The Missing Egg

I guess I sent people on an egg hunt today, quite unintentionally. 

I know you all know that my day job gets in the way of my bloggy life, so I don't usually remind everyone. But this is an instance where it was more apparent than usual. 

I did the blog post last weekend before taking off on yet another week on the road. I scheduled it to post today, but completely forgot that I meant to get a picture of the hand-painted egg up on my Pinterest board. Doh!

I meant to. Honestly. It just got pushed to the bottom of the 'to do' list. 

So if you are just reading this post and have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about? Read the previous post (and perhaps a few comments from 'egg hunters'). And if you were looking for it? Well, here it is. Or it is over here, on Pinterest.

People Watching, Dogs, Bikes and Street Musicians

Fussen, Germany Boy in Lederhosen

Fussen, Germany Medieval Band

Nothing like getting out on foot to explore a city. Central Europe with its old medieval town squares is a perfect place to do just that. Along with some fantastic people watching, a little dog watching and plenty of street performers to throw in a little ambiance. 

One of my favorite pictures from our trip was this one of a young boy fully decked out in Lederhosen complete with suspenders. The pants are long, heavy leather (not the traditional shorts). You can see by how he stands that he was feeling quite proud of his outfit. I love how Dad is left holding the pack back because it just didn't go with the assemble. 

Fussen, German Bike Scene

So what was the boy and the rest of the crowd so intensely watching? Why a German medieval band of course. They were really rocking out with a very rhythmic beat getting lots of people in the crowd clapping along. In every city we walked there was music. Whether traditional, medieval, classical or otherwise. It was lively and festive and I so enjoyed it as we explored the streets of Europe. 

Accordion Player in Fussen

Notice all the bikes piled up there off to the side of the band? That was a curiosity as well. It would seem that Germans really, really (I could probably throw in another 'really' here) like their bikes. We saw groups on bikes, families on bikes, vacationers on bikes and well pretty much everyone seemed to have them packed on top or in back of their cars. I suppose with all the narrow streets it probably makes sense. 

Harp Player in Bratislava, Slovakia

At one point in our trip we were traveling from the Rhine River Valley up through a pass to the other side to the Moselle Valley on our way to Castle Burg Eltz (blog post on Burg Eltz). As we were cresting the pass and coming down into the Mosselle Valley an older German man was biking toward us and promptly jumped off his bike and starting to wave his hands at us up over his head. A universal sign for STOP. Which we did. Only to find out that he spoke only German, understandably since we were in fact in Germany. But he was speaking quickly and very loudly. Apparently he believed if he increased the volume it would help us understand him better. It didn't. After roughly 15 minutes of this we decided to roll up the window and continue on. As we started the steep decline into the Moselle Valley we realized that the road was completely washed out. Oh! That is what he was screaming about. However the road had narrowed to slightly more than a single lane of switchbacks with absolutely no shoulder to speak of. That makes for an impossible situation to 'K Turn' to head back the way we came. So what do you do? We put it into low drive and slowly, slowly back your way up through switchbacks backwards. The look of satisfaction on the German man's face as we passed him again spoke volumes.

Violins in Vienna, Austria

Fussen, Germany Dog Scene

We thought we were being very smart to bring our own GPS with us to Europe downloaded ahead of time with all the local maps. And it was incredibly helpful to have directions given to us (in English) along our drive. But it failed us when it came to all the local construction on the German roads. We lost several hours on this back tracking, but it was a beautiful place to get stuck!

One other thing we noticed was that dogs are very prevalent everywhere we went. People bring them out to pubs, to walk the city even in to restaurants. We would see waiters slip water bowls under the table for the dog curled up at the owners feet. That is one thing we always found difficult traveling around the US is that it is very hard to bring your loved dog with you on a family vacation. Not the case in Europe!

Shop Talk: What Exactly is Boho?

I took the advice of several of you and added both a charm and a little bit of silver chain. This is the final version of the Boho Southwestern bracelet. I also made a second version with contrasting black jasper in a twist pattern and a longer slide clasp. I couldn't decide if this second bracelet was really Boho, and so I decided to check out the definition of Boho.











Got to love Wikipedia. I always get a lengthy explanation to my questions. The search for Boho led me to a definition of Bohemian and "people who live unconventional, usually artistic lives." Hmm, well that could mean a lot of things. Wikipedia calls the fashion trend inspired by Bohemian lifestyles as 'Boho Chic' where "ruffly floral skirts are worn in hopes of looking bohemian or nomadic." The definition also says that it is inspired from gypsy girls who are "sexy precisely because they do not give a hoot for fashion." I love this last part. 


