Inspiration

It's create your own quote day!!

Okay, so I doubt that is ever really a day... but today is mine!

I woke up super early this morning - feeling full of inspiration. So early, it was still dark and I was hoping to fall asleep again. Lots of thoughts were coming up, mostly about inspiration. Not just the inspiration for being an artist and being creative, but inspiration to DO things.

and the thought I had (here it is... my quote! and yes, you can quote me if you want)

Allow your inspiration to become action.

How often I am totally inspired by something, but nothing further than lovely and pretty thoughts. Which is great, the feeling of being inspired is wonderful. But it is totally another world to put that inspiration in to action and actually create something from it. Is there some sort of inspiration threshold. Something is SO inspiring it triggers some sort of action button in the brain? maybe... after thinking about it further though, I am going to work on it being an awareness - harnessing that inspiration and allowing it to come out.

What am I so inspired about... skydiving. Elephant Journal posted this video (loove the elephant journal) and it nearly brought me to tears (not so much the swimming w/ the sharks or base jumping from the Eiffel tower) as the gliding in the special flying squirrel suit - which after some reading is apparently called proximity flying. and the song is amazing - I bought the album and now I think about skydiving when I listen to it...



I've only been skydiving once (tandem, wonderful present for my 25 bday from my boyfriend/now husband), but it was possibly the most amazing feeling ever. My thought at the time was, "when I have the money, I'm going to take lessons." Then it was more like, "when I have the time, I'm going to take lessons." And that is currently where I am - finding the time to have a "hobby", much less a hobby that needs to be taken seriously. I can't even seem find the time to paint - which wouldn't require going anywhere or buying anything! But skydiving is something I want to do, not something I want to have only done once. So my goal - within the next year, go tandem again. Get that feeling back first hand, not just the fabulous feeling of watching an inspiring video. (which by the way, Roberta, the gal in the video, is only a year younger than I am) Then I'll talk to them about the specifics of taking lessons. Sounds reasonable right? Making a (very public) declaration I find is also extremely helpful in following through.

But even more than this one instance - it really has sparked this internal dialogue of what inspiration is. Not just what is inspiring, but what do you do with that inspiration? What do I do with that inspiration?

Blog-o-sphere Think Tank - Favorite Past Time Activity

For this month's installment... the topic is a favorite past time activity.

Interesting.

I'm not really sure I have any "past time activities"... it makes me think of things I used to do as a child for fun and maybe still do?

And pretty much the first thing that came to mind was holding my breath. Most kids do that don't they? Like in a swimming pool or bathtub - see how long they can hold their breath. And I still do. sometimes yes, in the bathtub. I'm sure if I had a pool I would test it out in the pool as well. But now, because of my yoga practice, I can hold my breath in a much more controlled and healthy manner. And still love it.

So I'm not really sure if that was a good answer for the topic, but it was the first thing that came to mind, so I figured it would be an entertaining post :)

Make sure to check out everyone else's favorite past time activities!

Andes Cruz
Kathleen Krucoff
Mary Spencer (WATTO)
Stephanie Clark
Shaun Young
Shannon Koochin
Brad Severtson
Wendy Kelly

EtsyMetal Book Club - Hyperion

Yet another new fun challenge from my buddies in EtsyMetal. Erin proposed a book club - and since I love reading, it sounded like a great idea to me! And to have an excuse to make a fun, non-commissioned piece sounded nice as well.

The first book we read was Lost by Gregory Maguire. It was... not so great in my opinion. I can't remember reading a book where the lead character was just so horrid. It wasn't very inspiring even though I did have a good idea for a piece. I think I resented the fact that anyone could think this was a great book and didn't want to actually make the piece. Either that, or I was just too busy and not really all THAT inspired... But I just wanted to mention it since it was technically the first one we ready. Moving on....

To the second book - Hyperion by Dan Simmons, was by far more inspiring, and well, a better read. Science fiction tends to be one of my favorite genres, so that helped. Simmons is also an excellent writer and I found very easy to read. It was a little rough at first. Many of the 'other worldly' aspects were given names, but not really described. To start with, it seemed a bit confusing, but very quickly I found myself just accepting these new words or objects and using my own imagination to create the mental landscapes. What better to create a jewelry piece than an author who encourages the reader to use their own imagination so strongly?

So I don't have time to write a full review or description of the book (you can look it up if you like) - the basic plot - there is a group of people going on a pilgrimage to see the Shrike at Hyperion - the planet that is home to the Time Tombs. The Shrike is a legendary "being". From Dan Simmons's description, my own imagination and discussion with the EtsyMetal gals - the idea for my piece was developed. The Shrike is a dangerous and vicious creature - maybe somewhat humanoid - or giant armadillo/sea urchin made out of metal. An entirely metallic being with armored plates and spikes and blades, but still organic in nature. It is mostly a character of legend, not making a direct appearance in the book. And I found it to be wonderfully inspiring - and created the Shrike Ring! Maybe a ring one of it's followers would wear... since I doubt it has anything resembling a finger or any need for a ring...

It was the first piece I have just made for fun that isn't a wedding ring in a really really long time. In fact, I can't really remember the last time I just made something. Yay!

And there are more photos on flickr as well.

EtsyMetal Blog Carnival - 6.6.11 - Etsy Metal Studio Tour

Yay! It's EtsyMetal Blog Carnival time! This month's topic is:
Etsy Metal Studio Tour

Show us where you work!
Describe what you love about your work space and/or any changes you would like to make in the future.

