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

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?

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.

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?

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. :)

Trial and Error

I like to sketch out my designs.

Sometimes...

 ... they don't turn out so hot. Probably should have used smaller beads. It's a design worth trying again.

Then other times, I surprise myself and actually make something that I hold up and say, "Holy crap! I made that? I brought it to life?" 

Its quite a wonderful feeling. Something that I hope all artists experience. For me, it's rather rare with my jewelry making to bring a sketch fully to life. I'm tickled pink and want to show the world. 

Thank goodness I have a blog :P

Can you tell I've been dreaming of India?