Today I am thankful for my husband, my family, my friends, my camera, my writing projects, the fact that I wake up every single day excited to make jewelry, and the luxury of food and shelter. But I’m also thankful for my favorite craft supplies of the moment — all four of these have been in heavy rotation lately, and I love them. (I will say that felt is and always will be my favorite supply of all… but it’s mostly stayed on the shelf this week, so no photo.)

I just love Aleene’s Tacky Glue — it’s lightweight, quick-drying, wonderfully non-toxic (I’m looking at you, E 6000), and holds all kinds of things together gracefully. I read Aleene: A Tacky Lady this week on Cathy’s recommendation, so I’m even more excited about her signature product. Aleene and I may not agree politically, but I will use her glue with enthusiasm forever.

I’ve always adored rhinestones (they remind me of Torie!) but until I shopped the downtown Los Angeles bead and jewelry stores,well, I had no idea that you could buy them in so many colors, shapes, and sizes… wow. My bejeweled projects have been so much fun lately. These oversized pink ones look like candy!

Kathy introduced me to the wonders of glitter hot-glue sticks on her “Lucha Libre” episode of Craft Lab, and I got to use it to add all kinds of stars and trinkets to my mask. I’m 100% converted to the glitter path when it comes to hot-gluing — such a cool touch.

And 24-gauge wire is perhaps the single most useful jewelry material in my arsenal — I prefer sterling but I also use gold-filled and all colors of craft wire. It’s easy to work with, and flexible and strong at the same time. I use it for linking, wrapping, joining, dangling, and decorating, and it is a dream to shape with pliers — it coils up beautifully. I just got done working with some a minute ago, actually. Love it.

Of course I treasure my Gocco and my serger, and my pliers and sewing machine are right up there with my wedding ring on my list of most-prized possessions, but right now I’m especially thankful for these four!