ABOUT Laughter and Sound: Once upon a time, I attended a Laughter Club in Orlando. What Fun! When it was over, I asked Kim how I, too, could become a CLL (certified laughter leader). A few months later, I was flying to San Francisco to be trained. Laughter was the beginning of my exploration of healing sounds. I invite you to check the calendar for upcoming Laughter and Circle of Love Events. Please note that all items in blue are links. LARKs: What is a LARK you ask? A bit of history first: The idea came to me many years ago. I made up a batch of business-sized cards with pictures I had taken, added words of affirmation and encouragement and called them blessing cards. I handed them out at church as people came in the door. I left them with tips at restaurants. I enclosed one in the envelope when paying my bills. I sent them to friends and family in birthday cards, etc. They were well received and many friends and strangers alike told me I should sell them. It is now almost 10 years later and my blessing cards have become a reality as LARKs: Little Act of Random Kindness cards. I just completed my second set and hope to have a third one out by end of summer, so check back soon. A percentage of all LARKs sales goes to the Central Florida Animal Reserve to help the Big Cats. Glass Art: I have wanted to be an artist since I was a small child. I loved to use lots of color to create abstract drawings, often using it to express my emotions. I was not encouraged to pursue it as anything but a hobby so I went on to "real work". Over the years I have done ceramics of all kinds, then I moved on to the wheel and hand-built pottery. I do Swedish Embroidery, making dish towels and blankets. I enjoy making cards and I can paint, with guidance, but it is not my passion. I am also an amateur photographer which is part of what led to the creation of my LARKs. Then at a Mt. Dora art festival, I discovered glass. It started with wanting to create strings of shiny objects to hang in windows and grew from there. I went to purchase scrap glass, signed up for one class, then another, and then another. Now I do fused glass, my husband, Michael, does the lampworked beads, and we both do stained glass. There are so many avenues of expression to explore within glass alone. I love all of them and am still fine-tuning my own niche. In the meantime, my husband decided that I was spending so much money on glass, I should try to sell some of what I do, and here I am. Jewelry: My husband and I both love rocks and minerals. Gemstones are very nice, too, but again, not my (our) passion. As a result, after meeting Herrick and Barbara Jeffers at a small benefit art show, we joined the Canaveral Mineral and Gem Society (CM&GS). What a wonderful society! And the benefits far outweigh the huge membership fee of $15 per year! Yes, you read thar right - $15. They offer classes of all kinds: cabbing, silversmithing, faceting, wire wrapping, chain maille, beading, fused glass and more, for a fraction of what you would spend anywhere else. If you have any interest at all in any of the above things, I highly recommend you join your local mineralogical society. The best investment you will ever make for your hobby or your business. If you are here in Melbourne, tell them Pegatha sent you! Anyway, I kept saying I was not going to “do jewelry.” It seems everyone does jewelry. Yet there is a great demand for it and it is a wonderfully fun way to use up your scraps of glass. As a member of CM&GS, I just keep learning more and more things that intrigue me and give me ideas on how to incorporate some of my passions into glass and jewelry. So, again, here I am. Another reminder that God knows better than we do what is best for us. I invite you to explore my Art and LARKs galleries. If you live in or near Melbourne, FL, you can see some of my work at the Olde Eau Gallie Clinic and Gallery (a wonderful healing environment where you are surrounded by art) and Art on Fifth in Indialantic, FL. Please Contact me with any questions or comments you might have. In the meantime, have a Joyful Day and thank you for visiting my website!