Adventures in Bedlam

A Long Time Coming

I made this necklace several weeks ago, but for some reason never got around to blogging it: 

It's an 18k gold hand-fabricated pendant on a 14k chain.  Very simple, but I've been wearing it a lot lately for that very reason.  It goes with almost anything.

Here are the "companion" earrings:

I expected to love these earrings, and in some respects, I do.  They hang nicely, they are simple but eye catching... what is the problem though?  I think I'm not happy with the way the "blobs" melted, which effects the shape of the finished pieces.  They are a bit too thick and I wasn't able to dome them as nicely as I did the necklace.  Eventually, I will melt these down and re-make them.

Tuesday mornings I go to my jewelry studio and work with a great teacher and several very talented jewelry designers.  Below is a photo of me and my teacher, Ralph Goldstein, taken earlier in the year:

I love Ralph!  Not only has he taught me everything I know, but he is a fabulous friend.  I feel very lucky to have met him.

Humming for my Supper

For my birthday, my parents gave me a small hummingbird feeder that hangs off a planter stick.  It's perfect for my container garden, though I've been very lazy about filling it.

Today I finally looked up a recipe for making hummingbird food and the water is boiling as we speak.

How to Make Hummingbird Food

I hope it attracts some hummingbirds, as they are quite fascinating little creatures.

In other news, my lilies finally bloomed.

I know it's not the prettiest lily in the world, but it's my lily and I love it.

Finally, my housekeeper Rosa and I have successfully saved a bougainvillea plant from the brink of death:

This thing was truly just sticks a couple of months ago, and now it's quite fetching.

Things I Want to Learn

There are so many crafts to learn, and so little time to learn (and do) them in.  And those who know me know I have much more free time than most people!

Still, if time permits, these crafts I am interested in learning:

1)  Pottery/ceramics
2)  Silk Screening - Easy Silk Screening Tutorial
3)  Enameling - Awhile back, I saw this jewelry designer profiled on HGTV and I've wanted to learn enamelling ever since
4)  Glass Blowing
5)  Spinning and Dyeing Yarn - I thought I was going to do that this year but still haven't gotten around to it
6)  Wax carving for lost wax casting in jewelry design - I've actually done this before but didn't really take to it.  I'm still very interested in the technique though
7)  Furniture making
8)  Pave setting in jewelry design

I'm also very interested in learning design on a more formal level, particularly graphic and interior design.  What I'd do with this knowledge, I'm not really sure, which is one of the reasons I've never really pursued either through formal classes.

What crafts are you interested in learning?

Where'd My Mojo Go?

First I lost my religion, then I lost my mojo:

Losing my Mojo

I know.  It's not pretty.

The Strings of My Heart

I've always loved the song "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," particularly the Jimmy Sommerville/Communards version:

Dear when you smiled at me, I heard a melody
It haunted me from the start
Something inside of me started a symphony
Zing! Went the strings of my heart

'Twas like a breath of spring, I heard a robin sing
About a nest set apart
All nature seemed to be in perfect harmony
Zing! Went the strings of my heart

Your eyes made skies seem blue again
What else could I do again
But keep repeating through and through
"I love you, love you"

I still recall the thrill, guess I always will
I hope 'twill never depart
Dear, with your lips to mine, a rhapsody devine
Zing! Went the strings of my heart

These lyrics were the inspiration for this necklace:

Give yourself a little treat and download the song, or at least listen to the 30 seconds of preview iTunes gives you.  It's a classic.

Yorkie Sweater

A friend of mine sent me this link:

Kick Ass Yorkie Sweater

This makes me want a yorkie and an argyle sock.

Adventure-in-Alaska

Mick and I went on an Alaskan cruise last week.
 
The photo above was taken during the mandatory safety drill that happens after everyone is on the ship.

It was the second Alaskan cruise we've taken.  As far as cruises are concerned, Alaska is probably one of your better destinations.  The scenery is absolutely spectacular.

Plus, it's kind of fun to be on the ship, especially if you pretend you're on an episode of The Love Boat.  There's plenty to eat and drink at all hours of the day, there's a spa, and there's fun things to do in the ports of call.
 

Still, after doing it twice, I can honestly say I have no need to do it again.  There are aspects of cruising that are a bit generic, for lack of a better term.  First of all, it is very shopping oriented, almost offensively so.  There is a "shopping advisor" on board whose job is to direct passengers to all the "good" shopping both at the ports of call and onboard the ship.  Most of this shopping is for jewelry, not for the cool handmade kind, but for stuff you can get in any jewelry store in any mall in the country.  Supposedly it's cheaper, but it didn't seem all that inexpensive to me.  Then there's the art auctions, the two-for-$39.99 watches, the chain-sold-by-the-inch... so many opportunities to waste some cash.

Don't get me wrong--there was never a consumer born who could out-consume me--it's just that there's only so much of that sort of thing that even I can take.

