Challenge of Color :: Earth As Art

I absolutely loved this challenge. Erin over at Treasures Found partnered with Brandi Girl (aka the Color Guru) to come up with color palettes for us beady bloggers to use as inspiration. The palettes come from an Earth As Art Exhibition, which as you will see through this hop are spectacular. 

I can not say enough about the 2 palettes that Erin sent me.I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them both! 

But I have been a little time-challenged lately, so for today I am focused to showing you what I created from one of them: Guinea-Bissau. But I promised to be back to show you the second one: the Empty Quarter. I have a few ideas in the works, and the beads already picked out, but I need a little more time before I post them.

I did a quick search for images of Guinea-Bissau (right) and found the local culture so beautifully colorful, and within the color palette!

Just a quick background on how these color palettes were created. The Earth As Art image gallery is a group of over 120 pictures taken from the Landsat series of Earth observation satellites since 1972. The images used in this hop are from NASA which are donated to the Library of Congress. Very official! The imagery uses a digital palette that relates to levels of infrared spectrum. That is what gives these pictures there amazing saturation of color! For the full science-y background on these pictures you can check out Erin's original blog post here.

Ok, so moving on to my projects. Sorry to keep you waiting. I have to say that the inspiration that Erin and Brandi created are colors that I would probably not have put together. So it is a bonus that I pulled these colors together for my projects! I chose to focus on the gorgeous blues (apatite beads) and the rich reds (coral beads). The necklace focal is Murano glass that brings out the flow in the Landsat picture along with some of the tans of the coastline. I also sewed hemp thread together with cherry red Miyuki micro seed beads on the sides for the cording. It gives a very natural feel to the piece. the closure is a double button loop.

For a little extra, I created a couple of pair of earrings with these colors. I used the same apatite beads in both earrings along with the red Miyuki micro seed beads. For the first pair I used a silver gypsy inspired hoop and Czech dagger beads. For the second pair I used a silver filigree which has a dream catcher feel to it.

There are a lot of bloggers participating in this very popular blog hop. So I'm going to hand it off to all the other participates here for you all to explore:

Blogger Feature :: Amy Herzog

Lately I've been thinking about trying to get some of my designs published. I've been looking at the many beading publications to see if I should submit my designs. I did finally submit to two of them and was accepted by Stringing. I am very excited that a retro-deco design of mine will be featured this Spring. 

But here's a funny twist. I gave a few samples of my work to a knitty friend of mine, Thea at Baby Cocktails, on a recent visit. And she shared those samples with a few of her friends. One is a knitter I've come to know through the blogosphere: Amy Herzog. She does a really amazing series on how to knit to fit your own body features---how to alter patterns and make sure that it is something that will look good on you. Really amazing idea if you ask me. I posted awhile back that Amy was wearing one of my necklaces in her blog, but guess what? She's published a book and she's wearing my necklace in her bio feature! Looks like my first published piece will be her book coming early this April, 2013.

Here is the quick summary to Amy's book: Knit to Flatter is about celebrating the body you have been given and creating sweaters that make you look and feel great. Part instruction manual and part pattern collection, Knit to Flatter teaches you how to assess your shape—top-heavy, bottom-heavy, or proportional— and then knit accordingly. With a great sense of fun and acceptance, Amy Herzog presents silhouettes and styles that work with each body shape, along with four ideal sweater patterns per category. She then provides patterns for 10 more sweaters with guidelines for customizing, so they can be tailored to flatter. Each pattern is written in up to 10 sizes, and the garments are photographed on models with genuine curves. No smoke and mirrors here. Just real beauty!

If you're a knitter, I highly recommend both Amy and Thea's blogs. You can check out Amy's Fit to Flatter blog series now and get the book on order at Amazon. Amy also teaches her series at knitting retreats; she has one coming up called Fibre Space Dec 8-9 you can check out.

The Van Gogh Series: On the Bead Table

I have a new series I'm starting to encourage myself to finish a large bowl of 'half finished' earrings. I'm calling it my van Gogh Series. This painting by Vincent Van Gogh is known as Self Portrait with Ear Bandaged, 1889. There are several accounts of how exactly he lost a part of his ear. Most believe that it was not van Gogh's issues with sanity, but instead the result of a fight with his friend Paul Gauguin who sliced it with a sword.

