Dead or Alive!!

This morning my daughter dropped a bomb on me.  I can't even believe it.  I let her and her brother go over to a "friends" house on Saturday.  They called to ask if it would be ok to stay over.  Ok, fine....whatever.  I'm normally not so easy with letting them stay overnight at friends' unless I've met parents, have telephone numbers and know where the kid lives....but for whatever reason.....I said yes.

So, as I'm getting settled in at work - my "received text" notification sounds and here is the message:

"Someone stole my necklace when I was at kaylees. -LoveOhniee"

My heart sank.

"The bat"?!

When she confirmed that it was.....devastation.

There are sooooo many feelings that I'm having right now, it's hard to find the words....well, I'll take that back.....I have ALOT of words but to just find one that would sum it all up.....the closest I come is "indescribable" .  Though, that doesn't seem to make me feel any better because there's NO expression in that word....ggggrrrrr!!!

Hurt.
Angry.
Disappointed.
Sad.
Pissed.
Raging.
Violated.

Take your pick.

I made that necklace! With my own hands...thought of with my own mind. Assemble from pieces that I bought with my own money! How dare someone take it? It doesn't belong to you!!  There are NO other necklaces out there like this....do you REALLY think you would get away with it, if we saw you on the street?  This is a small world and our city is small so the possibility of us crossing you with it, isn't that far fetched.  *thought direction changed* Did you lose it?  How could you be SO careless and so irresponsible to lose something that I made for you? Something I was so proud of and presented to you for your birthday? When will you take care of your belongings and let them mean something to you enough that you will value what you have? *thought direction changed*  I really liked that necklace. So proud of how it turned out...an accomplishment that I wasn't anticipating.  To make another wouldn't have the same "golden moment" when it's completed.  It's not even unique anymore. Grrrrrrr!!!

You know, I think about all the things that I have....that I've gotten as gifts over the years.  I've had things stolen from me before and I've lost things as well. It's such a crappy feeling to know that somebody may have your things and they'd never understand the sentiment of those things....

Officially bummed for the day!

The Completion....

Very recently I posted about these earrings that I designed and I mentioned when I shared them to my facebook fan page....the response was more than I expected.  I hadn't really considered that butterflies would mean so much to so many people!  When you think of the butterflies lifecycle, they definitely do represent new beginnings and transformation.

I was asked to design matching pieces, a bracelet and necklace to make a complete set.  I wasn't quite sure how I would proceed with that because the earrings are so involved.  As pretty as they are....there's a lot going on  there! I knew that a necklace would have to be more subtle, simple and low key but it would have to tie in with the earrings without looking like the buyer was being attacked by butterflies! hahahaha!

So I sat and thought....

and I sat and thought some more....

Then finally, I came up with something.  Just a simple strand of the different colored rice pearls, just one of the filigree butterflies for the focal and...... a-ha! ....... I have a butterfly clasp that would tie in with the theme.  Perfect!

 

I tell you, it wasn't easy to string those pearls on the material that I chose, simply because the holes are so small.  I finally got them all on, with no real pattern just randomly strung but I kept my eye out for color balance.  I chose not to use any of the 4mm green bicone crystals in the pearl strings so the necklace wouldn't be uncomfortable.  Most people probably aren't bothered by the edges of bicones but I am and I always consider the potential new owner....maybe they will be too!  Though, I wanted the necklace to have SOME sparkle to it, like the earrings so I put a couple crystals where the strings connect to the wings, one for the butterfly's tummy and one at the very end of the dangle!

So now that I was done with that...what do I do for a bracelet?  Again.....I wanted to be careful of butterfly overkill!  Hmmm.... *thinking*.... *thinking*...."butterflies".... "garden" .... "grass" ...."spring" ...."meadow" ... .. yeah, that's typically how my mind brainstorm when I'm going for ideas...it helps put images in my head that help me draw on for inspiration.....and finally I came up with "vines"....."flower trellis".....wrap bracelet on memory wire!  

BAM!

And here is the final piece!  The rice pearls accepted the memory wire pretty well, with maybe every 4th or 5th one needing a little extra umpf to get into the hole.  But....here it is.....*smiles*

Fads vs. Fab

I've never wanted to follow trends or fads.  Since I've started making jewelry, I LOVE the idea of being unique.  I must confess, when it come down to my accessories I have a very strong selfishness.

