I'm not sure if you are following my #handmademaker360 challenge over on Instagram (and that's *absolutely* okay if you aren't!) but the short story about it is that I haven't been keeping up on a daily basis, as I was hoping. And it's only the second month! Ohhh nooo, right? Well, I don't mind. I just wanted you to know this little bit of information. I don't mind.

I am old enough to know that even if I don't appear to be going in a single-minded straight and linear direction I am still going forward and that is what is most important. I am still working on, and thinking about, my Blooming Enamels almost all the time. It's just that there are other things to see and do too! So I say that I am still going forward in what I like to call - a curvilinear direction. It's a forward direction that allows for lots of scenic views along the way. :)

I have done a lot of independent traveling over the years and what I like most about it is the freedom to follow my plan but to also break it when needed so that I can see things that I never knew existed. How can I plan to see things that before stumbling upon them I never knew existed?! Some people call it distractions but I prefer the term - serendipity. Things I didn't plan for but am very lucky to have found.

So with my #handmademaker360 challenge I feel like my Cooper in the photo above. I'm facing forward, moving forward, but always aware of what else is around me and giving it a glance. I might take time to go off my path to see what it is that's around me, or I might not, but whatever I do, I am still moving forward and following along my path onto my bigger plan.

Where it Began

It all started about 8 years ago for me when I was burned out from doing social work and I lamented to my ex-husband, "I just want to take pictures of pretty flowers!" Being an action-taker he said, "Well then do it!" This was the moment I picked up my camera and went outside to the lilac tree in my front yard and took this photo. I immediately felt a kinship with it as a new, fresh, budding blossoming creation that had all the potential in the world. This photo became the first greeting card I made when I turned my photography into something tangible. For three years after that I pursued flower and nature photography and making them into prints and art cards. After a while I started yearning for something more tactile and "crafty." I very randomly stumbled on a book about enameling and was attracted to all the bright and strong colors I saw. To me the small jewelry pieces in the book looked like the small bursts of color I loved when photographing flowers. I immediately bought the book and started learning. That was when my love of colors and flowers went from 2D photography to 3D enameling and Blooming Enamels was born.

Rainy Day Lilies

The Day Lilies are starting up again. They come every year and I look forward to their bold display of ORANGE-ness.

Orange is not a color that features prominently in my life and it's not a color I choose often.

But I certainly *do* love all the wild abandon of the orange Day Lilies that the previous owner of my home planted.

I like how the choices of others can expand my life...

Seeing the Flowers

I've been busy getting summer underway but not too busy to notice all the various flowers that are in bloom this year. It seems to be a "bumper" year for flowers -- or maybe I'm just taking the time to notice more this year...

How to Ponder

"...As the bee collects nectar and departs
without harming the flower or its colour or scent,
so let the sage live in a village.
Not the faults of others
nor their errors of commission or omission,
but one's own errors and omissions should the sage consider..."

-- Buddha