Something for Momzah

So... I don't know about you but I have the greatest momma in the world. I would go so far as to say that she's better than your momma. (JK JK) I don't know your momma but still... mine is pretty awesome. Man, with all that fanfare I should probably save this entry for Mother's Day, huh? Oh well, it's happening today. I'll just have to rave about her again when that holiday comes. Alright... Momma's great. Covered that. If you haven't guess already, my nickname for her is Momzah. Where did it come from? I don't know. My brain? *shrug* Anyway. It's pretty cool because every time I say "Momzah!" her reply is "Yah-zuh?" Guess that's her way of saying yes. Might be lame to some but I like it. We have a great relationship. (As if you couldn't tell)


So, why all this rambling about my wonderful momma you might ask? Oh, it just leading up to show you this:

BAMM!

Alright, they may not be that impressive. But they were crafted by yours truly. I tell you though, the lighting in my kitchen - scratch that, virtually EVERYWHERE in my place - really does the pictures I take absolutely no justice at all! I mean, no matter where I go there's this dull yellow casting on every photo! I'm just sayin', good grief! The same in every room?? *pouting* Oh... umm... yeah... sorry about the ranting good people *using inside voice* I'm all better now. But they do look kinda professional with the recycled jewelry packaging, don't they?


I'm sure Momzah's gonna like them. After all, red is her favorite color. How could I possibly go wrong? And there is the repeat of the detail in her necklace with the square black beads. You might not be able to make it out that well but trust me, they're there. Of course I got those from where? Here's a hint: ♫ Intergalactic Planetary ♪♪ Planetary Intergalactic ♫ (lol) That's right. The Intergalactic Bead and Jewelry show. (No need for a link. It can be found in one of my previous post.) They are a belated Christmas present so I will try to get them to her BEFORE Mother's Day. Don't laugh. That's something I would do. Hand them to her on Mother's Day and tell her "Merry Christmas!" (lol)

I was going to put them on in order to model them but for some strange reason I want her to be the first to wear them. *shrug* I'm sure I'll get to model another pair in the near future. Not that you'll be waiting with great anticipation but I'll keep you posted her response. 

Explaining the Purpose

Hello again. Gotta tell you, it's ever challenging to figure out what I'm going to blog about each day. I simply don't understand how someone can have that much to say about life... even if it is from a certain perspective. I've always felt that blogs were just a little pretentious. Not so much the helpful one but the "everything from my point of view" ones. As if the public is really THAT interested in what you have to say on the subject. To be even more honest, I'm still pretty uncomfortable with putting my thoughts into cyberspace for all (yeah right) to read. At the same time I do have plans for this blog and hope that it will segueway into something grander. (On a side note: Don't you just love when nouns are turned into verbs? Segueway... hilarious!) I'm thinking an edgier online magazine with a particular point of view... if such a thing exists. (More detail to come... as always) Something that addresses every aspect of life from the frivolous and fun to the sustantive and serious.


And that is the reason I chose this particular title for my blogging adventures. "... From a Certain Perspective" Although would say that I agree for the most part with this perceptive from which I write (Only makes sense that I would, right?) I will be the first to tell you that it is not mine. At least, it is not mine alone. It is shared (I would hope.) and it has a higher origin. With that said it is my hope that once things really get going I'll have meaningful input from others to share with my readers and not just mine. This would even include views and arguments that are not quite in line with the perspective displayed here. All are welcomed as long as they are respectful. Notice I DIDN'T say not offense. I'm not so concerned about being offended as I am disrespected and I do believe there's a difference.


Ideally, I'd like this to be a resource of sorts. A go-to reference for art, fashion, music, spiritual/godly matters and pretty much life in general. I know that sounds like quite a bit of work and I'm a little overwhelmed just writing it. But hopefully I'll be able to dedicate more time to it and it'll become a passion. A little help would be welcomed as well. I guess we'll see. I'm hoping that this is another venture I get involved with that just fizzles out after some time. But I guess I'm in control of that, right?

