When I was a little girl I used to have a Barbie case that I carried with me everywhere. No, not filled with Barbies. Filled with wallpaper samples, and glitter, and buttons, and snippets of yarn. I loved the smells, and sounds and feelings in my fingers when I touched them. And I spent endless hours with these things -- organizing them and making things from them. They were my most precious possessions!

Remember the lanyards made of “Luster Lace”? Candle holders made out of Chianti bottles with dripped wax all over them? Macramé plant holders? That was me in the Seventies. I would just lose myself in those things. Something about working with my hands -- with the textures and colors. And something about the feeling of making  something tangible and beautiful -- this has always given me the ultimate satisfaction.

When I was in high-school and college, I was never satisfied with “normal” jewelry.  Everything I put my hands on had to be changed, somehow. In order to wear it as jewelry, I had to revamp it. Zippers, safety pins, plastic army men, dice, etc. -- nothing "normal" about it. (Okay … give me a break … it was the eighties!)

It was the nineties before I actually bought some tools and findings and craft supplies, and started making earrings in earnest. I cannot tell you how immediately and completely it stuck. I quickly began to discover and teach myself new jewelry techniques. I was constantly watching and looking for new ideas. I started collecting beads and vintage jewelry -- cutting them up and designing. Then I started collecting gemstones and pearls and the jig was up.  My husband’s entire married life has been riddled with stepping on beads and finding snippets of silver wire everywhere. Even in the bed. (Sorry honey…)

I guess what I’m saying is that I am very, very lucky. I get to go into my studio most days and play. I get true enjoyment from making jewelry and from seeing people respond to it. And, thanks to the Internet, I am proud to know that my jewelry designs are walking around on every continent now. 

When it boils right down to it, I have been able to follow my bliss, and here I am! And, I hope to get to stay here for a very long time.

Linda Blackbourn