Wow! 2024 has been a whirlwind of the best kind. We’ve had some ups and downs, but fortunately a lot more ups. I’ve learned a ton, laughed a lot, and have continued working harder (and hopefully smarter) than ever. It’s been a joy watching the boys continue to grow and surprise me every day.
There’s so much I could say about this year, but I’d have to write a whole book. So here are the highlights of 2024!
January
We kicked off 2024 with a New Year’s trip to the beach! Even if it was a little chilly to be playing in the sand, the boys absolutely loved it. It’s always nice to see the ocean, no matter the temperature.
January also marked a huge milestone for me… finally making it into the Artful Home catalog! This had always been a goal of mine and seeing my pieces laid out in the spread was a dream come true. My excitement was only slightly dampened by the arrival of tax season, but hey, that’s all part of running a small business. Speaking of that, I taught a session on running a small Jewelry business at the Halstead Jewelry Business Forum. All in all, it was a very eventful start to the year!
February
In February, we took some time to visit family out in the country. The boys got to do some fishing and hang out with their cousins. What could be better than that? Probably not going back to school, but we did that anyway and it turns out they love it. It’s so fun to see how much they’re both learning.
I finished two fun commission projects, a special family birthstone Veiled Horizon Necklace and the bespoke Tropical Lagoon Ring, a piece years in the making!
Drew and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on February 28th. (Can you believe it will be a whole decade in 2025??) Speaking of love, one of my favorite blogs of the year was our Valentine’s Day feature: The best dates in Savannah!
March
March always kicks off with Savannah’s iconic St. Patrick’s Day celebration, and this year was certainly one to remember. The parade fell on a Saturday and had gorgeous weather, which made for a huge turnout, especially from out-of-town visitors. This is great because it really boosts the local small business economy, including my jewelry!
The one downside of the parade this year is the family ended up getting sick (this would be a running theme this year.) We had to miss the Shamrock run, but we did get to visit the Savannah Bananas stadium and see the Budweiser horse team setting up for the parade!
I completed another fun customization project, another spin on the Veiled Horizon with heirloom diamonds and added blue topaz stones. The matching Wisteria Earrings have been incorporated into my permanent collections! Just in case I wasn’t busy enough, I led a virtual stone setting demo for Halstead Bead, to help up-and-coming designers learn the craft.
We closed the month off with another fun celebration: Easter! It was again beautiful spring weather and we had a lovely egg hunt and fun family time.
April
April Fools! My social media team and I had so much fun “launching my latest collection,” the 90s-themed “Shape of My Heart.” Mood rings and toe jewelry aside, I was tickled by how many of you really wanted this stuff… maybe I should take some of these ideas more seriously. 😉 April Fools also happens to be Drew and my wedding anniversary. (I know, how fun is that?) Paxton baked us a cake! (With a little help from my mom.)
I built a gorgeous bezel ring for an heirloom trillion aquamarine that really got me thinking about making more bezel-set statement pieces. I also did a ton of work in emerald this month, in anticipation for May. Also looking forward to May, another one of my favorite blogs from the year was Five Life Lessons from the Moms in my Life. If you haven’t had the chance to read it now, the new year is a great time!
Last but absolutely not least, I joined a new gallery in April! I am so excited that the wonderful team at Jewelers Workbench has made my jewelry available in both Waynesville and Franklin, North Carolina.
May
I was still thinking about bezel rings, so I started experimenting with a bezel variation on my Beneath the Stars ring. It was a keeper! I’ve been adding more gold bezel rings to my permanent collections ever since.
We celebrated Mother’s Day with a trip to Home Depot to buy veggie and herb plants that the boys helped me plant in our garden. I’ve been getting more into cooking recently, so this was a really fun adventure. We also took a trip to the farmer’s market and went on a family bike ride. A perfect day!
Another fun activity we did in May was taking the boys to the Savannah Children’s Museum. We loved it! The museum was so much fun and I highly recommend a visit if you’re visiting town with kids or if you’ve lived here forever and are looking for something different to do. It’s the first outdoor museum I’ve ever experienced.
We closed out the month with two wonderful events: a spring Trunk Show at the Grand Bohemian Greenville and supporting my girl @ceciliaontherun at CASA dancing with the stars!
June
June is my birthday month! Drew and I celebrated with a dinner date at Common Thread (one of the places I mentioned in the dates blog)!
