Here is my first finished work of 2013. It is for an exhibit at the League of NH Craftsmen Headquarters. The exhibit is titled, "Child at Heart," and this necklace, which I call "Open and Shut," is made of 20 clasp pieces. As you can see, it is in a rainbow of colors. The necklace can be taken apart and reassembled in any way the wearer desires, so it is a kind of toy. (Though, as it is made of size 11 seed beads, it should not be handled by children under three and anyone who puts things in their mouths.) Originally, I had planned to do pieces in a variety of stitches. After making components in right angle weave, peyote and herringbone, I realized that only the right angle weave held together in the stiff way I desired, so I decided to do them all in the same stitch. Likewise, I initially thought to use a variety of clasp components, but with so many different colors, it seemed better to make the colors change and the pieces themselves be the same. Finally, I had expected to make a dozen larger pieces, but as I worked through the month of December, on a piece focused on children, the twenty children from Connecticut weighed on my mind. So, in their honor, I created a necklace in childlike colors, that a child could take apart and put together in myriad ways