Of course, there has to be a first blog...

Hi There,

Welcome to my very first blog post! I hope you'll find something useful here, but if not, please feel welcome to send me a suggestion of a topic or tutorial you would like to see covered! First of all, though, we have the dreaded first blog. Hopefully it won't be too dreadful though... I'll just make it an introduction about my work, my life, and me! (Oh, joy...)

It is my intention for THIS blog to focus primarily on adventures in jewelrymaking, tutorials of my own design, and sharing tips and tricks I pick up along the way as I learn and grow in this particular craft. I see nickelfree hypoallergenic earrings on Etsy and Artfire, along with some other crafty things you'll have to explore. (Aromatherapy, crochet, knitting supplies, hmmm...)

 a pair of my Carnelian earrings

a pair of my Moonstone earrings

a pair of my Peridot earrings 

There are plenty of great tutorials already available on youtube and other websites for the basics of wire wrapping to make earrings and such, but I have found a distinct lack of helpful tutorials on beadweaving techniques. Unless you want to pay for them, that is. So to start out, I will probably focus more on complimentary beadweaving tutorials as I develop them, moving on to other topics as we go.

I have been a tutor for about 14 years now, focusing mostly on high school and college level math through Calculus and any subject from elementary school , so I love questions and teaching. I made it halfway through a Master's in Education program before life seemed to decide that this was not the time for me to finish that just yet, but some day I intend to finish that program and teach high school math here in Billings.

I share my life with a wonderful husband, two teenage stepchildren, two cats, and too many parrots. The parrots are three Caiques and two Parrotlets, but you'll probably hear more about them later, perhaps in their own dedicated blog.

Oh, I almost forgot - you may find tutorials and recipes here for my adventures in Vegetarian, Pescatarian, & non-Gluten baking and cooking, too. Between my husband and stepkids allergies and dietary preferences, I have learned a LOT about tweaking old favorites to meet their various needs. The funny thing is, none of them actually have Celiac, but many of our recipes are Celiac-safe. I eat meat, I admit it, and eggs, and milk, and fish.... But many of my recipes are safe for those who do not, and I'll be happy to tag the veg and vegan and GF ones appropriately so you'll know what's safe for you. There might be some parrot recipes here too, as even one of the birds has an allergy! Since we are all a family-full of total tea fanatics, there will probably be some herbal remedies and medicinal tea recipes in here somewhere too.

So again, welcome! Pull up a chair, grab yourself a cup of tea, and make yourself comfortable!

I hope you enjoy your time with me, and thank you very much for reading!

With Love from Montana,

Charlotte