Dragonflies

 I love dragonflies. Sure, they're bugs and if one landed on me, I'd probably freak out (FLASHBACK ALERT!: Did something of the sort with a white butterfly when I was a kid) but they are rather beautiful.

Above is a bracelet I made for a friend's mother who recently commissioned me to do some work for her. She had recommended a wonderful book on stones and I really really do love a good book recommendation. She had said that she, too, loves dragonflies AND amethyst and thus, this bracelet was born. I used little silver lined lavender colored seed beads as spacers. I think they add some sparkle.

I found these lovely etched bone beads at Michaels and just knew I had to have them. Two fire-polished beads and a purple glass crystal bead hang at the bottom of each earring. LOVE these. Not sure what kind of bone it is, but I'm assuming cow bone. Dunno why.

Dragonflies can represent change. They can represent dreams and good luck. The new year is approaching and I know that I try to come up with resolutions each year and just fail. This year, I want to try really hard to keep them. They're all things that I've been meaning to do and January 1st will just be the day I decide to really get serious. I will start a new blog just for my resolutions because it seems to help me stay focused on my jewelry so why not my personal goals?

Do you do the resolution thing? I know lots of people do. Heck, at work, the health section is PACKED with books because even the industry knows that people are going to give the diet resolution another go. Share your thoughts. I'm very interested :)

Hope you all had a lovely holiday!

Bracelets!

 

Busy busy. Had some commissions to finish up. The first one is my favorite but I don't know if it's the right type of bracelet for who it's for. Claspless, leather, and sea glass, I was told it's for someone who wears a lot of bracelets. I hope they like it.

These are dyed stone and glass bead bracelets. They finish with a simple lobster clasp.

These last two are the same style bracelet I've made in the past that I referred to as my "bread and butter" piece. These are made with stone instead of glass beads (red jasper and black onyx). I never even thought of using stones!

I'm tired but happy. It's been rainy rainy here in southern California and I love it. Christmas is almost here! YAY!

Hope everyone is well! I'm looking forward to having more time to blog hop once again.

Random Holiday Post

Happy holidays, everyone! This holiday season has me running around like a crazy chicken at work, trying to push books into people's hands and keep employees motivated or from having break-downs. Outside of my day-job, I have commissions (YES! COMMISSIONS! YAY! *boogies*) to fulfill and an article to write. My Christmas shopping is far from being done. For the past week, my cold comes and goes. And now, today, I have been dealing with some intense backpain.

Whine whine whine. Complain complain complain.

BUT. I'm very excited this holiday season. Lots of happiness and joy even with cranky customers at work. I'm so happy to be doing commissions and (even though I'm freaking out a tad) over the moon about writing an article.

However, this holiday season has left me little time to blog :( I went from blogging everyday in November to hardly at all. I lurk and read blogs when I have time but hardly comment because writing takes a lot of time for me.

I feel like I'm blathering. What was the point of this post? OH YEAH! This is on my wishlist from Santa this year:

I want a set of new pliers. Ergonomic handles would be lovely. I really just want new cutters. I made the mistake of cutting memory wire with my cutters on one of my first projects and they have a nice kink in them now.

My poor RH has had to deal with me randomly saying, "You know what I want this year? Pliers... (or) a dvd drive... (or) earrings... (or) a puppy..." He, however, hasn't given me a very good list of presents for this year. Hmph.

Anyway. I'm running out of steam. What is on your wishlist this year? And are you more subtle in your hinting or do you just say "I want..." like me? :P

10 more days!

Velvet Love

Saturday night, I was a nervous wreck about meeting my friend's mom in the morning to show her my jewelry. I had no idea how to display the pieces, what to bring, how to dress... etc. It was an exhausting day at work and I am still battling a cold (though today it seems to have subsided quite a bit) and Saturday night, I fell asleep as soon as I got home. Before my eyes closed, RH mentioned cutting a piece of velvet for me from some he'd had saved for making a costume and I could lay it on the table for my friend's mom. I said that would be perfect and fell asleep.

Probably a few hours after, I woke up looking for him and saw him gluing something together and asked him what he was doing... I fell back asleep before he could even answer. And then a few hours after, he handed me a pillow of sorts. He had taken the time to glue some soft stuffing covered with the velvet to some cardboard so I could have a thing to drape the jewelry over! Such a sweet guy! Love love love.

