Silk Sari Ribbon & Drool

Okay, folks, I just want you to know I am drooling right now. Seriously!  Get out a napkin... or, better yet, a bucket and mop because I am dying to get 'hold of some of the SCRUMP-dilly-UMPTIOUSNESS that is Ribbons and Silk over on Etsy.  I've been wanting to try out some of the things I see you crazily imaginative ladies doing with sari silk and now... maybe... if the budget allows... which I will make it allow!... I can get some sari silk of my own to play with! YES!  Just LOOK at some of this!

Sari Silk Ribbon



Sari Borders

Embroidered Sari Trim

Silk Fabrics

Silk Ribbon

...and this is only a small sampling of what's in the store. MMMMmmmmmmMMM!  Just looking makes me happy! :D  Go back up and click the link at the top. WONderful looking product.  Mmmmm. Sigh.  (in my happy place, now)

When The Well Runs Dry... Use It For Something Else!

This past Friday I went with the kids from our Christian school and several of their parents to see the Calico Ghost Town.  For those of you who don't live in California, it's between Barstow and Las Vegas and it's basically a pimple on the backside of Nowhere!  Really!  I want to know what made those people come waaaaayyyyeeeee out to the middle of a DESERT! for heaven's sake, and say "Hm. This looks like a GREAT place to mine for silver and gold. Let's get started!"  I will say, in it's hey-day, they pulled out over $62 million in silver from the mine (or "Glory Hole" as it's called). Now, it's dry-rotted timbers and dust.  It's also what the folks who live here have made of it.  A tourist trap (altho' you have to mean to go there, it's not sitting right off the main road).  For those of you from the mid-west and further East, if you're thinking of the likes of Silver Dollar City and such... no!  No and no and no.  Sorry. There are some "crafts" for sale, but I don't know that I'd put them on the same level as SDC or, even, what I saw at the Ren-Faire (mentioned a few posts ago).  But, there's enough people interested (it's worth a one-time visit) that they keep it going.  And, I can't really bag on ALL the crafts.  Some of the pottery is gorgeous... just not made in situ, as I understand.  I think I'd have been more impressed if the pottery, crafts and geological findings had been local, not imported (which I was told they were by a couple of the workers).

Still and all, it was something worth visiting at least once.  And, here are some pics of the kids, the day and the town


When you 1st walk in



...old-timey Main Street look (except it's not a dirt street)



Local "sherriff" is a big ol' ham! (and super hero! ~hee~)



school principal and HS teacher




checking out the pics with daddy (her brother's in our
kindergarten class so her parents came and brought her, too)




school's founder playing dead
(does a better job than any of his dogs ever did!)

 

Tour guide and master storyteller for the Haunted Shack (snerk)



...they pay SO much attention to their surroundings!

dad of a school kid and our semi-pro photographer
(he's really, really good, kids!)



In front of what's supposed
to be the old school house. Geez, a
field trip away from school and you
can't get away from school! (HA!)



part of the old, abandoned mine... not sure which part, but
coooool, huh? Wish they'd have let us in to explore!



Yes, cuteness abounds even in a rugged desert!


 As I said, not much here, but what is they've really made an attraction (of sorts) out of.  Their "well" ran dry several decades (and then some) ago but they used that well for something else. The majorest of repurposing jobs.  What do you do when your well runs dry?  Do you throw out whatever you were working on?  Toss it aside and think it's pointless or useless?  Or do you find another purpose for it?

Story Telling Thru Jewelry

Erin over at Treasure's Found has challenged us to use our jewelry making skills to bring a story (or some such) to life.  Well, I've decided on "some such."  She also said we could use poetry for our inspiration and I asked if it could be poetry we had written.  She seemed rather enthused about it in her reply! :D
ANYway, I will first give you the poem that I will be using: (written after visiting the Arizona in Pearl Harbor, HI)

Tears From The Deep

Tears are still wept, tho' the heart's made of steel,
For men nigh forgot tho' a Nation should feel.
They died in a war, tho' no battle fought they,
On what became known as an Infamous Day.

