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I saw a post on sketching ideas and thought it was a great idea. Though I sometimes use my organizer to draw in some ideas, the sketches would sometimes get lost or drown in my other notes about other things which were not directly related to my jewelry-making.I started using a pad of tiny post-its I had hanging around. I brought it with me everywhere. Came up with 10 sketches. Drew everything which have been floating in my head for some time and a couple which I used to practice "sketching." (Yes, I practiced to sketch. Weird but true.)When I had about 10, I scavenged around the house and found a notebook with unlined pages and thought to use it. Just to experiment and see if it was truly helpful to me. I found out it was extremely helpful.I posted my pink post-its on the first few pages. This would be my idea bank. Everytime I thought of trying one of the sketches, I simply peeled them off the bank and re-posted them into a blank page. I measured and counted beads to use, and noted them down on the sketch. I prepared the components and went and made a few pieces from my sketches. Most turned out to need more tweaking - with the notes on my sketches, I recorded where the mistakes were, too. This would help me make better pieces later - with the exact measurements I needed to make my pieces. This is a fantastic idea! I suggest crafters to try this for a few days. It's definitely a great exercise in creativity. Plus, it made my crafting more scientific, more organized. I simply love this idea!Kudos to Kathy Cano-Murillo from Craftstylish who shared her "Why You Should Have a Sketchbook" post with everyone. Thanks for the nudge in the right direction!
Haven't seen my friends in Jakarta for some time. We all arrived in Indonesia at the same time and they've been fast friends since. I thought 'twould be nice to send them some of my little creations.I made a Tree of Life for one of them which I featured in an earlier blog entry. Made three more: two for friends and one for a friend's sister.A pair of Nest Earrings for one simple lady.These Nests are made with Pearls, Copper & Silver. Together it gives its wearer a greater sense of personal integrity while facilitation quick wits and improving communication skills. Pearls give purity and promote faith, charity, and integrity, truth and loyalty. Silver is mystically considered to improve speech, bring eloquence. Copper is said to benefit mental agility. A pair of Dreamcatcher Earrings for her sister.This Dreamcatcher uses New Jade, Peridot, Aventurine, Silver & Green Wire. Together it gives its wearer a sense of calm and love for all.Jade is a stone of fidelity and generosity. Peridot is a stone of compassion. Aventurine gives a sense of calm and balance and enhances happiness. Silver is mystically considered to improve speech, bring eloquence. Green stimulates healing resulting in greater self-love, and thus, love for others. A Dreamcatcher Pendant for one girly girl.This Dreamcatcher uses Silver, Cherry Quartz, Rose Quartz and Purple Wire. Together it promotes harmony, encourages unconditional love and opens communication with the environment. Cherry quartz promotes harmony. Rose quartz is a stone of unconditional love. Silver is mystically considered to improve speech, bring eloquence. Purple is the color for strength, spirituality, passion and meditation. I made Earring Cards for the earrings. Barb Macey's "How To Make Your Own Earring Cards" was a great help.I'm sending them out today. I hope they like them. *smile*
This dreamcatcher uses pearls, silver and blue jewelry wire. Together they promote healing, calm and harmony. Pearls give purity and promote faith, charity, and integrity, truth and loyalty. Silver is mystically considered to improve speech, bring eloquence. A balance of the color blue brings intuition, inspiration, sincerity, peace, joy, tranquility, faith in oneself and trust in others.
Stephen King has been playing a major role in my mind nowadays. I've been reading his books and watching a few of his movies. I must say his newest one, Duma Key, is quite impressive. The book swallowed me whole and ate up one whole day this past week. My infatuation for his work re-kindled (I've been into him since I watched and read Firestarter when I was 6.) and had to watch Dreamcatcher.
And when I wasn't going through my King files and books and movies, I was wondering what to do with the glass beads I bought. Came up with nil on the beads but Dreamcatcher stirred my imagination and got my fingers itching. I was looking forlornly at my newest purchases and wondering if the glass beads needed elastic thread instead of the wires I'm so used to working with when my eyes were caught by the colorful jewelry wires I bought with the glass. Hmmm.
