Day 7: Leapin' Lizards

Poor Sandy! My coworker is deathly afraid of lizards in any form--live, knitted, or bejeweled. She'll hate this one!

I have (I think) five gecko or lizard pins, ranging from the tiniest silver and marcasite to a big brass stylized Gila Monster. My favoite is a silver and turquoise pin that I bought in Sedona one year that's signed by the artist.

I don't remember where this one came from but I love it! It's copper with slivers of abalone shell that shimmer when the light hits them.

Sorry, Sandy.

Day 6: Spirit Bears

This one's way too small for me to photograph in situ. It's only about an inch and a half wide by five-eighths of an inch tall. It's another pin/pendant and it's probably better suited to wearing on a thin chain.

The artist is Roderick Tenorio and I have a couple of his pieces, though I think this is the only pin.

Day 5: Something Fishy

First, a clarification. I re-examined yesterday's parrot and he's made of thin pieces of acrylic, not ceramic. Might explain how he survived all those yars of parrot abuse.

Here's another critter pin, this one mixed media. The top piece, which says "Fresh Fish" is pottery, then there are some beads, then a brass fish. Add that to the wooden beads on my blouse, and you have a fashion catastrophe.

Finally, an update on the closet disaster of yesterday morning. I've recovered most, but not all, of the contents of the upturned jewelry hanger. Still missing: a couple of earrings. No, not a pair or earrings ... two singles.

Oh, well.

Day 4: Bad Day in Margaritaville

This morning some fool knocked one of the two multi-pocket jewelry holders off the closet door, with ... disastrous consequences.

Not to assign blame, but it was me.

And really it's not my fault--it's a major design flaw.

The holder is double-sided, meaning there are 40 pockets on each side, each one closed on three sides and open on the top. The whole thing hangs on the closet door with a hook. So to see the other side, one must pick it up gingerly and rotate it horizontally while holding the whole thing steady.

This morning somehow I turned it upside down, resulting in multitudes of pins and earrings flying out of their pockets into the depths of the closet.

Now I spent part of this weekend cleaning this closet but ... not that much, I guess ... because I'll be picking earrings out of shoes for the next forseeable future. And I was so frazzled by the whole event that I managed to leave home with no earrings, which feels as odd (I can imagine) as  going to work without basic underwear.

Damn! This thing has hung on that closet door for four years and has never been a problem--now I've apparently disturbed the delicate balance of the ecology and it'll never be the same.

Anyway, today's pin is a ceramic parrot that I probably bought at a craft show 15 years or so ago. It's a freaking miracle that it hasn't lost a tail feather or an eyeball in the interim, but it hasn't.

And I thought of titling this posting something pirate-ish like "Avast ye mateys!" but it really isn't a Long John Silver type of pirate, but more of a "let's have another drink in the tropical rain forest" type. Really it should be called "Wadrobe Malfunction."

Day 2: Bear With Me

Today it's the bear pin. The bear with a directional arrow pointing west is a common Navajo icon and symbolizes (roughly) leadership or strength.

I have quite a few Southwest or Native American pieces of jewelry and three or four bears. It's a symbol I like and it gives me a feeling of being able to take on the day.

Today I'm attending a United Way luncheon representing my company so ... leadership. And it's a rubber chicken event so ... strength.