For me, there is nothing like a walk on the beach. I'm not your typical beachcomber. When is hot and sticky, I'm not going to be that person sitting in a beach chair. But when the wind is blowing sideways, I'll throw on a sweater and head for the beach. I love the smell of the saltwater and the fresh air whipping around my ears.
So when Sally asked us to talk a walk for inspiration this week, I knew I'd just head down to the beach; rain or shine. As you can see, there's a storm brewing. But made no difference to me.
I enjoyed watching this little boy and his grandfather. The grandfather very close behind to keep an eye on his little explorer. The boy so wanted his feet in the water. And each time the tide came up around his shoes, he giggled with an ear-to-ear grin. We should all be that carefree and able to laugh with life's simple pleasures.
My youngest absolutely loves to collect shells. She picked up as many as her hands could hold, and then recruited her sister to help out. When we got home I asked where she put all her new shells and with a proud smile she said she had already washed them and put them in her shell box. I of course asked the obvious question, "did you dry them?" The look on her face told me she didn't. Sigh.
I love the look of Art Deco whether that is in architecture or fashion (my Deco Pinterest board). And with the release of the Great Gatsby there has been renewed interest in the style of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. I would be remiss to not call out that it really is inspired by the book by Scott Fitzgerald
I stumbled across a fashion spread inspired by the movie release (left), and I noticed all those great hats! And it reminded me of a challenge coming up hosted by Bobbie over at Beadsong. I started a pinterest board for inspiration, and of course added a lot of examples from this time period. Click over to Bobbie's and sign up.
I recently had one of my pieces featured in Stringing magazine that was also inspired by this time period. You can see my design below, and all the others here.
I don't talk about my day job much on my blog, but one thing I do really love is that my office window looks out to the Chrysler Building. An amazing example of Art Deco style. And recently I've been noticing all the hood ornaments on the building. Yes you read that correctly. They really were designed to look like the designs used to adorn cars during the era.
Specifically I can see the wings, which is what my bracelet design is inspired by. It is that classic chevron pattern. You can also see the chevrons on the side of the building which are done in white and grey brickwork. I could just stare at this building all day long, but alas I'd get no work done!
Click over to the Chrysler Building history site and see the lobby details. Especially the elevator doors with the Egyptian Revival influence, which was the birth of Art Deco. The geometric shapes in design coincides with by the discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922 which heavily influenced the styles of the era.
A couple months back, Karen and Mandi challenged a few of us to a free form peyote hop. I think this is one of the stitches that I've been most scared to try, but glad I finally did. For so many reasons.
Not only is it fun (can you believe I'm saying that about a stitch I was so frightened of?) but it has opened a door for me.
I've been experimenting with all kinds of new stitches. And not getting so worked up if it isn't perfect, or the tension is a little off. Doesn't mean I don't need practice, but sometimes being too much of a perfectionist gets in the way of learning new things. So for that, I want to thank Karen and Mandi for getting me outside my comfort zone!
So take 2 of this bracelet was more of what I had in mind when I started this project. I wanted something that had the flow of water to it, that felt like tide pools and surf with the treasures you find when you go hunting for shells. It is by no means perfect, but then I'm not sure that freeform peyote is meant to be?
This week's challenge for Focusing on Life was to look for aged beauty in our lives and something that holds a deeper meaning.
Lots of things in the house could be called 'aged,' myself included. But few hold as much meaning as the hours spent at my piano. It is a loved piece, and something that feels like home to me.
I started playing the piano at age 5. I am by no means a concert pianist, but I can play. And it is less about my mastery of the piano and more about what it has taught me.
It is the same things I want to teach my children. First and foremost there is a love of music. Nothing soothes the soul quite like music. We play a lot of music in the house. It has a way of bringing us together.
Learning to play an instrument also gave me a love of many types of music. I studied classical piano, but then begged to play ragtime, then contemporary. Nothing like a 10 year old banging out the music of star wars on the piano. My kids now have an appreciation not only for what is popular with all their friends, but of rock, jazz, blues, classical... we play it all at our house.
