THE BLOG

Why blog?
Reason - "why something happens, or why someone does something."
Motivation - "eagerness and willingness to do something without needing to be told or forced to do it. the reason why you want to do something."
Objective - "based on facts, or making a decision that is based on facts rather than on your feelings or beliefs."

I started reading blogs, probably in about 2007. I wasn't sure what blogs to go on and found a lot of them rather boring.

As my interest in beads and jewellery components grew, I started to look for blogs and websites on hand made and ethnic jewellery.

I now have favourite sites I visit for various reasons.

As the amount of jewellery I made grew I realised I needed a market. I didn't want to go into the traditional retail market, as I wanted my jewellery making to remain flexible. I never make exactly the same item twice, either, all pieces are once offs.

So I decided that having one's own blog was a good way to advertise. Mmmmm... I have 8 followers... So I blog to keep a record????????

Zelyne contacted me one evening and said she needed something for her heart. I made three different necklaces incorporating Rose Quartz and Amazonite. These were then presented to Zelyne who then chose one with some changes. The necklace is made of different layers using chain, charms and strung sections of Rose Quartz and Amazonite. It was difficult to present the piece in a photograph. Maybe Zelyne will model it for us one day.

For Zelyne - ORDER

This necklace has one of my first ice resin pendants in it. The picture is wary and brooding. I haven't marketed this piece as it often matches my mood.

Brooding

Bevan was at the Boere Mark one morning and brought me a few old pieces. Amongst them was this old Saint Christopher coin.

Time Travel

The is quite a demand for more feminine pieces. This was made with with glass pearls, shell flowers, opaque glass beads and silver metal charms and chain. It sold on first display. A matching pendant was also ordered by the same client.

White Garden - SOLD

Eastern Promise was made using turquoise, shell, glass pearls, bone beads, brass charms and chain.

Eastern Promise

This pendant has wire set in glass. The pendant is made by Martini Art & Design martiniglass@vodamail.co.za. The glass discs are from The House of Beads and were from a community project assisting the disadvantaged. I used gunmetal and brass chain.

Fenced

I love this bracelet and should probably keep it for myself. So much of this piece comes from old broken jewellery. To me a piece made from old jewellery is so special. Who knows the history it carries.

Turkey

This piece is based on a design seen in Easy Beading Vol 6. The designs all come from BeadStyle magazine. Another feminine piece that I thought would sell quickly.

Dream

Another of my ice resin pendants. This was made with such care and forethought.



Peace

An ice resin pendant made at the same time as Peace above. Also made with a lot of forethought and scratching through my bead and semi precious stone stock. This sold the day it went on sale.




Joy - SOLD

Mmmmm! I've made a similar design before and to me the other one was better or appealed to me more. But I love the mother of pearl disc and the tree of life charm poke to me. This sold very quickly. So it appealed to someone.

Life - SOLD

I found this pewter heart tile at Jimnettes mosaic department. Sometimes a piece takes days to evolve. Rich drilled holes into the tile for me. The little red glass studded heart attached to the tile cost me a lot more than I wanted to spend, but for me it finished off the piece. It's actually a charm from a range of Pandora lookalikes.

Lovey

I've been collecting these beads for ages. Every time I buy a mixed box from Beads Direct I get a few of these beads in the mix. I love buying mixed bags of beads. You get some rubbish or unwanted beads but it's like a lucky packet, you get some treasures. Each of these is wired with a head pin with some needing seed beads. At first I attached them to every link but the effect was spoilt as you couldn't see the individual beads. I had to remove them all and start again. Time consuming but worthwhile in the end.

Recall

These clay beads have been around for a while. I bought about six strings of multi coloured clay beads from Beads Direct a while ago. If I don't concentrate on a particular theme then the Africa in me comes out.

Lucki

 

I'd made Claire a bracelet like this. Her aunt saw it and ordered three for her granddaughters. I had to go out and buy mixes of buttons as I didn't have enough in pinks and blues. I made these happily but they are time consuming. Each button is wired and then attached to the chain with a jump ring. The are about 36 buttons in each bracelet. The result is so rewarding and they jingle softly. I hope the girls enjoy and love them.

Street Chic - For Margaret - ORDER

Street Chic - For Margaret - ORDER

Street Chic - For Margaret - ORDER

Some of these beads are from my lucky packet stash. To me they are so special. Like little works of art.


