Saturday, April 21, 2012

humility

i've started a new job. i'm driving around a friend who lost her license due to a dwi. it's an... interesting job. it's most certainly a lesson in humility. and frustration. but this is where i'm supposed to be right now. i wonder what else i'm supposed to learn...

one nice thing about it is that i'm getting time to read and work on my jewelry. it's funny how much i love making jewelry. there's something so immediate about it. creating beauty i've always been drawn to, but creating something so intimate, so tangible, so beguiling... it's humbling to know someone will wear my creations. to know they will feel beautiful because of what my hands made... mmm. that's a smashing feeling. i'm helping someone feel beautiful! wow. that just feels *good*.


it was the new moon last night. i hope, wherever you are, you look up in the sky tonight and are inspired by that fickle creature; the moon. oh, how she inspires me! blessings on you, my friends.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

collective creative canape reveal day!

so i showed the soup i got from cheryl foiles a few weeks ago, and now it's april 1st, the reveal day for the ccc! i'm so excited to be a part of this little group because i love love love lori anderson's bead soup blog party, but did not make the luck of the lottery draw. so keri lee sereika organized this little group for a few of us, and here we are!

let me remind you of the soup i received from cheryl.


gorgeous, right? all that ivory and brass with a touch of red. i've not worked with ivory much, so it's exciting to push beyond my boundaries. that's what these challenges are all about. exploring unexplored territory, pushing back the edges of what we do as jewelry artists. i love pushing myself. it makes me a better designer, and that's always where i want to go.

as i was looking at my soup i realized how simple it all is. simple and clean. so i decided to go with that feeling. i love nature, and that's what this soup is all about. my dad was a botanist and a rockhound, so we spent weekends in the forests of oregon, the beaches of the pacific ocean, the deserts of california, the tundra of the far north, and the wilds of interior alaska. i'm deeply inspired by the sea, the forests, trees, animals, the sky,  the desert, weather, and all that good stuff. so this soup was perfect for me in that, and reflects what i sent cheryl. go see her blog here to see what i sent her and what she made of it!

i decided to stick with simple wire wrapping and let the focus be on the lovely cleanness of the colors. i pulled only two elements; the nest and the bird, both of which i made. i also love the look of mixed metals and so i thought i'd do all the wire wrapping in silver.


the bird is pearl polymer clay with a lovely sheen. love that clay. the eggs in the nest are freshwater pearls. the two ivory rounds are fossil coral, the red is agate, the little brown guy up there above the leaf focal to the left is a seed pod, the ring is mystery stone, and the oval up at the top is petrified wood, which was my father's favorite stone, so it's especially special to me that cheryl sent it. the rosary chain on brass are glass pearls and that gorgeous clasp was made by cheryl herself. and most special of all is the ceramic diamond by elaine ray herself, which cheryl picked up from ornamentea. cheryl lives close enough to the famous store to visit often. i'm so jealous! here's a close up of the focal.




i loved getting to be a part of this little group of intrepid explorers! and this summer everybody that wants to be a part of the original bead soup blog party should join up, because lori anderson is staggering the reveal days so it's not too overwhelming to visit them all. i'm so excited! lori is the most awesome hostess on the planet!

and don't forget to visit all the blogs in the collective creative canape. here's the list. but first go visit my partner. i can't wait to see what she's got all done. thanks so much for visiting!


Keri Lee Sereika www.pinklemonade.typepad.com
Beth Emery www.storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com -you are here
Niki Meiners www.nikimeiners.wordpress.com
... Karan Parker www.karanskrafts.blogspot.com
Liz DeLuca www.facebook.com/pages/Creative-Arty-Facts/162737703562
Lynne Bowland www.islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.com
Judy Turner www.silver-rains.blogspot.com
Erin Grant www.Erinsjewelrycreations.blogspot.com
Bryna Lumb www.brynasbeadbox.blogspot.com
Rochelle Brisson www.acreativechelle.blogspot.com
Linda Youkman www.lindysdesigns.blogspot.com
Carmen Lau www.littlemake.blogspot.com
Cheryl Foiles www.getyourbeadon.com
Kelli Jacobson www.CreativeMoonJewelryAndThings.com
Elena Gianni www.ilmondodipucci.blogspot.com
Tania Hagen www.pelimadesign.blogspot.co.nz
Cindy Muse www.cindyshandworkcrafts.blogspot.com
Stephanie Woods www.skwds.blogspot.com
Lisa Lodge www.pineridgetreasures.blogspot.com