There are other things that learning an instrument teaches. It teaches discipline. And that you can't expect to always be able to pick up a task on the first try. Practice is an important part of learning, and something that has been a more difficult thing for my kids to learn. But both have decided to play instruments, and both have grown to understand this notion of practice and a bit of 'stick-to-it-iveness' that I think helps in life.
My piano isn't a fancy one. But then neither am I. It's got a few dings here and there, but then I've had it since my childhood. It has been with me on a long journey. It has been with me in Oregon, California and now Connecticut. It is like an old friend that has aged beautifully. When I sit down to play, it just all comes back to me. It is the comfort of home.
Sometimes there is a pattern that just fits like an old shoe. One that is your fall back; that you can bead up effortlessly. This is that pattern for me. It's called Crystal Helix by Barbara Falkowitz.
I've made it in half a dozen colors, varying sizes of beads, and each giving it its own unique look and style. I've featured it in several posts (with amethyst, African opal and aventurine) in the past.
Lately I've been loving the look of matte beads, especially these hematite and onyx rounds. And so I pulled out my favorite pattern to see just how these might bead up. I even got the chance to show a bloggy friend, Christine, how to make my favorite 'go-to' bracelet.
This week's prompt from Sally for Focusing on Life is on getting in there on the macro shot. I've been shopping for a new camera, but haven't yet bought one. And as I've been doing that, I tried out a cool gadget for my iphone called a Macro Lens Band that you can buy for $20. Check out a site called Photojojo for all kinds of fun little camera gadgets.
Pretty cool. I was able to get right in there on flowers and take some decent macro pics. Perhaps not as close as I might with a 'real' camera, but not too bad. These are pictures from our trip to San Francisco a few weeks back, and the flowers were in bloom all over the place. I love that Spring comes so early there and I was soaking it up!
So as I continue to explore what camera I might want to buy (I've got it narrowed down to either Canon T series, or Nikon D series); do any of you have suggestions? A camera that can take a great macro of jewelry?
Just for a little fun, I'm including a little video that my youngest daughter made. I was showing her how when you pinch the back of a snap dragon it looks like a mouth opening and closing. The voice over is my daughter making the snap dragon talk.
When I signed up for the AJE Earring Challenge to make a pair of earrings a week (for 3 months) I thought it would be easy since I can sit down and make five or six pair in an afternoon.
But I was so excited to be working with artisan's beads and components that I wanted to try to find the best way to bring out it's color and texture. I wanted to make each one the star. So some of these sat on my bead table for weeks while I paired them up this way, and that way looking for the right fibers and beads to add to each one.
This is my gallery and you can find these all in my Etsy Shop. I've also listed each artist and their shop, blog or website:
1. Three Drops :: Lampworks Beads :: Patricia Dugmore of pj Beads (Website, Etsy)
2. Peacock Swing :: Lampworks Beads :: Patricia Dugmore of pj Beads (Website, Etsy)
3. Sea Urchins :: Polymer Clay Beads :: Patricia Dugmore of pj Beads (Website, Etsy)
4. The Talisman :: Bronze Headpins :: Lesley Watt of THEAtoo (Blog, Etsy)
5. Sea Grass :: Bronze Charms :: Lesley Watt of THEAtoo (Blog, Etsy)
6. Hint of Spring :: Polymer Clay Beads :: Pippa of Pips Jewellery (Blog, Etsy)
7. Four Seasons (Summer) :: Porcelain Charms :: Marsha Neil's Studio (Website, Blog, Etsy)
8. Four Seasons (Fall) :: Porcelain Charms :: Marsha Neil's Studio (Website, Blog, Etsy)
9. Four Seasons (Winter) :: Porcelain Charms :: Marsha Neil's Studio (Website, Blog, Etsy)
10. Four Seasons (Spring) :: Porcelain Charms :: Marsha Neil's Studio (Website, Blog, Etsy)
11. Waiting for Spring :: Porcelain Charms :: Diana of Suburban Girl Studio (Blog, Etsy)
12. A Day at the Beach :: Porcelain Charms :: Diana of Suburban Girl Studio (Blog, Etsy)
My final pair of artisan earrings use a pretty little polymer clay bead from Patricia Dugmore of pjBeads. I found Patricia's work at a bead show and spent quite a long time there just sifting through all the little bowls of beads. I was particularly taken with her polymer clay and their likeness to sea shells. These beads are her sea urchins, that I just love.
