Bijoux Binge

I tend to go through periods where I try very hard to conserve and not indulge my consumerist desires, and then...I fall off the wagon in a display so grand, you could say I'm overcompensating for the lean months. "Wish Lists" and "Carts" are reviewed and checked out, and I'm high for days on the thrilling view of packages peeking out of my mailbox.

The latest binge includes a supposedly Georgian wax seal. It's huge and made of brass with intricate repousse.

 The seal features an agate stone.

I also acquired this Victorian quizzing glass. Repousse all over!

And finally, this base-metal locket with flourishes and flowers rounds out the collection.

All of these pendants will eventually become part of necklaces.

2014 and a New Decade

The new year has also brought me to a new decade of life: 30. This age transition has me reflecting on, among many other things, travel and volunteer experiences I've had, as well as goals I've set and met. The following is a record for future Rachel.

Travel
In my 20s, I took my first plane ride since grade 5 to visit the magical land of San Francisco, California. My love for the city and the state as a whole was immediate. Since that time in college, Mark and I've returned to Cali thrice. In addition to more trips to San Fran, there have been explorations in:

-Napa Valley
-Big Sur
-Muir Woods
-San Diego
-La Jolla
-Beverly Hills
-Yosemite National Park
-Los Angeles
-Venice Beach
-Santa Barbara

The adventures have included museums, aquarium, zoos, nature hikes, baseball games, antique malls, beaches, gardens, mini road trips, a coastal road trip from S.F. to L.A., trolley rides, tourist attractions like Fisherman's Wharf and Telegraph Hill, Chinatown, and vegetarian restaurants.

Abroad 20s adventures:

-Costa Rica (Manuel Antonio -- the best!)
-family cruise to Grand Cayman, Jamica, and Cozumel, Mexico
-cruise to Canada
-Ecuador and the Galapagos
-Paris and Southern France (Provence) for the honeymoon

American 20s adventures:

-Williamsburg, Virginia
-Charlotte, North Carolina
-Kansas and Missouri (Tallgrass Prairie engagement, road trip, St. Louis, Lake of the Ozarks off-season creepiness)
-Road trip to Pennsylvania with my mom (Philadelphia and nearby antique malls/outdoor flea market)
-Seattle and Washington state (forests, lakes, beaches)
-camping at the Delaware Water Gap and upstate, New York
-Boston and Salem, Massachusetts
-Tampa and Florida
-Hamptons b&b with sister

Projects
-The Wood and Watch collection was featured in the Queens Museum, Astoria and Brooklyn shops (SITE, Love Brigade, Candy Plum, a Williamsburg collective).
-W&W and my studio were featured in Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS, a national print magazine in bookstores (a dream come true!).
-I took metalsmithing classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology (soldering) and 3rd Ward, Williamsburg, Brooklyn (photo etching, bezel setting, etc.).

Volunteer
-National Audubon Society's Women in Conservation program - wrote script for and worked on the honorees video
-National Audubon Society's Bedford Branch - newsletter editing