Yin Yang: Soggy Weather

Just back from a lovely week in London and weekend in Brighton. It's a good thing that I like the rain.  I find it a guilt-free excuse to curl up by the fire with a book (or beads as is the case for me). 


I managed to snap this gorgeous picture at the beach; however, it proved to be simply a moment in time. We had just tucked in to a little beach cubby to grab a bite, and to shelter our lunch from the vulturous seagulls that dive bomb at sandwiches up and down the boardwalk. We were there less than 30 minutes when I noticed my friend start to scamper: packing up, grabbing her coat.  My view was still blue skies ahead, but I turned behind me and saw the wall of grey that was coming our way. Right. Duck and cover.


I spent most of my time in England dashing indoors out of the rain.  It went from rain, to pouring rain, to thunder and lightening to hail over the couple of days I was there.  Thank God for my husband who reminded me to slip an umbrella in the suitcase. Too bad the umbrella wasn't large enough to shelter the rolling suitcase as I dragged it through the streets of London!


I started my weekend by meeting an old friend in Victoria Station and heading down to her place in Brighton. That began our 24-hour whirlwind catch-up session.  We haven't seen each other in a year, and there was just so much to talk about. We did manage to get in a lot of shopping. Honestly, the rain gave us an excuse to shop. 



She brought me into COS a new shop that appears to be sweeping the nation in the UK.  I can see why.  Cute styles, great colors, nice fabric, reasonably priced ... we managed to try on half the store, and sit out yet another downpour.  By the time we emerged the sky was blue once again and we were off to the bead store to find colors that would bring out the blue in the dress she just picked up. 


We stopped in Kerrie Berrie beads and found the perfect combo of blues. She packed up enough for a necklace and earrings.
What fun to pick beads specifically for a new outfit.  I confess I've never done that before.  I finished up this matching pair of earrings and necklace yesterday. Off to the post to get these into the mail so she has her matching jewels for the new dress.


She sent me a note yesterday to tell me that the rain continues on her 'side of the pond.' I do find rain to be very yin-yang. It isn't as 'cozy' by the fire without the soft sound of rain outside, in my opinion.  When the dark skies of rain clear; the sky just never looks so blue. And every now and again you get a rainbow.  We did. Just as we emerged from Victoria station we caught a rare glimpse of a huge rainbow over London.  You can't have a rainbow without the rain. 

Flap Your Wings Blog Hop: Double Rainbow

A fellow blogger over at Moobie Grace Designs has organized this Blog Hop in honor of Judy who recently lost her battle with cancer. Many of us are planning to sell and donate our proceeds to charities. I will be donating the proceeds of this bracelet, and 4 more below, to breast cancer research.

When I was trying to decide what to create for Judy, the first thing that came to mind was a double rainbow. I decided to use a double pattern with multi-color Swarovski for that sparkle rain has on a rainbow. A double rainbow is thought to be about transformation in your life: the material world is represented by the first rainbow while the second is the spiritual world. No matter your beliefs, I thought this was a perfect way to honor Judy. 

I have been working on a collection of bracelets to donate with Lyne who creates these fabric buttons, and who donates a portion of her sales to breast cancer research. She too lost her mother to cancer, and this is her way of honoring her mother. 

Back in February, Lyne and I decided to create a series of bracelets with her buttons. This is the 5th and final bracelet in our collection. I wanted to do something to honor my mom (read here for our first blog post) who I lost in March 2011 when she lost her battle with PSP (progressive supranuclear palsy). Death always seems to be about the people you leave behind. I hope this tribute is heart warming to Judy's family.    
Materials:
1. Navajo: Miyuki seed beads, Beauty button
2. Elizabethan: black banded agate, onyx, Miyuki seed beads, Beauty Button
3. St Petersburg: Miyuki seed beads, Czech beads, Beauty Button
4. Neptune: coral, Miyuki seed beads, cowrie shells, Beauty Button 
5. Double Rainbow: Miyuki seed beads, Swaroviski crystals, Beauty Button

Beader's Block: Double Connection

One of my friends asked if she could bring someone over to meet me, and have a run through my jewelry designs. Apparently she had seen my work on Etsy and wanted to meet me. Wow. Sure! 


Her friend had a string of watermelon tourmaline already strung with the stones grouped by color. 'This is how I want the colors' she informed me. Well ok then. I guess she knows what she wants! Tourmaline is one of my favorite stones. I love how it looks (right) like a real slice of watermelon.  She wanted a necklace with a connector large enough to hang her glasses from, but also a second connector she could use if she wanted to doubled it up. That was a new one for me, and I really wasn't sure how I was going to do that?    

I pulled out a pile of my beading magazines to flip through. I stuffed a couple in my bag to study on my daily 1-hr train ride. I went searching online, but nothing was calling out to me.  I decided to put the project away. Several weeks went by before it hit me. Actually as silly as it sounds, it came to me in a dream. Yes I dream about beads. 

I realized that I wanted a pattern that could loop through from one connector to the next. I decided that my existing toggles, loops, connectors, etc ... just were not going to be what she was looking for. Sigh.
I decided to create my own out of hammered silver. I cut a few inches of 16 gauge silver and pulled out my Wiggig.  Love that thing.  Before I picked up this little device I was forever hunting through the house for a tube or pen that I could bend the wire around.  My designs always came out a little too 'free form' (yes the air quotes indicate the amateurish outcome). But now with my Wiggig I love to create silver charms. With just a couple of whacks with a chasing hammer, charms become a simple and fun way to customize a pattern.  She did really like the design, and the pattern gave her the versatility she was looking for. This time she showed up with another bag, and so I'm on to my next project for her. 

Blog Hop: Postcard Giveaway

Janice over at Bikbik and Roro is having a spectacular give away.  She is giving away postcards that you can use for your blog, your business ... and I guess if you just like sending postcards! All it takes is to leave your name and a comment on her blog. 

The specifics include:
1. PrintRunner provides one lucky reader 100 5x7 postcards!
2. Just click here to check it out and your chance to win.

Superstition: Maori and Paua Shells

Maori are a superstitious bunch. A warrior culture, where losing in battle was pretty rough. For those that didn't run off in shame, they were usually killed by the enemy. Not hard to understand why winning was all important. Several rituals were performed before a battle including abstinence, eating certain foods and a haka (dance). The haka included waving weapons around, sticking out tongues, bulging out eyes and grunting. 


They were practicing scaring the enemy.  If the haka wasn't performed correctly it was seen as a bad omen... which clearly had consequences. The afterlife crowd also kept a close eye on them. Carvings around the village included paua shells as eyes (to represent the stars); symbolic for the eyes of their ancestors that gaze down from the night sky. 

There was no shortage of paua shell. Paua is New Zealand's version of abalone but with deeper, richer colors. It came in all shapes and sizes. I found it in bead stores, jewelry stores, souvenier shops ... and well pretty much everywhere we went. So I had to pick up some and bring it home. I really like the organic look of these natual chips. I saw them in the bead stores, but they were all undrilled. Undrilled? Really ... in the bead stores? I asked why and was told "you pick what you like and we drill them for you" (of course for a charge). Since I was only visiting, it didn't seem like the most expediant process. I ended up finding it -drilled- in New Zealand's equivalent to Michael's. Much more sensible for the traveler. The earrings (right) use a twist connector that make them look a bit like one of those twirly things my mom liked to hang in the wind.  Since I was visiting my sister on the first anniversary of my Mom's passing ... this one's for you Mom. It will help you keep an eye on me.