Something Sublime

More Than A Quick Sketch

I've been working in my jewelry journal again.  Can you believe it?  Me...making time to journal.  I have to thank you, Misty, for getting me charged up about my jewelry journal.  I've kept a jewelry journal for some time now but, it's been a sad, little, quick-sketch affair.  It's been a long time since I've kept any kind of real art journal and Misty's January challenge really got me jump started!  This week's prompt was "emotions" and, while this page doesn't exactly portray any one emotion, it represents, for me, the excitement and inspiration I've felt working on my journal pages this last month.  It's something I intend to continue.  Here's to the creative journey!

A Few Fun Things

 

 

 

You may have noticed, I have a new blog banner.  In it, I included photos of a few fun, new things I've been working on.  I've been using fabric in my work for quite some time now.  It's not something I really planned to do but, it doesn't seem like I'm finished exploring the possibilities.

 

I don't consider myself a seamstress but I've done a lot of sewing in my time.  I used to sew my own clothes...for fun.  Can you imagine?!  I think that's why I'm enjoying working with fabric and fibers now.  Now, I'm not following any rules.  I'm doing what I want!  No measurements, no seams...I don't even trim my threads sometimes.  What a rebel.  I'm getting the biggest kick out of using whatever I lay my hands on.  A few weeks ago, I ordered a gorgeous pair of earrings from an etsy seller, Annilys.  They came wrapped in a beautiful, wide satin ribbon and scrap of vintage crochet which I promptly used for this collar.  The satin is mostly hidden but, I know it's there.  You can see the crochet in the above shot.

 

As a young girl, my great-grandma, who was an expert at crochet, tried to teach me to crochet...bless her heart.  I think I finished about five inches and never got any further which gave me a deep appreciation for all things crochet.  Just look at these darling crochet bows.  Someone spent hours making a whole string of these!

 

"Signs of Life and Death" charm bracelet

available on Etsy (sold)

I have several pieces, in addition to this charm bracelet, to list in my etsy store.  For now, I'll tell you about this piece.  It's all sterling and copper with a myriad of stones, charms and talismans that symbolize life and death.  The main links are held together with copper and sterling twisted wire rings.

 

At the center is a carved skull surrounded by various trinkets: vintage religious medals, Ethiopian charms and beads, a tiny Tibetan carved bone skull, a blue ceramic scarab, African turquoise beads, and other stones and ornaments.

 

The "woven" copper bead and the brass charm are from Ethiopia.  The tiny skull is bone and the scarab is fired ceramic with a deep blue glaze.

 

One of my favorite things on this bracelet is this chunk of rough prehnite.  I love the rough texture and matte finish.  It has a sort of glowing translucence and even has a tiny stone embedded in one side...very organic.

 

This faceted chunk of apatite is surrounded by African turquoise charms, a vintage religious medal, Ethiopian copper bead, oriental coin, and a pair of copper rings specially made by Wife Whisperer (super secret formula!).

 

Another of my favorite elements is this sterling wrapped, vintage vaseline glass bead.  Here, you can see the African turquoise charms and toggle clasp, as well as a little bone faux mahjong token.  I'll be listing some other pieces to my etsy store so, check back...

Polymer Beads

 

"Apocalypto" beads

My friend, Christine Damm, sent me a package of polymer beads to play with and, this weekend, the light was perfect for snapping some photos of them.  They're really gorgeous so, I thought I'd share some of them with you.  Click on the photos for a closer view.

 

I know you can't tell from the photo but, this one looks like a lampwork bead.  It was highly polished to achieve a very shiny surface that resembles glass.

 

 

Mokume Gane is one of the techniques Christine uses often.  It's a Japanese technique typically done with various metals but it lends itself beautifully to polymer clay.

 

 

 

 

Some of my favorites of Christine's designs are her faux coral.  You couldn't tell them from the real thing unless you knew.

 

I can't wait to incorporate these into my work.  Christine may be starting a blog soon but, until then, you can see more of her creative genius at Flickr.

Children Of The King

   

Available on Etsy

(Sold)

One of my projects that was published in Susan Tuttle's new book Exhibition 36 was an artist's book of altered cabinet cards and mixed media called "Children of the King."  The publishers only showed a glimpse of it so I thought I would go into more detail and show you lots of pictures here.  So buckle in for the ride and I'll give you the full tour.