Tears from the Deep, tho' the heartbeat is cold,
For valorous men who will never grow old.
Entombed in the dark, by water enshrined,
Stood ready 'gainst all, by Freedom defined.

Tho' many have come, so few shed a tear.
They call to us, now, do the whisper you hear?
They are the reason this Nation stood fast!
The weeping, so soft, do you hear it at last?

Tears are still wept to help us recall,
Tho' few still remember they gave us their all;
From way down below, to the Oceans' safe keep,
Seeping up for reminders are Tears from the Deep.

© Copyright 2011 Pam Sears. All rights reserved.

Just in case anyone's confused by the "tears" mentioned here, the poem came to me (after a bit of a struggle, but not too much) because the Arizona is still seeping oil. A drop at a time every few minutes.  These are her "tears" for those who died that day.  There's a second poem from that visit called "A Trail Of Tears" because you can just see the trail of oil leading from the Memorial to the Missouri where WWII ended. (p.s., you may have to scroll down when the link opens... don't know why, but it showed me a blank until I started scrolling... dumb thing!)

Next, a tease for what I'm working on, jewelry-wise:

Well... you get an idea of some colors!
MWAAAAHAHAHAHAAAA!



...and here you get an idea of some shapes
(plus, you can see the wire I shaped... cooooool)

I'm still debating the final form of the necklace. I have something started but it's still at a place it can be changed if I choose... and I may.  I may!  I may also make another necklace.  I bought keys at Michael's not long ago and I got to thinking of a book I enjoyed as a young person... "The Secret Garden."  Hmmm...  Erin!  See what you've done!?!?

First Auction... I Hope!

I just submitted an entry for Handemadeology to choose me for an upcoming Mother's Day Auction.  We'll see... we'll see.  Pray for me to get chosen!

Go here to see what it's all about and (perhaps) sign up yourself.

A New Product Line ~ Maybe ~ Let's See....

After my little creative foray into making my own Hand of Fatima for my Ren-Faire "alter-ego" last week, I've decided I'm going to make several styles of these (albeit on a somewhat smaller scale) to offer for sale. 

poly-clay Christian edition
1st attempt at making one

I don't know how well they'll do, so I'll be starting off with only a few (don't want to overstock on something that may or may not take off, eh?) but I know a few people in the Oriental and/or Tribal Dance communities and maybe it'll work.  Maybe.  We'll see.

Anyway, they'll likely carry the more traditional symbols altho' I'm not averse to including any symbol(s) that have meaning to a particular person should you/they ask.

Thoughts on this?
Suggestions?
Input/Output?
Gimme your creative critiques.
G'wan, I can take it!

Rockin' The Casbah

Yes, I have to admit, I have a love for quite a number of things from the Middle East. The jewelry and clothing can be sumptious, the music can get your groove on. The allure of the mysterious and femininity go hand in hand with custom and graciousness (at least, as we read about how it was and should be... yes?)  Anyway, I've created a treasury on Etsy with a Middle East theme... enjoy:

Rockin' The Casbah


Okay, okay, SOME of it's for fun! (heee)



A Real Pleasure

The So-Cal Pleasure Faire, that is.

My friends and I went to the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire this Saturday and it was a blast!  I think I spent too much. In fact I'm sure I did.  Still, it was a lot of fun.  We have a tendency to turn into over-sized kids because we get to play dress up and drag out our "alter egos" for the day. 

Mine is Zarqa Habibe (Persian for Blue Eyed Friend). Here's a glimpse :D

We got to watch artisans at work: here's one of an amazing glass maker (see the smoke?)

adding the final "hot connection" to give it a base to stand on

Ta da!

woodland fairy

Make your own costumes (even if they aren't exactly Renaissance)

Another Glass Maker - Stuart Abelman
Makes AMAZING glass beads (and rings)
his necklace is a glass "dragon's tooth" COOL!

One of Stuart's glass focal beads

And one of his Glass Rings

Now, my own work ~ created my
version of "the Hand of Fatima"
from polymer clay for  part of my costume

Close up - added the Christian fish symbol
and a cross... not my greatest work, but it
was my first real big piece using polymer so,
not so bad :)