Howdy Jewelry Fans!!! Girls, oh Girls! I’m hitting my midsummer stride here, with a few twists, just to keep things interesting. I’m smelling sunscreen and the tangy scent of thunderstorms rolling in. I’m dodging across the country like a ping pong ball, trying to get to you, in your hometown. I’ve taken planes, driven my truck, been stuck at airports and delayed by construction (it’s cone season, y’all). I’m being everywhere I can, but I realize I can’t be everywhere.
There are a couple of reasons for that.
You may remember last summer, that long and distant past time of the summer of ’18, I moved to the San Diego area. After a year of frolicking by the ocean, with constant good weather and sea breezes, my husband and I decided we preferred the stifling heat of Tucson, AZ where we have to get up and get moving by 5am, or be sundered to ash, like the prison planet of Creamatoria (Chronicles of Riddick reference in case you don’t know it off hand) when the radiative rays of our solar system’s sole star hits our skin. We’ve replaced soft, processed sea water with hard, calcite laden water of a deep, desert aquifer. The breeze here feels more like you’ve opened the oven door on broil and your eyebrows are going to burn off than the moist, scented, chilled breeze off of the Pacific Ocean.
But.
When one place feels like home and the other doesn’t, what’s a girl and her family tribe to do but follow their hearts back to the hardened landscape of the American Southwest Desert?? To be honest (and you know I must be honest, above all other concerns), I lived in AZ the longest straight shot of my entire life. As a middle aged (but young at heart with a wise spirit) I’ve never renewed a driver’s license. I can talk to you about taxation (property, car, sales, you name it) in a dozen different states, from first hand experience. But Tucson. It just feels right.
So, here we are, back on the moving merry go round. My studio has been dismembered for almost three weeks. My son went to boot camp while we lived at one address, and when he graduated last week, we had a new address for his home of record. Not to brag, but, my husband and I are getting pretty good at this moving thing. We know who is good at what, and we divide, conquer and ask for help when we need it. In fact, we’ve been practicing the 7P’s we both learned at the United States Naval Academy back in the summer of ’90 during our epic, transformational, Plebe Summer.
What the heck are the 7 P’s, you ask?? Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance
You might also be asking what the heck is Plebe Summer, but that’s a topic for another time!!
Back to the P’s
Many moons ago (If my 25th reunion of my USNA graduation is this year and this is the first summer at Canoe U, then that makes it 29 years ago. Math works, but it doesn’t make me any younger.) I showed up with short hair and sports bras to Annapolis, MD. We were quickly Inducted and turned over to Upperclass (juniors and seniors), who were charged with transforming us into military minded (young) men and women. There’s an occasional officer hanging around Bancroft Hall to ensure things don’t get too out of hand, but in general, the Midshipmen were left to their own devices. We, I, were, was overwhelmed and had to dig deep to cope and succeed. We were taught that with proper, prior planning, we could prevent piss poor performance. It was an uphill battle, but eventually, sometime around 6 years ago, it finally made sense. Well. Ok. It made sense before that, but I refined that mantra to a fine honed edge in my life as a traveling jewelry artist
The 7 P’s also take Precision Packing and the occasional bottle of Rose (9P’s and an R doesn’t sound as catchy) but speak truth to dedication, complex problem solving and success. At least to me and my way of practicing life and preparing for challenges.
I wanted to bring you, Jewelry Fans, a portion of the 7P’s to make your summer so much more exciting!! But I didn’t want to yell at you, require you to make your bed to military exactness or even force you into the aforementioned sports bras I used to call Iron Maidens. See! I really do love you all! I know it’s midway through summer, maybe you’ve been on vacay already. Maybe your family reunion is in August and you’re counting the days. One thing I think I know is that it’s HOT where you are. VERY HOT. Maybe humid. Maybe unbearable, stay inside so you don’t evaporate kind of weather.
Don’t you think a fun, iGame game would be just the thing? A summer contest where you can WIN JEWELRY?? Maybe even Artisan Jewelry, like the unique handmade jewelry with meaningful mantras I deliberately create?
Wow!! It sounds great!! Let me tell you about the 3P’s: Play, Points, & Prizes!!
A fun filled like, comment, share, and join the OSJ Patron Club (on FB and Email), the game will run for four 2 week periods. Each period will have a winner, and then there will be the Grand Patron Winner who has the most points after all 4 periods. Don’t you want to be the Grand Patron for the Summer of 2019?!?!! Period Points will carry over and be accumulated towards the Grand Patron Prize Winner! Make sense?
Ok. Whew. That seems like a lot, but it’s going to be the most fun Summer Contest Ever! And the Prizes, Wowza!!
I’ve resisted the urge to write about periods and earning points. I’m not going to include Twitter in this summer’s game because, well, I just don’t really Tweet. I hope you love me anyway. If you have any questions, message me on FB or Insta! I’d love to talk about whether you think 7P’s or 3P’s are better. I’m leaning towards they are both equally perfect in their own lanes, but the 3P’s are way more fun than the 7P’s. Right?
Ok. Back to unpacking, scrounging some new work together for my upcoming shows. You can find my calendar here, but I’ll tell you the next two stops are Denver, CO and Park City, UT. Wo-man!! I love the American Southwest. So much so, we moved back after only 12 months away.
See you out there, across the great, big, beautiful country we have and virtually on FB and Insta for the BEST SUMMER CONTEST EVER!!!
Psst.... here's the prize for period 1! Sterling silver handmade ring with #8 mine turquoise. Wouldn't this look great on you?! Click here to start playing!
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