Anyway, I was so nervous when my friend's mom showed up that I completely forgot about the pillow :( But now I have something else to photography jewelry on :)

The above picture is one of the newest pieces I've made. Copper and freshwater pearls for the nest. Fire polished glass linked together and finished with suede cord complete the necklace. My friend's mom purchased this from me along with a few other pieces and commissioned some as well. I'm going to be a busy girl!

Hope everyone is having a great week! 17 days til Christmas! YAY!

A Hug From Cid

I came into work yesterday and found this yummy scarf in my locker!

The tag read "A hug from Cid." My friend at work knitted me this beautiful scarf! I LOVE it. It's so pretty and warm and soft... I'm glad I didn't buy one on Wednesday when I went looking for gloves.

Can't seem to knock this cold out of my system. I'll feel better for a few days and then WHAM! It hits me again. Last night, I fell asleep sometime around midnight which is early for me because I usually go to bed around 2 or 3 (hey, I don't usually have to be at work until around 1pm, so there :P). Then I woke up at 6am... and now, at 7:30am, I feel like I'm going to crash... and crash I will because I have to be at work at 1pm anyway and have no energy to do anything else.

Thank you, Cid, for the beautiful scarf!

Last Day

Today is the last day of National Blog Post Month. I made it... all 30 posts. And you know what I learned in the process? This blog helps me stay busy and on track. I don't know if many people actually read this blog but I know that the few who do also help me stay on track with their wonderful words they share with me and their beautiful blogs I love reading.

Yesterday was my father's birthday and tomorrow is my mother's. There won't be a post tomorrow because I will be driving up to see them (it's been a while since I've been to see them... I have my reasons). But I'm going to try and keep posting regularly. No disappearing. Not from this gal.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week! Thanks for sticking with me :)

A Handy Tip

RH bought me some glass beads and they came in a plastic tub. At first, I didn't think too much of them. They were made in India which you would think would have me all goo-goo eyed, but most of them were chipped and they had a funny residue on them (which smelled like oil so I suppose it was oil). But, there seemed to be a few treasures in the bunch.

I knew I had to get the residue off but wasn't sure how to go about it. We'd just bought some hand wipes and I snatched up a few and decided to give them a try. You know what? It worked like a charm. I picked through the bunch looking for beads that weren't chipped. I ended up with a beautiful batch of shiny glass beads.

It was interesting. The dark blue bead in the middle and the one off on the upper right corner seemed black at first but they're blue! And the pretty round blue bead in the lower left corner? I saw a tutorial in the latest Bead Style that would be PERFECT for that bead.

Ahh... Happiness.

Oh Buttons, I Missed You

I had meant for today to be a day of Etsy posting. However, I didn't get home in time to catch the sun light. Shorter days... blast.

I did manage to finish up a pendant I'd started yesterday. Even made it a full-fledged necklace with a chain and everything. And do you see that? There's a BUTTON there! I missed my buttons. And I figured out how to work them into these pieces I've been doing. :)

Copper wire with seed beads and an amethyst chip. Smokey purple crystals and copper chain finish the necklace.

Did you have a good weekend?

A Newfound Love

Usually when I'm creating (jewelry, sketches, etc.), I have a movie playing in the background. Because my disc drive on my computer has finally decided to crap out on me, it's been music lately. I have trouble finding something to listen to because sometimes I get distracted by a good song and want to dance or sing or sometimes (and this happens on Pandora), I skip songs until I find something I like and then when that song's over I might skip again if the next is a dud. Blah. These moments of singing and skipping add up and bug me! I love music as much as the next person, but jeez. What is my problem? :P

At work, most everyone has read the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. There's something like 12 books out right now by him and I have been wanting to read them but have other books I'm reading as well. I feel left out when people start talking about this awesome series. So, one of my friends offered to let me put copies of his audio books on my iPod.

I'm not big on the audio book... or rather, I wasn't. I thought they'd be distracting. That I wouldn't be able to actually pay attention to the story or I wouldn't be able to pay attention to my work. So, after a few weeks of saying no, I finally went up to him the other day and gave in.

I got home from Thanksgiving around midnight. I wasn't sleepy so I thought I'd play around with my beads and maybe give the audio book a try. Before I knew it, it was 4am! O_O Can you believe it!? The only other thing that lets me work that long is the Lord of the Rings special feature discs and after three or four hours, I have to change the disc! Wow. I think this thing might really work out.