I also decided to make my own earwires. I have made one or two before, but not many. But I realized as I was making these that it really is pretty easy. And wonder why I don't make earwires more often? These earrings are available in my Etsy store.
I've really enjoyed the challenge put out by AJE this quarter, but it is time to pass the torch to a new set of participants. The team over there asked for 4 groups (one a quarter) to make a pair of earrings a week and post to their pinterest board. So if you're interested, hop over and sign up!
Happy Easter everyone. Hopefully some bit of sun has found you over the weekend. We had egg dying going on yesterday, with sack races and egg hunts. We stayed outside until the sun went down just enjoying the first day we've been able to get back outside in warmer weather.
I did also manage to get in my last few pair of artisan made earrings for the AJE Challenge. I will post them this week, and start with this pair using some beautiful green bronze charms by Lesley Watt. I just love the organic, almost sea grass-like look of these charms. I added just a few simple light green, glass pearls to this pair. My love affair with Lesley's components is on-going. There will be more from her studio showing up in my work. She's got a big show going on this weekend, so I'm wishing her lots of success! You can find these earrings in my Etsy Shop.
This week's Focusing on Life prompt from Sally is one of two topics I avoid: religion, the other being politics. Too much blood has been shed through history over these two topics.
But, since you ask. I will tell you a little about my philosophy about the difference between religion and faith, and in my opinion (of course) what it means to live a good life.
I went searching through piles of old photos this morning trying to find a picture of my paternal grandfather. To no avail. He was a simple man, an incredibly strict man, and one who didn't put a lot of emphasis on the comforts in life. To tell you the truth, I don't think I've ever seen a picture of my father before the age of 18. I don't think there are any because I don't think grandpa would have spent money on something so frivolous.
My grandfather, James Eliel Tuomisto, was born in Jalasjarvi, Finland and at the age of 17 he immigrated to Canada (1917), and then in 1923 over the border to northern Minnesota. He studied in the seminary in Chicago, and started his career in the ministry at the Finnish Congregational Church in Cloquet where he did his sermons in Finn. He was a 'fire and brimstone' kinda guy. If that isn't a term you've heard, click on the link. It is pretty much my grandpa to a tee. Most Scandinavians are Lutheran --- a pretty stark doctrine.
What does any of this have to do with me? Because my dad grew up living in a parish during the great depression. His chores focused to Sunday morning getting the Church ready. That meant sweeping the church out, stoking the fire, and helping to greet the congregation as they arrived. My dad saw religion behind the scenes, as a business. His family truly had nothing. The family lived on the kindness from the parish and what they could spare. My dad tells stories of his mother making onion soup for dinner, by dropping a single onion into a boiling pot and calling that a meal for 6 children. My dad was strict with us, but kind. He had no tolerance for lying, or misbehaving.
This is something that has stayed with me. My husband and I focus on one rule: do unto others ... it's simple and easy to follow.
To me, religion and going to church (or a synagogue, or a mosque, or whatever you call it) is a way to be with people that believe as you believe. There is comfort in that. But I don't find that to have anything to do with faith. Faith is an inner feeling. It's personal. It's a guiding feeling that takes you through your day. Each day as you make choices. Choices in an environment that is clouded with voices from many opinions. Faith is staying true to yourself and what you believe to be right. But, importantly, respecting someone else's right to do the same. In a word: tolerance. It is simple, and easy to follow. At least in my opinion (of course).
Ok, who here thinks the groundhog lied? Because I sure do. This morning it was yet another chilly one at 36 degrees, and it feels like snow out there.
So while I wait for the flowers to appear in my yard, I've been pulling the soft colors of spring into my work. Here is the latest using a pair of charms from Diana at Suburban Girl Studio. I do so love her charms.