My team also introduced our brand new video-focused social media format, and it’s been a huge success. Abby and I had so much fun taking outdoor shots of my latest pieces over on the Isle of Hope. Another super fun team moment was finally getting to meet one of my virtual assistants, Jeana, in person! Jeana happened to have a layover in Savannah while flying home from visiting family, and she got to stop by the studio. It was such a special reunion.
There were two major commission projects that got completed in June. The Diamond Shoreline Engagement Ring soon became one of my collection pieces and the Natural Emerald Ensemble taught me a lot about working with natural emeralds. It was quite a hunt to find this natural stone, but completely worth the effort.
The family traveled to my cousin Lauren’s wedding (congrats lovebirds!) and I took what is perhaps my favorite picture of Preston of all time. Oh, my child! Finally, we closed out the month celebrating Drew and my Dad on Father’s Day!
July
I traveled to Juelerye for an incredible summer trunk show and to celebrate Jacque’s husband Nelson’s birthday! (If you missed my blog about this fabulous gallery, you should definitely check it out now.) I also delivered a fabulous commission project, the Two-Toned Trio, to one of Jacque’s clients, Lulu.
Later in the month, we spent another great family day at the beach, and this time it was actually warm! Finally, I wrapped up the month by completing an array of big gemmy Ripple Rings. I’m absolutely obsessed with all these new gemstone colors!
August
We celebrated Paxton’s birthday with a Savannah Bananas game! (Yes, those tickets are hard to get, but so worth it. If you haven’t been yet, it’s a must!) He also got a new bike for his birthday, so it was overall a very exciting day.
I spent a lot of time in August designing new gold rings featuring exciting new lab-grown gemstones, like the Lunar Glow ring in mint green sapphire. We also did some fun customizations, like the whimsical Brilliant Bar Necklace, a two-toned design using heirloom stones. Ooh la la!
September
September’s birthstone is sapphire, one of my favorite colorful stones to work with. In this year’s September birthstone blog, I focused on all the shades of sapphire, including yellow, pink, and green!
We said goodbye to summer with the boys going back to school and Abby increasing her hours in the studio. I’m so happy to have her here more often! Building on the success of our first round of video content, Abby and I went to downtown Savannah to shoot new jewelry videos for fall. These videos heavily featured unique gemstones such as tanzanite and tons of rose cut stones from a favorite new supplier.
The month ended with the arrival of Hurricane Helene wrecking across the south. Fortunately, my home and studio were both safe, but it was a challenging time for Savannah and the South in general. I’m so proud of my community for how we have come together and supported each other.
October
Vroom vroom! The boys rode into October on their new Spiderman motorcycle (hehe). It was a big month, kicking off with a rescheduled birthday party for Preston, because he was sick for the first one.
We had a fabulous time participating in our first-ever Isle of Hope show. Abby and I loved interacting with new clients and seeing old friends. There was a lot of work leading up to the event, but it turned out to be a great success!
Once I got back in the studio, I finished up a beautiful new commission, the Romantic Rose bridal set. I absolutely love two-toned pieces, and this white-gold beauty with rose gold accents is a new favorite. Next, Abby and I took yet another round of jewelry videos focusing on holiday and Valentine’s content. I’ll clue you in on a little secret… all these videos were shot at Michael’s Craft Store!
October wrapped up with Halloween and trick-or-treating. The boys went with a superhero theme this year… Spiderman and Captain America!
November
The holiday rush kicked off in earnest in November, with me releasing several new ring designs in time for our holiday Trunk Show at the Greenville Grand Bohemian. The trunk show made for another great weekend in South Carolina. Drew and the boys had a blast apple-picking while I worked!
We were honored to be featured in the Artful Home Holiday catalog, and I’m proud to say that KBJ is now a regular feature in Artful Home. We’ve come so far this year!
December
The whole family drove up to Virginia to celebrate Thanksgiving and stayed through the first week of December. I hadn’t been back in a couple of years, and it was so special to see the boys getting to play with a whole cohort of extended cousins.
On Giving Tuesday, we launched our latest collaboration with Tharros Place and we officially officially kicked off the Christmas season, full of family and friend get-togethers and tons of hustle and bustle in the studio.
One fun break during the month was that Drew and I went to a Lindsay Stirling concert! If you haven’t heard of her, she’s an incredible pop violinist who dances and does all kinds of stunts while playing live. I truly think she's one of the most inspiring and creative musicians performing today.
When we finally closed the studio down for the holidays, it was time for some much-needed rest and celebration with the family. I am so grateful for what a fabulous year this was!
