Soothing the Soul

This piece speaks to me on so many levels. It combines a Native American look and feel with a traveler's compass. That embodies so many of the things I love. 

The first magnetic compass was invented around 200 BC during the Chinese Han Dynasty, but not really used in its traditional navigational sense until the 11th century by the Song Dynasty. Amazing just how long ago this was invented and how advanced the civilizations that used it must have been.

The last time I took some time away to bead for the weekend with Christine, she asked if we could practice fringe. Ah fringe, how I love it. I had with me two of these leather compass focals that Melinda Orr had made. I punched several holes in both of them and we got to work. One of the many things I love about beading with Christine is that we can sit, and bead, and just be. We can talk non-stop for hours, and then we can sit quietly and bead. Both are important, and both soothe the soul.

This piece actually hangs long, not quite at waist level. And when I wear it it swings and gives a bit of a musical sound with all those brass feathers. I don't keep many of the items that I make, but this one just might make the cut. 

In Memoriam :: Carrie Fisher

This is a blog post from 3 years ago that I'm reposting. I think Carrie would have enjoyed this one given her sense of humor. If you want a good laugh check out a recent interview with her and her dog Gary.

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Christine's Rolling Blog Hop is, well... hopp'n! I posted two of my spools 2 weeks ago, and I was waiting for a lull to post my third spool reveal. But looks like I'm going to need to squeeze back in.

The posts are just roll'n in, and we've seen some fantastic designs! I have all the links to everyone's reveals so far at the end of this post so you can check them all out.    

For my third design, I was working with this large, more irregular shaped spool. I did struggle just a bit with it trying to figure out what direction I wanted the design of the spool to be until I remembered an image I saw of a young Native American girl. She had beautiful dark hair tied up on either side in what is called a "Squash Blossom" style. The hairstyle is a Hopi custom which represents the sign of a girl's marriageability. The young girl will twist her hair in the shape of squash blossoms, which is the sign of fertility for an unmarried girl in the tribe. 

I wanted natural colors and fibers in this piece, so I used a linen colored silk from Darn Good Yarn, a mix of seed beads, Czech beads and howlite. I am loving this howlite stone with native designs. It has subtle tan-cream veining throughout the stone, which gives it a natural look. I also stained the spool so it had a deep color. The focal is long (6 inches!) and has a good weight to it. I envision it being worn waist length.

Ok, I know this is an irreverent move on my part, but once I started putting this blog post together I simply could not get an image out of my head. Is it just me? or do those squash blossom twists remind you of Princess Leia in Star Wars... I always thought of her hair as more of a Danish pastry swirl, but maybe that is just the recollection from the Ross and Rachel scene in Friends. Once I started googling images, both the Native American girl and Princess Leia kept coming up together. It was all over for me; the image stuck. The one I can't get out of my head is Nicolas Cage dressed like Princess Leia ... that is one that cannot be unseen... Gah!

We're almost through the rolling blog hop! Check out all the links and projects already revealed. Our host: Christine (Christine's post), and all the rest of the rolling bloggers: 
Janet (Janet's post), Hope (Hope's post), Bobbie (Bobbie's post), Tanya (Tanya's post), Maryanne (Maryanne's post), Cynthia (my first post), Liz (Liz's post), Lisa (Lisa's post), Kim (Kim's post), and the bloggers still to post: Therese (Therese's post), Karin (Karin's post) and Erin (Erin's post)

Stone Cabochon Series :: #8

The one thing about blogging that I always find so interesting is that it keeps me curious, and pushes me to learn something new. And so it goes with this stone. This is a banded calcite stone that I purchased from Hampton Rock Shop. I love the stripes in this piece; it reminds me of the rock formations in Monument Valley. 

When I did a little background on calcite I found out that this type of stone forms in a globular shape from a precipice where calcium-rich water is flowing. Such as inside a cavern or off a limestone cliff. Some people classify these as just 'rocks' because of the impurities that tend to get trapped in the stone such as leaves, twigs and moss. Just rocks. Well I find the impurities the most interesting part of the 'rock' design. Impurities are what make life more interesting.

Along the Saugatuck

Saugatuck River at Westport, CT

Kate and I have been working our way through photographing my growing pile of jewelry. We took a stroll down by the Saugatuck River near the downtown area of our little New England town. There is a wonderful wooden walk way that runs out into the tall grass that grows in the upper marshes of the river. 

