“Can this be done in time for Christmas?” Probably, but only if you get it to me this week. If you’ve got a broken strand you’d like to wear to a party or event, want to restyle something to give as a gift, or create a new original piece, now is the time! I am hard at work in my home studio but will answer the door if I know you’re coming, or leave your item in my very secure dropbox and I’ll retrieve it right away.

Are you a procrastinator? Hey, there’s always New Year’s!

Hello everyone! I am in the delightful position of receiving new inquiries every day about my availability to knot your pearls, string your beads, and otherwise tend to your bead needs. Generally speaking, the answer is yes. Please feel free to get in touch via email, phone call, or text message to ask about turnaround times, pricing, and how to drop off and pick up your items. As the holiday season approaches, it’s a good idea to give as much advance notice as possible, but last-minute surprises are not always out of the question so please do ask. Looking forward to helping you, my friends both old and new.

I sew our masks. Small ones in fun prints for the little guy, distressed ones in black fabrics for the teenager going through a gritty phase, pleated ones for my bearded husband, and solid colors or subtle prints for me to wear to work. Initially I was equipping all of them with neckbands made of handmade bias tape in coordinating fabrics, and then one day I hit upon the idea of making something that could be clipped to the mask and swapped out between them. Glass beads can be sterilized with rubbing alcohol, hot soapy water, or hand sanitizer, and the alligator clips clamp on securely to the edge of the mask to keep it handy when you can take a breather.

The CDC does recommend that you NOT expose the inside of your mask to germs before clapping it back on your face over your nose and mouth, and that is absolutely good advice. In my scenario, I put a clean mask on my clean face and leave it there until I am in total isolation such as in the car alone, or working in my office in solitude, at which point I can lower my mask (always by grabbing the ear loops only!) and keep it suspended from my neck instead of on the table, in my purse, falling onto the floor, etc.

So if this helps you, get in touch and I’ll make one for you too! I have assorted colors ready to go, or ask for something customized just for you in favorite colors. Wholesale pricing is available on orders of 6 or more at a time.

Keep that mask off the floor, the table, or the bottom of your purse.

Are we still able to string your pearls and beads during the pandemic? We are, and we’re keeping ourselves and you safe in the process. If you’ve been worried about how to arrange contact-free repair, worry no longer. There is a secure, locked dropbox in the vestibule for customers to drop off items. It’s got a one-way lid (item goes in, but hands cannot get it out!) and is deeply padded to ensure nothing dropped into it breaks, chips, or is scratched. The dropbox is checked daily to ensure no items are left inside overnight, so pearls and other sensitive materials won’t be left in the Florida heat. Items can be delivered to your location with a mask and gloves, or may be picked up from the vestibule at a recommended distance. Want more details? Get in touch via text or email and we’ll fill you in.

Knot Again is hitting the road! This Saturday we are teaching a jewelry workshop for students in grades 5 through 7 at the Winter Park Public Library in the delightfully charming downtown area of Winter Park, outside of Orlando. The kids and I are making solar system necklaces with gemstone beads for planets, sprinkled with silver stars, finished with a star toggle clasp, and lit up by a brass sun-face charm. All the cool kids will be wearing them, so stay tuned for pics of the hottest accessory of summer.

I was just chatting with a jewelry store client and she's already thinking about merchandise for the Christmas season! I thought I was getting a handle on things in a timely fashion by checking out all the new innovations in Halloween candy (have we met? Do you know how much I love Halloween? Yes, I'm that person. And so are my kids - #1 is thinking about his costume already.) I have also lightly considered the Thanksgiving menu, but I have not gotten so far as to consider the winter holidays. Yet.

But maybe you have! What are YOU thinking about for this festive season? Something new to wear to a party? Something to celebrate, something to give, something to cherish and pass on to future generations? Maybe even something you've inherited that needs freshening up. It's not too early to plan for December, so take a peek in your jewelry box and let's talk about what you need (and what you want!)

Sarasota, a resort town, has a measurable tourist season that starts right around early January and lasts through Easter, at which point anyone traveling north on 1-75 will invariably be caught amongst a vast sea of license plates from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Canada. Consequently, I'm often as busy AFTER Christmas as I am in the days leading up to it, and the deadlines are usually just as tight, as snowbirds who bring their jewelry down here need to have it restored and back on neck or wrist before migrating back north.

And then there's a lull for about a minute, and then I start getting orders for clients who have storefronts in resort towns up north, where their season starts around Memorial Day and finally gasps to a stop with the last hot dog of summer somewhere after Labor Day. And that's where I am right now, working on some designs for late spring and early summer.

Confidentiality prevents me from divulging the details (or posting a picture, drat!) but I am designing a series of chokers that use neither beads nor string but instead rely on memory wire to give them structure and sterling ribbon end clamps to finish them off neatly. What are they made of? Let's just say it's an eminently renewable resource. Want one? Get in touch and I'll refer you to the gallery owner and you can possess one of your very own, wherever you wear it and in whatever season you like.

Hey you! I'm still here. I'm more than just a ninja of knots and thread - I'm a school librarian and teacher, too. So once that bell rings in August, my attention gets divided between the shiny things on my work table and the shiny little faces in my classroom and library. I'm about to enjoy a week's vacation from school, so that means it's back to the beads for a bit. I'll be designing a trove of new treasures for some downtown clients - look forward to seeing Sarasota sparkle a little more brilliantly in the next few weeks. At least around the neck and wrist!

There are not too many material things on earth I really feel covetous about: I'm not into cars, I like clothes well enough but don't spend a lot of time shopping, I am a good cook so I can make delicious food with relative ease - but holy cow I want a WorkBox 3.0 more than I have wanted just about any objective thing on Earth. Someday I aspire to tuck all my tools, threads, beads, pearls, glue, findings, ribbon, lace, yarn, feathers, fabrics, sewing machine and reference books into this Cabinet of Wonders and create in a state of peace and tranquility, and then close those remarkable swinging doors, roll it into a corner, and host Thanksgiving dinner with room to spare. Sigh.

Well, OK, yarn. I also knit. I learned to knit in seventh grade, and while I have taken some long hiatuses in my life, I've been knitting even longer than I've been making and repairing jewelry. I returned to it with renewed vigor a few years ago when my smaller son was about to be born - I like to keep busy and taking jewelry projects to work on while I waited at doctor appointments, in the grocery line, etc. isn't practical, but I can always keep some knitting in my very large purse. Keeps my knuckles flexible, too, and I love any kind of creativity and problem-solving through design.

Today I'm blocking and sewing together the pieces of a summer sweater I just finished a couple of evenings ago. And guess what? Now I need a new necklace to go with it! I'm planning to wear it Friday night, so a selfie with both sweater and necklace is forthcoming.

Now that I've launched the site (and made a few tweaks, courtesy of some friends with excellent taste and very good grammar), I think I've checked the analytics page once every hour since this morning. It's July 8 at approximately 8:30 p.m. and I've had 71 unique visitors thus far. And I'm here to say . . . I love every single one of you. Thanks for looking!

Just putting a few finishing photos onto the site (for now - I've got more shots to take of wonderful recent pieces) and then we're ready to launch. Next up: new postcards and business cards. What am I working on?A beautiful long multi-strand rice pearl necklace with scattered garnet and gold beads for a wonderful friend who deserves something beautiful. What's beautiful in your life right now?

I'm launching my new website, knotagainjewelry.com, in just a few weeks (or less). Looking forward to blogging here about what I'm working on lately: jewelry problems I'm solving, trends worth noting, or any kind of creativity that keeps my world interesting. See you on the Web soon, world!