Creating

My birthday is one of my favorite things and yes, even though it was nearly two months ago I am still talking about it. Mainly because my aunt, Jackie (my first Jackie) gave me my birthday present a couple weeks ago when we were in Spearfish. She is notorious for giving birthday presents late but I have always loved that about her because it keeps my favorite day going for months. Honestly, I was a little disappointed the one time I received a birthday present from her on my actual birthday.

Birthdays are so great because it demonstrates how well the people in your life know you. Jackie always hits it right on the head. This year she gave me a black running skirt after my incessant chatter about running in a skirt rather than boring old shorts or pants. I am convinced it makes me run faster. She also gave me a large pendant tucked inside a red velvet jewelry bag. One side of the pendant says, "Sometimes there was a storm in her brain" and the other side has an image of a girl with the word "Create" sprawling across her forehead. It was up to me to find a chain of some sort to sport the pendant.

Jackie picked out the pendant because it reminded her so much of me and thus needed something more original than simply a silver chain. So, I decided to make my own. I scrounged around through all three bedrooms and the kitchen, you know the normal places you would find crafty and jewelry-making materials...

I started with a big heap of things and redid three strands of the necklace until I was content with my creation.