I thought I'd cross reference this definition with one from the Urban Dictionary. Here they call it vintage. I find the use of vintage all over the map, which I wrote about a few blogs back. This definition says Boho Chic combines "colorful, detailed, folk-inspired pieces with simple, modern pieces." They give an example of "wearing a beaded peasant dress with a white tanktop." A popular look in my part of the world. They claim it was started by "Sienna Miller in 2005 who wore bohemian-style clothing to a movie premiere in London." My favorite part of this definition is that they claim the style will be dead by 2007. Really? It's dead?


What do you think .... is Boho dead?

Lost in Translation: Souvenirs That Should Be Left Behind

There are always those things you buy while on vacation that look amazing in the moment, but should have never made it through customs. Easter in Madrid is full of such things.  The city is festive. There are parades, street shows -- especially in Plaza Mayor, there are priests in full get up holding services that have been booked well in advance, street cafes are packed, the parks are full of people strolling in the sun, and souvenirs everywhere you look.

Walking along the Gran Via (main street) in Madrid, my daughters and I stopped short at a window.  We stood stunned by this dress (left) of feathers for several moments wondering exactly what occasion you would pull this out of the closet and say "perfect! exactly what I was looking for?" 

We did, however manage to pack plenty of other unnecessary souvenirs into the suitcases ... two traditional fans, a few Madrid pens, a key chain and the obligatory snow globes (thankfully security will no longer allow them as carry on - and no one in their right mind would stuff them in a suitcase ... only to open it on the other end with a burst of glitter everywhere). I picked up a shoulder bag with Mardrid written all over it because nothing says 'world traveler' better then one of these. Yes I did buy it, and yes I'm as geeky as everyone else when I travel.  

I did manage to dissuade my daughters from the puppets they wanted to buy.  We saw a popular and wonderful puppet show in the Parque del Retiro (Madrid's central park). The girls were mesmerized and had to stay for several of the shows. Afterwards (when I could pursued them to step away from the puppets) they kept asking for one of their own.  I could just picture myself with these over-sized puppets in my carry on.  Thankfully, their attention span is fairly short, and this dire need for a puppet lasted only 30 minutes.


So what should you bring back from Madrid?  Well for me, of course, I was looking for the local flare in jewelry.  That I found on a side excursion to Toledo.  A gorgeous old city on a hill side that sits as a majestic castle.  It's known for its steel making (swords, knives and other armor).  But also for a style called Damascene, which is the art of inlaying steel with gold or silver metals.  This stuff was everywhere, and I could not get enough of it!

The procedure includes covering the surface of an object with fine grooves by using sharp cutting tools. Patterns are drawn on the scored surfaces, and gold wires are pressed into these grooves with a steel punch and hammer.  At that point the whole item is blued to produce a black background by a total oxidation of the surfaces which are not damasked. Finally a delicate process of chipping gives a sheen to the object.  The process dates back to the middle ages and became popular in 15th century Europe. Toledo, Spain is the largest producer of Damascene today.  

I bought several pieces of Damascene including several pairs of earrings, a bracelet and a beautiful little pill box. As always with the things I pick up, I take them apart once I'm home.  The pair (left) I re-set on a slender earwire so the hoop has a nice little swing to them when you wear them.

I could have left most of the souvenirs behind, except for the Damascene.  I am so glad these pieces ended up in my carry on.

Lost in Translation: What is Vintage?

Last summer I wandered into a local "vintage" store to check out the styles and what type of jewelry they might carry. I had a lead from a friend that the owner might consider selling some of my designs. I left a few samples and came back a few weeks later. She had sold a piece or two and asked if I'd consider designing a line for the holidays. Would I! Yes!


So I got to work on a vintage line. Let me ask you, when you think about vintage what comes to mind? For me (and jewelry) I think of Art Deco, Art Nouveau, or simply the 1940s-50s. 
I decided to use marcasite as a main element as it was very common during WWII. Diamonds were being used in military manufacturing.  Not only is a diamond the hardest substance known, it also has the highest thermal conductivity; tremendous heat can pass through it without causing damage. So women gave up their diamonds and started wearing marcasite because it gave a similar diamond sparkle. I also used colors that I thought represented a vintage look such as olive green (jade), cocoa brown (smoky quartz), eggshell white (pearls) and black (onyx).  I used large focals on the necklaces, and plenty of dangle on the earrings.

When I returned with samples her response was "my clientele is really more 60s, do you have anything more like this?" as she pointed to a 'groovy' multi-strand, beaded get up .... wow, didn't see that coming.  Especially when you look at how she positions her store called Vintage Virtuosa.  We agreed that she would look through my Etsy site and give me a call with items she wanted me to bring in.  She never called.  No surprise there.


So my question is ... what is vintage?  I looked it up and the best I got was from wikipedia. Vintage (for clothing) usually refers to 1920s up to 1960 and has been worn by someone. Retro are those items made to imitate a previous style. So while I feel I was right with my understanding of the word vintage ... it didn't really help in delivering a sale with this store owner. Sigh.  