 

As I put this book together, I wanted to convey that sense...that we are all loved by our Creator, no matter what we look like or what we act like or whether or not we like each other.  We all belong to Him, even if we deny it.  Just as the parent of a wayward, runaway teenager still loves that child and yearns for her to come home, so it is with us and our Father.

 For the covers, I rescued a pair of old, leather book covers which I partially covered with upholstery fabric.  On the front, I attached a large rosary and the title "Children of the King" under mica.  The spine was made with hardware cloth.  All the "pages" were tied to the spine with various ribbons and fibers to which I also added Mexican milagros.  The design of this book allows you to add or remove "pages" as desired. To add your own mementos, simply tie them to the spine. This book was meant to be a treasured repository, either as is or with your own sentimental additions.

 Milagro means "miracle" in Spanish.  Milagros are used as a sort of reminder of a petitioner's specific prayer need or are offered in thanks for answered prayer.  To me, they are symbolic of prayers sent and received and a reminder that all prayer is answered...whether it's "yes," "no," or "maybe." 

   

As you open the book, the inside cover still bears some original writing from long ago.  I added the image of a heart, an obvious reference to love.

 

The first thing I added is a piece of vintage, hand-made crochet trim.  I found this in an antique store on one of my Oregon trips and couldn't resist the knobby texture.  It's one of my favorite things in the book.

 

 

 

"Begotten"

This little sweetie is the first altered cabinet card in the book.  The name "Begotten" comes from a strip of vintage text from an old hymnal that reads "Of the Father's Love Begotten...Steal Away to Jesus." 

 

In the next spread is a faux tintype that I made.  I attached it to a fabric page.

 

 

I added a few charms at the bottom.  Again, a heart in keeping with the love theme and a vintage religious medal.

 

A vintage, leather coin purse is tied in against a background of hand-painted paper.

 

The text that reads "seeking to save a soul" is a reminder that God wants none to perish but, instead, desires to keep all his children with Him.  We have only to choose Him.

 

Inside resides a snapshot of another of the children...each one royalty.

 

The next spread is another altered cabinet card made with vintage papers and a touch of lace reminiscent of purity.  I tried to keep the flow of the book steady by using the same blues and greens as in the painted paper.

 

"The Baptism"

 

 

This book contains quite a few charms and dangles.  This vintage religious medal hangs from the bottom of "The Baptism."

 

Next is a spread with another fabric page, an antique leather book spine and an altered cabinet card of a very nice young man.

 

These two cute vintage girls live on one side of the fabric page.

 

One of the extra little doo dads I added was this old leather book spine.

 

I added some vintage papers to the back of the spine.  The text asks the interesting question, "what do the clouds tell us about God."  My answer is:  a lot.  "The heavens declare the glory of God;  the skies proclaim the work of His hands."  All we have to do to see evidence of God in this world is look to the skies.

 

 

"Little Prince"

I really like the way this altered cab card turned out.  It isn't quite as elaborate as some of my others but sometimes less is more.

 

Following this is a spread consisting of a sheet of resin paper and an altered cab card with three adorable children.

 

Their crowns were chosen very carefully to reflect their spiritual presence.

 

"Children of the King"

I based this card on one that now belongs to the lovely Angela Cartwright.  In fact, hers was one of the very first altered cab cards I did.  It's still a favorite of mine.

 

This large, vintage prayer card was the perfect element for my book.  The spread after this incorporates a strip of vintage brass trim so I tied the card to the spine so the trim would act as a crown for this page as well as the next.

 

 

Turn the page and you'll find the back of the religious card to which I added an image of more children from an antique Victorian scrapbook.  It's paired with another altered cab card and, behind that, a sheet of resin paper.

  

"Kingdom Bound"

This title seemed appropriate as all the King's children are bound for the same place.

 

Of course, he had to have a crown!

 

 

The last few pages are a resin sheet and a fabric page.  Many of the resin sheets I made were pages from old Bibles.  The fabric page is layered with more fabric and a vintage religious medal.

 

 

The book ends with a vintage sword pin and an image from an antique book.  The sword represents the Word of God which is the Bible.  The image is two children, happily playing in a summer meadow.  The very picture of heaven.

 

I hope you enjoyed my little tour.  Come again!

available on Etsy

It's a Mean World

 

I've been going to a Bible study authored by the outstanding teacher, Beth Moore.  If you haven't heard Beth speak, even on video, you're missing out!  She is truly gifted and inspiring.  We're studying the book of Esther, with the focus on women in today's world.  You may recall that Esther was a beautiful Jewish girl who was chosen, from a harem of many, many beautiful girls, to be queen to king Xerxes.  Because of her position, and her faith, Esther was able to save the Jewish people from extermination.

