31 Things- Jewelry

I signed up for my first online workshop. One that I have had to pay for that wasn't self paced. I signed up for Ali Edwards 31 Things at Big Picture Classes.

For day 1 the topic was jewelry. I was amazed at how much I had to say. The original journaling I decided not to use on my layout. It was 2 pages of text in Word and there was never going to be anyway that I was going to fit it on the page. Instead I took another perspective.

This is what the journaling says: 

I don’t wear a lot of jewelry. I wear my engagement ring, wedding ring, a pair of sapphire stud earrings, a diamond stud earring and a belly button ring.

I play with them. When I get nervous or bored, I twist, turn, and fidget with them.

I don’t know quite why I don’t wear much. I hate bracelets and watches. I can’t stand wearing anything on my wrists. I think that comes from the fact that I can’t leave them alone. I used to wear necklaces but my kids cured me from that; always pulling and tugging on them. When I worked, I couldn’t wear rings in the lab with the gloves necessary for the job.

I prefer yellow gold. Always have since I can remember my older sister wearing silver in junior high school. I had to do everything opposite her. She was always about quantity and I was always about quality. I also can’t wear most other metals. I will break out when wearing them for any great length of time.

Engagement ring. I love my engagement ring. I love the reminder that it gives me when I look down and see it. It reminds me that he picked me. There is nothing scandalous about this. We started dating when I was 16. I was his first girlfriend. But to this day, part of me wonders how I managed to hold on to such an amazing person. It did take him over 6 years to give it to me. I remember how I thought the day would never come, but it did.

Wedding ring. Without my engagement ring, my wedding ring would seem to amount to much. When I see it I think of my husband’s promise to me. That he will be with me to the end. No matter what. The day he gave it to me was one of the happiest days of my life and when I look at it, I remember the happiness. It gives me strength.

Sapphire stud earrings. Now the earrings don’t have an epic story like my engagement and wedding rings. They were a gift from my husband. My birthstone is Sapphire and I wanted something to wear in the second piercing in my ears. Something small. When my son was born in September, I thought it fitting that I wear them for him as well.

Diamond stud earring. I wear a diamond stud in the cartilage of my left ear. The earring used to be my sister’s until she had lost its partner. She gave it to me back when we were in high school. My daughter’s birthstone is a diamond, when I play with it, I think of her. She is definitely one of a kind.

Belly button ring. My belly button ring doesn’t have any sentimental value. I bought it for myself after losing the parts of many others, since I play with it. There isn’t a whole lot of gold body jewelry, and I can’t afford to buy solid gold as often as I have to replace them. I had been wearing gold plated rings, but the gold would wear off and my skin began to react to the other metal in it. Most people don’t even know I wear this jewelry. When I think of this piece of jewelry I think of my college days, as I got it on my 21^st birthday.

As part of the class Ali provided a digital layered template for Photoshop. (I am using Photoshop Elements 8.0) This is the very first digital layout that I have ever created! Because I am such a newbie at this, I googled free digital scrapbook paper and found a whole digital kit free! If you are interested check out http://www.shabbyprincess.com/. Ali also created digital png files of the topics in her handwriting. 

Really enjoying this class and seeing what others are creating and writing with the same prompt. Not to late to join the class! Check it out!