Better Get a Move On

It's been a while, huh? What's my excuse? How about overwhelmed with school? Nope. How about having a really heavy load at work? Nope. I know... How about been so terribly busy creating lovely handmade items to show the world? Sadly... no. Now don't get me wrong. Working fulltime and going to school fulltime have been keeping me quite active but the truth is that I really haven't had anything to say lately. And I'm a strong be believer that if you don't have anything useful to say then keep your mouth shut. I guess that a bit of a spin on that whole "If you don't have anything nice to say..."


So, I consider myself a bit of a slacker even though other people may disagree. (Maybe their just being nice and really do think I'm a slacker too, huh? *shrug*) Well, if you've read any of my previous post, you know that I frequent Etsy.com. As I was perusing all the wonderful handmade items on this site I came across something that startled me. Here... Let me just show you:

Knit Beanie for Toddler/Tween with Detachable Butterfly Hair Clip



I see I need to explain. Okay. I knit. I knit hats, scarfs, legwarmers, armwarmer... I think you get the picture. But before that, and most of all, I am a wire sculptor. Floral wire art mostly. And that there picture up above is something that I've been working on but haven't gotten quite right. Below are some of my attempts at doing this same thing:

My issue is that I feel like my flowers are too heavy for the hats. But in order to make the flowers look realistic I feel I need a realistic number of petals. Perhaps the answer is to only do flowers and designs that only use a few petals. Or perhaps I could find wire of lighter weight. Usually, I use floral wire for my sculptures but perhaps it would be good to try jewelry wire.With this last idea in mind I began my Google search. And of course I came across many sites that sold jewelry wire. But I chose one in particular because the name caught my eye... http://www.wire-sculpture.com/. Perfect match, right?

Well, I'm looking at the website and I'm wondering... is jewelry wire ever lighter than floral wire? If anyone knows, please leave a comment.

A Jewelry Maker's Paradise (part trois)

So... I'm back again to rave about the wonders of the Intergalactic Bead and Jewelry show I went to this past weekend. I've already gone on and on about the marvels that accosted me when I first entered the showroom. Now it's time for me to enthrall you with all the lovely items I purchased and intend to make into beautiful, sellable (Just made a word there. Did you catch that?) pieces. Wanna see pictures? Ohhhh... alright then.

I know. This picture doesn't really do justice to the beauty of these wooden beads and glass beads and pearls and crystals and coral and... Oh... my bad. I find myself getting carried away easily when it comes to jewelry these days. Maybe these individual pictures will do a better job of conveying the reason for my excitement. If not, then I'm afraid you just don't get. And that's okay. Once again, I promise to talk about something you're interested in. (At least once... so keep reading.)

I have plans for you, you gorgeous strands of pearls.

This red coral was 75% off. What a deal! (I know you don't really have any appreciation for that since you don't know the original price but trust me. It was quite a deal.) I've look at some pretty cool necklace ideas using this material but I think I'm gonna start out simple first. After all, I am just a BUDDING jewelry maker. I'm going to make my mom a pair of earrings to match the necklace I made for her last year. Wanna see it? Of course you do.

 Yes, that is me modeling my own work. Please do not be distracted by the cleavage. (What can I say? God HAS blessed me.) I only hope that the earrings and the necklace will not be too matchy-matchy. If so, she can always wear them separately, right?

Seeds Beads

More colorful pearls

This yellow cast in every picture is REALLY not doing justice to the loveliness :o( I thinks it's from the reflecting color of my kitchen floor. How unfortunate. Guess I'll just have to make sure I take better pictures when I show you the fate of each wonderful item. I know that you will be waiting with baited breath. Until then...

A Jewelry Maker's Paradise (part deux)

"♪♪Intergalactic planetary ♪♪ Planetary intergalactic ♪♪" (Anyone remember that song?) Anyway... :o) You guys miss me? I was gone a couple of days. 


Well, ladies (and possibly gentlemen), I went, I saw... and I was conquered. SMH (We all know what that means by now, right?) I spent more than I planned to but less than I could afford (if that makes any sense). I'm planning to show off all the goodies I bought next time. And of course there will be future posts showing all the lovely pieces I was able to create (and hopefully sell) with all the beautiful items I purchased yesterday.