It was a gorgeous day, and perfect to get our photography started. I still have quite a lot to photograph, but at least we're putting a dent in it!









This photo of Kate features a piece I've already shown on the blog back in April. It's a simple long, boho necklace with a bit of leather fringe. I do so love fringe in jewelry.

Through the winter I was trying to get my mojo back and started out slowly with some classic beading stitches that just felt good in my hands. I had swatches of beaded patterns all over the place with no clasps or closure. Yes, you can read closure anyway you like here. But sometime in the late spring my mojo sheepishly arrived and I started completing one piece after another. The simplicity of the patterns and closure to the project felt good. 

But my blogging muse was still on vacation somewhere North of the border. As you can see I've got posts stacked up and rolling out at this point. Perhaps my blogging partner has also decided to arrive; even if a bit late to the party.

Mojo :: On Vacation

I know a lot of us out there in beadland have been suffering from a loss of mojo. Not exactly sure where it went but there appears to be a large group of mojo off on vacation touring somewhere without us.

I've started beading again. It comes in bursts with gullies of nothingness in between. At least it is a start. 

I decided that if I could just weave some patterns my hands know perhaps I could find some rhythm again. The funny thing is that the first stitch I turned to was herringbone. I can hear Christine giggling as I say this. It is so unlike me as it usually is my least favorite. Perhaps an unconscious sabotage attempt? Luckily it didn't stop me, and I moved on to other stitches. 

The piece here is a chenille rope with soft creams and copper. I wanted to highlight the jasper focal with similar flecks of colors. I do love the earthiness of the stone and the inclusions are always my favorite. They make the pattern interesting, just like the bits and pieces in life. Life would be dull indeed if everything were simply smooth. 

The Fallen Sky Stone

The Navajo believed that turquoise was a piece of the sky that had fallen to the earth and called it Fallen Sky Stone. It was believed to be a great healing stone. I could use some healing powers this weekend.

The memorial for our friend was on Friday, and there were many tears shed by the people who loved him. From the friends, family and his children who he leaves behind. I wish he could have been there to see how much he was loved.

The weather at the moment looks as I feel. Cold, rainy and grey. Usually I enjoy the rain. It is that Pacific Northwest in me that needs the rain to refresh. It makes me want to sit by the fire and go deep into my own thoughts. I believe that is where I am this weekend. 

The Native American legend celebrates the relief felt when the rains came. Water was the symbol of life.  When the rain began the people would dance and rejoice with tears streaming down their faces. The rain and their tears would mix and seep into Mother Earth to become Sky Stone. A beautiful way to symbolize the cycle of life. There are just moments along the journey that are more difficult than others. And so I may walk in the rain today just to feel it on my face.

Ancient Stones :: Turquoise

One of my favorite stones of all time has to be turquoise. The veining in it is like a heartbeat frozen in time. I love the idea that this stone has been held in the hands of so many people and cultures through the ages. Mined, carved and adorned. It is a rock of rugged beauty.

It is rare to find stones naturally colored blue, and likely even more rare in ancient times without 'man-made,' synthetic stones. From across the globe people have treasured its blue color thought to represent the heavens to the ancient Persian, fertility, good luck and protection against evil to the Egyptians. 

In the Americas it had great healing powers and brought prosperity. Which is why the Aztecs offered it to the Gods and the Anasazi (known as the "Ancient Ones" and the ancestors of the modern Pueblo) used the stone to treat the sick. They believed it could prevent accidental injury, prevent blindness or ease stomach pains. The shaman would grind the stone and have the person ingest it to heal the stomach. Truly, turquoise has such a storied history.  

Persia (Iran) is known for the purity of its turquoise. Some describe a bright blue turquoise as "Persian blue" based on the prized high quality of stone. 

I actually prefer the American version of this stone. Full of inclusions, deposits and other minerals like iron which can infuse a green hue to the stone, or copper which gives it a blue color. Deposits from its host stone show up like a spiderweb of brown or black that stone cutters refer to as its matrix. Green turquoise and heavy matrix are less valuable, but I love to see the patterns in the stone. Today, the American Southwest produces some of the world's best turquoise, with Arizona and Nevada supporting more than 120 active mines. People who know turquoise can often tell which specific mine the stone came from, such as the Sleeping Beauty Mine which is known for its light blue turquoise without matrix. It is some of the most sought after (and most expensive) turquoise in the world.

