FASCINATION

And my fascination continues with women and flowers! And I feel like I am creating atc's and other pieces, that I will post more of later in the week, that I am really starting to like.

WARMTH

I had no real reason to make this necklace, except the idea and concept felt good. I wanted to use the metal pendant I had initially made as a pair of earrings, but they turned out too noisy for me! I found some beads, particularly the brown blister pearls, the rose rectangular pearls, and the cream faceted glass, that I really liked, and wanted to use them, I just liked the combination, it felt good. I always have a tough time using fabric in my pieces, but I'm always drawn to it, and figured since I had this brown ribbon, I thought it went well. It feels very brown and rosy out these days, still with a touch of lingering green, but it's a warm feeling of browness, a snuggle up with a blanket warm. My homemade balled end copper circle links have become a particular favorite of mind, and they always represent the cycle of life, beginning to end, and not always perfect. The blister pearls I use many times, they seem to say to me to "fly", but the metal keeps me anchored and I continue on. Here's to a new day, anew week, a new view.

BE GLAMOROUS!

I made some new earrings, of course they are my new favorites! I can't help but always love the combo of bling, crystal quartz, and somewhat gnarly looking turquoise stones, and oxidized silver. I really felt like I wished I could hang these earrings on the glamorous lady above, a 4x4 piece for the My ARTistic Life challenge, which had to include a 1x1 insert somewhere, sooo I thought this pretty Artchix lady looked pretty glamarous....especially surrounded by some beeeeaaauuuuutiful scrap papers I got as a little gift from ordering the special on Artchix a few weeks ago. Ohhhhh, how Helga has made me a paper junkie!

INTERNATIONAL ROUND ROBIN PROJECT

I introduce to you my round robin, a representation of a beautiful project, initiated by the sweet Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio! Cindy contacted me and four other fabulous artists to begin a round robin necklace project....each of us starting a section of necklace to forward to the next person to add on to, continuing forward through all five artists until we each get our original piece back, all full of wonderful artistry from each lovely artist, and I imagine soooo much love!! We are also sending a small journal along the way too, to document our dreams, wishes, feelings, and emotions. That's about all I can tell you for now, but every few weeks the round robin will appear here, to signify another addition, another smile on my face! I am honored to be involved with all these fabulous artists, and just the thought of what we are doing and the process, and having a necklace to wear as the end result, a piece that can touch my heart everyday if I wish, is already sooooo satisfying! I share in this project with Cindy, of Sweet Bead Studio; Renate, of Put a Little Magic in Your Life; Esther, of Mes Illusions Baroque; and Veronique, of Narrative Jewelry! Please visit all of these wonderful artists, because besides being wonderful artists, they are all wonderful people, and I am so proud to say they are my friends!

OF FRIENDS , JEWELRY, AND ART

Yes, here I am, in my cute flannel pj's, with a freshly scrubbed face, getting ready to putz around for the night with my arty stuff! Really am feeling happy and silly, and had my daughter take a photo of 2 of my favorite things, Esthers incredibly gorgeous ring she made me, and Lenna's notebook that I just HAD to buy from her because it is so beautiful! Everyday, at least one or many of you touch my life, even if I do not blog or talk to you......you are near me in all forms, and I think of all of you during my day, and it really makes me soooo happy!! These are also pictures of of some incredibly beautiful mail art that comes to me every time Lenna and I exchange something! She is such a talented mixed media artist, and a MASTER of mail art! They are sooo beautiful, I have to think of something to do with them, click on the photos for a closer look at all the details! The pink and green quilt was done by Lenna also, I traded her for that with my Blooming Love piece.....but this quilt is exquisite! Esther is also a fabulous mixed media artist, and is the one responsible for for getting me to try it in the first place! She has another blog, in French for most of that work, called l'atelier de Lilibulle, purely incredible! All my blog friends are so talented and giving....and I hold all of you so close to my heart.

LOCAL LADY

This is my Week 55 entry for the Crowabout Group challenge........everybody has a slightly "off" local lady, right?!!

A CALM INFLUENCE

As with everything else in my life, I have sought out the opposite of what has been going on....to make more sense to everyone reading, when I create pretty things, I next feel the need to create rustic or rough, if I use metal a lot, I need to then start using crystal and bling, if I eat chips, I then need chocolate, and when my life is chaotic, like the past week,, I seek calmness and peace. So that was the long explanation of the inspiration for this eastern influenced necklace. The charm was given to me quite a while ago from a very dear friend, and I have finally used it in a way I am happy with. I like the symbolism of the bone pieces, although I do not know what they mean. I feel the many amber chips represent the path I chose, and sometimes it is a bumpy one. I adore the charm, but don't really know what it represents either, only that I have made it represent the prize at the end, whatever I want it to be.....the FINDING of sorts.