Jean Jangle Jewelry made by Tammy Vitale

I don’t know if that’s the real name for this new thing I’m seeing everywhere.  It’s a decoration to hang from your jean loop.  I guess it could also be hung off your purse or even your key chain – but my keys are big enough already thank you very much.

Anyway, I decided that instead of buying one I should trot right up to my local bead shop, The Bead Boutique in Prince Frederick, and make my own.  You see why:  all these great charms/symbols, all these great beads.  You can bet your life this is better than anything I’d buy mass -manufactured.  And, hey, I’m the only one who has anything like this one in the whole world!  It’s why I love being an artist and buying from other artists.

It jangles when attached to my belt, hence my name for it.  It’s 11.5" long from the top of the hook to the bottom of the longest bead/charm link.  And I indulged myself.  I just picked out what I wanted without any attention to the cost.  Believe me, the Bead Boutique has the best prices I’ve found anywhere, including in D.C.  So I knew I was getting my money’s worth.  And it was fun because Trisha, the owner, is such a sweetheart, and so generous in helping finish your piece just the way you envision.  You can buy by mail.  Tell her I sent you!

thought for the day:  The pivotal questions to ask ourselves in the mirror every morning, successful or no, are deep, uncompromising ones of personal identity.  How much freedom of movement do we find now in our work, whatever the outward trappings?  How much of the original person is there?  Without these core questions, our great loves can turn slowly and invisibly into imprisoning forces….The measure of our continuing individuality in any work is the refusal to be swallowed by our goals, our ambitions, or our company no matter how marvelous they may be.  In order to live happily within outer laws, we must have a part of us that goes its own way, that is blessedly outlaw no matter the outward conditions or rewards.  A part of us that belongs to a larger world than that defined by our career goals or our retirement accounts.

…You must have a place you can go to where you do not know that your work is or who you work for, where you do not know who you are married to or who your children are [Joseph Campbell when asked how an ordinary person can preserve a sense of the mythic].  David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea:  Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity