New Life

     When strolling past the seemingly endless vendors at our local flea market, one often hears the familiar of call of someone saying "everything on this table is just one dollar!".  This works in drawing people into their booth, because people buy a lot of junk simply because it is just one dollar (which explains the popularity of dollar stores).  It was when I was looking at one particular "dollar box" that I spotted it.  Amongst the usual array of tacky coffee cups, discarded paperbacks, and well-loved stuffed animals, sat this small and very antique looking rug.  It had clearly seen better days, but had a beautiful rose pattern on it.  I immediately saw myself cutting it up to make some cool fabric cuffs and using the many yards of antique lace and buttons I've collected to embellish it.  Feeling that flea market shoppers "high" (if you are a flea market junkie, you know what I'm talking about), I went to pay the guy a dollar for this cool find.  As I was handing him my dollar, the guy says to me "this is an old prayer rug, probably from the civil war".   I really wish he hadn't have told me that because now comes the dilemma I often face of "is this too precious/valuable/historical to alter?".  So then the rug sat in a corner of my art room, lonely and forgotten.  Every once and while I picked it up to ponder what this guy told me.  Was this really a civil war prayer rug?  For all I know the guy could have been full of baloney, but it did look very old.  I could picture some civil war woman praying on it for the safe return of her husband, son, father, or brother.  The internal debate continued as I pondered the condition of the rug.  The edging was irreparably damaged in places and it had several burn marks and stains.  I pictured being on some show like "Pawn Stars" and having the guy tell me my rug would be worth much more if it was in  perfect shape.
     It was around the time my grandmother became ill and went into hospice care that the sewing scissors finally came out.  As I read the many e-mails from California about how she expressed to people she was ready to go on and how her body kept holding on despite her wishes, that I impulsively starting cutting away and that rug and never looked back.  Things (and people) sometimes just need the chance to be let go of, so they can be reborn into something new, and the journey can continue.  So did I destroy a valuable historical artifact?  I suppose it is possible, but I have no regrets, just this cool new cuff bracelet.  The theme of the bracelet is "drifting around the world", because grandma liked to travel to exotic new places (and she still is).

Mae West

     I very often use pictures of women from bygone eras in some of my collage jewelry designs.  I am especially attracted to images of women I imagine to be somewhat more rebellious against the societal restraints that were present at the time. I happened to have a great sheet of images from artchix studio and recognized one as the famous actress Mae West.  I admit, I didn't know a great deal about her.  I somehow remember my one of my parents telling about her and one of her famous lines "why don't you come on up and see my some" (they left off the last bit of that line "when I've got nothing on but the radio").  A little more research on her turned up some interesting tidbits, which made me love her all the more.  I found out she was actually jailed (briefly) for her first play (she was a playwright as well as an actress), which she boldly titled "Sex".  She was an advocate for gay rights before people even knew what gay rights was.  She began her movie acting career as a sultry sex kitten at the ripe old age of 38 (that was, and probably still is, considered over-the-hill for a Hollywood bombshell).  If I could choose a single word that I think describes her it would be: unapologetic.

   I find that I admire the unapologetic Mae West because she was true to herself and didn't care what others thought about her.  She was who she was and you could take her or leave her.  I often think I (and probably many others) need a little of Ms. West's spirit in our lives.  I know for myself, I am about as far from unapologetic as you can get.  I have caught myself apologizing to someone when they bump into me, as if I have some kind of compulsive need to beg forgiveness for having the audacity to take up space.  I made this necklace in honor of the great actress, and as a reminder to whoever wears it, to lighten up a little on yourself.  You are who you are and don't apologize for it.  Life is too short to worry so much about what others think because as Mae West said "you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough".

Behold the Power of Shoes

     Truth be told, I'm not a big fashionista.  It's not that I don't like glamorous and fashionable clothes I just have other things to spend my time and money on.  A couple new pairs of jeans could be the cost of some dance workshops I want to take or art supplies I need.  Everyone has priorities, right? I get most of my clothes from our local goodwill store.  This includes shoes (foot germs, bah!).  Every once in a while though, I do get the urge to splurge.  This usually happens around my birthday.  This year was no different, and I decided to hit up our local TJ maxx.  While I was shopping for a new bathing suit (summer's coming!) and some other clothes that might make me somewhat in fashion for a change, I started to notice my shoes.  I realized with growing dismay that the particular pair of clunkers I was wearing that day had been with me since my college years, and looked their age.  Why not head next door to DSW, "just to look"?  Of course, I headed directly to the back of the store where the clearance shoes live.  It was there that I spotted them, the coolest pair of boots ever.  They were perfect!  The price: 129.99 plus an additional 40% off.  The math came up in my head as somewhere near the ballpark of $70-80.  Way more than I was planning to spend on new shoes.  So, I did what any logical girl would do.  I marched up to the counter with my glorious new boots and didn't look back.

     When I saw this single little shoe earring, I knew it had to become part of a special piece of jewelry.  Women have always loved shoes.  They are powerful accessories.  It sounds shallow, but when I wear my beloved boots, I feel more confident, powerful, glamorous, and sexy.  Every girl deserves the chance to splurge on a pair of shoes that she just loves.  There is a little glamour girl in all of us.

Full of steam

     It is always interesting to see what jewelry trends come and go over the years.  Although I have long ago given up keeping up with all the trends, one that I've paid particular attention to is steampunk-inspired jewelry designs.  Steampunk itself has been around since the eighties and is far more than just a jewelry trend (for those of you who for some reason have never heard the term  I'm not going to explain, just ask the great Sir Google).  It is an entire art, music, literature, and performance genre as well as a fashion trend.   It wasn't long after this trend really gained steam (pun!) before the mass production started (straight out of china, of course).  Big name craft stores began to sell faux vintage gears and watch components so you can make your own steampunk jewelry with a quick swipe of your credit card. A general search on etsy will give you over 150,000 matches, most of it jewelry. I knew the trend was really mainstream the day I saw steampunk jewelry in the mall.
     I do not consider myself to be a full-fledged steamager.  I have read exactly zero works of literature in this genre (admittedly, I never even read Jules Verne or H.G. Wells, I've only seen the movies).  I have only a handful of steampunk songs on my ipod by Seattle band Abney Park.  I've never been to the Steampunk World's Fair, which takes place in May every year in NJ (although I'd love to go sometime).  I'm not entirely sure what an airship pirate is, although whatever it is sounds cool! So why do I make some steampunk-inspired jewelry?  I do it because to me, the whole movement embraces creativity, reinvention (see the website steampunkworkshop.com for some real creativity), and  rebellion against the norms.  That is why the centerpiece of this necklace (made from real watch parts, of course) has the words "creative power".  In this crazy world of consumption and greed, we all need a little more steampunk energy.  Oh, and if you are not necessarily a DIY kind of person but still would like to wear this trend in jewelry form, please don't buy it at the mall!  Support an artist or craftperson. That's the steampunk way.

Metal hoop wrapped in lace and buttons!  The pendant is made with real watch parts and is filled with resin.  Embrace the steampunkery within!

Perfection is overrated

     On a recent visit to Clearwater, Florida, I engaged in beach combing, one of my favorite seaside activities.  Clearwater is known for having some of the most beautiful beaches in the U.S., and also for being great for shelling.  I'm sure that there are true shellers who comb the beaches at night with a headlamp, in the early hours of the day, or diligently check tidal charts to find the best shells.  Myself, I am not one of those people.  If there are great shells on the beach at 5am, someone else is collecting them because I would be still in bed.  So of course, when looking at the shells that are left on the surf by the time I get there, it's slim picking.  Everyone always looks for those perfect shells.  As I walked along the beach, looking for perfect shells, I started to really pay attention to the imperfect shells and realized that they possess a beauty all their own.  I loved they way some of them looked partially carved out, so that you can see the inner spiral chambers.  What eventually happened is that I stopped looking for perfect shells and started looking for the not-so- perfect ones.  Conveniently enough, many of them had ready holes holes perfect for wire-wrapping!  I began to see the beginning of my own souvenir shell necklace.
 I think we can all use this kind of reminder that sometimes, perfection is not the best thing in the world.  I am not perfect, my house is not perfect, my kids aren't perfect, and I'm OK with that.  Furthermore, nothing I make is perfect, and that's OK too.  It was made by a person, not a machine.  obsession with being perfect can result in severe psychological issues (for more on this, see the movie Black Swan).  So let's stop worrying about it so much.  I don't know about anyone else, but I don't feel totally comfortable going to some one's house when it's too neat.  Nothing is out of place and it looks like a museum.  Creepy!  So just leave that  basket of unfolded laundry where it is. Perfection is overrated.

Marie

Everbody has one of those favorite movies that they can watch over and over again and never tire of.  Some people have more than one (me!), but one of my favorites is Sofia Coppola" movie Marie Antionette. I've always been fascinated by her as an historical figure, and fashion icon.  The movie is a virtual eye candy bonanza of jewelry and costume inspiration, as well as an historically accurate account of Marie's early life upon arriving at Versailles at age fourteen.  She has been very much vilified as being an extravagant, spoiled queen, who gambled away France's money while her people went hungry.  I'd be lying if I said there was not some truth to that, but I still have some sympathy for the poor girl.  Imagine being torn away from your family and homeland when you are fourteen and married off to some stranger in a hostile land.  Hey, I'd become a shopaholic too!  What I do find constantly amusing is that her most famous quote "let them eat cake", was never uttered by her (many historians have concurred with this). So why was it not the blockbuster hit I thought it should be?  Who knows?  Perhaps it was because (Spoiler Alert!), there was no bloody guillotine scene at the end.  Ms. Coppola very tastefully ended the film before all that ugliness.

When I opened my etey shop fairly recently, I was most surprised to find that the piece of jewelry that got the most views and and made it to three treasury lists before it was sold was my Marie Antionette collge necklace.  I guess I'm not alone in my love for all things Marie.  I was happy to see some other liked-minded people out there, and I will continue to make jewelry inspired by the unfortunate French Queen.  Even though some of my supplies are running low, I still have an abundance of fabric, so here it is, my latest Marie-inspired creation.  A beautiful collar fit for a queen!  Oh, and if you haven't seen Ms. Coppola's movie, add it to your netflix list, it's really good!

Budget Woes

I recently decided to make my business official and not "just a hobby", so the plunge, started learning about taxes and licensing and opened a seperate business account with well, next to nothing.  Not exactly nothing, but not enough to replenish my dimishing supply of basic findings (clasps, headpins, wire, crimps, etc...),  or to satisfy my ever growing list new tools I would like to buy (rivets, and mandrels, and mallets, oh my!).  Then there is the advertising, professional photography, graphic logo design, upgraded packaging and all these other things that make my head spin with numbers that are not in my account.  So what to do?  Bury myself in a hole and cry?  Of course not!  In times of budget woes people learn to make do with what they have, like taking three small plastic bangles and wrapping them with scraps of fabric and lace that I had lying around my studio.  I will always have my creativity and with that, will always find new uses for things and ways to make do with what I have.  Oh, and by the way, these bracelets will be on etsy soon, so you know, just sayin', I still would like some new tools!