Materials
Bracelet (top): marcasite slide clasp, Miyuki seed beads
Earrings: marcasite triple connector, onyx, silver chain, silver leverbacks
Necklace (left): jade, hematite, marcasite, emerald quartz, vintage loop toggle
Bracelet (center): onyx, pearls, chalcedony, silver spacers, pearl slide clasp
Necklace (right): smoky quartz, tiny pearl chip spacers, Chinese enamel, vermeil toggle

Lost in Translation: The Bam-Bam Necklace

I'm in love with this stone -- it's called African Opal.  I saw it for the first time just before Christmas and it's been love ever since.  I used it in several bracelets:  one with goldstone, which bring out the rusty color veining.  And one with hematite, which pulls out the cool blues.  I also made a necklace 'straight up' with no accent beads because it is just such an interesting stone! Clearly, I'm in love. The funny thing is, I was looking for replacement beads for a necklace that I had re-strung for a friend at work.  As is typical with most of my projects for friends ... it all starts with a ziplock bag.

In this case a very large one with extra-strength reinforcement.  The beads she handed me were the heaviest 'suckers' I've EVER worked with.  They were some sort of recreation of a lava bead (below left), but could not be real as the paint on the beads kept flaking off in my hands as I re-strung them.  The color looked like poop ... somewhere north of brown, somewhere south of green.  Why on God's green earth someone thought a multi-strand necklace with these beads was a good idea is beyond me.

A bit of background.  My friend found the necklace while traveling through Spain and thought it was amazing (her words, not mine) and was so upset when the necklace collapsed in her lap in the back of speeding NY taxi.  Clearly the necklace had sentimental value as nothing else could explain why she would want someone to repair it. Thus, the beads were loose in the bag when she handed it to me. And so, to add a little excitement to the project I had to try to figure out what the original pattern looked like.

It seemed simple enough .... 2 strands, graduated, large bead connector ... bada bing, bada boom and that should do it. I began stringing it the following Saturday morning, and was still at it late Sunday. The f'ing beads kept pulling down on the wire and pulling apart the necklace. I don't usually swear, but these beads were a real pain in the behind. 
The beads have crevices which catch the wire and before you know it you've got gaps in the pattern. (insert swear word)  I strung the necklace at least 4 times before I could get the right wire gauge as it kept snapping from the weight of the beads. I finally doubled up the wire and then used clamps to hold the pattern in place so I could try to add the clasp. The beads shifted and I ended up with bare wire the width of about 3 fingers. (insert swear word) 

Sometimes design goes wrong, horribly wrong.  You know what I mean.  We've all had that idea for a project that was going to be big, bold and such a statement.  Yet the statement it makes is OMG take that off! It looks like Phyllis Diller dressed you.  Raise your hand fellow design friends.  I know it’s happened.  It's happens to all of us at least once.

We started to call it the "Bam-Bam" necklace.  Due to its general boulder-like appearance, color and well... you could just see Bam-Bam from the Flintstones pounding it on the floor and swinging it from side to side.  I'm not usually so dramatic, but I've never worked with heavier beads, and then the fact that this was a multi-strand necklace - just kill me now!

So what happened next is the most baffling part of this story.  I finally finished the necklace.  Hauled it into the office (insert swear word) and handed it back to my friend. She was thrilled (clearly sentimental).  She set the bag on the floor next to her purse, and I thought that was the end of it.  The next morning she popped up right next to my desk with a 'deer in the headlights' look.  She asked "you didn't take back the necklace did you? to do a little more work on it?"  ... God no (was what I was thinking), but said "um no, why?"  Apparently someone had stolen it.  Are you f'ing kidding me?!  The worlds ugliest necklace goes missing?  I can't tell you how many projects I've brought into the office.  This is the ONLY one that has been stolen. 

So perhaps you're asking what happened to the beautiful African Opal I was talking about?  Well I did feel bad.  She did really like that necklace.  I decided to surprise her by stringing a new necklace, but this time I was in charge of the beads.  

This is when I discovered the African Opal.  I might have walked right past it because large beads are not really my style.  But I needed to find something that was similar (at least in size) to the stolen necklace. I was looking for large beads (her's were the size of gumballs) and I wanted natural looking stones (preferably not the color of poop).  I settled on the opals and I'm so glad I did as I have found this to be a beautiful stone and changes depending on what you pair with it. The final design of this necklace is simple, and one that has grown on me. 

When I saw the African opal stone I knew I had found the replacement beads.  I brought it in to her and she just kept saying how beautiful it was.  I asked her to please tuck it in a safe drawer! I ended up loving the African opal so much, that I made a bracelet for myself and another one for my sister-in-law. One with sandstone (above right) for her, and one with hematite for me. They are quite different, but I love them both. And I pray I never see 'Bam Bam' stones again in my lifetime.