I figured that as I dig through a little history, and dust off a few art books that I'd use them as inspiration to finish up some jewelry projects. I have this bad habit of creating a single earring because I love creating patterns, but I hate making the copy to finish the pair of earrings! So I have a bowl of singles. 

To kick off my series, I'm posting a very unusual piece (at least for me). It is called an ear cuff, but it isn't your usual ring cuff that wraps around the ridge of your ear. But instead wraps around that backside of one ear with beads hanging down from behind. 

This was a custom request from a bloggy friend of mine: Marcela of Fashionadictas. She asked if I thought I could make this piece, and well I just can not pass up an opportunity to try a new pattern. 

It was a bonus that it calls for only one ear! I don't have to make a pair for the other ear - ha! Sign me up. 

The trick for me with this piece was trying to figure out how to create loops for the several dangles coming off the cuff. I don't solder, but it just might be time to take a class to learn. My excuse up to this point has been that I have young children and don't really want a torch in the house. But my oldest is in High School, and my youngest just about to go to middle school. So that excuse might have expired. For now, I decided to use a pattern that might be considered abstract expressionist ... Miro comes to mind. I created a shape and hand hammered it in silver. My friend Marcela is an artist, and so I'm hopeful that she will appreciate the pattern and style of this piece.

I really don't think that in a million years I would have come up with this pattern. But then that is the fun of meeting all these new people in the blogosphere, and finding new inspiration to create with. Thank you Marcela.

Anybody else have a bowl of singles? Feel like taking the challenge with me? Over the next few weeks, I hope to make it to the bottom of the bowl. AND have several new pieces to list on my Etsy for the holiday season. 

Thankful in India :: The Top Ten

I hope you all have enjoyed this series as much as I have. For me, it brought back good times and many laughs my husband, mother-in-law and I have had over the years. We love recounting these stories and giggling about some of the situations and characters we met along our travels.

When we planned the trip, I remember looking at my husband saying "we have to take your mom."  And I'm so glad she agreed to come with us. I can not image this trip without her. I am one of those lucky people who actually like their mother-in-law. And no I don't have to say that as she doesn't read my blog unless I send her a link.

Ok let's get to the list; shall we? I'm going to do this David Letterman style and start with 

#10. Peaceful [Paid] Gardens: when you are traveling as a tourist there are times when the solicitation can be overwhelming and you just need a reprieve.  Try a pretty place with a small admission and you'll find yourself alone in no time. Exactly what we did when we were being followed around town by a network of children trying to sell us photographs they had taken of us earlier in the day. 

#9. Restaurants with Food: one restaurant we stopped at literally had no food, but they had us run through the entire menu before admitting it. They did suggest running down the road to see if they could find some eggs? We decided it was best to push on to our next destination.

#8. Electricity: India's infrastructure is not growing at the same rate as it's population's. One big problem is the need for expanded electricity capacity. We experienced plenty of black outs and were caught in complete darkness (several times) in the middle of dinner at a local restaurant.

#7. Tea Done Right: nowhere in the world is tea done better, in my opinion. And if you want Chai, you've got to try it the way it's done in India. My favorite place to buy loose tea is Peet's, which you can find online. And if you want to try your hand at authentic Chai try this blog with walk through directions.

#6. Traveling Laundry: there is a good chance that when you are traveling for more than 2 weeks you will need to do laundry (unless you are traveling with a steamer trunk and have plenty of clean underwear). When you are in India you send it out. And it ends up getting washed by a vast network of local workers who beat your clothes up against the rocks, hang it, sometimes from the trees, and then press it and return your laundry to your hotel. We were so incredibly thankful not to see our laundry hanging from any trees, and that every piece sent out returned to us. 

#5. Western Bathroom Amenities: while I wanted to do an entire post on this topic, my husband begged suggested I not. But there is an episode of me being taught how to use a Turkish toilet on a moving train by my mother-in-law, which is worth a giggle if you haven't already read this post. As much as I loved my trip to India, I do have to say that I was extremely happy for my American bathroom upon our return.

#4. Trains Doors with Locks: yep, same train ride noted above. There are apparently several things to keep in mind when taking an overnight train in India. The main one is buying the entire sleeper car compartment and making sure it has a locked door.