Actually, it was all pretty overwhelming. I thought I'd go to the website prior to going to the show and see what they'd have to offer. That way I'd be prepared. Well... I went to the website. I was NOT prepared. But I don't want to waste anymore time with introductions. Let's get to the pretty and the glittery, right?? Right! How about I start by showing you exactly what greeted me when I entered the Intergalactic Bead & Jewelry Show:

Not impressed yet? How about this?

My lovely friend Eliza

I have plenty of other pictures to show but there are some things I wish to share as well. Because of this, what started out as only one little post is now destined to be a three parter *shrug* You guys don't mind, do you?


This is the trip that involved the 2 1/2 hour drive that I wasn't exactly looking forward to. But it was all worth it and the drive ended up not being that long. Or at least it didn't seem that long. Probably because Eliza and I had each other laughing most of the way there. We have such a great time together and hadn't hung out in a while. This expedition was long overdue.

So we set out on our mini road trip with much excitement and anticipation. Every email that Eliza sent me prior to yesterday about the the bead show would end with "I'm excited!" Hilarious. I was excited too but laughing at Eliza distracted me from that. At least until I saw this...

And a little bit of this...

Eliza likes to call this one "Pearl-gasm". And I understand why. At this table a wide-eyed jewelry maker could purchase GENUINE freshwater (and other types) pearls of just about every shape, color and size for pennies. Alright... not pennies. Actually, dollars. But itty bitty dollars --- $2, $5 per strand. AWESOME! Does anything else need to be said? Don't say yes. Because I could go on. I was truly in a happy place yesterday. And guess what. There's another show in July! Yup. You got it. That means you get to hear about this all over again in about six months. Yay you, right??

Living in a Glass House

Lately, I've been getting a lot of questions asking me why I've stressed REASONABLE sustainable living in my profile. (lol) Okay. Not really. I don't have that many reader yet but I'm workin' on it. Seriously though, I have been giving this some thought. I have an interest in sustainable living and upcycling from an artistic point of view. Have you ever seen a house made of recycled glass bottles?? Where here you go:

I find this intriguing and strangely beautiful. Whenever I see something done that interests me I always wonder how I could do it better. I'd definitely keep the red door and trim. What about this one?

This is the interior of a house in Canada. Doing the inside may be a bit extreme but the result is still rather stunning. I know that the idea of sustainable living is to "save" the planet. Although I'm not really convinced that the planet is in need of saving I do see the planet as a gift. One way to show someone that you appreciate a gift is in the way you treat it. That being said, I do believe it is not wise stewardship to be wasteful with our resources. Just because most things can be replenished is no need to be wasteful.

Not trying to get preachy. Just letting my future readers know where I'm coming from. Don't want you to think that I only like sustainable living that I find pretty. I will definitely go into more detail in the future. (Always promising more)

A Jewelry Maker's Paradise

Even though my schedule is already crammed from Sunday to Sunday, I have committed myself to driving 2 1/2 hours one way to a bead show. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I'm just... wondering how I always manage to get everything done. Actually, I know how. We'll get into that another time. (I always say that, don't I?) Well I PROMISE. We will.

"More about this bead show!" you say? Well, here you go. Its held by Intergalactic Bead & Jewelry Shows Inc. This organiztion prides itself on giving buyers the chance to see and feel what they are buying BEFORE making the purchase. Any jewelry maker who ever buys from the Internet understands where I'm coming from. Most of the items I've purchased have been from online stores. And it never fails that I always wish I could have gotten a better idea of the sheen, glimmer or even color of what I was getting. I've only been disappointed one or two times. But depending on what I'm working on that can be one or two times too many! Here's an idea of the lovely things I get to drool over when I go to the show:


Peacock Grey Side Drilled Potato Freshwater Pearl



Copper Brushed Wiggle Disc



Multi Color Fancy Sapphire and Ruby Plain Rondelle

Oooohhh pretty, right? (The copper discs are my favorite.)Well, I also checked some of the prices of these items. So although I do have some disposable income I'm not too sure how much I'll be bringing home. I did see some pretty reasonable prices but there were some pretty steep ones as well. I guess we'll see. I'll definitely keep you "posted". Ha! Posted. Get it? Cuz I'm writing blog posts now?? Yeah, I'm a bit of a lame. You'll learn to love that about me though :o)