Could Little People be a designer's inspiration?

With a host of unpleasant household chores ahead of me today, I found myself willfully distracted by my Brighton ABC charm collection when I assembled this bracelet. I sat staring at it and thinking, "I've seen this somewhere before." The bold plastic colors of the Brighton spacers stirred something primal in me... I am four again, lining up my favorite colorful toys, the Little People, in my mind once again arranging furniture in their home, deck chairs on their yacht, playground equipment by their school, fencing around their barn and luggage on their plane. The memory of pure play is like a drug, and I think, Wait! That's the same high I get from arranging these little charms, spacers and beads. Coincidence? I don't think so. Maybe, just maybe, on some subconcious level a Brighton desiger had Little People on her mind when she came up with these.

I just found what I want for Mother's Day

Diverting myself from such mundane matters as scheduling a plumber and a doctor visit, unpacking suitcases from a recent trip and doing laundry, I found myself wandering once again to www.brighton.com to see what's new. I was suprised and delighted to see a number of newly released ABC charms and spacers. Now I know what I want for Mother's Day! Check out the "Mom" spacer. (There are similar ones that say "Sister" and "Friends." And who can resist that adorable little flower pot charm! There's a bouquet that won't die in a week. Also be sure to check out the new versions of the Daisy Bead in pink and white enamels. Time to call your local stores Brightonistas and put your favorites on hold because I imagine they won't last long once their shipments come in.

I'd like to buy a vowel, please

I'm a word person. I love words, sentences, paragraphs, stories, books, even individual letters.
As a child, I loved sorting through noodle letters for words in alphabet soup. As a Brightonista, I have been slowly aquiring letters from the Brighton ABCs collection.
At $7.50 a piece, you just can't jump in and buy a whole alphabet. I started with my initials, p, m, b. Once I got the Oklahoma state charm and the orange and black spacers, I decided I wanted the option of making a bracelet for alma mater, Oklahoma State, so I added o,s,u. Then I realized all I needed was one more m to spell out m-o-m and wear it in a bracelet with the soccer ball my son gave me. (Get it? Soccer Mom!)
It finally hit me today that all I needed to spell my name was 2 ls and a y. So I headed to Aida's, navigated past the construction equipment (see earlier post) to buy my letters. Two years ago when I first longed to spell out my name, five letters and four spacers seemed like a huge investment. Now, I just needed two consonants and a vowel. Y is a vowel, right?
After I built by name, I studied my 10 letters. Ten. That's one more than you get in Scrabble. What else, what else? Hey, look! p-m-s! Too bad Brighton doesn't make a chocolate charm.

Like that's gonna stop me!

Neither wind, nor rain, nor heavy construction equipment will keep this Brightonista from her favorite store. That said, it took me a while today to map out how exactly I was going to get past the orange cones, heavy equipment, closed roads and torn-up concrete to make it to the front door of Aida's, my Brighton haunt of the past 10 years. I had come to share the love, so to speak, from my recent ebay windfall. And I knew Aida's could give me what ebay couldn't: instant gratification!
The number of physical obstacles between me and the store left me wondering whether Aida's was even open. I worried for Aida (both proprietess and friend) and wondered whether her business could withstand both the downfall in the economy and the detour to her store.
Aida is a strikingly upbeat person. When I finally got inside, I found her not unhappy about the construction outside her door but thankful that the work was behind schedule. The street widening had originally been planned for December. THAT would have hurt, she said. I lingered inside for an hour, choosing new charms (have you seen the kitty cat? It has rhinestone eyes and a tiny heart hanging from its collar!) and caressing leather purses, imagining which one I might one day buy. The charms are doing well at Aida's, in downtown Wichita. She now has an entire counter devoted to them and the display is quite enticing. (I walked away with five!) I was just about to leave when another two women walked in, obviously as undeterred as I was. It was then I knew Aida would be okay. Brightonistas, we take care of our own.

Charmed, I'm sure

About the time the economy crashed -- my own, as well as the nation's -- Brighton expanded its ABC Charm offerings, enabling me to build my collection $10 at a time. Charms were first introduced a few years ago with colorful initials, charms and spacer beads intended to be worn a few at a time. I didn't really get interested in them until the introduction of the slider bracelets, which can hold about a dozen sliders, spacers and charms at a time. They look great (check out my design for Valentine's Day at left) but do the math: The bare bracelet costs about $25, then add 12 charms at a cost of roughly $10 a piece. Actual price varies from $5-$25 each. The total adds up to nearly $150. But hey, I'm spending $10 a pop so it doesn't seem that bad -- except of course when I suddenly want every new charm that comes out. What do you mean, you sold out of the bumble bee? I gotta have that one! No soccer ball?! But that's what my son is getting me for Christmas! Ah forget it, I'm not even trying to collect them all. (Thankfully, they aren't all that good. Like that ugly Kansas state charm. Hey, PLEASE, how about a sunflower charm instead?) But in these tight money times, charm collecting allows even a broke Brightonista a way to stay in the game. I mean, its only $10 right? Still, the best thing about the charms isn't the price but the creativity they allow. Get enough beads, sliders and charms (today's count: 42) and you can create countless combinations. Even big girls like to string beads.