#3. Gentle Large Animals: we saw many large animals while in India, but I am happy to report that those that I ended up eye to eye with were actually quite gentle. Thank goodness since one elephant was standing behind me in the market.

#2. Our Guide Sharma: we were so lucky to be matched up with our guide that we all adopted into our family while traveling in India. He was good to us, and really watched out for us. He also taught me a few things about how to look at life through a different lens. I was quite thankful to have met him.

#1. My Mother-in-Law: my number one, hands down reason to be thankful while traveling in India was my mother-in-law. It was amazing to see the country through her eyes, and to hear her tell the stories of her childhood. It was a once in a lifetime trip for us, and I am so glad we did this, with her.

I do have one other thing to be thankful for today. November 22, the birthday of my baby who is 10 years old today. Happy Birthday Anne. I am so thankful to have the pleasure of being your mom. What are you thankful for today? 

Holiday Collection :: Giveaways

I know a lot of people will be shopping this week, through the weekend and into next week. Both in store and online.

So a group of us jewelry designers have decided to hold our own Holiday Collection sale on Etsy, Artfire or other places the Artisan Whimsy team has their items for sale. There are some really gorgeous pieces by these artists, many of whom have published work. 

The team is making it even more interesting by giving away items. I am going to be giving away these beautiful African Opal drop earrings worth $40 on my Etsy. 


All you need to do is leave me a comment letting me know that you'd like to be included in the drawing and how to get a hold of you.  Each artist has at least one giveaway, just click on the link here and you can browse through all the giveaways, or click on the links and see what else the artist has for sale in their shop. All of us will announce our winners on Dec 1, so stop back by to see if you've won.

The Sale starts this Friday, Nov 23rd through Friday Nov 30th. All participating jewelry designers will be offering a discount in their stores including me. Shop over at my Esty store and get 20% off all items through next Friday. Just enter the discount code: AWHOLIDAY

All giveaways will be chosen individually by the blog owner, so stop by the blog and leave a comment if you see something that you like. And there is more ... the Artisan Whimsy team will be hiding 3 more giveaways throughout participants blogs. When you find them, follow the directions to be entered! Don't forget to bookmark ArtisanWhimsy.com for future jewelry shopping and opportunities.

Give Away Winner :: Aotearoa

Our original Kalmbach giveaway took us a little longer than we expected. The necklace was set to go on display Oct 28th, yep that would be right as Hurricane Sandy was heading directly for us in CT. 

Thistle Beads needed to delay the giveaway until they were able to reopen the store in Niantic, CT.  Over the last week, quite a lot of people stopped by the store to sign up, and yesterday we did the drawing. Our winner is ... Carol Ann! 

We asked Carol Ann when she first started beading, and she joked saying "when I learned to talk!" Well alrighty then, we've got ourselves a beader here! She said it was probably closer to age 10, but she's never stopped. She currently teaches beading projects to her adult education students.

When we asked Carol Ann what keeps her beading? She said "to be a lifelong learner." What a great answer!. She said that loves the creativity she finds in the craft and that six people could get the exact same set of beads and each will create something different." Isn't that the truth! We've all see that through our bead soup projects and hops, and I agree that is what is so fun about these projects --- to see how everyone brings their own creativity to the bead table.

She also told us that her favorite stones are turquoise and amber, but she probably leans a bit more toward amber given her Lithuanian roots. Having been to the Baltics myself, I can tell you that the amber is stunning with such a range of colors from light greens and yellows to honey to burnt orange. I hope you enjoy the necklace Carol Ann, congratulations!

Blogger Feature :: The Beaded Tail

There is a blog that I make sure to stop by every week, and just wanted to give a shout out to the Beaded Tail who has such a great blog. Sharla posts multiple times a week and features her inquisitive cats and her sweet dog. 

We all love to see what her little fur-babies are up to like Angel who loves Birdie TV, which is just outside the window. 

Or Sadie who has such a great smile. Look at how happy she is out for a walk, or when she gets the chance to jump in the leaves. Sadly, Sadie left us late last summer, but not in spirit. We all still celebrate Sadieday each Saturday, along with Tortie Tuesday and Wordless Wednesday each week. 

