I’ll be honest now. During the past year, our house and our family has been frozen in space by a construction project. Except of cooking, few creativity projects have been done. Our long worn out cast iron sewage pipes were replaced. The project, which was promised to take five weeks to two months took a full twelve months. And yet, it was not really finished. Thanks to our handyman who just completed the remaining cosmetic pieces around the house that the contractor was incapable of doing.

Long before the two year sequestration imposed on us by COVID, a co-worker who is a potter admired the jewelry I make (see 11/9/19, 7/10/20, and 1/18/21 posts for examples). She asked me to construct some bead necklaces to sell with her pottery at art fairs.

I combined the varied and different beads that struck her fancy with spacer beads in my workbench to produce a number of necklaces with accompanying earrings. I suppose they sold.

About a month ago, she phoned and briefly asked if I’d make more necklaces. My mind recalled the beads I’d combined to make pretty strings and responded “Sure.” A few weeks later, a box of hand-crafted ceramic pendants arrived.

This change necessitated a return phone call to find out what type of beads she envisioned the pieces combined with. She wanted small seed beads. I have loads of them and rarely work with them

I went back into my supplies to carefully match beads with pendants.

I am glad to return to working with my hands, after at least a year of enforced idleness because of the very necessary yet invasive construction. This type of creativity keeps my mind sharp, as I plan which beads to combine to make what I think she will like.

I recently bought a new dress pattern, so some sewing projects might be on the horizons. Of course, I have to inventory the clothes not worn for the past two years! Some other co-workers also want to learn how to make t-shirt quilts. I think I’ll also review my t-shirt collection and upcycle them, too. In addition, in the past long months, I’ve saved ideas for exploring collage again … and there is still the cooking! Creative ideas in my brain are becoming revitalized, now just to act upon them.