Day Thirty-One, Can't Believe I'm All Done!

So today's entry is bittersweet-- the end of the month, the last day of my personal challenge to make a pair of earrings each day.

I'm happy because it will let me pursue other projects that I've been meaning to do, and had to put off day after day; I'm sad because I truly loved pushing myself to create something new every single day.

Since part of the goal of this challenge was to increase my earring-making skills, I decided to push the envelope a bit. Today's design was inspired by something that I found on Pinterest (from About.com)-- not an exact replica, of course, but I'm way too tired to find the link tonight. I'll try to do it tomorrow.

In any case, here they are: the last of the Mohicans... er... the daily earring updates...~

These earrings are made out of brass wire, brass figaro chain, and small round onyx beads. All the non-chain elements were made by myself, from hand. No autographs, please!

Seriously, though, I'm proud of myself. Not only did I create a pair of earrings for every single day of the month... not only did I improve on the quality of my earring construction... I also took photos and blogged every single day! This was a month of true self-improvement.

As I used to tell my parents when I was little, "You can say 'Good Job, Julia'!"

What's next for me, and what's in store for you, all my faithful readers? Well, for the month of April I'm taking part in another post-a-day challenge-- the A to Z blog hop! Basically, I'll be posting every day of the week except for Sunday (unless I truly feel inspired~!); every day of the month is assigned a different letter.

In other words, I'll be blogging my way through the alphabet, and will touch on, well, pretty much anything and everything related to my art interests.

Again, today is bittersweet. I'm upset about being all done with the earrings, but I'm very excited to start a new challenge for this month. And I'm looking forward to taking all of you along with me on this special journey.

See you tomorrow~ and don't forget to say "Rabbit Rabbit" when you first get out of bed!

Day Twelve- I Truly Delve!

So, first things first~ the earrings of the day!

Today's pair is a special request from a friend of mine. These are brass wires, wrapped in a spiral, and ending in an onyx teardrop. I plaon recreating these in sterling silver quite soon~ and while I know that you all think the model is OH SO ATTRACTIVE, this photo doesn't show the detail as well as I'd like... so more photographs will be attached tomorrow.

And now for something completely different.

I wanted to thank all my friends and family, and those who have visited me here, for being so supportive. Since posting about my health a couple weeks ago, I have received so much love from so many people, both on here and in real life. It means the world to me, and keeps me smiling when things get hard. Since then, as always, I have had good days and bad days... and the thing that keeps me going when things get tough is the idea that I will always have people in my life who support what I do.

When Hubby and I were watching Star Trek: Voyager on Netflix, and reliving our youth, the Vulcan character (Tuvok) said something that truly resonated within me. I was surprised to enjoy a quote from this particular character, since I am pretty much the anti-Vulcan for the most part.

"Do not mistake composure for ease." 

My life has challenges, but I always try to hold myself together as well as I can. I always try to keep my head up, and keep going. Many people say that they would never have known that I was unwell, had I not told them. I don't like to complain, and I don't enjoy showing my weaknesses to people. Some seem to think that because I don't show these feelings, that I'm perfectly fine.

Even when I'm at my worst-- no, ESPECIALLY when I'm feeling my worst-- I always try to make things seem much better than they truly are.

This does not mean that I feel any less unwell... just that I try to hold myself together as best I can. And the two things that truly help me to do that, are the important people in my life, and my art. Those two things help me keep my composure through the worst of times.

What inspires *you* to keep going, when all you want to do is stop? <3

Day Ten, Let's Do It Again!

Day ten of my personal challenges, and I'm still going strong! Earrings du jour:

This teacup has become my new best friend...

This beautiful pair is a personal favorite of mine~ lapis lazuli centers, flanked by golden freshwater pearls (shaped like doughnuts, yum yum!) and small black onyx beads. They were designed to coordinate with a necklace that I had in mind for a while, and finally finished up today as well.

The lapis lazuli is a little out of focus here, but it gives you an idea of the colors against a darker surface~

Now, I absolutely LOVE this set. I love the way it looks, I love the stones, and I love the colors. But I have to admit that when I saw them on the neck form... no matter how I tried... no matter what angle I took the photo... no matter how I moved the earrings around, and the necklace up or down... it looked like the face of a deranged cookie monster.

"C" is for "color" AND "cookies"!

Fortunately, it does not have this same effect while on a person. I speak from experience on this.

However, I will have to be EXCEPTIONALLY careful when I put them on display these for sale. No need to scare the customers away from the booth...

Day Eight of Earrings-- Going Great!

Just popping in for my daily post, my daily earrings, and my daily bread~

Okay, so maybe not the last "daily" thing. In any case, here are the earrings for today!

This pair uses (of course) sterling silver ear wires to dangle turquoise teardrops. These stones are flanked by two small onyx round beads-- just enough of a contrast to really make these earrings "pop".

Alright, tonight's entry is a quick one. I'm off to my parents' for a quick visit-- see y'all tomorrow!

Earring Challenge, Day Five!

I'm up to "Day Five" of my personal earring challenge, as well as the blog-post-a-day challenge~ for those of you who don't know, I'm doing one blog post per day, and I'm making at least one pair of earrings each day, all March long.

In exciting news, Hubby picked up some ultra-thin head pins from our metalwork shop, on his way home from work. I know that this is the "lazy man's" way of making jewelry, but when you're not feeling great, it's the difference between being able to complete a project and not doing anything at all.

And I think the finished product speaks for itself~

Sterling silver ear wires hold up semi-precious stones for a classic look that is as versatile as it is stunning! Large onyx stones, in the shape of a rectangle, flanked by two round stones. One is a blue agate, solidly colored but marbleized with veins of green; the other is a translucent quartz, faceted to highlight the beauty of the stone.















 A perfect pair~ one that goes as well well with jeans and a tee-shirt as it does with that "little black dress" that every woman has in her closet. Or, as in my case, that "little blue dress" that is just the perfect shade to brighten up a cloudy day!










 Earrings that can be worn to any location that your heels or ballet flats or sneakers can take you. Earrings that look just as lovely at a picnic, as they do at a wedding reception. The kind of earrings that you cherish and treasure.

Alright, I'm done with the poetry for now~ I have to say, I'm going to be quite upset when these babies go up for sale...


And with this, Day Five of my challenges is COMPETE!