Brainstorming a New Year

Is is already one week into the new year?  People say that the years go by faster when you're older, and I think they're right.  As for the shop, I have to get moving on designing some new jewelry designs that I've, over the past few days, been diligently brainstorming.  Also on the to-do list is to take photos of an evocative interchangeable dangle set that I hadn't gotten around to photographing during the busy holidays.  If you're interested, the two-dangle set is garnet and smoky quartz (rustic, dark, and lovely!).  The weather here has been rainy and the sky a brilliant-though-muting gray, so a photo session will have to wait until there's some sunlight.  Natural light will make the photo angles and colors pop on this lush piece.  Been rewriting content on my blog pages for clarity and relevance, too.

Now that it's the new year, and I've been making jewelry for over five, one would think I'd have a handle on these shop-related tasks.  Ha!  It's almost as if each year follows the beat of its own drum--some years are more productive than others, and each has its own fine-tuned focus while should-be focuses blur into the background.  Only to find themselves at the forefront, once again, when the creative process shifts.  Same goes for my writing.  As the pendulum swings.

via Instagram

One thing that fortunately doesn't fit this go-with-the-flow mentality is my focus on custom orders.  Whether for writing services, jewelry, or wedding goods, I keep up with the momentum; I do not fall behind.  I stick to deadlines, give each order my all, and maintain an intense, sustained focus that I later wonder about and attempt to replicate with brainstorming and making new non-custom pieces.  Nothing builds determination more than a deadline.  I've learned that honing a craft takes much practice, and this practice comes in many forms--one just has to persevere through the creative process, find equal footing through it all.  Generating ideas is one form of practice; actually sitting down to create a piece is another.  I'm still learning about sentence structure and timing when I work on writing orders, still learning new jewelry-making techniques even after five years.  I'll take the daily grind of life over its grandeur any day.