moving in

If you have looked at this blog carefully in the past and do so today you may notice the sudden increase of old posts - that's because I moved all posts from my old wearable art blog in here to make things easier. If you linked to my old blog, please update your links. Thank you! :)

I thought about moving my photoblog, too, but I think the pics look better on black so it will stay where it is - for now.

one world one heart - giveaway

I heard about OWOH from my friends Maggie and Pam. There are 716 participants atm (click on the OWOH logo above to see a list with all participants), and it's such a great thing that of course I had to join, so I'm giving away these three things for free:


1st prize - bracelet with carnelian, turquoise and sterling silver

















2nd prize - necklace with glass beads (clasp: sterling silver)

















3rd prize - earrings with citrine, freshwater pearls, sterling silver
















(Props are not included in the prizes)

Everybody who has their own blog can enter in the drawing for these pieces - you don't have to be a participant of OWOH. All you have to do is: leave a comment on this post, and make sure your comment links back to your blog so that I can contact you in case you win. :)

On February 12, 2009 I will pick three random winners from all comments.

And if you want to join and spread the joy yourself - you can still do so! Just click the logo above for more information! :)

Good luck! :)

*** Click here to see the winners :) ***

sun over the sea

Check out my treasury with lots of glass and wearable art artists from WetCanvas!

new work

These are from yesterday and today - and three of them can best be desribed as very chunky...

juicy - acrylic beads, glass, metal
















africa meets china - coral, turquoise, bone, brass, wood















star/green - bone, shell, glass, silver















bold mix - various stones, brass


















by the sea - lampwork shell by BeadTowne, amber, seaglass, citrine (?), brass

new toy

I went and bought myself a new camera today. Because, hey, I totally needed one. I mean, it's not as if it brings the number of digital cameras I own up to 5....

However - I wanted one for every day use.

Even tho until 2005 I really hated to take photos I was possibly one of the first people to buy a digital camera, back in oh I don't know, some time during the last millennium. Its little drive could hold a total of 12 photos, and the batteries were good for, erm, 3 photos max. Ah, those were the days... So, number 1 clearly isn't up for the task anymore. Number 2, while not bad, doesn't have that much comfort. Number 3 was the first with interchangeable lenses, it has cool features and stuff, but it's also a bit bulky. Number 4, oh, I love love love number 4, my sweet Nikon D70, it will always be my first choice if I want to take "real" photos, but it's WAY too large for every day. So here's number 5, a small Fuji Finepix which nonetheless has manual mode and aperture priority and seems to be a cool little thing. It'll go in my purse and will go whereever I go. :)

PS - photo of number 5 was taken with number 3, and yes, the pic is horrible, and yes, number 3 can do better, but it's dark and late and prrrt! :)=)

got an award! :)

Swiedebie from the European Street Team awarded my blog with the Proximidade-Award - thank you, Swee! :)

Proximidade is described as follows:
'This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!'

The rules are: This blog award should be sent to your favorite eight bloggers and they, in turn should forward to eight of their favorites. You should include the text for Proximidade (above) in your announcement blog.

So, now I've got to pass this award to 8 wonderful people, and I choose:

Pam
Maggie
Barrie
Rita
Cheryl
Gwen
Shirley
Steph

:)

new work

These are the results of a busy Saturday - plus a few pieces from last weekend:

blue lagoon - chrysokolla (?), silver













royal - glass, brass


















the apples of the hesperides - vintage brass


















shimmer hoopla - freshwater pearls, brass


















stoney geometrics - pink opal, lava, rhodonite and other stones, silver

















snowwhite - agate, brass, metal


















vint-age - mother of pearl, brass


















aquarious - glass and brass. These go with my lunchbox necklace.

















amberflowers - brass, glass


















snowballs - glass, brass, metal


















And then there is this piece - it's utterly unwearable, but was total fun to make:

jack's dreadlocks - inspired by the fabulous voodoo-necklaces of Steph. It features a Steph-pendant. And some lampwork beads by Paula. And a pendant by Carrie. Russian and Hungarian coins. African glass and brass. Ceramic, bone, glass, carnelian, howlite, jasper, agate, wood, aventurine, peachpit..... The ring the strands hang from is 4 cm in diameter to give you an idea of the size of this thing.

happy sunday!

purpleicious, originally uploaded by *andee*.

