New stuff to see!

A dear friend of mine is going out of town on her first "Girls Weekend" since....forever. Kelly was in the peace Corps, and worked overseas for years with Habitat for Humanity, and made many, many friends (she also speaks fluent Romanian, which is awesome!). A few weeks ago, Kelly asked me to make bracelet and earring sets for her to give to the friends joining her on the Girls Weekend, and of course I happily obliged! Here is the end result of my imagination, some yummy colored glass, and her faith in my creative vision:

UnMatched bracelet and coordinating earrings - bright blue glass with sterling silver

UnMatched bracelet of hot pinks and purples, with coordinating earrings - sterling silver

UnMatched bracelet and coordinating earrings in bronze and amber -- in copper

I am happy to say Kelly loved the work I did for her, and *I* loved that she gave me the colors and the metals she wanted, and let me go for it. Simple pieces, but pretty and different.

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In other news, I traded in my beloved Hyundai Santa Fe, which I have adored and driven for seven years (longest of any car I've ever had!), and bought this:

A 2012 Mazda 5 in Copper Red! Three rows of seats, great gas mileage, excellent reviews. I really like it a lot, although I do admit to shedding a few tears for the Santa Fe. I never once had any problems -- never! -- with my Hyundai, but at 145,000 miles, time was running out on it. And we needed a car that all 5 of us could sit in comfortably. My poor teenage daughter was jammed between the little kids in their booster seats in the Santa Fe, but now she will have an entire row to herself! And I won't have to put truck tires on it -- this one takes regular car tires!

I know all my show stuff will fit in there easily, too, so this makes me happy. I need to get leopard-print seat covers for it, though, as the interior is a VERY light tan -- not a fantastic color when you have little kids eating in the car.

And there's the news for now! What have YOU been up to lately?