But lest you think I didn't find anything to spend some money on, I did find a couple of very cool things to purchase.  In Juneau, there was an art gallery-type store than had some very cool handmade-in-Alaska things.  I got this gorgeous bowl that has a very pretty glaze on it--the entire collection was beautiful and I had a hard time picking just one piece:

Even more exciting, I happened upon a yarn store in Prince Rupert Island, Canada, where they had some lovely hand-dyed-in-Canada yarns:

 
The multi-colored yarn is self-patterning, as you can see by this small swatch:

I couldn't wait to get started on a pair of socks with this stuff, so I chose this Basic Ribbed Sock pattern and spent most of Saturday and Sunday happily knitting and watching Weeds on Video on Demand.

My plan is to make a lacy or cable pair of socks with the green wool, which I think will look marvelous.  I haven't chosen the pattern yet, but here are a few options:

Baudelaire
More Fun Than Cables
Mirabella

Canary in a Coalmine

I think I may have mentioned about 20 times that I attended the recent Police concert at Dodger's Stadium in Los Angeles.  Aside from the two + hour drive from Santa Monica to Downtown and the churlish limo driver who wouldn't move so we could get out of the parking lot at the end of the concert, it was a blast.

While there, of course I bought myself a t-shirt with the intention of making it into a tube top.  After finishing my Bada Bing! top though, I decided that rather than make the exact same thing with this t-shirt, I'd experiment a little.

I present to you, the Off-the-Shoulders-Sex-Pot top:

I am wearing a tank top under it, but I think I could pull off a strapless bra (spawns of Satan that they are) with it.

This top started out looking like this:

The first thing I did was add 1/8 inch elastic to the bottoms of the sleeves to make them kind of puffy.  It was an immediate improvement and completely feminized the top.

The next thing I did was cut the neck and shoulders off the top of the shirt.  This step was kind of a leap of faith.  I knew the look I was for but I didn't have 100% confidence that it would turn out the way I envisioned it.

After cutting, I sewed about a 1/2 inch hem.  Next, I measured roughly enough elastic to go around my shoulders and arms and I sewed at the bottom of my hem so that there would be a slight "ruffle" at the top and none of the white elastic would show.

At this point, I had a top that I would've worn out of the house, but deep down inside I knew it wasn't finished.  I let it sit a couple of days before deciding on what type of finish I was going to give it.

Originally, my plan was to keep the shirt longish and add a band to the bottom so that it would look kinda like this:

(picture from Old Navy.com)

My seamstress skills do not support doing something like this without a pattern, so I had to scrap that idea.  Thankfully, even after all the cutting I did in this mistaken attempt to add a band, I still had more than enough length in the body of the shirt to just add elastic around the bottom hem.  This provides (almost) the look I was going for with the band, and it was a whole lot easier to accomplish.

Someone asked me recently what my favorite Police song is and I'm not sure it's possible to pick one.  Certainly, Every Breath You Take is a favorite.  Disappointingly, at the concert they played this as if they couldn't wait for it (the song) to be over.  One got the feeling that if none of them ever heard or played this song again, they wouldn't be sorry.

Back to trying to pick a favorite.  Impossible.  So I will pick three:

King of Pain
Message in a Bottle
Don't Stand So Close to Me
Murder by Numbers

Okay, I lied, there are four.  (Actually, more than that, but I had to stop somewhere).

Diversion Friday: Swap-Bot

I have a list of things I want to do today, and for some reason I'm putting them off.  I think the problem is that there's like 4 projects I have going and my brain circuits are too overloaded to focus on any one thing.  This happens to me often. Hence the need for a diversion.

Today I sent off the stuff for my second swap on Swap-Bot.com.  What is Swap-Bot, you ask?  It's a place for people to get together and swap stuff.  Fun!

The swap I sent off today was called War and Peace.  The purpose was for the swap participants to send something (or things) that reflect their thoughts on war and peace.  Yeah, I know.  How could I not sign up for that swap?

I'm not going to say what I sent, just in case my partners read this before they receive their packages.  I did give it some thought though and I hope they like it.

I just signed up for another swap that promises to be fun:  Songs That Will Never Die.  I hope my partners like the Bee Gees, 'cause there just might be a couple of Bee Gees' tunes on my list.

Aphrodite's Crown

My time in the jewelry studio on Tuesday was spent making this ring:

It reminds me of a jeweled crown, so I call it Aphrodite's Crown.  I've never actually seen an image of Aphrodite wearing a crown, but let's assume that if she did have one, this would be it.  The ring is hand-fabricated of 18k yellow gold with a natural citrine drop and a hammered set rhodolite garnet.

This is my second dangle ring.  The first, Moonlight Sonata, remains one of my favorites.  Of course I like this one too, but the drop is a little more cumbersome and that makes it less comfortable to wear.

On another note, yesterday I was talking to a friend about a painting by artist Julie Heffernan that he recently bought.  I'd never heard of her work but this morning I googled her and found some of her paintings online:

http://www.littlejohncontemporary.com/Heffernan/index.html

http://www.artnet.com/artist/8037/julie-heffernan.html

This stuff blows me away.  Suddenly, I'm inspired to paint something!