Here is a recent post with Isabella checking out one of my designs. I did a drawing for my Nina Design necklace and Sharla won. Isabella had to investigate to see if it would do. She was quite gentle in her curiosity, and I believe she did give her 'two-paws-up' approval. I hope Sharla will enjoy her necklace. Such a sweet bunch over at the Beaded Tail.

Thankful in India :: Tea Done Right

Tea. Nothing else in my day gets me started quite like a strong cup of tea. I prefer mine strong, hot, black, sweet. Yes I'm still talking about tea. Stay with me people.

Tea comes from all over the world, but there is nothing quite like the flavors from India. Darjeeling is the mostly widely known variety; grown on the slopes of the Himalayas in the northeast part of India. 

But a lesser known variety is actually the one my husband's family prefers: Assam, a high plateau region even further northeast in India which straddles the Brahmaputra River. It is the largest tea-growing region in the world. The first harvest in Assam can have a fragrant, fresh, flowery and slightly spicy character. Yum! 

Assam is the region my mother-in-law grew up in. I told a bit about her story many blogs back. Her home was a small village in the Garo Hills of Assam. Her father, a local missionary, was the only man in the village with a gun. And so when a tiger would venture into the village (and threaten life or livestock) he would be called to handle the matter - pronto. My husband grew up with the stories and the skins of these big cats his grandfather shot.

I've always been a tea lover, but I had never had Chai before visiting India. And when I came home I craved it. Looked for it, and then tried it at Starbucks. It was like liquefied pumpkin pie. Now Pumpkin pie is perfectly fine --- on Thanksgiving, after turkey. But first thing in the morning when you are expecting straight up tea? I don't know what they do to it over at Starbucks, but letmetellya ... that ain't Chai. 

REAL Chai is strong black tea boiled with spices like cardamon, star anise, cloves, cinnamon. Most of the street vendors I saw making it also included the sugar when bringing the mixture to a boil. Once piping hot, milk is added then carfully brought back up to just under a boil (as you would not want to burn the milk). The Indian version of Chai still tastes like tea, only with a spiciness to it. Starbucks? not so much.

So this is my last installment of Thankful in India. I will give you the final top 10 on Thanksgiving Day, so check back next week. A few of you have said you enjoyed this series, and so I was considering doing another one about shopping in India. If you all want more stories, let me know!

Thankful in India :: Our Guide Sharma

When we first arrived in Delhi it was just after midnight. We had been traveling all day, we were tired and all we wanted to do was sleep. At the airport, we grabbed a cab to our hotel that was part of some kind of hustle. The cabby did bring us to our hotel, but when we got there his (large) friend was standing outside to tell my husband that the hotel was full and we could not stay there. Same thing happened at the second hotel, and then off to a third hotel that was at least 3x the cost of what we booked and it was filthy. We were just too tired to fight it. We pulled out clean t-shirts from our bags, covered the pillows and slept on top of the bed. 

The next day we headed off to find a tour guide, and we could tell there was yet another bit of hustle happening. But a stroke of luck matched us up with a guy named Sharma. He was good to us, watched out for us and gave us good advice throughout our time with him. He became like family to us and he took to calling my mother-in-law "Mom."

Sharma had a different way of looking at things. Life through a different lens. I told his story about running over a farmer's chicken. And he negotiated what he thought was a fair deal by paying the farmer 30x over for the chicken. His rationale was that this chicken would lay eggs and have other chickens and thus cost the farmer much more over the course of time.

There was another time when we had been off looking at the Taj Mahal and when we returned to the car Sharma was getting his ears cleaned. Yep, I said his ears cleaned. I found this so incredibly odd. And asked Sharma why he'd pay someone to do that? He said because his ears needed cleaning, and that this man needed a job, that cleaning ears was this man's job, and that we all have our own roles to play. Sharma felt we should follow this balance in life. Wow was that profound for a simple ear cleaning with a Q-tip swab.

Then there was the story about the network of kids following us around with a picture of us on an elephant. Sharma helped us find piece and quiet that day. He had seen me tell the boy not to take the picture of us. But Sharma also told us when the fun was over. And that the cost (at the end of the day) would simply repay them for the cost of the film. To Sharma that was simply the right thing to do. You see, Sharma was right there with us on our adventures.