"Look-what-I-have-nobody-else-will-have-this-and-I-know-its-cool-and-unique"

So, I wanted to give that same thing to my customers. One-of-a-kind style!

Well.....that's not going totally as planned. hahahaha!  

There are some things that I've created that I can't duplicate simply because of the materials that I've used. But for the most part, everything can be recreated and when people want them....I'll remake it. *yawn*

Recently, with the Basketball Wives reality show (of which, I do NOT watch) I guess the "wives" wear these really flamboyant earrings and everybody went crazy over these earrings.  EVERYBODY started making these earrings and/or purchasing wholesale for resale...talking about ground swell....INSANITY!  

And I was completely turned off.

Blah!

I was asked time and time again, "do you have the basketball wives earrings?  Can you make the basketball wives earrings"?

Blah!

I just feel like, why should I recreate what hundreds are doing? Don't you want to be unique? This style is here today and will be gone as soon as the next great thing comes along!  And these are the most ridiculously easy to make earrings, so you really could make your own and save yourself some money.  I have a hard time charging for "these" kinds of things.  It just feels like a rip off. Pay your money for something authentic and original  BUT very loyal customers are always right and I gave in. *sigh*

I order many of my supplies wholesale, especially when I need bulk for a project, from China. Even though buying wholesale is so much cheaper, you have to pay out the wazoo for shipping and it can take weeks to get your supplies.  I don't mind the wait or having to pay for shipping.  After the final penny drops, you really do come out cheaper than retail.

Forgive me, I digress....

So after much poking and prodding, I gave in and made a version of the "spacers earrings".  I didn't use as many spacers as others (I have to be different some kind of way!) but here they are....and I must admit....they really are cute...and it wasn't that I didn't like them to begin with....I just didn't think they were special after so many people were remaking and reselling....*shrug*....I just can't ride the bandwagon on some things.....

I WILL not keep these in my inventory.  I will only make them by special order and if I don't have the supplies, I have retail resources that I can direct my customers to...if they allow me! Hahahaha....I had one customer tell me, "Look! I want to give my money to YOU! I want YOU to make them"!! She was so adament!  hahahaha....I think that's what convinced me.  She strong armed me into submission.

Vampires, werewolves and goblins! Oh my!

So my daughter is going to be 17 in February....geeesh! Where has the time gone?  I remember everything like it was yesterday....the nausea, finding out that I was pregnant, the nausea, the pregnancy, the nausea, my growing belly, the nausea, the delivery....the nausea.  I remember it all so clearly that it's hard to believe in just a few years, she'll be an adult.

Well, I must admit...she has definitely grown into a beautiful young lady with a very VIVID imagination.  As a child, much like my mother did for me, I instilled the love for reading and she took hold!  She devours book after book after book.....I love that so much!  She's very much into Fantasy and Sci Fi...fairies, nymphs, magic, unicorns, vampires, werewolves, goblins, aliens and creatures....Low and behold, "Twilight"...."New Moon"...."Eclipse"...."Breaking Dawn"..."Harry Potter"....."The House of Night" series....and she's locked away in her room. *sigh*

This passed Saturday, we went to the bead store and as I mentioned in my previous blog, we were milling about in the filigree and she saw this bat and her eyes lit up like light bulbs!

"Mom, please! Make me something with this! OMG! Mom!"

Also, from my previous blog, you know that filigree scares the droppings out of me and my first thought..."WHAT THE HECK AM I SUPPOSE TO DO WITH THAT?!"

So I looked at it....turned it over a few times (as if there were instructions on the back)....hmmm??? Nope...nothing there.  Then I realized...."you're on your own, kid.....think"!  Unlike most of the other elements - this bat didn't have any cut outs to hook with a jump ring....and I wasn't sure if I had a jump ring wide enough to fit the wings through without it falling out....so I thought....maybe...I have a tool of some sort that I can put a hole in it....so, the ideas started churning.

After much pondering....here's what I came up with.  I actually REALLY like how it came out!  Because the wings taper at a point then flare out again, the jump rings I have worked pretty well!  I still think I may find something to drill small holes but all and all......I'm happy with it....and SHE LOVES IT!!! And I guess that's all that matters, right?

