Clouds in my Coffee

Well, since it's technically Sept. 12th, I thought I'd go ahead and post this. The truth is, I was about to head off to bed when I realized I hadn't yet made the applesauce for the Short One's breakfast. Since homemade applesauce is one of the three foods that the S.O. will eat (this week, at least) without extensive complaints to the Management (read: Mommy) about the quality of the cuisine and accommodation, it's worth my while to stay up a little longer to cook the stuff. So, this is all being written to the cheerful bubbling of apples in juice (no added refined sugar, please) with a dash of cinnamon in the background.

Anyway, this is my "Kona Coffee" necklace. It's my first entry to Art Bead Scene's September Challenge "When Beads Collide". The requirement for this month's challenge is to combine art beads from at least two different artists into one piece. Here, the smashing coffee pendant is by Green Girl Studios and the lovely Kona-themed lampworked beads are by Melanie Egan of Moonraker Beads. The coffee pendant is a pretty recent acquisition (although I had it on my wish list for a while), but the lampworked set has been sitting in my bead box for a while now, so it's very gratifying to be able to use it. I just bought this strand of brown-red garnet beads a few days ago - the shades in the strand range from black coffee to cafe au lait, so I had to use them in this necklace. I finished the piece with sterling silver accent beads and toggle clasp.

This is going to sound a little corny, but this theme has a special place in my heart, as my husband and I were married in Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. We didn't drink much coffee while we were there, but still. Neither of us had ever visited the resort where we chose to be married. In fact, neither of us had ever been to Hawaii before. Like complete idiots, we decided it would be perfectly plausible to be married there and made all of the arrangements by phone. (Well, okay, the resort handled most of the details - Hawaii isn't a lover's destination for nothing, after all.) It was absolutely perfect - I wouldn't have changed a single detail. The bridegroom and guests probably would have changed the brief rain shower that occurred fifteen minutes before the beach-side ceremony, but it gave us such a gorgeous sunset, I don't think in retrospect anyone minded. Well, I hope not, at least.

Ooh, the applesauce is done. Time for me to toddle off to bed. Have a nice Wednesday, everyone!