December Goal: Becoming a savvy craftswoman (checked).

Curves, my welcoming club has already awarded me with a free weekend in the countryside (see November 5^th). They also have showed kindness as Christmas is approaching: they allowed all the craftswomen among their members to exhibit and sell their works. For the past two weeks, an aquarellist, a skilled crochet expert and a creator of children’s games put up their folded tables in the big room where members work out.

So did I, girded with many necklaces.

Irvin taught me the basics when we met. Like many Natives, Irvin makes necklaces that men and women wear in every circumstance. The first time I followed him in one of the huge stores where he would go and purchase wire, clasps and beads, I found myself in presence of one of my childhood fervor: turquoise, opals, amethysts, agates, jade, lapis, in other words, gemstones.

The strange absorption that settles in your mind when you create a necklace sounds like the obstinacy that you may experience when you try to solve an enigma or a puzzle. What you are putting together already exists – you are only reconstructing it.

However, this kind of informal sale can also bring some trouble: one’s artistic heart can be bruised when the delicately laid out pieces stay untouched day after day. The first year I participated, I sold two necklaces during the whole two weeks. I was delighted, the following year, when eight necklaces found a new home. This year, the bad economy may have encouraged Christmas shoppers to turn to local craftsmanship. More than twenty necklaces were sold, to my own surprise. This was a very satisfying experience.

Alas, the sale time just ended. On December 15^th, all of us sellers wrapped up our folded tables and picked up our business cards. This ends the 2010 season for my jewelry business. My proceeds will allow me to pay my subscription to Curves for the whole coming year.

2011 will be a fitness year!