I've been teaching jewelry making classes for about 10 years. During my last class one of my students asked me why I never wore any of the jewelry I made to class. I was a little embarrassed and finally answered very honestly "The jewelry I make to sell doesn't express who I am. Next week I'll make something that does and wear it here". Because I am a mixed media artist it was clear that I needed to make some really quirky mixed media jewelry. I found these books really helpful in my journey to make unique pieces:
Semiprecious Salvage by Stephanie Lee
Resin Alchemy by Susan Lenart Kazmer
The Jewelry Maker's Design Book by Deryn Mentock
Making Metal Jewelry by Jen Cushman

Dreams can be very elusive. Sometimes I wake up and have a feeling about a dream that is very strong, but I can't remember any of the specific details. I may be able to recall a few vague images for a few moments before they slip away. 

I've  made a commitment to make a collage a day, inspired by Randel Plowman's wonderful blog Collage A Day. I've just started the project and, of course, life got in the way and I got behind. My cheat was to use the scan only project featured in this book The Collage Workbook. I gathered a bunch of scraps on a shoebox top and placed them on my scanner without any pre planning. It was pretty difficult to plan the placement or predict how the collage would come out so I just gave up trying to. I did several in a more neutral palette but found that using bright colors gave me better results.