 

I have to share something Beth spoke about in this lesson...it's tough being a woman in a mean world.  Let's face it, meanness seems to be everywhere.  Did you hear the boos directed at our outgoing President, even as our new President was being installed?  Or, maybe meanness has been a little more up-close and personal?  Maybe someone has insulted you?  Or, worse, one of your children?  Maybe you've had your artwork unfairly criticized?  Maybe, a friend or acquaintance has spread malicious gossip about you?  Doesn't it make you feel like this:

 

Ironically, the person dishing out the meanness feels this way as well!  I believe that mean people are unhappy people.  Mean people perceive a threat and their meanness is a reaction to that threat, however inappropriate.  A threat implies a rivalry and at the heart of every rivalry, is insecurity.  The resulting emotion is often anger.  Anger is a like a jolt of power to those who feel powerless.  The mean and/or angry person is looking for deference from those around them.  In this case, anger is a means of manipulation:  those in contact with the meanie would rather not deal with it, consequently, they concede.  The mean person keeps others under their heel and in their control.  As Beth would say, I wonder if this speaks to anyone but me? 

The mean person doesn't take competition well.  That insecurity won't allow them to be anything but the center of attention.  Have you ever heard something like this:  "You can dish it out, but you can't take it!"  The mean person never takes responsibility for their actions...never apologizes.  Remember junior high school?  Mean people tend to surround themselves with others who go along with them...who make them feel secure but, no person can stay under that kind of control and no person can provide that kind of security for long.  Mostly, we grow out of that mean girl mode but, I'll tell you, I've found myself caught up in it more times than I care to think about.  It's so easy, isn't it?  I've been the mean one and I've experienced the mean one.  Neither is a picnic!  I know you've been there too.

 

In our story of Esther, the mean person Beth taught about was a man named Haman.  Haman was a mean guy.  It was his idea to have all the Jews in the kingdom exterminated.  As I listened to the lesson, I thought not about any particular person in my life but instead about how little things have changed over the centuries.  We are still mean, even cruel, to each other in a myriad of big and little ways.  Fortunately, as Beth points out, there is a cure.  I love "The Message" version of Romans 12: 9-19:

Love from the center of who you are;  don't fake it.  Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.  Be good friends who love deeply;  practice playing second fiddle...

 

Bless your enemies;  no cursing under your breath.  Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy;  share tears when they're down.  Get along with each other;  don't be stuck-up.  Make friends with nobodies;  don't be the great somebody.

 

Don't hit back;  discover beauty in everyone.

Did I say?...it's tough being a woman in a mean world.

Thank you all for being so overwhelmingly kind in your comments on my One World One Heart post.  I'm looking forward to giving away some jewelry!

One World-One Heart

 

Lisa Swifka is hosting her third year of giving on her One World-One Heart blog.  Bloggers from all over the world are invited to join her in offering a giveaway, on their own blogs, in the spirit of friendship.  It's a great way to find other creative blogs and make connections.  This year, I'm offering ...jewelry, of course!

 

I made this necklace and bracelet set with copper wire and bone beads.  My friend DJ gave me some beautiful, bone elephants and these bone beads from my stash go perfectly.  I love the look of the twisted copper wire beads.  Leave me a comment on this post only and I'll draw the winner's name on Febuary 12th.  The winner will be getting both pieces.  Make sure I have an email address for you!  Typically, I try to answer every one of your comments but I won't be able to do that with this post.  I will be reading them all, though, and I'll publish them several times a day.  Have fun looking through Lisa's links!

The Stories They Tell

 

spinner necklace by Christine Damm 

Christine Damm has some terrific ideas on how to make polymer clay magic.  Her work positively shines with creativity and originality.  For those of you who think polymer is a medium best left to crafters...think again!  Christine created this spinner necklace as her vision of project one from my jewelry challenge.  She used a mokume gane for the clay disk, stacked with two pieces of metal and another small disk of polymer clay.  Yes, the small disk looks just like metal!

 

Christine has a great talent for faux.  These earrings are were made with faux coral polymer disks.  And, while Christine has a passion for creating gorgeous polymer beads, she also offers some finished pieces in her etsy store.  Go...see!  And check her out here as well.