Dreamcatcher for Spirituality
I researched on how to make Dreamcatchers and then started making some of my own. Who wouldn't want extra protection against nightmares of the daily variety? I ended making these yesterday afternoon.
This dreamcatcher uses peridot, jade, aventurine, silver and green jewelry wire. Together they promote wellness in affairs of the heart. Peridot enhances the healing and harmony of relationships of all kinds, but particularly marriage. Jade is a stone of fidelity and generosity, it can also attract all kinds of love. Aventurine helps one to see alternatives and potentials in all situations, giving a positive outlook, courage and inner strength. Silver is mystically considered to improve speech, bring eloquence. Green stimulates healing resulting in greater self-love, and thus, love for others.
Dreamcatchers are very interesting things, I think. The legend states that the web catches the good and the bad goes through the hole. I think that's a good thing to have around one's person. We all need something extra to protect us from our daily nightmares.
I made a few gifts this morning. I was invited out for lunch by a mother of two of my students. (I teach when I'm not twisting and bending and wrapping wires.) Her two beautiful girls were coming along, too.
I thought I'd make them pendants.
I made the same piece for the two little girls. You know how sisters are sometimes. I made "Eggs in a Nest" pendants on pink leather necklaces for them. I used silver as my main wire for the nest and embelished it with a bit of copper; for eggs, I used pearls.
For their Mom, I made a Tree of Life with Eggs in a Nest. I used silver (20-gauge for the frame and 26-gauge for the tree and branches), rutilated quartz for the leaves, copper and silver wire (28-gauge) for the nest, and pearls for the eggs.
You will notice that the pendants for the children have three eggs. It's not merely for design. They come from a brood of 4. I thought it would be nice to make the three eggs signify their sibling. They're the fourth egg all hatched and in the world. The mother has four eggs in the nest on her pendant. She is the mother tree making sure that all the four eggs in her shelter are safe and protected.
I carefully chose the stones for the energies they exuded:
Pearls are calming and centering. They give purity and promote faith, charity, and integrity, truth and loyalty.
Rutilated quartz is reputed to diminish fears, depression and issues with decision-making.
Silver is mystically considered to improve speech, bring eloquence.
Copper is said to facilitate mental agility, and quick wit.
Apparently, the Tree of Life has more impact than I thought it did. I was just asked by a school to make a few pendants as award gifts for their English competitions. The school wants to encourage their students to be more pro-active in caring for the environment and wants this message sent in most of their activities - whether or not it is directly connected to environmental awareness. Ofcourse, I gladly agreed to work with them and gave them discounted prices for the pendants.I used stones and minerals which encourage mental health:Aventurine is said to benefit one in all areas of creativity, and imagination, as well as intellect and mental clarity.Fluorite promotes spiritual and psychic wholeness and development, truth, protection, and brings peace.Copper is said to be the metal of the God Hermes, who facilitates that mental agility, and quick wit.Silver is mystically considered to improve speech, bring eloquence.I think of it as giving a percent away to my favorite charities (education and the environment).
Was quite inspired by some bird's nests I saw recently. I searched for tutorials on eggs in a nest and managed to find one free one on You Tube (Tutorial Diary: Nest Pins). As far as free goes, this one didn't give much information - although it gave loads of room for creativity, imagination and common sense.My first try for the nest turned out quite smaller than what I wanted (26-gauge copper wire & 4mm unakite beads) but I wasn't going to let that worry me. I decided to place the nest in a frame to make a pendant. I decided to make a Tree of Life to nestle the nest in.I used 20-gauge copper wire for the frame and 24- gauge copper wire for the tree and branches plus bits of aventurine for the leaves.Not contented, I made a necklace for the pendant using 26-gauge copper wire, more bits of aventurine and the crochet technique.This is what I made with all that put together:Quite appropriate for Environment Enthusiasts, the stones used in this pendant collectively makes for wonderfully creative green thumbs. It exudes positive energies in gardening, healing and in creating a harmonious environment for the wearer.