Sharma has a good job as a driver for a tourist company driving people like us around India. He told us his dream was to be able to own his own car and run his own company. So that he could support his wife and daughter who live in a small village, and whom he sends money home to. Right before we parted ways with Sharma, I handed Sharma a $100 bill that I had been holding on to. My mother had given it to me to buy a nice souvenir to bring home. I just couldn't think of anything better to do with that money then to give it to Sharma. I was surprised by his response as he seemed so taken aback. My mother-in-law explained later that I had given him something akin to 2 month's salary with that tip. Ok, now I was taken aback. Shocking how little money people live on in India. But it also made me realize how hard it would be for Sharma to earn enough money to buy his own car. I was happy to help him; in what I felt was a small way. Sharma was a big part of our having an amazing trip through India, and I wish him a lifetime of happiness.

BTW :: Challenge of Color

I am really excited to be joining Erin's Challenge of Color Blog Hop. Her theme is Earth as Art, and these are my photo inspiration. On the right is Guinea-Bissau and on the left is the Empty Quarter. Both are amazing ... I simply love the richness to the selections. 

I spent several hours playing with beads last night trying to get just the right color combinations to bring out the earthiness to these pallets. You can see my bead table in the center, and all the beads I'm pushing around as I play with beading patterns. If anyone has any obvious beady ideas please don't be shy and shout it out at me!

Brit Pack Beaders' Challenge :: Bath

When I saw the call from the Brit Pack Beaders over at Artisan Whimsy to create a piece of jewelry inspired from one of the 5 cities (Dorset, Edinburgh, Bath, Liverpool, Southampton, or the Isle of Wight) the team is from I had to jump in! Any one of these places would be fantastic to use as inspiration given all the history. You guys all know what a history nerd I am.

I knew immediately I'd pick Bath from this list as I am such a HUGE Jane Austen fan. I've read every book many times; to the point that I can quote passages. Oops .. did I say that out loud? 

While I love to see some of the characters come to life in the many movies made from her books, the books themselves do have a richness of story that is hard to get into cinema. But when it came to fashion inspiration, I admit I did turn to the movies to review the clothing, necklines, jewelry ... my favorite Jane Austen story is Persuasion, yes I own several versions of this movie. I hear you all laughing at me out there, but I'm not listening. This is her last novel, and I think her most mature character in Anne Elliot. I decided to take Anne Elliot as my inspiration, and her time spent in Bath attempting to be a part of the local social circle. Going to concerts, the pump house to drink the waters or a party at the home of one of the socialites. I just get lost in another time and place when I read Austen.

Ok, so for the research. Austen is always talking about ribbons. Who knew anyone could be so obsessed with them? They are tied around your waist, on a hat or used as a closure to a cape... just in case you have a spare cape lying around. 

There are also plenty of pearls used for jewelry, or is that jewellry for you Brits out there!  The look is simple but elegant. Most necklace lengths seemed to be right up at the collar bone, or as a choker. 

Right. So, I created a velvet pearl choker. You didn't see that coming I'm sure. The closure itself is the focal. It is a marcasite box clasp (one of my most favorite materials to use). I used black velvet with pearls as it made it dressy for a night out in society. 

I did make it reversible. In the back I used a much simpler pearl pattern so that it was more black than white. So depending on your mood you can go with a stack of pearls or a a more subtle focus with the black velvet. And if you wear your hair up; you get both!

For a compliment to the choker, I decided to create marcasite, pearl earrings. I've been playing around with beading vs wire wrapping lately. This pair is beaded with fireline. It made for a very delicate look to the earrings with micro Swarovski crystal dangles.


A quick shout out to one of the Brit Pack hosts: Pippa Chandler who is from the Bath area. The city of Bath was named by the Romans who built one of their famed spas in what was then called Britannia (or England). The one in England is the most reknown, but the Roman's loved their spas and there are others. I went looking, as you knew I would, and found them located in: Pompeii (Italy), Odesses (Bulgaria), Weißenburg (Germany), Manilva (Spain), St Paul's Bay (Malta), Caesarea (Israel). I've been to Bath (in England) several times and marveled at how they piped and heated the baths with natural thermal water. Yet another feat of engineering by the Romans. It is absolutely worth visiting. The central 'Great Bath' is stunning to see, and the museum is of course a favorite of mine. One thing I found so fascinating was the ancient graffiti that was translated. It made a piece of history feel so everyday.