These are such a soft sprout green porcelain that I used as the focal adding a seed bead ladder stitch and a few Czech lentils. Who knew I'd be beading up with such a storm with all these darn little seed beads? I'm warming up for Christine & Therese's 3rd installment of a Time to Stitch.
I've been working on a few stitches; both flat and spiral. I had a couple of go arounds this weekend with a stitch called a Cellini spiral. Oy. I stitch, I stop, I rip out. I finally broke down and moved from my book to a video tutorial. Again I start, I stop, I back up and watch again. After roughly 4 hours of this I finally got it. I might be a slow learner, but I'm darn persistent. More on that piece in April when we reveal our work for the hop. For now, this is my latest artisan pair of earrings for the AJE earring challenge. Yes, I am now woefully behind. I think this makes #10. I have some lovely components on my bead table from Lesley Watt just screaming at me to 'get busy.'
Sally's prompt this week for Focusing on Life said "curves can keep things apart, hold things together or create a path." I am focused on the later. Creating, or altering a path.
A few months ago I got together with Sally and Christine. We met up to go to a local bead show, and I mentioned that I wanted to try out some new wood cut feathers that another bloggy friend of mine had made; custom just for me. Thanks Edi! (check out Edi's Etsy)
I thought the feathers would be great in creating a dream catcher. I left a handful with both Sally and Christine, and then I got side tracked on my other projects. I haven't yet finished my dream catcher. But a week ago I saw Christine, and she surprised me with her version of the dream catcher. Isn't it wonderful! Plenty of curves in this baby.
So getting back to 'creating or altering a path.' The dream catcher originated from the Ojibwa Nation, and was adopted by many Native American tribes. The traditional dream catcher is hung over the bed and used as a charm to protect sleeping children from nightmares. The Ojibwa believe that a dream catcher changes peoples' dreams, allowing the good to be filtered through, and the bad to hang in the net and disappear in the light of day. How amazing would that be?
May you all change the path of your bad dreams leaving them in the net to disappear in the light of day.
Well I certainly hope that March calms down sometime soon. Tomorrow is technically the first (official) day of Spring, but seriously? It snowed again last night, and I shoveled my car at 5:45 am. Yep, it was still dark outside.
Isn't the weather suppose to be changing from 'lion-ness' and into the soft spring 'lamb-ness'?
Where does this term "March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb' come from? Newsnet said it is from the constellations. That in the beginning of March the Constellation Leo (lion) is crossing toward the meridian, and as the month comes to a close, the Constellation Aries (ram / lamb) begins to rise. That is kind of a cool definition. But it still doesn't help me with the fact that there is snow on the ground ... still.
My BBA group decided that this month we'd create with softer, warmer spring colors. The colors of flowers and trees beginning to show their buds. Ok, well I can handle that. So I pulled out some 'sprout' green and hyacinth blue ... along with a pretty Chinese enamel butterfly bead. I start to bead rows of soft green. My Beady-Bloggy friend Christine recently showed me a great new pattern (well new to me) that I decided to use for this bracelet. I love this pattern, and at least it feels like spring on my bead table.
A friend asked if I would make a special gift to give her potential new daughter in law. Her son had given her the heads up that he was going to propose to his girlfriend. And she wanted to be able to give her a gift.
We talked about what might be appropriate, and originally my friend had suggested an elaborate pearl bracelet. But I suggested that she might want to stay elegant and understated given that the star of this event would be the engagement ring. Her new daughter in law has a pretty black pearl ring, so I encourage her to think about a simple black pearl bracelet and earrings. And not too 'matchy-matchy,' but complimentary.
What do you all think? What would you suggest if someone asked you this question?
Marlene and Shelley, now famous for their holiday bling hops, have decided that there is no reason why a holiday hop should only be scheduled in Nov-Dec. There are plenty of holidays year-round, and why not take advantage of them?!
And here we are. A holiday hop in March that celebrates pretty much any holiday you can think up for the months of February or March. My partner, Mary Govaars of MLH Jewelry Designs, and I decided on the Greek holiday of Independence (March 25th) because, well just because who doesn't love Greece and a little Mediterranean colors ... especially in the dead of winter ... on the East Coast! Well the East Coast for me, the West Coast for my partner Mary.
