Since I am picky and our holiday season was particularly busy with work and short on time, my husband gave me a gift certificate to a Richmond shop that carries a particularly large array of lovely and unusual Swarovski crystal pendants and beads. Slipping and sliding on the ice, I finally found time to make my way over for a long period of browsing earlier this week. 1/2 my certificate nabbed the haul shown above. It was so difficult to pick and choose as these are pieces for myself for a necklace full of stars and moons that will dangle from a dismantled set of beautiful crystal and sterling rosary beads found at an antique show last summer. Michael helped me choose the colors. The centerpiece is the lovely moon crystal, which is clear but for the frosted moon, and casts a spectacular rainbow from whatever set of colors it is set against. The stars were chosen by my husband in yellow and purple. The other loose beads I picked for the sheer rich colors, even though two of them don't really match the rest of the pieces. I'm still thinking about the composition of this one. Given the large center piece, it won't be easy to wear with everything but I am moving in a direction where I am liking some glitz and glamour with jewelry so it feels right just gazing at the lustrous colors and shimmering rainbows of these beauties. Another trip to this shop is coming up soon... I see star earrings, necklaces and so on coming to my etsy site soon when I get the chance!
I am not a super regular blogger under the best of circumstances. Life is what happens when you aren't blogging, and I have had alot of it lately. Other than a large order of etchings that went out last week, I have not made a single piece of jewelry other than for family for Christmas. Ideas abound but time does not. Given our up and down business life since the Great Recession, I have had to find work again. About a month ago, given my increasing interest in fabric art, I started working part time in a local quilting shop. This is a huge learning experience for me, and more work than I would have figured. There is so much to learn, so many manufacturers of fabrics, so many patterns and questions, it makes the head spin around and around and even after a month of working and asking many questions, I still mostly feel stupid at my job. Stupid, but definitely not uninspired. For I have a new love in my life, one that simmered for years but ignited recently... BATIKS! And oh, working in a quilting shop with row after row after row of blazing reds and oranges, cool blues and greens and batik patterns of tantalizing ingenuity, it is all I can do for it not to eat up every paycheck I receive. This, my boss informed me early on, is her evil plan for us all-- to pay her to work for her. :) So far I have been relatively good but it is soooooo hard! The pieced strips above are all batiks, the beginning stage of quilting and sewing up a new large carry all purse. I will post photos when it is completed but I am having so much fun working with these fabrics.
Beautiful pieced batiks close up! Quite obvious my favorite colors and I love to mix and match them with varied patterns, of which there are a million and one... *sigh*
The other news is our big snow storm and another one coming our way Friday. Here are our two buried cars the day after the storm. Note my car is not parked under the large pine tree that dropped a huge limb on the hood in December...
Since I am picky and our holiday season was particularly busy with work and short on time, my husband gave me a gift certificate to a Richmond shop that carries a particularly large array of lovely and unusual Swarovski crystal pendants and beads. Slipping and sliding on the ice, I finally found time to make my way over for a long period of browsing earlier this week. 1/2 my certificate nabbed the haul shown above. It was so difficult to pick and choose as these are pieces for myself for a necklace full of stars and moons that will dangle from a dismantled set of beautiful crystal and sterling rosary beads found at an antique show last summer. Michael helped me choose the colors. The centerpiece is the lovely moon crystal, which is clear but for the frosted moon, and casts a spectacular rainbow from whatever set of colors it is set against. The stars were chosen by my husband in yellow and purple. The other loose beads I picked for the sheer rich colors, even though two of them don't really match the rest of the pieces. I'm still thinking about the composition of this one. Given the large center piece, it won't be easy to wear with everything but I am moving in a direction where I am liking some glitz and glamour with jewelry so it feels right just gazing at the lustrous colors and shimmering rainbows of these beauties. Another trip to this shop is coming up soon... I see star earrings, necklaces and so on coming to my etsy site soon when I get the chance!
I am not a super regular blogger under the best of circumstances. Life is what happens when you aren't blogging, and I have had alot of it lately. Other than a large order of etchings that went out last week, I have not made a single piece of jewelry other than for family for Christmas. Ideas abound but time does not. Given our up and down business life since the Great Recession, I have had to find work again. About a month ago, given my increasing interest in fabric art, I started working part time in a local quilting shop. This is a huge learning experience for me, and more work than I would have figured. There is so much to learn, so many manufacturers of fabrics, so many patterns and questions, it makes the head spin around and around and even after a month of working and asking many questions, I still mostly feel stupid at my job. Stupid, but definitely not uninspired. For I have a new love in my life, one that simmered for years but ignited recently... BATIKS! And oh, working in a quilting shop with row after row after row of blazing reds and oranges, cool blues and greens and batik patterns of tantalizing ingenuity, it is all I can do for it not to eat up every paycheck I receive. This, my boss informed me early on, is her evil plan for us all-- to pay her to work for her. :) So far I have been relatively good but it is soooooo hard! The pieced strips above are all batiks, the beginning stage of quilting and sewing up a new large carry all purse. I will post photos when it is completed but I am having so much fun working with these fabrics.
Beautiful pieced batiks close up! Quite obvious my favorite colors and I love to mix and match them with varied patterns, of which there are a million and one... *sigh*
The other news is our big snow storm and another one coming our way Friday. Here are our two buried cars the day after the storm. Note my car is not parked under the large pine tree that dropped a huge limb on the hood in December... 
3 comments:
I love your batiks! And I was browsing around at your jewelry, too, and I think it's beautiful.
Don't feel stupid at work, by the way. There is a LOT to learn!
That's a beautiful mix of crystals. I hope you'll show us what you make of them. I love batik fabric. It is my secret passion. I hardly have any time to make anything with my stash though. I think it would be wonderful to work in a shop surrounded by such fabric beauty. But then, I think, I would also walk away with a pay check's worth of bounty.
Oh, that moon crystal! WOW!
The photo of the sun on the snow is so beautiful. We rarely see blue sky when we have snow, and it is glorious. Thanks for posting it.
Your batiks! What a great place to work (I almost typed "palace" - maybe that's the truth), surrounded by such a variety of fabric. Fabric shopping really is addictive. You will meet the nicest people, and you will learn so much. I get light-headed in fabric stores, because the array of color and texture and ideas is such a sensory overload...but in a good way. Is there an expression like "a little fabric-drunk?" =) I hope this is a blessing to you!
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