I'd like to get Harry Potter on audio. I think that would be fun to listen to. Anybody have any suggestions on what audio books would just rock my world?

Giveaway Teaser

Did you know that CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find anything you need whether it's tv tables, a dollhouse, or a baby stroller? I recently purchased a beautiful bag and plastic storage box for my jewelry kit and you know what? I thought I would share the love!

Coming in the next few weeks, I'll be doing a giveaway! I'm deciding what to give away from the awesome sites but when I do figure it out, you'll be the first to know :P

Here are some thoughts:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are some fun turkey facts I compiled from a quick Google search:

• Turkeys spend the night in trees. They fly to their roosts around sunset.
• Oh hey. Turkeys fly :P (Silly, I know, but hey, they're HUGE! I didn't think they could fly! It says commercially raised turkeys can't fly but still... I like learning.)
• They can swim too!
• They can run at speeds up to 20 miles per hour and can burst into flight approaching speeds between 50-55 mph in a matter of seconds.
• Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be a turkey.
• For their first meal on the moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin ate roast turkey in foil packets.
• 50% of US consumers eat turkey at least once per week.
• Turkeys can see in color.
• Male turkeys (toms) gobble. Hens do not. They make a clicking noise.
• Around nineteen million turkeys are eaten each easter, twenty-two on Christmas, and FORTY FIVE million on Thanksgiving!
• Turkeys' heads change color when they become excited.
• Turkeys have a wingspan of about 4.5 feet. I am 5 feet tall. Wow.
• The thing that hangs from the top of the beak is called a snood. Nice word.
• Scientists believe turkeys have been around for over 10 million years. I wonder how big they were then O_o
• A group of turkeys is called a rafter. Most people call them a flock or a gang but the official term is rafter.
• It is possible for a turkey hen to lay a fertilized egg without mating. This process, called parthenogenesis, also occurs in some invertebrates, fish, and lizards. For turkeys, this process always produces male chicks. These male turkeys are no different from male turkeys hatched from mating.
• It takes about a month for a turkey egg to hatch.
• Peacocks aren't the only birds who use their fancy tails to attract a mate. Each spring, male turkeys try to befriend as many females as possible. Toms puff up their bodies and spread their tail feathers just like a peacock.

Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving! Eat tons and enjoy your day!

Beads, Buttons, and Poker

RH and I were playing cards last night (he kicked my butt at War). Before we dealt out the cards, I wanted to pull out the above beads for a project I have in mind. Out of his mouth comes this: "We could totally play for beads and buttons." Instantly, I thought of playing poker with my beading heroes and friends, using beads and buttons as our currency.

Oh, I'd probably lose. I suck at poker. I have a terrible poker face. But, still, fun to think about.

RH and I discovered we like playing Go Fish. Ahh... to be in love. :P

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Reclaiming Rose: That Voice

I started another blog a few months back about my battle with staying on the creative path. I stopped posting when I got a job and have recently started posting again. Here's the latest post from Reclaiming Rose:

WARNING: This post contains one swear word (used twice). Avert your eyes if you are offended by such things.

"Resistance has no strength of its own. Every ounce of juice it possesses comes from us. We feed it with power by our fear of it.
Master that fear and we conquer Resistance."

I am afraid of failing and losing myself in the process. I am afraid of succeeding and the expectation of more after I've "made it..." and not being able to deliver. I am afraid of the pain of rejection. I am afraid of the commitment of an acceptance.

These fears (and countless others) keep me from creating. I make up these scenarios in my head. All of which are rational fears and the little voice in my head calmly doles out the list of disasters that could happen in a very lawyerly like manner.

Never once does this voice say, "You could actually make it." When I say it outloud and the voice in my head responds, "But more likely you won't."

Stupid bitch, that voice.

Remember that... the voice that is filled with negativity is a stupid bitch. It's hard not to listen to her but I have to try.

For every negative thing she says, I will say a positive. That way, I hope to never fall prey to her lies.

Ceramicy Goodness- Etsy Treasury

Instead of a boring post about my theory as to why I still feel sick, I created an Etsy treasury of beautiful handmade ceramicy goodness. Happy Monday!

Pretty Pendant

Hm.. I'm the only one left in Corner Bakery other than staff... this... feels... um... odd...

I finished making this pendant last night. The wrapped frame (brass wire and pearly white seed beads) had been sitting in my tool kit for about a week and I couldn't decide how to finish it. Then as I was going through my stash of beads, I found this lonely flower. Stick it on a head pin with a brass spacer and VOILA! A pretty pendant.