Greco

Well, there's loads more to show and say but let me get this published. You'll note there are some glitches in the type face but I'm publishing anyway.

MY MANTRA - TIME

Well, once again it's days and days since I've been here. I'm busy creating, reading and doing all those other things. Time or the lack thereof is my mantra.

I've made quite a bit of new jewellery.

My Garden

Claire's street wise bracelet

My charm bracelet insprired by the buddha

Little bird, one of my first ice resin pendants

Inspired by the sea

These are all fairly recent, with the button bracelet being part of Claire's 30th birthday present. I've used buttons like this before in a necklace but my memory got jogged by "street-chic jewellery" by Susie Johns. The bracelet with the bird pendant sold the day it went into stock. I'd made the ice resin pendant myself and it was one of my first attempts and is double sided. Don't know why I didn't take a photo of the other side.

I like to think, I do quite a lot of research. Mainly for ideas and also to see what's happening out there. I still find what's published in RSA a bit droll. I wish I could find more artisans in this country who made beads, pendants and charms. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough?

I love knitting and have managed to finish both Joce and Claire's jerseys that I started last winter. They got their jerseys in about March. Claire modelled hers for me, but Joce said she could not bear to put the jersey on in the heat we were still experiencing in March. I also managed to knit three jerseys for Liam. Not one the same size and generally all on the big side but Joce was very happy with them and Liam was warm.

Claire in her jersey

One of Liam's jerseys.



I also managed to finish a cardigan for myself, I forgot to make the button hole so I had to make a brooch to hold the jersey closed. No photo of the jersey yet just the brooch.

The brooch for my cardigan

I also purshased "Bohemian - insprired jewelry" by Lorelei Eurto & Erin Siegel. The piece below, although nothing like the pieces in the book, was inspired by the book.

Inspired by "Bohemian-inspired jewelry."

I don't, I think, have a parlicular style. Probably because I'm a self taught jewellery designer who hasn't found a particular style. It makes me happy when people buy pieces so I'm inclined to make more of what sells than anything else. Here's some more and most cerainly not all I've been doing.

The Blues

Be Yourself for Caron

Reminds me of caviar - no idea why

One big beautiful bead

Simplicity

Another little bird

For Fun

Hearted

Forever

I think that's enough for today or who knows when I'll be back.

I still have to record my current craze.

Going to cook a meal for supper out of "falling cloudberries" by Tessa Kiros. The most beautiful book, I have two others of her's. Wonderful stories and pics and the recipes are easy and fun.

TIME AND AGAIN

Time has never been a forte of mine. Unless I write down what's to be done and work off the list I'm usually all over the place. Time runs away from me constantly.

Being away from one's home gives time a new meaning. One's able to do and see things that can make being alive so special. We were on the East Coast in April. We went to the beach. Rich was fishing and I spent time inspecting the seashore, rock pools and just taking in the wonders of how beautiful and unstoppable nature is.

How long has it taken for the pothole to form in the rocks??

Aren't the colours just amazing. The sun shines it's hot, it rains and it's cold, the tides come in and out, nature carries on regardless of all our cares and concerns.

I had the most amazing peaceful and serene time on the beach this day.

 

  

I found this poem by Barbara Crooker on one of my most favourite blogs ornamental.typepad.com.








In the Middle

of a life that's as complicated as everyone else's,

struggling for balance, juggling time.

The mantle clock that was my grandfather's

has stopped at 9:20; we haven't had time

to get it repaired. The brass pendulum is still,

the chimes don't ring. One day I look out the window,

green summer, the next, the leaves have already fallen,

and a grey sky lowers the horizon. Our children almost grown,

our parents gone, it happened so fast. Each day, we must learn

again how to love, between morning's quick coffee

and evenings slow return. Steam from a pot of soup rises,

mixing with the yeasty smell of baking bread. Our bodies

twine, and the big black dog his great head between;

his tail, a metronome, 3/4 time. We'll never get there,

Time is always ahead of us, running down the beach, urging

us on faster, faster, but sometimes we take off our watches,

sometimes we lie in the hammock, caught between the mesh

of rope and the net of stars, suspended, tangled up

in love, running out of time.

