How "Accidentally" going wild at a bead show changed my life
Desperate to try my hand at something I considered legitimate creativity I was in line ready to shop when “The Milwaukee Bead and Button Show” opened at noon on the first Friday of 2008. I was trembling with excitement. I needed to see, touch, hold, and caress beautiful, colorful beads and imagine what could be done with them.
It was my blessed half-day away from an accounting job that had turned out to be practice for writing fiction. In this office small business accounting wasn't to be bogged down with details, receipts, and invoices, a burden on the . My job was to concoct and file the tax reports based loosely on the ins and outs in the cash drawer and previous reports. I was writing short stories based on someone's conjecture, good practice for later becoming a novelist.
A Creative at Heart
I am a creative, often making something from bits of nothing, but my previous endeavors had been much different. When I was seven, I stuck pearl headpins in Barbie’s neck to make necklaces. I learned to sew on a treadle sewing machine, using scraps to make Barbie clothes.
I wrote seventy pages of a novel when I was ten but gave it up when someone stole the notebook. I’m sure it would have been a hit, who wouldn't want to read a story about an orphaned ballerina, a cruel orphanage and intrigue behind the curtain. My current fiction writing didn't fill me with the same sense of fun, it often left me in tears.
At fourteen I made scratchy macrame necklaces from garden twine and wooden beads. I papered my bedroom wall with photos from Teen Magazine. My mother, sister and brothers were constantly doing some new projects, and we all got in the act, we crocheted, knitted, sewed, made crepe paper flowers, silk roses with a drop of dew that looked real, cut old cards apart and used tissue, glitter and glut to make new cards....making things was part of the fabric of our lives.
Rediscovering
I was ready let my imagination free to create from my inner joy and where better to start than a convention center with over 350 vendor booths overflowing with bright-colored objects, beads, baubles, semi-precious stones, wire, chains, and other goodies, along with sharp instruments and books. Displays and artists showing fantastical, innovative designs were mana for my soul.
The various displays varied from highly organized rows of beads hanging from hooks, dangling and swaying in the lights, just begging to be touched and fondled, to the wildly enticing giant piles of strands of beads of every shape, material, and color. These were inexpensive one to five-dollar selections, cheap but fun, and begging to be taken home. I plunged my hands into the fray, allowing the feel, energy, and excitement to fill my starved soul with joy and possibilities. I tried to leave them all behind, but a handful refused to release themselves from my hands until I got my credit card and stashed it in my purse.
I ogled, gaped, awed, pawed, and marveled at the colors, textures, and feel of so many beads that my head spun. I was so overwhelmed by all the options that I made very few purchases, unlike my normal jump-in and buy-it-all attitude.
I wandered into a booth of handmade African clay beads. Hundreds of designs loose in trays ran the gamut of colors and shapes delighted my eyes arranged in tiny lit. Two jumped out at me, and I selected enough to make a couple of necklaces. I hurried to finish my purchase and leave when a swarm of white-haired women descended on the booth and started exclaiming loudly that there were “Kitty Cat beads.” Oh, joy, imagine adorning yourself with hand-drawn cat beads. Just Say “No,” ladies. I swear I can still hear their squeals of delight.
My arm ached from the weight of the few bags I carried, and I happily. I understood why most of the attendees had small suitcases along. Those tiny bits of bone, clay, stone, and resin are heavy!
I spread out my purchases at home, marveling at the deep red coral beads, which were so expensive they accounted for half my spending but so luscious and would be beautiful with the bright turquoise nugget beads.
Oh No! I discovered I didn’t have enough clay Kazuri Beads. I HAD to go back and get more beads to make earrings.
Returning to Temptation
Afraid I'd go off the rails and buy too much, I called a friend who is usually the voice of reason. She never gets carried away, always in control. Surely, her influence would keep me from filling up the carry-on suitcase I took with me. I only took it to give my arms a break, I had no intention of going overboard. Really?!
The joke was on me. My friend turned out to be a bad influence; she’d find fabulous things and hold semi-precious and even precious stones in front of me, saying, “Have you seen this?” How can a woman resist all that beauty? I can’t! I couldn’t. She’d hold up multiple strands all swaying in the light? She was a temptress, delighting my imagination, and making my heart beat ever stronger. The suitcase slowly filled up, but I didn't notice because it hid the sheer volume of purchases from view.
I bought stone beads, clay beads, carved gemstone beads, and yes, strands of sapphires, although not the $300 ones; I had carnelian, agates, Lapis Lazuli, red glass beads, turquoise, yellow turquoise, lamp-work glass one-of-a-kind pendant beads, coral coin beads, happy face bone beads, crystal beads and more. I can’t begin to list or remember them all. There were silver beads in interesting shapes and sizes, light beads, dark beads, pendant beads, hand-made beads, beads, beads, beads, beads, beads, beads, beads, beads, beads. I was delirious with delight.
Saying Yes to Joy
Something was happening as we shopped and delighted in all the color, vibrations, and possibilities; I felt as if I was saying Yes to Joy, Yes to Creativity, and Yes to something deep inside that was aching to get out.
We left the bead show, laughing hysterically. I was filled with absolute joy. I had filled that small suitcase, and some of my purchases poked out of the top. My friend held a couple of tiny bags with a few strands of beads she had planned to hang on a light fixture. My previously paid-off credit card was about to explode. I failed to purchase any beading wire, tools, clasps to hold them together, or even ear-wires. I would need to go online later and order the wire, tools, and other parts required to do anything other than caress those beads and hang the unfinished strands over my neck and arms.
I walked out with a suitcase full of beads and stones. The only problem was, I didn’t even know how to make jewelry. Yet.
As I drove out of the parking garage, I felt a tingling throughout my body. I didn’t know how or why, but I’d just changed my life.
Letting the Universe Guide You can have unforeseen consequences.
I still laugh about this whole process. The Universe or someone was guiding me. Looking back, it should have been obvious that I was buying enough to start a business. I purchased multiple strands of a lot of stones. How many necklaces did I think I needed? But at the time, it just felt like the right thing to do. Not a conscious plan. Sometimes, following your gut can change your life.
I spent the summer taking classes, reading books, and practicing jewelry making. Immediately, people stopped me in the street, asking about the jewelry I was wearing.
How easily things change
One night, I went to a gathering of both old and new friends. One of those new friends loved what I was wearing so much that she followed me home. I pulled out everything I'd made to date. Then she pulled out a necklace that I'd worn a couple of times, and on me, it was just okay. I swear when she put it on, it glowed, and so did she. It was as if the entire room had lit up.
We had tears in our eyes. It was a powerful moment, life-changing. I wanted desperately to experience this same magic again and again.
I knew I was meant to design and share my creations. Thus, Gemstone Alchemy was born. (It started off as Bold Bodacious Jewelry, then changed to Gemstone Alchemy later)
By the end of the summer, I finally admitted that my “day job” as an accountant wasn’t working for me. I was tired and depressed and lived to get out of the office and home to work with beads. I quit a soul-killing job and took a chance on doing what brings me joy.
My jewelry designs have evolved, as has my skill level. I have learned much more about gemstones and their properties, and my appreciation of them continues to grow and deepen.
One of my passions is helping women step into fully empowered bodaciousness and magic.
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Life is about change and being open to new options and passions
When the pandemic caused me to isolate, I turned to another love - writing. I reworked a novel I'd started years before, hired an editor and graphic designer and published, The Dual Path, in June 2021. In September 2021 I won an honorable mention in the 2021 Book Award Contest Winners - Readers' Favorite: Book Reviews and Award Contest (readersfavorite.com)
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