For 32 years, Linda Chadburn worked in public education as a teacher, mentor, and administrator. She found great joy in working with other dedicated teachers, paraeducators, therapists, administrators, secretaries, and support professionals who educate our children.
She has also spent a lot of time with beloved family members in a variety of medical and therapeutic settings, watching doctors, nurses, and therapists with profound gratitude as they work their craft to heal and support others.
Linda is passionate about acknowledging and thanking those around us who work hard and make a meaningful difference in our lives, and the lives of those we love. She cherished the sweet notes and tokens of appreciation from students and parents, especially those that were unique, handmade, and clearly had some thought and effort put into them. These were precious reminders that what she was doing with her life made a difference, and they helped carry her through the challenging times.
After receiving the most delicious bag of homemade caramels from the mother of a precious student many years ago, Linda asked her for the recipe. It turned out that this mother had made some creative modifications to a recipe she’d found in a magazine, which made the caramels unique and extra yummy. Linda started sharing her love and gratitude by making hundreds of bags of these small-batch caramels a year for her own children’s teachers, the amazing colleagues with whom she worked, medical professionals, even the auto mechanics and the postal workers who served her family. With permission from that sweet mother to go commercial, her recipe is now our “Original Caramel” recipe. We have developed several scrumptious variations on it as well.
Linda has always enjoyed creative endeavors, but, like many mothers, put some of her hobbies and talents on the back burner while raising her children and working full-time. From the time she was a little girl, Linda has always had a deep and abiding love for all things sparkly and beautiful. For 10 years, she collected strands of interesting beads with the intention of making herself a large collection of fancy lanyards and zipper pulls so that she could change them out regularly and bring a little extra joy and variety into her own life. But, as these things often go, 10 years went by with the beads waiting patiently on a shelf. Upon contemplating her upcoming retirement, Linda got the inspired idea to make the lanyards and zipper pulls as a parting gift for her cherished colleagues.
She had such a great time hand-crafting each piece with love and gratitude, that it lit a fire in her to share that joy on a broader scale. With the encouragement of many friends and family members to make her caramels, lanyards, and zipper pulls available for purchase, Linda embarked on a new entrepreneurial adventure as the owner/artisan of “Add a Little Joy” in the summer of 2023.
She’s had many requests to expand her jewelry offerings to include necklaces, bracelets and anklets. Watch for those and some other fun beaded trinkets like decorative plant stakes and fairy garden accessories to be coming soon!
She hopes that her unique, hand-crafted pieces will bring joy to you and those with whom you want to share love and appreciation as well!