My design is influence by the Mayan calendar which is comprised of two interlocking calendars working simultaneously: the Haab (civil) and the Tzolkin (sacred). The calendars work like a continuous churn of gears in a machine, and represent life as one eternal cycle. While the Mayans did predict centuries into the future, they did not see an end. That's the funny thing with the western interpretation that the Mayan calendar predicted the end of the world. That would have been a foreign concept to them. The turquoise in my design is actually a flaw as the Mayan did not allow anyone to wear it and reserved it as an offering to the gods. I just liked how the copper focal brought out the veining in the turquoise. C'est la vie. Sometimes the flaws in life are more interesting.

Simple Boho

I like the simplicity of this boho bracelet. A piece for wearing every day with a favorite pair of jeans.

But sometimes the simple ones are the hardest. I struggled with this one at first as the beads were so uncooperative. They kept sliding back to the closure, and as much as I like the little buckle closure it just wasn't what I was going for. Then I realized that I could use a spacer to 'crimp' the beads and contain them to a focal area. Oh and that did it! I sent this piece on its way with my sister for one of her close friends back home. I hope she enjoys it.

Stone Cabochon Series :: #4

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

Years ago, before we had our kids, my husband and I took a road trip through the Southwestern US. What a gorgeous corner of the world, and something that continues to influence me when I sit down to create jewelry. 

The red rocks and painted desert of the area are breathtaking and remain carved into my memory along with our hike down into the grand canyon as we watched a thunder storm erupt along the opposite rim. Mother Nature's light show was spectacular.

I will absolutely never tire of the bold, but simple colors and geometric shapes from local artisans. I am inspired by the Southwestern Native American tribes of the region with Navajo, Zuni and Hopi being personal favorites. If you have time to browse, check out my Pinterest board for some of the regions beautiful inspiration.

This set of red stone cabochons gifted to me from Melinda Orr were two of the first I paired together for this series. While they are not of the same stone, they seem to depict the shifts and changes of the rock layers throughout the region. It is one of the memorable things about visiting the Southwest. I love how you can see the the layers of sediment exposed to the elements over the millennium; a rich history you can study as you hike these magnificent natural wonders. You can see more inspiration on my South by Southwest Pinterest board.

Each one of these paired cabochons has taken on its own personality, and this one seemed to need a brass chain to draw out the flecks in the sandstone. As I think about it, the first time I ever saw sandstone was in the small market as you enter Monument Valley. The cluster of vendor stalls were full of local craftsmen selling items in the traditional native Southwestern styles, including pottery, blankets, clothing, bags or jewelry. I've been in love with the stone ever since and it continues to reminds me of our trek through this region each time I pull it out to create.

A Time to Stitch VI :: Beading with Graphs

Today Therese and Christine are hosting the next installment of their popular bead weaving hop A Time To Stitch. This time the theme is to use a graph to bead our projects. And Amy, from Amybeads, graciously offered up graph patterns for us to use for this hop. Quick shout out to the charity Bead-it-Forward Quilt that Amy chairs for breast cancer research. These little 2x2 beaded squares come together in quilts sold to raise the money for the charity. 

Ok, so I picked one of Amy's patterns (the bull) to bead up my 2x2 square but things did not go as planned. Yes I did bead something resembling the Bull, but no it is not 2x2. I even tried this baby twice, and both times it is not quite right. 

The first version uses size 10 delicas, which Christine and I found out from Amy are a rare and not often found delica size. Amy (an avid 2x2 square beader) said she'd never heard of size 10 delicas. Christine then fessed up saying she bought her's from a now closed local bead store. I found mine at an off-the-beaten track bead store in Manhattan, but I think they mislabeled some of them. Why might you ask do I know this? Well, you'll note that my so-called 'squares' are wonky, caused by slightly mismatched bead sizes. Heavy sigh.

The first one, I was going for a subtle pattern (pink on gun metal grey), which you'll see doesn't show up well. And is also too small for the Bead-it-Forward Quilt. I was trying to create a 2x2 to send, so I specifically asked at the bead store for the right size delicas. But you can see the tan/ bronze 'square' is also not so square. 

