collection: A group of objects or works to be seen, studied, or kept together.

"Look at what I just bought in the gift shop, it’s a New York snow globe. It was really hard to find one that wasn’t tacky. Isn’t this one so cute!?! I’ve been thinking about starting a snow globe collection for awhile." Michael looked puzzled and asked "Are you planning on being one of those ladies that has a big glass case with special lights that dusts their trinkets all the time?"  As I showed off my new purchase and shared my future plans of collecting, Michael may have seen my future in my snow globe like a crystal ball.

I remember my Grandma announcing that she would like to collect elephants. Everyone in the family was so excited to finally have something to buy her for the holidays. Quite quickly her living room started to fill up with a variety of elephants. Including some cheap wind chimes I had bought down in Mexico. A few of them broke in transport but she still hung them up. For around two years, the elephants just kept marching into my Grandma’s house…one by one. Then one day (I think it was her birthday) after she had just unwrapped a new herd, she announced, "No more elephants!" She explained that when she told us about her desire to collect elephants, she intended to buy them herself. There was a certain style of figures that she was interested in collecting. I realize now that she wanted to carefully select her own special elephants. She wanted to collect ones that made her happy and gave her energy. Instead we bought her whatever elephants we could get our hands on. We had the best intentions, but missed the mark. As quickly as it started, my Grandma gave up on her collection.

Because of this I have been hesitant to announce my desire for having collections. As I was unpacking from my little NY trip I realized that my new treasures made me feel energized. The other morning I shook my new snow globe on my way out the door and then skipped to my car. Feeling quite stylish, I kept looking down at my new funky ring designed by Michal Golan on my hand. The other evening I worked on journal pages from New York. I added special bits and pieces from the trip. Many of these little details would easily slip away if I didn’t glue them down. A new handmade Eiffel Tower arrived in the mail, it is made out of beautiful printed paper. It looks perfect on our mantel. After enjoying these items, I have decided to share the very beginning of my own special collections.

Upper Left- Journals, here is a small sample of my visual journals. May the pile continue to grow for years and years…..

Upper Right- Michal Golan jewelry. At the moment this is a small collection, but I picked up the catalog in NY and will be adding more to it soon. Her beautiful jewelry is available online at Stylism.

Lower Left- Snow Globes, these I am going to have to be VERY picky about! After poking around on Ebay I have realized that there are a lot of ugly snow globes in the world. Both of these are miniature and were found on trips to Venice and New York. Announcing this collection makes me nervous, I fear the elephant dilemma. I will only allow snow globes that make me happy when I shake them to be apart of my collection.

Lower Right- Eiffel Towers. I bought the first little metal one after a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower with my friend Ember. For Christmas, Em surprised me with a vintage charm bracelet. It has sweet little charms from all the places we had traveled together. My favorite charm is the mini Eiffel Tower. The large glitter glass tower is sparkly and beautiful, I use it in my display at wedding shows. The little paper tower is my newest addition which I think tipped this into collection status. The delicate tower was handmade by Studio Sharp. Check out the blog to learn more about the artist.