business. A small business thrives on word of mouth; satisfied customers telling others where they found that necklace or those earrings is what allows a business like mine to thrive. So with sincerity and a heart full of gratitude, I’d like to thank my friends and clients, both those I’ve known for years and those who just came into my life in 2021, and wish you all happiness, health, and beauty in 2022. Here’s hoping that 2022 is not 2020, too!