(yeah, I couldn't wait to give it to her on her birthday, too happy to see her happy!)

Darkness falls across the land

The midnite hour is close at hand 

Creatures crawl in search of blood 

To terrorize y`awl`s neighborhood 

And whosoever shall be found 

Without the soul for getting down 

Must stand and face the hounds of hell 

And rot inside a corpse`s shell 

The foulest stench is in the air 

The funk of forty thousand years 

And grizzly ghouls from every tomb 

Are closing in to seal your doom 

And though you fight to stay alive 

Your body starts to shiver 

For no mere mortal can resist 

The evil of the thriller

(Into maniacal laugh, in deep echo)  

- Vincent Price in Michael Jackson's "Thiller"

Filigree and Me

I LOVE the intricacies of filigree.  Although, I was always a little bit intimidated by working with filigree because I just never knew how!  However, during one of my Saturday afternoon visits to one of my favorite bead stores, U Bead It , one of the employees there had on a beautiful "antique" ring.  Many of the employees there wear alot of their own creations so I asked her about it.

What did you use? How durable is the ring? How difficult is it to make?

Much to my surprise she replied: "Filigree, I've had it for 3 years and it's never come apart on me and it's probably the easiest piece of jewelry that I've ever made"!  Honestly, I hadn't really had much knowledge about filigree.  I've always fingered with the different elements in the display case but again, "what do you do with these" would always pop in my mind.  So after talking with her more and getting a closer look at the ring's construction, she walked me over to the display and selected the elements that I would need to recreate the ring she wore.

But if you know anything about filigree most of the elements are flat.  I didn't want to seem "new to the scene" so I was a little hesitant to ask, "well, how do you make this into a band"? hahaha silly, I know....but I always feel sooooooo uninformed and intimidated when I'm in the store with all the other veteran jewelry makers.  So putting my pride aside, I asked "well, how do you make this into a band"?

She was more than excited to show me what to do, well, as much as she could without it infringing on it being a "class" that the store sponsors.

Since then, I've gotta say...I think I'm getting pretty good at selecting my filigree elements and how to manipulate the shapes to come up with a finished piece that's wearable and not a train wreck of brass.  I LOVE how intricate everything looks without it being difficult and taking countless hours to complete. Instant gratification!

Here are the cuffs that I made over the weekend.  I'm very pleased with the results!

"Brass & Blue"

"Brass & Pink"

"Brass & Pink"

Well, who's is it?

Hey!  I'm here....my apologies for the disappearance...I was sick for a few days....which through me off my "at-least-one-new-piece-a-day-and-blog-about-it" schedule.  I'm on the mend...still congested....not a bad cough but hacking nonetheless....not a good thing for beading! 

So, today....I logged on to YouTube to listen to my playlist while I'm working (my daily routine) and I saw the thumbnail of this video below and decided to "listen" to the info (she doesn't show her face or any "how-to" so nothing really to watch).  The topic she discussed was something that I've always wondered about since I've become a "beader".  

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

dunnnnnn da da dun dun.....

I've downloaded tons of patterns and tutorials over the internet and from magazines.  I've learned numerous techniques from youtube videos and I've bought a couple pattern books (needless to say, which are pretty darn expensive) and took a class or two at my local beading store.  Now, don't get me wrong it's not every time....but most times, I have seen these "copyright" disclosures or some kind of blurb to say...

"....this pattern/tutorial/instructional, blah blah blah...belongs to so-n-so...do not recreate...duplicate...copy...blah blah blah..."

You've seen these before, right?

So I've always wondered...."How am I suppose to make anything, if I can't duplicate or copy the patterned piece"? I'm sure they're just talking about physically reproducing the written pattern instructions or downloading and redistributing a video....but wouldn't that cover the actual completed piece of jewelry too? Isn't that what the pattern or tutorial is for?  Hmmm....am I breaking the law here?  It just didn't make sense to me.  If you teach me how to make something,  however many times I make it...and after I've bought my own supplies, how can there be copyright of what I do .....or if you're using a pretty basic intermingle of beading techniques that everyone knows....can it really belong to one person?