I'm trying to fight my usual Sunday blahs - I'll stay in my flannel PJs all day long, laying on the sofa watching Dharma & Greg and munching yummy double chocolate chip cookies. Maybe I can squeeze in some creating in this extremely busy schedule - we'll see. ;)

Hope you will have an enjoyable Sunday, too! :)

new work

the apples of the hesperides - brass, coral














aztec gold - brass, turquoise


















fossilized - lampwork bead by TheBlueBetween, glass, carnelian, shell, silver

the lunchbox

One of my must-do-in-2009's is to try and really make proper lunch breaks on my work days. As we are currently having a spell of icy snowy cold I don't feel like going out, so today I took a lunchbox to work:

:)=)

I had the design figured out ahead and cut the chain in handy pieces yesterday eve, so all I had to do was some let-your-thoughts-wander-wirewrapping while listening to Freddy Mercury, Genesis and Alan Parson's Project...






... and this is the result. Voilà, lunchbox-necklace! :)


Best lunch break in months!

sundays...

It's Sunday. I HATE Sundays. Always have, always will. And what's worse - it's the last day of my 3 weeks holidays. Tomorrow I'll have to go back to unbearable workloads, ever ringing telephones and impregnable amounts of emails. Oh yes, there's still that New Year's resolution, and I WILL try to stay calm and not break out in tears every time a new task lands on my desk, but just the thought of having to get up tomorrow at 5:30 and leave my warm and comfy home for a brisk walk and subsequent long waiting on platforms in subzero temperatures followed by said Himalaya Of Work does not exactly make me all happy and dancing here.

And, like I said - it's Sunday.

Sigh.

Off to do the weekly faves now...

charcoal and snow made the frontpage

:)

Featured artists:
senayakin
JKphotography (sold! :) )
kraplap
ArtMind
PlaskDesign
tortillagirl
dindi
maggieet
fleurfatale
gilbea
byMarianneS
vadjutka
Alternate for sold item:
BonnieBoon

today's new work

venus waves - a horrible photo of a beautiful necklace (even if I say so myself :D). Labradorite, blue topas, freshwater pearls, silver.
















linear drops - glass, brass


















If you want to see beautiful treasures by other artists, check out my current treasuries: and the cow jumped over the moon, beneath the elfish tree, charcoal and barolo, burgundy, and merlot.

the first new pieces of 2009...

...are these:

isis - vintage glass from Gablonz, silver. Not sure if I will keep it for myself or put it on a chain to sell. Hmmmm...
















fire - brass, garnet, coral, carnelian, rhodolite

resolutions

I stopped making New Year's resolutions years ago, because I never keep up with them anyway. How often did I promise myself to start exercising, to eat healthier, to DO things - only to conveniently "forget" these promises a couple of weeks into the new year.

A couple of difficult years are laying behind - five years, to be precise, although the 3 years prior weren't all that great either. In 2003 I lost my job of 20 years and was unemployed for 3 years, followed by temp jobs for another 2 years. It seemed impossible to find a new job. I've had a good education and training, I studied business in the evenings while being on a full-time-job, I worked for 20 years in a well paid job for a well-known company, and I was 38 years old. Too old, overqualified, too well paid in the past for finding a new job. The temp agency, however, was more than happy to take me and suck me dry. They earned I don't know how much for my labour, and I just got a tiny amount, not really much more than unemployment money.

Since July 1 I'm in a permanent job again - the same I was doing as temp since January last year. It took half a year to get the perm settled, and if I were the type to gnaw my fingernails I would've gnawed away until reaching my elbows. The job is well enough paid, but the commute is a bummer, and the job - oh, the job... Exhausting and so, so nerve-wrecking. I don't know how many times I sat at my desk, crying, because I just couldn't keep up with the workload. There is so much to do, and the deadlines sometimes are just plain crazy. I'm not that thick-skinned anymore after 5 years of constantly wondering if I'm really worth nothing, so this last year on the job had rubbed my nerves raw. I got up at 5:30, commuted for 1 1/4 hour or longer, was at the job for 8 hours, hardly ever managed to take a lunch break, commuted back for 1 1/4 hours, and when I got home all I could do is grab something to eat, veg out in front of the telly for an hour or so and then go to bed.

What kind of life is that?

So, my resolution for 2009, no, what I desperately NEED for 2009, is staying calm at work, a bit of happyness, a lot of relaxing, being more active, some fun, and definitely some balance and order. Once there is balance I hope there will be creating, too, and some success in selling would be desirable, too.

To represent these resolutions I made this bracelet - something to keep close to remind me of them:

2009 - chrysoprase, amethyst, carnelian, silver

happy new year! :)

Wishing you all the best for 2009 - peace, love, health, happiness, fun (and lots of sales, should you desire so)! :)