No clue how I will string it. Any ideas?

I have a terrible headache. I think it has something to do with this tiny cut I discovered in my left ear... right at the opening of the hole... canal? Hole? Meh. Whichever. ANYWAY. Gross. I know. But it's the center of my world right now. I took Ibuprofen and it just blah... didn't work. SIGH.

Maybe tomorrow's post will be about butterflies and puppies? :P Hope you guys had a fantastic weekend and that Monday treats you well! :)

Bread and Butter

I read somewhere that every handmade artist needs to have that "bread and butter" piece. The one thing that they can make over and over again and 1) not really get tired of it, 2) it's the piece that they believe will sell, and 3) they WILL sell it. I think this is that piece.

I had so much fun making this. And I made it during my lunch hour at work (well, technically 2 lunch hours...). I love the color of the seed beads and the feel of the leather on my wrist. It's so easy to wear and... GAH! I just love it. I know, I'm totally tooting my own horn here, but seriously. This is a piece that I drew and it came out exactly how I wanted it to.

...Well, that's not entirely true. I was going to add some dangles to the focal/clasp but decided against it. Do you think it's too plain? I was wearing a t-shirt yesterday at work and decided that this could go with it even though I wasn't dressed "nicely" (hey, I need to do laundry... so sue me :P). But I can see this working with a summer dress. Something white and flowy and pretty.

This one is mine. I'm working on others in more colors. YAY for staying productive! Bringing my jewelry kit to work is really working for me. I get stuff done in the hour I have to eat. It's really wonderful.

What is your "bread and butter" piece? I'd love to see them! Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

Moo

I had a deep, philosophical post all planned out in my head and I decided that it's Friday, and I'm not going to get any deeper or serious than this kitten.



Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC weekend! I'll have something more substantial tomorrow :P

A Bracelet on Date Night

First off, sorry about the crappy picture. I forgot my SLR at home.

RH and I are on our date night. We've made a habit of having a date day every week, really. This usually includes running around town shopping and being together during the day and then at night, we'll have dinner and go to a movie. Lately, we've been trying to sneak in art time so he can paint and draw and I can do jewelry. The above bracelet is what I made tonight.

All copper wire and blue crystals. All handmade, as well... even the hook. YAY! And I'm wearing it right now. It matches my blue shirt :)

I need to invest in a bracelet sizer... anyone have any good suggestions other than the one linked?

A Corgi

I had a pretty miserable day yesterday. The highlight of my work day was when a long-haired corgi and her owner came into the store. The corgi's name was Sandy. She sniffed my hand, bowed, I patted her head, and she promptly sat on my foot. She was adorable and I thank her for making me smile. I mean, how can you not smile when looking at a corgi?

I didn't take a picture of her but a Google search yielded the cutest photos. The above is the closest thing I could get to Sandy. The real Sandy was plumper and hairier. I so wanted to take her home with me.

I cannot wait for my day off tomorrow.

A Peak Into My Travel Kit

I've taken to bringing some of my jewelry making stuff with me to work (have I mentioned that before?) so I can make pretty things at lunch time while scarfing down some soup. Even if I don't feel like making anything, I still bring it just in case.

The box shown is roughly the size of my 15" laptop. Its got enough room for my pliers, wire, seed beads, honey pots, and other beads and things I've put in baggies so I can stuff as many things in the compartments as possible. I like having a ton of stuff to play with and hold. Even if I don't use them for the piece I'm working on, sometimes holding the beads will remind me I have another bead that would be perfect for the current piece... its a beautiful thing.

The flowers you see there are made of RESIN. Can you believe it? I couldn't when I saw them so I had to snatch them up. I've only used them maybe once in a piece but I like having them and have tons of sketches for future pieces using them. I'm just completely obsessed with wire wrapping wire frames right now that I can't be bothered to flip through my sketchbook. Haha.

In the middle row, in the compartment on the far right, there's a little statue of Ganesha I keep in there. He makes me smile and reminds me that the obstacles placed before me can be overcome.  Do you have a travel kit you take with you places? What are some essentials you absolutely need to have with you?