Take a look at this beautifully designed necklace by Mary. She used that serine Mediterranean blue colors in the beads. Those large blue diamonds are vintage howlite; aren't they just gorgeous in this piece! She mirrors the pattern with silver that have that distinctive Greek pattern to them. She also added drop beads that have a moonstone hue. I think she absolutely nailed a beautiful Greek look! Thank you Mary for such a lovely necklace and beautiful package to open.
I have a lot of friends from the Mediterranean for some reason. Not a bad thing; mind you, just enough who know I love beads and who like to bring my souvenirs home in the shape of beads, or charms. You all know that I'm not complaining! I simply LOVE to get something interesting in to my beady concoctions.
The piece I sent Mary included lots of beads and charms from the region including evil eye beads and charms in the shape of whirling dervishes and crescent moon with star. I used gold and wood seed beads in various sizes to create a freeform peyote bracelet in a tone on tone pattern. This is actually my second ever freeform project, and I have to say I'm really liking this type of bead weaving!
This week Sally asked us to think about what in our life inspires us; in a way that when we look at it we think of the endless possibilities.
I have been trying very hard these past 10 weeks of the challenge to look beyond my bead table when thinking about what to photograph. But this week I just could not think past it.
When I sit down at my table, begin to organize the pieces, then re-organize the pieces, and then move in new pieces, then move in some more. All the while trying new combinations to see what colors bring out the colors in some of the beads, or if mixing in some fiber is what I'm looking for.
The possibilities are endless in my mind. So for this week's Focusing on Life challenge, I broke down. I took a picture of my bead table. I couldn't help it. That is where anything is possible.
Oma Linda is having her Oz hop a little earlier this year, and she's changed it up with a touch of Frida. She had me at 'hello' using Frida as inspiration. What a bold, powerful artist she is, and some serious inspiration for color and design. Bring it on.
Check out what she's done with Dorothy! I would know those eyebrows anywhere. Dorthy is Frida aLteREd.
My blog has been on a bit of a Frida kick lately, which was so serendipitous. A couple of posts back I wrote about a Frida inspired door that a bloggy friend and I found. We were working on a door-themed photo hop that week, but I was thinking in the back of my mind ... aLteREd hop!
Let's jump a little deeper into the world of Frida. Kahlo was born in Mexico City in 1907. But she gave her birth date as 1910, and not for vanity's sake. She wanted her birth to coincide with the year of the beginning of the Mexican revolution so her life would begin with the birth of modern Mexico. Her work is celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of the country and of it's folk art. She is also celebrated by feminists for her uncompromising depiction of the female form.
She is; however, best known for her self portraits and said "I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best."
For my Frida inspiration I had to work with color, and red always comes to mind when I think of the Wizard of Oz. Probably due to those ruby slippers. I wanted to create something that Frida might wear. Something bold, perhaps a little folksy, as the jewelry she wore was so ahead of her time.
She wore a lot of large earrings, which by today's standard are nothing all that wild but likely were for the early 1990s. You see her wearing earrings in many of her self portraits.
The beads I chose are cinnabar. I saw them and knew immediately I had found what I wanted for this project. I love the rich red color these have. After a quick search I found that cinnabar is a deep red stone which is a red crystalline from mercury sulfide. And since it is mercury based you need to be careful handling it as it is highly toxic. Yowza. Andre Breton, a fellow surrelist, said in 1938 that Kahlo's art was a "ribbon around a bomb." Just like cinnabar ... a beautiful red rock giving off a crystal sparkle but you would not want to pick that baby up with your bare hands!
The commonly called cinnabar beads are actually a laquer from tree sap found in China used as a stain on hand carved wood beads. That is what I've used here. I figured no one needed to get hurt in the name of fashion. I used a linen cord and wood beads for one pair, and hemp cord with Chinese coins and onyx in the second pair. You can find both pairs listed in my Etsy shop, and you can find the rest of the participants in the hop over at Linda Oma's blog. So hop on over!