Holiday Windows :: Blog Hop

I am desperately behind on updating my Etsy shop, but this hop by Jewel School Friends will hopefully push me to get motivated! So instead of hearing me whine about it all ... let's take a look at some of the others who have been setting up for the holidays!

I recently joined a group called the Blogging Business Artisans (BBA for short). What a lovely, sweet group of Etsy shops and bloggers! Many of them have already started posting holiday items, and so I thought we'd do a little window shopping through a few of them.

Let's start with decorations for the holidays: 

Edi from Memories for Life Scrapebooks creates the cutest pieces from wood. I just did a special order with her that she custom cut for me. More on that at a later date, but here is one of my favorite ornaments for the holidays. She does dog bones and kitty heads for the pet lovers out there.

Heather from iHartFelt has the sweetest little softies that can also be used as tree ornaments. What a great idea, and she has an assortment of characters you can choose from. I love these little owls, but she also has cute little bees.

Look at these lollipop ornaments from Pruitt Creations that also come in a DIY kit! Linda has thought of everything. I was always looking for a good Saturday afternoon project for my kids when they were younger (now I have to tear them away from the computer. sigh). But they would have LOVED a project like this one.

How about wrapping up the gifts: 

Jamie Poppy Hill Creations has some great custom, printable holiday images that would be such a fun project to do with kids. I love her snowmen and Christmas trees. 

Nancy at NFallon Design Studio has a collection of beautiful gift tags and cards. AND as a bonus they are 50% off at the moment! 

Just a couple of sweet items for the little ones:

Look at this infant hat with a snowman on it from Splendid Little Stars. When my girls were little like this I used to just love all the little holiday outfits.

How about a bib from LeAnn over at Pasque Flowers. I can't count how many bibs I went through with my two! Especially my older one who was such a drooler. I could always use another bib, and especially one that could stand up to many washings!

Or something for Mom:

What about these angels to wear for the holidays from Sharla at the Beaded Tail. I like the little copper angels in this pair of earrings. 

Does this scarf not look like fuzzy wonderful-ness on a cold day! Judy over at JNOriginals has this posted AND on sale. I love holiday sales!

Mudlarking :: The Ultimate in Upcycling

Many years back, my parent's cleared out the house I grew up in. There were all kinds of things in the house that reminded me of my childhood. Things that were sentimental to me, but not likely valuable. Doesn't matter, as I cherish them. 

The oil lamp shown here is something my parents displayed in one of the cabinets, but I really never knew much about it. They would pull it out and use it when we lost power. I had forgotten about the lamp until my husband and I were home helping my parents clean out the house, and making keep or toss piles. I tucked it into my pile of 'keepers.' 

When my family first moved to Astoria Oregon, the town I grew up in, we lived in an old Victorian place on the river. What I remember most about living by the river was the fog that would bring the bridges or the old pier pilings in and out of focus.

Astoria is the oldest settlement west of the Mississippi; at the end of the Lewis and Clark trail. So there are lots of relics from various periods of western history. My early memories of our house on the river were of the 4th floor with windows all the way around the upper floor (probably to watch the ships), and below the windows were small apothecary drawers where I hid all my treasures.

The oil lamp stayed in boxes for many, many years. Traveling from our San Francisco home to our Connecticut one. I pulled it out this year after being intrigued by a few of the British bloggers who do something called mudlarking. But what exactly is it? I had not heard this term until a few months ago. A mudlark is someone who scavenges in river mud for items of value. A term used especially to describe Londoners who scavenged along the banks of the Thames during low tide in the late 18th-19th centuries. Then I remembered the lamp I had been carrying around with me from coast to coast. My father had told me that this lamp had been found in the mud along the Columbia River. Ha ... My Dad the mudlarker!

So I set out on a mission to figure out what, and where this lamp might have come from. After researching it online I discovered that is was likely an Aladin lamp popular during the turn of the century. Further research told me that it was an Amethyst Lincoln Drape with a crowfoot base likely manufactured between 1941-1953. Ok, so maybe not as old as I thought it was, but still pretty cool. I'm a total geek for history.

I'm one of those people who loves the Antique Road Show. And the stories I love most are the ones where someone finds a priceless antique that they cleaned up with pledge. It just cracks me up. One lady found a museum piece... a Milanese helmet worth at least $250,000. The appraiser looked at her (after she confessed to use of pledge) and told her "this really should be in a museum." Man, that one had me rolling.