PS. We're more than half-way through the month of November! I can't believe I've actually been posting everyday! I think I should buy myself a treat... some kind of chocolate something or other maybe. :P

Feathers Turn to Crystal

Remember yesterday's post? I ended up buying the feathers. They're peacock neck feathers, so says the package. And at my bead store, you can get them 2 for $0.50. RH and I did some driving around before picking up these feathers and found out you can get some pretty floral picks with peacock feathers (with eyes, even) in them at Michaels. The one I wanted was $6.99! I'm glad I got the neck feathers because I ended up breaking one of them anyway and because they were only $0.50, I didn't feel too terrible about it.

I was attempting to wrap wire around the ends so I can hang them... well... they're very delicate and didn't like that very much. I decided, anyway, that they didn't work for the design and ended up finding some peacock blue crystals for my earrings.

Much better, I think. Sorry about the crappy photo. Light's not very good in my room at 7am.

These will make it to Etsy... someday... hahaha. I am planning a massive shop update... I just need to find the time. :P

Happy Monday, everyone!

Birds of a Feather

Miss Shannon's latest post has me thinking of peacocks. I love peacock blue. I have a dress in that color (sadly, it's fading but I still love it!). Last night, I was wrapping wire and beads and couldn't think of a way to finish the design so I went to bed. The idea to get my hands on some peacock feathers came to me not 10 minutes after turning off the lights (poor RH was awoken by my sudden burst of inspiration and thought something was wrong... hahaha).

My problem... the place I buy my supplies from does have peacock feathers but only eyeless ones. They're still beautiful but not what I was thinking of. I'm not sure if I should buy them or order some feathers with eyes.

Hmmm... what a wonderful problem for a beautiful Sunday. Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

Om

When I went charm shopping last week, this was another one I picked up (it's in COPPER! Yum!). I'm sure many of you are familiar with the "om" (or "aum") symbol. There is so much associated with the symbol! One particular tidbit I read is that the a, u, and m can represent birth, life, and death in Hinduism.

I can't wait to work it into a piece!

Honey Pots

I read somewhere that some people call the plates or bowls they put beads they're working with "honey pots." I think it's a fitting name. My honey pots (which I normally use for seed beads) are from Sur Le Table. They're not terribly big... I often tell people I like things that fit in my pocket and this little baking thingy certainly does. It's wonderful for seed beads because its easy to pour out (though sometimes, I still use a funnel if it's super full).

I'm not sure what they'd be normally used for seeing as they're so small. Maybe individual creme brulees? Still a bit small but possibly.

They're not cheap... $2 for one. I don't normally like to spend a ton of money on things like this but I have 6 of them and use every single one. I think it's money well spent... for me anyway.

What do you use for honey pots?

Inspire Me

I can't, for the life of me, remember where I got this image. I know I Googled "india jewelry" and it came up with this image of a bride and her bangles but I can't remember where I got it from. Might have been National Geographic.

Anyhoo. This is one of the pictures I look at when I'm starting to feel like I have nothing left in me to create. Its in a folder called "India" which is in a folder called "Inspire Me." I love the henna tattoos, the jewelry, and the colors. Just beautiful.

It's day 11 of the National Blog Post Month challenge thingo and I almost didn't post because I don't have jewelry to show off but then I remembered this is MY blog and I don't just post jewelry. I post my arts and rantings and ravings. I'm glad I posted because I think this challenge is helping to keep me sane while work gets crazier and crazier because of the holiday season... and yesterday was only my first full day back at work. Ahh... the joys of retail. :P

Hathi Necklace

Remember the pendant from this post? I added some brass chain and two pink glass beads and VOILA! A necklace. A LONG, clasp-less necklace. YAY! "Hathi" means "elephant" in Hindi.

I've still got the sneezels. No meds yesterday because I'm stubborn... just took a Benedryl and am hoping it will fix me up in time for work.

Hope you have a FABULOUS Wednesday!

PS. Left over Chinese food for breakfast = YUM!

7AM Blogging

I have a cold. I'm desperately trying to deny that this is true but at the moment, I am going to accept that the sniffly sniffles, sneezels, ouchy throat, runny-downness, and the fact that I just cant seem to get warm means that I am sick. ALSO, my forehead itches something fierce, but I think that's because wisps of hair are tickling my dome *scratchScratchSCRATCH*

I made earrings! Haven't named them. I have my trusty Hindi dictionary so I can name them later for who/where they're going to. Almost all handmade. I'm rather proud. The ear wires and jump rings were not made by me. Had a deadline for myself so I went with ready-made ear wires. The connector, though, is mine. I have such a great love for my wig-jig.