I know, I know. I've been bad lately about posting the jewelry I'm working on. I assure you all that I really have been working quite diligently on several projects. But, I can't post them as I am sending them in for submission to magazines. They have some strict guidelines about showing anything before things are published. So, fingers crossed! They accept one or two of them, so it is worth the wait.
I thought I'd share a pair of earrings that I was working on last weekend. I saw these great Medieval looking charms at a bead show just before Christmas. They are a bit off-centered, which adds to their old-world style. I paired them up with a simple grey moonstone that I thought matched wonderfully; adding just a touch of elegance.
But when I got to connecting them to an earring post, they were hanging sideways! So I created a freeform beaded arc with micro seed beads. I didn't want to overwhelm the charm. I could see these earrings with a beautiful grey velvet, Lady Marian style dress with those big draping arms and princess cut waist. A girl can dream, can't she?
So today is my birthday. Not that I get excited about it anymore. I'd much rather be Merlin and age in reverse at this point.
I wasn't going to say anything, or post about it as I'd like to forget about it. But then I went to do a quick search this morning and saw this. First thought was, aw how cute! It took a second ... wait for it ... I needed the caffeine to kick in for just a moment.
So Google knows it is my birthday today? Ok, yeah, that is kinda creepy.
This week's Focusing on Life challenge is a call to photograph something being 'all wrapped up' in whatever way you interpret that in your life.
I'm going with a loose interpretation. I didn't include anything literally wrapped up; even though this week is my birthday. But I decided to go with a family past time that we all love ... Rock Band.
We all love spending a little time together, listening to some great music, and adding a little game element to it. Rock Band is a regular occurrence in our house. We have pretty much every edition made, and my kids can sing along to all the classics from the 60s, 70s, 80s and into the 90s. It is a fun way to teach them about music. I absolutely love that we can put in a CD of any classic rock group and the girls sign along at the top of their lungs.
So, introducing the band. My oldest daughter, Kate, is killer on guitar. She beats the pants off my husband when kicking it into overdrive (a level of Rock Band to grab extra points). Anne loves both the drums and singing duet with me. But we need to keep her settings on "do not fail" as she's still working on her skill level. Rock Band has this nasty habit of throwing us off stage with too many missed notes. We're not trying to win, just trying to stay in the game!
So after hours of jamming, yes we will play up to 11pm with Anne crashed on the couch ... my husband will announce "that's a wrap family" I pick up Anne and get her into bed and scoot off to bed myself. Happy after a night with my favorite band.
Ok ladies, several of you asked for a better picture when we did our self portraits the first week of Sally's Focusing on Life Photo Challenge. This one is for you.
Recently I was out in San Francisco and I met up with my bloggy friend Kashmira. We did a little wandering and shopping in Burlingame (just 10 minutes south of San Francisco). We wandered in and out of stores, checking out jewelry (of course!). Kashmira even bought the cutest pair of pinched metal earrings ... maybe she'll show you all if you ask her?
What fun to meet her in person, and I have to say she is as sweet in person as she is in the blogosphere!! Ok now on to our challenge. Sally asked us to look for doors. Doors hold stories, they hold a way to a new adventure, they hold a memory.
Well she's right! Kashmira and I walked into a fun, eclectic shop where the front door was a split door with Frida Kahlo all over it. Oh yes. We were definately going into this shop. Fun things to explore and we both whipped out our cameras to capture our challenge for the week. But this picture here was taken by my daughter. Kashmira was so sweet to let her join our excursion. She loves to meet Mommy's bloggy friends.
I'll bet we're 'twinzies' for this week's reveal. What fun to get to know my bloggy friend Kashmira a little better. And word on the street is that she's going to make it to Bead Fest in August, so perhaps a few more of you will meet her too!
For me, there is nothing like a walk on the beach. I'm not your typical beachcomber. When is hot and sticky, I'm not going to be that person sitting in a beach chair. But when the wind is blowing sideways, I'll throw on a sweater and head for the beach. I love the smell of the saltwater and the fresh air whipping around my ears. 
So when Sally asked us to talk a walk for inspiration this week, I knew I'd just head down to the beach; rain or shine. As you can see, there's a storm brewing. But made no difference to me.