I would encourage you all to check out two of my favorite bloggers who mudlark. The first, Tania of Moonflygirl, makes the most beautiful jewelry from her finds. Look at these triple drop earrings she's done from pottery with what's called a Willow Pattern. I am always so amazed by how she sees just the right shard to work with. The other blog is simply called Mudlarking. In this second one Julia focuses on the history behind the pieces she finds. The one I am showing here is recent find that she's matched to the head dress Anne Boleyn likely wore. How cool is that? Ok, so my little town doesn't have the rich history that these two UK ladies have available along the Thames, but still it is fun to get out there and find a piece of history.

Thankful in India :: Electricity

This past weekend I was out to dinner at a local restaurant with my family and some friends of ours. It is a place we go to often not only because we like the food, but because it is a nice family run place. These guys on Saturday night were trying to run their business with power coming and going, back up generators kicking in, and some kind of an inverter hooked up to a truck engine in the parking lot. I give them so much credit for rolling with the situation. People all along the coast here are just trying to get their lives back to normal.

What was so weird for my husband and me was that the first time the lights went out, we both shot a glance at each other and instantly remembered our time in India. Specifically in Agra where the Taj Mahal is located. A truly amazing place to see, and somewhere I continually get inspiration from. 

I love the stone inlay, particularly all the carnelian. It's translucent look gives such a beautiful, warm feeling. 

India is a place where the old traditions and the modern world bump up against each other. In Agra you can see how population growth has affected the air quality. These pictures we took in Agra, while not the best, shows the Taj Mahal from a window in the Red Fort from across the river. You can see the haze in the air from the traditional use of 'cook fires,' which are open fires to cook your meals. At night there are not a lot of city lights, or street lights, and you can see the glow of cook fires way out into the distance.

When we went out to dinner we came across the sweetest little boy dancing in traditional dress while his father played a sort of part flute, part recorder. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of him, but a quick google search found pictures that really brought back that sweet look on his face as he danced. We headed into the restaurant that had bare light bulbs hanging from cords in a web from the ceiling. Just after we ordered, the lights went out. It was pitch black. I mean we held up our hands in front of faces and you could not see them. The lights didn't come back on for at least 3 minutes ... a very long 3 minutes when you're wondering what is going on. After the second or third time we lost electricity, we got into a rhythm and didn't let it slow us down the rest of the night.

So, as I continue my list of things we were thankful for while traveling in India, it includes electricity and the ability to see my husband's smiling face over our curry dinner, which by the way was out of this world.

Blog Hop :: Ears to You

A few weeks ago Amy Freeland over at CopperDiem organized a blog hop and asked a few of us to join her in making earrings to donate to Ears to You. 

The mission of this charity is to provide earrings to lift the spirits of women undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. Amy asked us all to make 3 to 5 pairs of earrings for donation. 

The founder of Ears to You is a women named Ruth (her story here) who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. She has 3 kids, and her youngest was then just 1 year old. I can't even image the heartache of a mother going through such a frightening situation, and looking down into the face of your children.  Ruth, however, decided that no matter what she was going through, she was going to stay positive. She lost her hair within a few days of her second chemotherapy treatment. It was at this point that she realized she wanted to feel and look as normal as possible. She didn't want to go through her day feeling like a cancer patient. That is when the idea of Ears to You came to her.

Ruth is doing great today, and she's put her efforts to helping other women going through chemotherapy to feel good about themselves. That's where this blog hop comes in. Our earrings will be donated to women currently undergoing chemotherapy.

I wanted to make some bold earrings, some fun earrings, earrings that might bring a smile. I've been trying a new style of beading on brass plates, which is what the first pair is. It's one of my favorites with a bit of a boho feel. There are whimsical starfish, an evil eye pair (another one of my favorites) to serve as protection--or so my Turkish friend tells me. I did a mix of earrings because not everyone likes the same colors, shape or style. So there are hoops, plates and dangles.

I've got just a little bit more to do tonight. I still need to finish up 2 of the pairs before I ship these out, but took a break to write this post. Hopefully this will give just a little bit of happiness to someone in need of a smile, or to just feel somewhat normal when your life feels upside down. Please check out all the other wonderful ladies who joined this hop.