My brain is fuzzy. I'm so glad I got up to do this post. I don't think I'd be able to do it later. Rest, yummy warm food (maybe soup?), and a trip to the post office are at the top of my list of things to do today. Its also date night... rest is very important so I can actually have a fun date night :P

PS. I'm not sick. It's just allergies... right?

Didi Pendant

I was at a loss for words when I opened this window to write. Then "Are You That Somebody" by Aaliyah (which was one of my favorite songs in high school) came on Pandora... got me dancin' in Corner Bakery and ready to write!

You may recognize the above pendant from this post. However, it is not that pendant. The pendant from that post currently hangs from a simple black leather cord around my neck. The one above is an almost identical pendant. It's slightly bigger and has a better wrap job... it is, after all, the second pendant I finished (started and abandoned probably three other ones). This one is going somewhere special and I don't want to jinx anything by mentioning where it's going. Sorry, folks. I'll let you know when I can :D

I didn't want to just string it on a piece of cord so I linked some minty green glass bead with copper and added some dark purple crystals. I hammered a hook clasp special for this necklace and finished it off with some brown leather. The finished necklace is a bit asymetrical because of the clasp, but I like it. I'm hoping who I send it to likes it too.

BTW: "Didi" is sister in Hindi :)

Hey, do you guys have any special tips for photographing necklaces? I was having a bear of a time trying to get the whole thing into the picture so I ended up just photographing the main part of the necklace. Do you hang them off a wall and photograph them like that? I should have done that I think...

Bag Lady

I finally broke down and bought a grown-up bag. My sister and sister-in-law can vouch for me- I DETEST purse shopping. Sure, I like to shop for messenger bags for art things or because I have to carry my sketchbook with me but I've never EVER shopped for a purse.

The bag I was using before this bag was a messenger bag that I bought so I could carry my sketchbook and art things with me. It's time, however, for a regular purse.

I bought that cute bag from Kohls. They're having a 50% off sale and it seemed like the right time. It's actually the second bag I bought because the first one was too small and I had to exchange it for a bigger version. Still lovely and it fits my sketchbook, pen, planner, and wallet. It even has room for a book. The reason why I got this bag is I needed a purse that was smaller than my messenger bag which can fit a 11"x14" sketchbook. I throw waters and food and RH's books in my messenger bag. Receipts gather... its quite a mess. I'm hoping with a smaller bag, I can manage it better.

Also, I hate that with my messenger bag, I can never find my phone the first go. Or my sketching pen. This bag isn't very deep and I can find my phone instantly. *crosses fingers* Hope it stays that way.

Museum Trip

The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena has an awesome collection of Asian art which includes Indian sculptures. It was decided that yesterday, we would take a trip down and marvel at these beauties.

There were a couple Ganesha sculptures but this turned out to be one of my favorites. I always wondered why he only has one tusk and one of the descriptions gave a wonderful story as to how he lost his other tusk. Ganesha, remover of obstacles, is always depicted holding and/or eating sweets. He loves sweets. Well, one night, he ate so many sweets that his tummy exploded! The moon found this hilarious and laughed and laughed and laughed. Ganesha, enraged by the moon's merriment at his own expense, broke off one of his tusks and hurled it at the moon. This is why he only has one tusk.

Ganesha is turning out to be on of my favorite Hindu gods. I bought a little Ganesha statue (seriously, only slightly bigger than a quarter) and am keeping him with my beads and stuff. Maybe he can help me remove the obstacles that keep me from creating... even if those obstacles are ones I make myself.

Messy First Step

 Here's a peak into my bead stash. I pull this out every time I make jewelry.

I know. It's rather horrid. I had a freakout a few days ago because I KNEW I had copper crimp beads and couldn't find them in this mess (really, who could?). I sat on the floor crying, about ready to throw out all my beads and just start over when RH calmly pulled out the bags and said we just need to sort through the mess. Well, of course, there were no crimp beads. But, I decided it was time for a new system.

We went to the Container Store and found these awesome little boxes with tiny compartments. LOVE! We bought two of them and I've taken the first step toward a new bead storing system. I couldn't think of a way to organize and RH asked how my favorite bead store organizes their merchandise. They just do it by color! So, that's what I'm doing. Baby steps. I'll get there.

I like labeling my little beads too. Most beads are glass... this one is stone but I can't remember what kind! Brain fart...

