A to Z, 2012-- M and N is for...

Medicine. New Medicine, to be specific.

Okay, so it's probably not the most exciting or inspired thing that I could post about. Actually, I had intended for my M post to be all about my Mommy... before the new M-word took over.

When I realized I wouldn't be able to write anything deep or emotional, I started to write about My Favorite Things. But again, my M-word took over my life and made it nigh impossible to write.

Mother Superior is not amused. "Shame on you!" she seems to say.

Regarding the letter N, the same thing happened. I had a whole other post that I got about halfway done~ see, I went shopping the other day and got lots of NEW and fun things to show off~ so *that* was what I was desperately trying to write about! On one hand, the word is still the same, so that's a win for me. On the other, this post has no resemblance to my original idea, so I'm not sure how happy I am about that part.

So here's the skinny. Those who have followed my blog for a bit now, know that I am dealing with chronic pain that seriously affects my quality of life. We're talking excruciating pain of the "every day of my life" variety. I have Endometriosis, plain and simple, and there is no real cure for my condition... or at least, none that are viable options for the way it has uniquely manifested itself in my body.

Because there is no real cure, my doctors are just managing my pain as best as they can. The past couple months have been exceptionally hard-- I was bed-ridden for weeks at a time, and I reached a point where my "bad" health days outnumbered the "good" ones. So my doctor prescribed a new medicine to try and keep those higher levels of pain in check.

After a couple days of trying it out, I'm pleased to say that the medicine DOES lower my pain levels. It's making the whole thing much more manageable-- instead of being bed-ridden I can actually get things done!

... Well... theoretically I would be able to get things done.

Reality, however, is a different story.

The new medicine is designed to combine with a different prescription of mine-- they enhance each other's effects and make both more effective. Unfortunately the combination makes me all kinds of dizzy and fuzzy, and it's not easy to get things done.

Despite all the side effects, however, taking the medicine it is much better than the alternative. I might not be as productive as I want to be, but I can at least get SOME things done~!

So here's to my New Medicine-- the letters M and N. See you all tomorrow for the next letter!

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

A to Z, 2012-- B is For...

BLUE!

But first, a quick welcome to any new visitors I might have from the A to Z challenge-- and a reminder to all visitors, old and new, to sign up for my very first giveaway! Now that I've taken care of that bit of business...

Those who know me should not surprised that for me, as an artist, B stands for blue. Not just any blue-- Royal Blue.

I could have used the photos from MY wedding, since our color was Royal blue, but this was just way easier~!

Aw, hell, I might as well share one photo from my wedding! Pay no attention to the oversized bridal train, gorgeous as it may be. Look instead to the color worn by my bridesmaids-- yes, that blue-ish blur next to the beautiful big white thing.

This color of blue is near and dear to my heart for reasons I could never put into words. I even have several clothing items in Royal Blue~ a jacket, a skirt, a pair of shoes, a pair of earrings, a turtleneck, short sleeved tee-shirt...

I have NO IDEA what I'm running towards in this photo of myself from last year, but I think it has something to do with a fight between some cousins. I am the oldest, after all! All I know is that I'm NOT running from the all-in-black monster behind me. That's just one of the other "little" cousins, sillies, blacked out because he's still a "kid." Don't remind me that he's taller than I am...

Oh yes. And a royal blue sun dress. Only to be worn with the silliest of faces, of course.

A dear friend of mine told me that my strongest chakra is the throat. To those of you as ignorant as I was,  this means that my strengths lie in communication with others and expression of ideas, both expressive and receptive. It relates to creativity and the act of creating, and listening on all levels: to my own intuition, to those around me, and to the universe that surrounds me. Metaphorically speaking I wear many "hats", and as I write all of this, I realized that every one of them somehow relates to these ideas~ Artist... Musician... Fashion Designer... Teacher... Counselor... Blogger/Writer... Event Planner... the list goes on, but you get the idea.

And wouldn't you know it, the color of that chakra is blue.

Now I KNOW that someone out there is wondering what in tarnation this all has to do with my art.

The answer is unbelievably simple: I have an addiction to creating all things that are blue.

I absolutely ADORE my bead supplier (Suma in New York City) for having such a gorgeous wall. And for letting me take a photo of it, no less~!

Since I'm so drawn to blue shades, I always work extra hard to NOT create things in the color-- or better put, I experiment with other colors much more, because I don't want to have a jewelry line with no other color options. Sometimes it works and I end up with a nice variety of color options; other times, I go too far in the opposite direction and create NOTHING that is blue. But I always try to find that balance, despite my love affair with my absolute favorite color.

Do any of you have a color that "speaks" to you?

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

Art.

But before I get too far "into" that, don't forget to sign up for my special giveaway... if you sign up for it, please remember to do so on the ORIGINAL blog post, linked above or found a few posts below. And let me also give a warm welcome to any A to Z challenge participants who may be visiting!

Now, back to the scheduled program. It took me a long time to consider myself an artist, and realize that I truly am one.

Me as a senior in high school, putting together my "senior project"-- a 3-D rendering of the high school musical. In this photo I was working on the curtains, made from fabric left over from my costume. I'm smiling in this photo because a friend was taking the picture, but this was probably my least favorite project, when it was done~

I've been creating since as far back as I can remember. I learned how to knit (the first time, at least) when I was three. I started out making jewelry and doll-pins, and selling them along the beach with a friend, when I was around 11 years old. I took art lessons around that time, and refined my painting and drawing and sculpting techniques. In high school I took several art classes, and learned how to screen print. College taught me to design techniques for 2-D work, and introduced me to the psychology behind designs.

But I never considered myself an artist.

The art of a former student. Coincidentally, this photograph also reflects exactly how I used to view my work~!

See, my problem is that one of my grandmothers is an artist. She paints watercolors-- the kind of watercolors that are hung in galleries and governor's mansions. Whenever people complimented me on a project, I always thanked them, but made sure to tell them that I was no artist.

No more.

Now, when people ask what I do or what I am, I tell them proudly that I'm an artist. I tell them that my most recent work is wearable art-- because whenever I make jewelry, that is what my ultimate goal.

I'm not saying that I think of myself as the world's best artist. I'm not saying there's nothing else for me to learn-- far from it-- and I still have doubts.

I found this through Facebook, courtesy of a friend <3

Even now, I still have moments when I wonder if this is what I'm truly meant to be doing, if this is the kind of thing that I SHOULD be doing, if this is the kind of thing that I'm good at. I question myself every day.

But now, at least I know, thanks to friends and family (and my own soul-searching) that I deserve the title.

To those of you reading my blog, who might be questioning your OWN status as an artist, I highly recommend that you read this article. It expresses my feelings, exactly, about what it means to be one.

Do my perspectives on being an artist resonate with any of you? I know I'm not the only one who struggles with this title... do any of you have experiences to share?

Tune in tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel, for more alphabetical excitement!