I gave up at this point, and moved on. I decided that a I'd use a recent Ombre cuff I made as inspiration. I wanted that Southwestern look only with leather this time. I was thinking rustic, but just could not decide on the closure. I went back and forth a few times thinking I might include snaps. But in the end went with a fiber/ button closure on the back to give it that ranch, lasso rope feel.

I'm going on record to say I tried beading graphs, but graphs did not like me much. Amy how do you do this? Seriously. I think I'm just a bit too 'freeform' in the way I bead. I also cannot paint by numbers, at least the colors never match up because I follow what's in my mind's eye - never the instructions. Perhaps that's why I could never seriously consider carrying out forgery, well that and the lack of artistic talent for painting. Yeah, I'm sticking with that answer.

Thank you Christine and Therese for constantly pushing me to try new techniques, stitches and styles. I love this challenge and can't wait for the next installment. Bring it on! Be sure to check out all the other artists participating today: our hosts (Therese and Christine), Samantha, Karin, Wendy, Dagi, Lola, Paula, Karin G, Becky, Ana, Alenka, Debbie, Nelly May, LiliKrist, Sally, Maryanne, Kim and Amy.

Ombre :: Hombre

So when did ombre become such a big thing? I hadn't realized it was until my daughters were asking for clothes that were 'ombre.' I wasn't sure what it was exactly that they were asking until they explained "you know mom, it's graduated colors." As if everyone knows that. And yes, my 12-year-old used 'graduated colors' in her definition. 

But see that's the thing. I never thought of ombre having to do with color. The word always reminded me of those old Westerns. The ones with a poncho-wearing Clint Eastwood that would talk through his cigar; saying just a handful of words as he squinted at the sun.

I figured that I just must have had the definition mixed up. But when I went looking for the meaning of ombre, I found several. The classic Spanish (hombre) for 'man.'  Ok, there's my Clint Eastwood reference. But there is also another that dates back to Spain (16th Century) for a card game like the game of Whist.

So how did this definition become known in the fashion world for the graduation of color tones? Apparently that definition comes from the French for 'shade' ... which was then applied to clothes, hair or even art when using graduated colors.

I didn't even think of it as something people do to their hair until the last season of The Voice. When I saw Gwen Stefani's hair I realized that this was a style I was seeing at the office. I had noticed girls were darkening their roots leaving highlights on the ends. At first I thought it was just a messed up dye job, but then saw too many people with the same style to think it was a mistake. A quick google told me that I was simply out of date and not up on my fashion jargon for the ever popular 'ombre hair.'

So I'm not ready to be doing any 'ombre' to my hair, but I kinda like the look for beading. So I did a bit of simple peyote and just changed up the colors as I went. Then I beaded it into a strip of old jeans. I did a straight cut and wore it for a couple of days as I wanted it to fray just like we used to do in high school when we thought it was cool to have that worn in look. Yeah, I might be out of style, but if I wait long enough it comes back.

Stones :: Beadweaving with Jasper

A jasper focal I had kicking around in my stash for the last year is one that I've been wanting to use, but kept getting distracted with other projects. 

But this focal was calling me, and I've been dreaming about what I'd do with it. I just love it's Southwestern vibe.

I decided that what I really wanted was a necklace that could stand up to the size and substance of that focal. So I pulled out some howlite rounds. The color of sand. Perfect. Substantial, but not too colorful to overwhelm the jasper.

Next I pulled out accent beads in gold that I think brings out the veining in the howlite, and the flecks in the jasper. I really just love the banding in the top half of the focal.

But, what to do? Simple stringing? Multiple strands, or graduated? I just didn't think the focal would hang right. Then it hit me. A classic right angle weave alternating the large howlite with the seed beads. This would give a nice, substantial band for the necklace. 

The pattern was a little lose with the size of the howlite, so I decided to come back through to both tighten it up and add one more row of the gold seed beads that creates beautiful little squares between the larger beads. I had not planned that, but I love how it turned out.

I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out. And absolutely love how it lays when you wear it. I might have to try this pattern again with a different set of colors and stones.

Stones: Wild Horse Jasper

I see quite a few of you are as excited about jasper as I am. There really is such a range! This pair I'm showing today was a variety I had never heard of until last summer. I don't know about you guys, but just the name alone (Wild Horse Jasper) makes me think of horses running through the fields.

