a little retrospective

and musings about my brand - Desert Bloom Designs

I hope this email finds you happily enjoying 2025. This is about the time we begin to forget about our resolutions. We have the best of intentions to reset and focus when the new year begins, and then we get sidetracked. That's why I pick a word to guide my intentions throughout the year.

This year my word is retrospective.

I recently closed my small jewelry business which meant I shut down my website and online shop. I just didn't want to have to keep up with all of the things a solo artist has to do in order to stay relevant and visible to attract customers.

But I miss that online presence. I realize when I meet a new person it’s hard to describe what I do as a lampwork and jewelry artist. So, I decided this is the year to build a website that will chronical my designs over the last 30 years - a retrospective. I need to recreate many pieces because photographs are missing or never got taken in the first place. But I'm happy to do that. And I'm a better craftsman now so everything should be better.

I just finished loading the first lampwork bead into the website - the Desert Bloom Bead. It was my first lampworking session in over a year, but it all came back quickly.

When I first thought about making a desert bloom bead I thought about the beautiful prickly pear with an offset bloom.

Everyone knows that cactus plants are covered with tiny sharp spines. And they really hurt! But cactus plants create absolutely beautiful blooms too - some for just 24 hours. The petals, like delicate silk, unfurl in a perfect circle against the dusty desert landscape. These blooms bring a sense of wonder to the barren landscape. They symbolize resilience, strength and the ability to overcome adversity. I used my desert bloom bead in my first necklace - the lariat.

These talisman lariat necklaces are symbols of life and renewal.

I took my first lampworking class in 1997 with Kate Fowle Meleny. At the time she lived in the Washington DC area. So, when I was looking for someone to take a class with, going to the DC area was intriguing. My Dad had just passed away that Thanksgiving and this class had been scheduled in December for a long time. I almost cancelled but decided I needed the time away. Kate is a wonderful teacher and person, and the class was everything I wanted it to be. The bonus was that I used to live in this area. My family had moved to the DC area when I was a senior in high school so that my father could take a government job. So, I took the opportunity to revisit my home and school and drove around reminiscing. It helped me get through that stressful time of grief. And I came away with skills that helped me launch the next phase of my life. I am forever grateful.

So, the start of this new year is synonymous with reassessing, refreshing, and reviving.

If you have a chance, please visit my website at www.louiselittle.com.

Chasing that elusive number on the scale

Wow, I never expected to hear from so many of you when I mentioned a few posts back that I had lost 45 pounds back in 2016. Loved hearing from you. So yes, I’ll write about that journey - what I did then and what I am doing now.

Thanks again for being here.