Oh, and if you're curious as to what happened to the elephant charm from yesterday's post...

I made a pendant last night with some brass wire (brass wire is WAY stiffer than copper wire, btw). Used some wonderful new seed beads. I LOVE seed beads. Now... how should I string him???

Charming Elephant

Went charm shopping today. I was looking for charms that bring to mind India. One of the charms I picked up were these brass elephants.

Indian/Asian elephants typically have small ears and these do not, but the "saddle" reminds me of images I've seen of people riding elephants which in turn reminds me of India.

Do you know the story of Ganesha, the Indian god with an elephant's head? Ganesha, known as the remover of obstacles, is thought to be the son of Shiva and Parvati. Ganesha was born while Shiva was away. Parvati asked Shiva to guard her chambers while she bathed and Shiva came home demanding to see his wife. When Ganesha would not let him pass, Shiva killed him. After learning from Parvati that was his son, Shiva brought him back to life and replaced his head with the first thing he saw which was and elephant's head.

There are many versions of the story but that's the one I like best.

Tomorrow we're going to the Norton Simon Museum to look at Indian art. I promise tomorrow's blog will be posted sooner than 10 minutes before midnight.

What reminds you of India?

First Ear Wires

This wire wrapping thing was easier with smaller seed beads! Who woulda thunk? It was such a bear wrapping the beads around the pendant I made in this post. But the wraps on these earrings are nice and tight.

I love seed beads; they're like little gems and I'm loving wrapping them around wire shapes. For the earrings, I used some glass crackle beads I have in my stash. I also made my own ear wires! A first for me!

They're rather thin but the holes in my ears aren't very big so not a big deal. They hold up nicely even for 24 gauge wire. I suppose I should hammer them to harden but haven't done that yet. I added a piece of purple crystal for extra sparkle.

Rather late with this blog post but am still making the blog-a-day challenge for November. Tish led me to the site NaBloPoMo which stands for "National Blog Post Month." I joined up. Haven't had a chance to explore it yet (I'm on vacation :D) but it looks like a really cool community for bloggers!

It's been super hot here in SoCal. Today, the high was 99 degrees! Sigh. Hoping it will cool down soon. How's the weather been for you?

A Far Off Land

RH and I have decided we are going to go to India. There's no set date yet. There's no fleshed out plan. All we did was agree that in a few years, we will be in India.

I'm not entirely sure how this fascination got started. I do know that it's something we both share and I feel so blessed that he wants the same things I want. The word marriage was thrown around in our conversations. So was the idea of moving in together. Scary conversations, yes, but exciting nonetheless.

I found this pendant at a bead store in Dana Point. It's not a real coin. The owner said that the pendant was a reproduction. I'm wearing it now, strung on a simple black cord. I want to keep India fresh in my mind. I want to take it around with me as a constant reminder that I will get there one day. I've gotten in the habit of touching it before making a purchase. Like asking myself if I really need to be spending the money or if I could put it away for India. Hasn't happened yet, but hopefully I'll get better at the saving part :P

We tried Indian food for the first time last week. I LOVED it. It was a tiny little grocery store in the middle of Lake Forest. It had a tinier buffet. I tried a samosa, chicken tikka masala, some kind of veggie mush that was totally yummy but I can't remember the name of, lamb curry, and tandoori chicken... all with some rice, of course. They had garlic na'an which was HEAVEN. We had some left and I ate it later with some string cheese. RH liked the lamb curry and the rice (which meant something because he usually HATES rice) but not much else. We're going to give it another go soon. :)

Hello, November

Wow. November is already here!

It was RH's birthday on the 22nd of October. And because he's such a dear, he said he wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo (which is what I wanted to do for my birthday but we couldn't afford it).

I did quite a bit of sketching. Not enough photo-taking, I think. Last time we went to the zoo, I took about 800 pictures of the polar bear playing with some tree branches.

So many of the animals were fighting. The rhinos were fighting, the sun bears were fighting, and someone said that the polar bears were at it too. We didn't see the polar bears fighting, thank goodness. I love polar bears and probably would have been very upset to see them bloodied up.

Below are some sketches from my handy-dandy sketchbook. I'm not very good at cats but I certainly did try.

 Anyhoo... happy November, all! I read somewhere that November is Blog Month or something and some people are trying to write a blog a day for the entire month of November. Guess who's going to try and keep up with that challenge?