But when you look at the colors in the raw stone, not to mention the flow of its patterns, it brings images of cave paintings. At least to me. I know, I know, I've been told I have a crazy imagination. Of course I couldn't help but look it up (a quick google search got me lots of cave horses!) and found the perfect example from caves in Lascaux, France. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac in Southwestern France which is famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings.

And then while I was looking at the name origins I noticed it also seemed to be French, or Old French (jaspre) meaning spotted or speckled stone. Hmm, wondering what the French Connection is here? Regardless, really loving this new discovery for me. I paired my Wild Horse Jasper with matte onyx rondelles and used a Southwestern silver earwire. You knew it had to be Southwestern with all those wild horses didn't you?

Stones: Laguna Lace Jasper

Jasper has a wide and wild variety of patterns, and has been valued as far back as the ancient world. It's mentioned in writings in multiple languages: Arabic, Latin, Persian, Hebrew, Greek, Assyrian. 

One of my favorite jaspers is the picture variety which will have banding formed by the flow and deposit of water and wind. The stones can have stunning patterns appearing to be scenes or images. 

The stones I'm showing here are a soft lace jasper with white and grey bands called Laguna Lace which is known for it's tight banding. It is mined on several sites in the mountains of Chihuahua, Mexico.  They paired perfectly with some hematite rondelles and a Southwestern, silver post earring.

While these stones are mined all over the world, the Mexican varieties are really most striking. A common type of lace jasper is Mexican Crazy Lace which is known by it's deep red and mustard colors. This week I'm showing a collection of earrings all made from various stones, most are jaspers, with one a feldspar. But that's all I'm telling you! You'll have to stop back by to see them all.

The Frida Kahlo Door

Last week I showed you half of this door, and told you part of the story. But a lot of you asked questions, so I thought I give you a full view and little more behind the Frida Kahlo door.

Kashmira and I saw the door and knew we had to check inside this store. It was full of Southwestern- inspired furniture with re-claimed wood. And a flare that was both North and South of the border. Plenty of items from Mexico including some great Day of the Dead items.

I asked the girl who was running the store, about the front door and she said that her mom was the artist. That she had refinished many of the items in the store. She explained that the door is still in progress, and if you look closely you can see the unfinished edges of paint spilling onto the pictures of Frida. Apparently her mom had printed out a pile of Frida Kahlo art and pieced together a collage and then layered decoupage on top of the pictures.

I have been exploring Frida's art lately. I find it so bold and colorful. Frida was often asked why she painted so many self portraits and her answer was "because it is the subject that I know best." I love her style, and her confidence. And for the era that she lived (born in 1907) she set a new standard for feminism; she was ahead of her time.

I would have loved to design some jewelry for Frida. While her style doesn't seem that daring by today's standard ... I don't know a lot of women 80-90 years ago who were wearing some of the outfits in her portraits. I have a few Frida-inspired earrings that I'm working on at the moment, which I will reveal next week for the Celebrate Oz :: Frida Kahlo aLteREd hop. Check out the picture of Dorothy with Frida eyebrows. How awesome is that?

Freedom Fridays: Southwestern Zen

I have been on a serious boho kick lately, and when I saw this stone blue deer skin leather cord from Nina Designs I was thrilled! I could not wait to pair it up with a pretty natural stone and a touch of silver. Nothing says boho quite like a little Southwestern twist.

I started with an African opal stone, which matched perfectly with the leather cord. I added a silver wire wrap down over the top of the stone and then threaded a carved bone disc above to complete a unique pendant.

Next I threaded a tube bail with the leather cord and attached the pendant. I used a silver wire wrap at the ends of leather for a nice finishing touch. I can not tell you how much I love this leather. It is incredibly soft and easy to work with, but strong as well. I've worked with suede quite a bit, and while I love the look of suede it has a tendency to break. I can't count how many times the suede has snapped on me in the middle of a project --- insert swear word. But this leather can withstand my pulling and twisting.

As a finishing touch, I added a hand hammered toggle and pulled it to the front because I didn't want to hide it in the back. The result is a simple leather cord necklace with a style all its own. A friend saw my final design and called it Southwestern Zen. I think that is what I'll have to call this design.

The materials above were provided as part of the Nina Designs blogging program. The author of this blog has not received any payment from above-mentioned company. The post above represents only personal opinion of the blog author.