I would NEVER NEVER recreate exactly, to the last wire or smallest bead, a design that another jewelry maker has done without properly noting where I got the pattern or by mentioning the inspiration if it VERY closely resembles another's work.  It's just fair and I would want someone to do the same for me, if they were heavily inspired by something I've done.  It's just the RIGHT thing to do.

Transformation

Happy Tuesday!

I thought it would be fitting to create something to symbolize "new beginnings" and I wasn't quite sure what I would come up with to tell a story.  At the end and beginning of every year, most people take the time to reflect on all the things that they've endured over the past 12 months and/or what they look forward to in the days coming.  There's something so "magical" about that small window of time. :-)

For 2012, I made one resolution.  I resolved that I would be thankful for the gift of 365 days of opportunities to "get it right".  For me, getting it right encompasses growing spiritually, emotionally and mentally; looking at old situations with new vision; loving myself and all that I am; expressing love to those around me and being every bit of "Joye". Yeah, there are things I'd like to accomplish but I release myself of disappointments if I....well, just don't get around to them all.  Hey! I'm only one person!

So, here's a confession.

Last year, I really thought about packing up all my stocked supplies and blessing my jewelry designer friends with packages so that they could create.  Why?  Simply put, envy.   I started comparing my design aesthetic to theirs and other designers who's work I've seen in the many networking circles that I'm connected to and started feeling like....."I have absolutely NO style....NO look....NO signature....NO NAME".  Ugggg.... everything I make is different....there's no cohesion to what I do....just a hodgepodge of nothing.  I admire that about the work I've seen from others....and it really started to get me down.  Then I realized....I am hodgepodge!  I like different!  I am different....and there are MANY layers to my personality!  So just maybe...just maybe....there's a following that can appreciate variety like me!

I hope that you NJoye this new set.....representing new life, new ideas and a new start!

"Butterfly Garden"

Now I lay me down to bead...

When I'm settling down for bed, many nights I'm hit with design ideas. I don't know what it is about "going to bed" but it makes me want to create.

 So I gather up my supplies, lay them out on my tv tray and head off to bed. 

The only downside to that is 1.) I'm in and out of bed running off to grab a tool or more beads (major bummer when I'm comfortable!) and 2.) I wake up with a bed full of beads!

 Beading is so relaxing. It really does soothe me and help me to unwind. I started beading in 2009 when my younger sister passed away, very suddenly. I needed something constructive to do to keep my sanity and I found that with jewelry design.

 So here I am, beading in bed....and I smile!

Kinda...but not really....

Hmmmm.....?

Hmmmm....?

Yeah, that's basically what I did when I saw the bamboo circles at the craft store.  They were super cute with much potential and cheap! So that was right up my alley....soooooo, I bought 'em.  When I got them home, I had these orange coral seed beads....and I thought the natural texture of the bamboo would be super duper cute.

Hmmmm....?

Hmmmm....?

Then, I got this vision of turquoise somewhere mingled up in there but I wasn't quite sure how I'd incorporate it to the vision I already had.....

Hmmmm....?

Hmmm....?

So I thought the best thing would be, to weave a spiral rope, right?

Well, as I began to "spiral" the colors together....it just wasn't giving me "FABULOUS DAH'LING!"....so I started to lose my inspiration.  I wanted beachy, sexy, layered and different that just simple, multi-strands.....I WANTED JAMAICA! 

Needless to say, this is not Jamaica....maybe somewhere lost off the coast of Miami. *sigh*

Don't get me wrong....I'm pleased with the turn out.  It just didn't go where I wanted...its not quite the vision I had in my head but that's the wonderful...beautiful...thing about jewelry design.  Sometimes, when you go into a project, kinda "willy nilly"....no real mapped out, planned design....the creations are organic.  They become what they want to become and you just go with it to make it wearable. 

Maybe the next trip will get me to Jamaica but for now...I'll settle for South Beach.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

So......it's great to be back!  If you can see from the first blog entry, it was a little over a year ago that I "created" this blog!  Shame on me!  And I bet you can tell what my "resolution" is for 2012.....that's right!  To be better at posting! :-)

I've "hired" my daughter on as my blog savvy assistant so hopefully the posts will find regularity and you all won't feel neglected.  Yeah yeah.....I know I don't have any followers right now....but "IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME!"

So here's to you and 2012!  May you find the most amazing beads and create the most unique baubles!