I must admit that some of my favorite challenges are the ones that Ms. Erin of Treasures Found. She hosts a challenge every three months that really cause a person to ponder and research before coming up with a design.
The challenge this time was to travel to our home town or in my case the town that I currently live in, Tacoma Washington. Tacoma is truly the home of my heart and one of the few places that I could be reasonably imagine myself living in. I think that it comes from my childhood with a mother who moved us around so much that I felt like a gypsy and the only mother-daughter trip that we ever took. For my eighteenth birthday, we took a trip to Seattle. The town immediately entranced me and I swore that I would live there when I 'grew' up.
In between then and now, I have lived all over the States and spent several years living right next to the German/Nederlands border (remind me to tell you about smuggling coolie loaches one of these days). Yet I kept gravitating towards Seattle. I don't think that I will ever live there because of the cost of renting let alone buying a house. Tacoma, however, is the second largest city in Washington.
This is truly a wonderful city to live in. We have an old growth forest that is part of one of our city parks. There are a couple beaches to walk along. We have the blue, blue water of the bay. We have theatres, great restaurants all without parking issues. Also Seattle is only thirty miles away with all that it has to offer such as Fusion Beads, and Pike Place Market.
Besides Tacoma has the Museum of Glass founded by Dale Chihuly. My plan was to go visit it since that wonderful glass was the theme of my designs. Issues with both my and the hubby's health interfered with that plan. So I wasn't able to get pictures any of the pieces there but I do have my own to offer.
Just look at the depths in this focal. It was made by MonaRaeBeads and even more gorgeous in person. The colors...the blues and greens really remind of Tacoma.
To continue along the lines of glass, the boro glass beads in these earring were designed by Java Beads who is based in Washington state also. The brass dangles are from the Patina Queen.
To see more hometowns, just click on the links below.