BACK AGAIN

I've haven't been here for so long I've forgotten how. Everyday I think I should post and everyday I find some excuse not to. But I have to turn the page. Simon passed away a year ago and I've got to stop stressing about Joce and get on with life. I seem to have been in a state of apprehension. I've been making jewellery, knitting, reading, painting, I've even taught myself to crochet, but I don't seem to really be getting anywhere. My excuse is that I'm Liam's day time care giver or day mother.

So once again I've promised myself that I need to publish daily, even if its just a tiny post.

Adoration

This jewellery was a commission. Penny brought me some beads she'd bought while she was working in China. The greenish blue stones have brown and/or black veins. I've no idea what they are. Penny had a look at my various designs and chose two complety different styles. I had to dig deep as all I had were the beads and the designs she liked. The beads are heavy so I could never have used them all in a single piece. To my surprise Penny liked both pieces and took them both, as well as asking for a bracelet to match Adoration.



Adoration bracelet

To me this necklace has a North African feel about it. I used the beads and incorporated some Egyptian Silver as well as a number of charms that I've had forever. I enjoyed making the pieces and was thrilled with the results. The fact that Penny liked them both was very rewarding.

Nostalgia

BACK FROM THE DARK SIDE

I haven't blogged since November last year. I'm back from the dark side. I've suffered with depression and anxiety before. The first time it was diagnosed, I was in my late thirties. I was told this was more than likely due to a chemical imbalance. I was also going through a stressful time at work and had if not an errant teenager, a teenager, who was causing more concern than usual. I took the medication for about a year and then just didn't get a repeat of the presciption. I was feeling fine and went along happily with my life. Then in my late forties, I once again had extreme stress at work, with a change of the city I worked in, as well as for new people. One of those takeovers one is happy to survive, because you didn't get retrenched. In hind sight, retrenchment may have been a healthier option. So back I went on the meds. At this time I was offered a new career opportunity. I jumped at it, the people were great, the working conditions were ideal, it was still in another city, but I was sure I could make it work. After about 18 months, I once again stopped taking the meds. Four years and a few upheavals/traumas and an increased work load, my system said enough and I suffered extreme burnout. Six weeks at home on meds and therapy helped for a while. Eventually in early 2010, I had to take early retirement or sink into oblivion.

I was in turmoil from July 2009 until about October 2011. By October, I'd already weaned myself off the anxiety meds and one of the antidepressants. I was now taking one tablet twice a day. I was feeling good and in control and decided to drop the dosage to one tablet a day. Big mistake, but it took me until late November to recognise what I'd done to myself. The regression was frightening. I'm starting to feel okay again but am more cautious than optimistic. I sometimes feel that things are unravelling but getting a grip is easier each time.

It's hard to admit that I'm just one of those who suffer, at some point in their lives from chemical imbalances - whether the reason be stress, trauma or just plain old genetic make up that causes things to go tilted to one side. I know I've had stress and trauma, maybe not more than some people but enough to send me to what I call the dark side.

I'm writing this to record where the good part of three months has gone!

During this time I managed to make jewellery, go away for a bushveld break with Rich, Joce and Liam. Do some painting. Entertain some family on Christmas Day and hopefully other than those who see me daily, no one is the wiser as to my ailments.

This ice resin pendant was bought by Bonita. The picture is by Liekie Fouche and depicts the star sign Sagittarius.

 Thinking up and making beaded jewellery calms me, hence a few bracelets in various designs.

  

This was especially made for my Mother in law on the occasion of her birthday. At eighty five you know what you want. I was told that the item had to have a variety of whites and the length was specified, other than that, I had free reign. She was very happy with the result. 

Another bracelet.

This was make for Pearl, my son's Mother in law. Pearl has become a special friend, the necklace was made on the occasion of her 60th birthday. I also made amethyst earrings to match but forgot to take a photo.

Some of the beads and stones in this necklace come from one of those mixed packs, where you get some beauties and quite a few useless pieces. I'd had the turquoise coloured split rings for quite some time and the enamelled flowers, at the time they were bought, I'd no idea what I was going to do with them.

 Each of these four bracelets, came about because of a particular bead or beads in my stash. I'm trying not to always be on the look out for new beads but to make use of the beautiful beads I already have in

 stock.

A safety fin brooch for a winter jersey or jacket.