Old Treasures, New Friends & A Rooster in Progress 🐓💫🌱

This weekend was one of full of those moments that reminded me how connected creativity can be 💫

What started as a visit with a new friend turned into inspiration for half a dozen projects

I spent part of the afternoon with Cherri, a local artist whose silver jewelry absolutely stopped me in my tracks. The kind of work that makes you lean in closer, wondering how someone can create something so intricate with their own two hands. Every piece a tiny work of art 🖼️

As if that wasn't enough inspiration, her husband works with wood and introduced me to several handles created using electricity! The lightning-like patterns running through the wood are called Lichtenberg figures, and they are every bit as fascinating as they sound ⚡Nature and science teaming up to create something beautiful! I came home with a few of those handles and already have ideas swirling about what they might become

Being in Cherri’s shop made me take a good look at my own broom room

So I spent the rest of the afternoon doing something I've been putting off for far too long...organizing 🧼

Bundles of broomcorn found homes

Twine found shelves

Projects stopped hiding in boxes

And somewhere in the middle of all that sorting, I rediscovered a small stash of Tears of Job 🌱💫

I grew these years ago and tucked them away, fully intending to use them in a future project

If you're not familiar with Tears of Job, they've been used for centuries as beads, prayer strands, and protective charms. Folklore says they carry blessings, protection, perseverance, and strength through difficult seasons. Looking at them again today felt a little like finding a message from an earlier version of myself 🧙‍♀️

Maybe that's why I love handmade things so much

They hold stories 💫✨

Sometimes stories from generations ago 💫

Sometimes stories from years ago ✨

And sometimes stories from a Saturday afternoon spent sorting shelves

I also came across another little treasure while organizing…my very first Rooster Tail!!!

Looking at it now makes me smile

I can see every lesson I hadn't learned yet ✨ Every technique that still needed practice ✨Every improvement that would come later

But I can also see where this journey began!!! Every rooster I've made since traces its roots back to this first one 💫🧙‍♀️

Which feels especially fitting because, as promised, I'm putting the finishing touches on a brand-new Rooster Tail that will soon be flying off to celebrate reaching 500 followers here on the new Facebook page🥂

When I started making brooms, I never imagined so many people would follow along for the adventure 💜

Thank you for cheering me on, encouraging new ideas, and supporting this little broom room in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a rooster to finish 🐓💜🧹

Until next time,

Blessed Be

Brooke 🧙‍♀️