A to Z, 2012-- J is for...

ME!

No, wait... that's not quite right... well, I mean, it is, but it's not the word I want to talk about.

Today's word is Junk.

As much as I love to use fancy rocks and beautiful gems and whimsical glass, there is something to be said for creating something beautiful out of practically nothing. I believe that the term now is called "upcycling"-- using things that would have otherwise been discarded, for an entirely new purpose.

My mom picked up a pair of earrings down in Florida, made from soda can tabs and shells:

Thanks for sending me the photo, Mom! Love you lots <3

On Pinterest, you can find many more things like this-- a ring made out of an old fork,  a bracelet made out of old credit cards or gift cards, a bracelet made out of knitting needles, beads made out of old rulers, a bracelet made out of tape measures, a necklace out of old book pages...

Oh... I almost forgot... they have beads made out of paper, too! This example used Archie comics... I wonder who made it? They must be an AMAZING artist, and a wonderful handmade jeweler~ hee hee hee!

(By the way, those links are NOT from *my* Pinterest page... just someone who has very similar interests to mine!)



I love getting deals at thrift stores and bargains at yard sales. It's the thrill of the hunt-- the idea of finding something special that I can use for a project, something that has been discarded by someone else.

On my most recent thrift store expedition, I found two very interesting objects at an absolute steal-- less than $5 for both--

I'm going to have to do a close-up of each of these at some point. They're all really interesting beads-- carved from stone-- some of them look like chess pieces, others look like Transformers, others look like Aztec relics. Oh, and there's one bird thrown into the mix, too~

Or at least, I think it's a bird... either that or a fish...

And "found object" number two-- a brass bracelet, with black and white resin centers!

I've already taken apart the black and white and brass bracelet-- I'm using one of the "links" as a focal point on a necklace-- but I have NO IDEA what the stone beads are going to be yet.

My family always said that one man's trash is another man's treasure, and I couldn't agree more. Before you throw something away, think not what it is today, but what it *could* be.

See you all tomorrow. Happy creating!

A to Z, 2012-- D is for...

Decisions.

We make decisions every day, every single one of us. Chefs, healers, doctors, mothers, engineers, teachers, athletes, movie stars, musicians, cashiers, day laborers, and yes, artists. It doesn't matter if we are rich or poor, happy or sad, strong or weak, we all make decisions every single day.

Morpheus and Neo know where it's at! What'll it be-- the red pill or the blue pill?

Some decisions are small, so small you don't even have to think about it-- for example, what music you will listen to on your commute. Others are made so often that they become part of a routine-- like what you will put in your coffee, or how you will style your hair, or what you do first in the morning after you wake up. Some decisions are new every day, but require some thought-- what to wear, what to cook, what you will do after work is over.

And some decisions we must make are so tremendously huge that they consume your thoughts and your life.


I'm at one of those crucial crossroads right now... and I have been for quite some time now.


When I first got sick, the question was whether I should have surgery or not. I weighed the options, and had the surgery. While it didn't give me any relief from the pain, it gave me something that I didn't have before-- an answer.


When I realized that teaching was out of the question for me, I had to figure out what to do with my life. That took quite a long time, but I eventually realized that I actually could "make it" as an artist. A life-changing decision, most definitely-- and while I question my choice all the time, I absolutely love what I am doing.

See? This might not be the best photo of me, but there's no doubt about it that I am happy to be making jewelry. Notice the earrings hidden by my hair, the bracelet designed by me, and the necklace designed by Hubby. I look like I'm ready to take on anything. Look out world, here I come~!

Yesterday, at the doctor's office, I talked to a new doctor. A specialist in his field, quite literally world-renowned. I now have some major choices to make about my treatment~ the decisions I make will affect my entire life's course, so I will have to think long and hard about my course of action.

Today, my decision was to buy a new earring stand for my jewelry display. I needed something that was more fun, and more functional, than the one that I was previously using. 

Apparently, in my universe, earrings grow on trees from the roots of bracelets... I'm practically a psycho-analysts' dream come true!

I love the tree, but am not so fond of the butterfly on top. I will probably be replacing it with something else, at some point in time.


Tomorrow's biggest decision will hopefully be nothing more than what to eat for lunch, or what components to put together for a necklace that I'm designing. The truly tough decisions will be on my mind for some time to come, because they are not the kind of choices that one makes in an instant. It's not every day that we are faced with the "big ones"-- and thank goodness for that.


See you all tomorrow, for the letter E, and don't forget to sign up for my giveaway, a few posts back. Don't forget that it is the love and support from my family and friends that has made me as strong as I am today-- and I consider all of you my friends <3

Day Thirty, Time to Party!

Cheers from both myself and Hubby~!

  ...Okay, so it's not a perfect rhyme, but it's more fitting than anything else I could think of.

Today we celebrate the (almost) end of my month of earrings. I have one day left, but I couldn't think of a more fitting time to throw a mini-party with my readers. See, I have reached over 1,000 page views to this blog. I am almost up to 50 posts. And I'm starting up a new post-a-day challenge as of Sunday!

Today's post kills two birds with one stone, metaphorically speaking. My earring-of-the-day is part of the special giveaway that I've been hinting about for a while now. SURPRISE!

 

First, the materials. The black beads are glass (the smaller ones) and ceramic (the REALLY small ones on the earrings, and the larger round ones), and the colorful beads are made by myself, out of comic book paper. Archie, to be specific-- I wanted that "retro" feel. Coated in Mod Podge, of course, to make them a bit more water resistant. The ear wires are made from Sterling Silver, so you can wear them without fear of the dreaded "green skin" syndrome!

One lucky winner will get both the earrings and the bracelet. Leave a comment on this post for your chance to win-- I'll be choosing the name at random on Sunday, April 8th, around 12 PM (aka "Noon") Eastern Standard Time, so be sure to put your name in before then!

I'll be announcing the winner on the blog, so I STRONGLY recommend that you follow the blog in some way (either Google Friend Connect or Linky Followers or RSS or whatever you choose). If the prize remains unclaimed after a reasonable amount of time (I'm not talking one day late, guys!), I'll draw a different name.

I'm super excited to be offering these items to all of you. Please don't hesitate to ask if there are any questions about this. Good luck, godspeed, and thank you for helping to make this blog as amazing as it is! I "luff" you all, as one of my friends often says <3

Day Twenty, Earrings A-Plenty

So today's earrings are VERY simple designs-- nothing fancy, and not my most intricate work!-- but that was not their primary purpose. Rather, they were created to coordinate with a necklace and bracelet that I made late last night. My first full set!

Giving a big "shout-out" to my friend Megan, who let me borrow this book. Not only is the book itself interesting, it is absolutely PERFECT for jewelry photos! Love ya' Meggie <3

For the set itself, I used small seed beads in three colors-- a green-ish teal, a  faded yellow, and a bright electric yellow-- all three of them translucent, like beach glass. I used bigger seed beads, in a shade of bright green, to vary the texture of the pieces. I used black ceramic beads, smooth and round, to help accent the bright yellow glass beads used as focal beads for the set.

These earrings are ready for their close-up!

I chose not to use the large glass beads for these earrings for a few reasons. I was going to elaborate, but my list got eaten by an angry Blogging Monster who had a bone to pick with me. He's a big bully... he should pick on someone his own size ~!

Although that begs the question of what a Blogging Monster *looks* like, and causes me to wonder just how big they are. Can anyone verify their existence as a species? Or are they in the same category as "Big Foot" and "Sasquatch" and "Nessie"?

... When bloggers start creating their own nemeses, you know that it's way too late to be putting together a post. Looks like it's my bedtime, guys... see you tomorrow!