And so August begins...and it's my 20th Anniversary

Here it is. My whirlwind month. I am pressing my dresses. Dusting off my travel wallet. Deciding on shoes. Hunting for my carelessly-chic, keep-me-warm-on-the-plane wrap. Downloading new books into by beloved Kindle.

Yep. August is here.

I have a lot of traveling to do this month. Let's start the rundown...

Some of the prototypes...

This week is prep for the San Francisco Gift Show with my dear friend Jessica Gaston of Jess Imports. We have a new line of amazing jewelry that is going to shyly peek out at customers at this show. It's called Bijoux Belle and it's lovely. I am so wildly excited. More to come soon.

Then I wing my way to Knoxville, Tennessee to appear on JTV (that's Jewelry Televison, for those of you not in the know). I'll be selling my favorite tools and bringing soldering goodness to the masses via on air shopping. I'll remind you again a little closer to the date, but mark your calendars for Sunday, August 12 and Monday, August 13 at 7AM PST. If you don't get JTV on your cable provider, you can watch it live online here.

Next, I'm off to NYC with Jess to do some R&D for the upcoming official jewelry line debut. It's coming out full force at the NYC accessories show in January, so we are doing some scouting. Oh, New York! How I love you!

I bought this map in excited anticipation. Image via the website www.herblester.com.
Lovely stuff over there!

Then at the end of the month I have a not-so-top-secret-but-can't-elaborate-quite-yet-project that takes me to Denver CO. It involves soldering and my skills as a one-take-wonder.

Whew!

Okay. I also mentioned that I have a 20th Anniversary this month. It's my longest lasting relationship to date. This month I celebrate 20 years as a Jewelry Educator.

Yep. It was 1992, and I taught my first-ever jewelry class at The Bead Shop in Palo Alto CA. I owe a big thanks to the owner, Janice Parsons. She allowed me to really fly and reach the stars with my creativity and share my love of jewelry-making with the masses as the Class Director for her company. I left The Bead Shop in 2002 to forge my own path, and The Bead Shop closed its brick and mortar store in 2008. Now they are found online with wonderful beads, findings, tools and tutorials. Find them here.

To celebrate, I am hosting a few giveaways this month. Swing back by on Friday morning to enter the first one. I guarantee you'll want to enter. (Especially if you want to play with FIRE!)

It may or may not be my favorite torch. You'll just have to wait and see.