 

Christine and I have been having and ongoing conversation about the medium of polymer clay, beads, and found objects.  I'd like to share a little bit about what she said regarding the use of found objects and found object jewelry artists:

Junk collection-- don't knock it! What you are really doing is something called psychometry, which is the ability to read the history of certain objects by holding them. These impressions can come in the form of emotions, sounds, scents, tastes or images. I believe that folks who use found objects are adept at this and don't even know it but just assume it's part of their inspiration to use the piece in a creation. Whenever you choose to use a found piece in something new-- that's synthesis. You make something new out of combining two or more different things that were not originally associated. All combining of things to create something new is synthesis. Painting isn't because every brush stroke creates part of a new image, something out of nothing. But combining the way jewelry artists do-- that's synthesis. And I think designing from found objects (and we have to stop calling it junk--except among ourselves-- because although it's a term of endearment for us, others who have no imagination want to use the term as a way to denigrate what we do) takes more imagination because you have to see the object with new eyes and forget what it really is--or was-- to create what it could become. I've always called my finds my "tschotchkes" (sp?? Yiddish for little dear things, I think). As you were saying about the finishing of beads, if we use a found object, we need to have real attention to detail and make sure all the supporting elements are well-crafted and of quality craftsmanship.

Jewelry Journal-Pink, etc.

 

I did a couple more pages in my jewelry journal today.  This one is in keeping with Misty's "pink" prompt for the day.  I'm finding it hard to create a page where I have to leave space for sketches and notes.  I have yet to sketch my ideas on these pages but a friend of mine is sending me some handmade beads, in pink, so this page will be perfect for scribbling my thoughts down later.

 

Another friend has these wonderful metal Charlottes (take a look here for a little story about Charlotte dolls) listed in her Etsy shop.  Won't they be fun to play with?!  I've got a whole pile of new beads from the bead show so I'm off to see what I can put together with them...

Sanctity of Life Sunday

 

One of my favorite organizations in the whole world is Care Net Pregnancy Center, here in Houston.  They offer care and counseling for women who are unexpectedly expecting a baby.  I've toured their offices and met some of the kind people who work there, mostly volunteers.  The services they offer are invaluable to women in our community who are in need.  Today is National Sanctity of Human Life day.  My pastor mentioned it this morning and I was shocked to discover that, since 1973, nearly 50,000,000 abortions have been performed in the United States.  That's fifty million.  That's approximately 3700 babies lives taken, per day.  That's comparable to a 911 event happening...every day since January 18, 1973.  I don't know about you but that makes my palms sweaty and my stomach queasy just thinking about it.  That is a horrific number and a tragedy.  The adorable little girl in the picture above belongs to a Care Net client.  I wonder if these numbers and the photo of this little sweet girl affect you the same way they affect me?  It's good to be alive, isn't it?

Mementos-A Narrative Necklace

   

"Hometown"

There once was a girl from Nebraska.  She grew up in a very small town in a place that smelled of corn in the warm, summer sun.

 

She was a pretty little girl, much loved by her mommy and daddy.  Their world revolved around each other and they were happy.

  They lived in a house with a front door that opened with a very large, very old key.

 

Time passed in the little town. 

The little girl grew up gazing at the blue, blue sky...

     

...and the yellow corn fields.

 

Then, one day, the family packed up and moved away...

 

...to a place where sparkling raindrops fell like crystals from the sky all day long.  The girl, now grown up, met a grown up boy.  They were married and had children of their own...

 

...who had children of their own.

 

And she told them the stories of her tiny hometown. 

That little girl from Nebraska is my mom and this necklace is a personal keepsake for her.  When I went back to visit, this last October, mom gave me the key to her old, girlhood home.  I couldn't believe she still had it.  It was still on it's original ball chain with a Cornhusker tag.  To create this necklace, I used the colors I remember from Nebraska...blue sky and golden fields.  Last time I was there, in the summertime, I was amazed to find that the whole state smelled like corn.  Every time we got out of the car...corn.  Inside the locket is a photo of mom, when she was little.  She had been posing for a family snapshot with her parents and grandparents, in Nebraska.  When she was about 16, my mother's family moved to Oregon, where it rains...a lot...and so, the crystals were added.  The little frog charm represents a very special nickname my kids gave my mom when they were toddlers.  Each element in this piece has meaning and, together, they tell the story of my mother.  And so, these special mementos were combined, with love, to spend the rest of their time together...in her company.