This past weekend, I got an iPhone! and I am SO excited. I love some of the photo apps, particularly the one I've been playing with the most - Hipstamatic. I mean, it just makes my studio look so interesting doesn't it?!

Today I was doing a quick casting (very short burnout) and decided for the blog post, I would document the process, in addition to some other general studio photos of my work stations. I meant to get a photo of the thermometer today... some other day... There is no air conditioning and by the afternoon most days, it's near 100. ouch. and with the kiln going, it doesn't make it any better. ah, well, I think it's better than huge blizzards in the winter.

Here's my photo journal for today!

investment about to be mixed

investment about to be mixed

mixed!

debubbleddddd

more debubbbblingg

setting up

metal all weighed out!

flasks are ready (and normally, no, the door isn't wide open)

melting sterling

melting gold - sooo pretty! it's my favorite part!

cast!

cast and cooling

quenching

all cast and ready for clean up!

casting area and torches

soldering/fusing area

second workbench, mostly for engraving and mini drill press (hidden under the bag)

my main work bench - a total mess like most jewelers' I know!

So that was my studio! Hope you enjoyed the tour! Make sure to check out the other EtsyMetal members who are participating in this month's blog carnival!

Rebecca Bogan
Shirlee Grund
Elizabeth Scott
Cynthia Del Giudice
Michele Grady
Erin Austin
Nodeform
Evelyn Markasky
Kathryn Cole
2Roses
Lauren Anabela Beaudoin/Creative Dexterity

Blog-o-sphere Think Tank - #4 - May Edition - Favorite Quote

It is that time again for the Blog-o-sphere Think Tank! This month's topic is a fun one. And though I thought it would be easy... apparently it isn't! I'm one of those people who loves quotes. In college, I had different quotes pasted all around my room. It's hard to not love anything by Einstein. I mean, he was a genius after all!

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" just might be my favorite. I had this tshirt when I was in high school. Though I quit wearing it, I kept it b/c I loved it so much - it's in my studio for inspiration.

I also remember loving this one the first time I heard it:

"Your mind is like a parachute. It only works if it is open." - Anthony D'Angelo

And really they both relate to each other. Having an excellent imagination and an open mind go hand in hand!

Must post one from my dear Swami Satchidananda: "People often ask me, "What religion are you? You talk about the Bible, Koran, Torah. Are you a Hindu?" I say, I am not a Catholic, a Buddhist, or a Hindu, but an Undo. My religion is Undoism. We have done enough damage (with religious dogma). We have to stop doing any more and simply undo the damage we have already done."

Love. It.

And my favorite made up quote.... "Everyone has issues, some people just have more than others." catchy right?


Make sure to check out everyone else's favorite (or favourite) quotes!

Andes Cruz
Brad Severtson
Kathleen Krucoff
Wendy Kelly
Mary Spencer
Stephanie Clark
Barbara Donovan
Laura Flavin
Thomasin Durgin
Shaun Young
Kathryn Cole
Natsuko Hanks
Andrea Bell

Jess and Erin

I had been having a rough day this week when I got a wonderful email from Jess sharing her and Erin's wedding photos with me. It warmed my heart, brought tears to my eyes and completely made my day. Like most artists and jewelers that I know, I have days where I wonder what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, etc. And then I get to actually SEE the why. It is wonderful to see two people completely in love and my rings involved in that! I feel so honored to be a small part in the lives of these two gorgeous women. Thank you Jess and Erin!!

Jessica bought Erin's engagement ring from me last year,
and then I made the two bands as well.

these photos taken by and copyrighted by Gary Sexton

EtsyMetal Blog Carnival 5.14.11 - Pages from a Sketchbook

So this is a funny and kind of ridiculous topic for me to write about. I just hardly ever use a sketchbook, and if I do a sketch is usually for a piece I am making right then. I suppose if I had times when I could just make something as opposed to having a list of commissions, I would try to sketch things out, write things down etc, to have them fresh and ready to go. Most of the pages in my current sketchbook are notes and tiny sketches from meeting w/ customers. It rarely happens in person, so I don't even have that many pages like these - but I thought it would at least bring another image in to this blog post!


and the rings as they turned out...


and I scanned two more pages - these were from over a year ago, but at some point will be a new wedding ring design. I thought they were particular fun b/c you can clearly see my doodle to idea fulfillment process. and on the one page you can see the sharpie bleed through from another sketch. clearly you can see how serious I am about my sketchbooks! haha!





Make sure to check out pages from everyone elses's sketchbooks! (or lack of sketchbook)


Rebecca Bogan
Shirlee Grund
2Roses
kate jones
Erin Austin
Nodeform
Michele Grady
Elizabeth Scott
Su Trindle
Evelyn Markasky
ArtigianoJewelBox

Emailed Hacked

So... in case you were wondering - no, I did not take a trip to Malaysia. Though that would have been lovely - the getting mugged part wouldn't have been.

Sadly - it has been a giant mess to clean up. When they hacked my email, the completely locked me out, changing the password and the backup email so there was no way for me to get in to my account. Gmail's customer support... for lack of a better word... sucks. The account that got hacked was the one connected to this blog and my google checkout account (which is no longer). I will not be opening another google checkout account at all. Ever. Because I was locked out of my account - there was no way for me to easily contact ANYONE about shutting down my account. Long story - but just beware, unless you have to have a GC account - I wouldn't bother. Even with all the paypal issues people have had - at least they have customer service people that are fairly prompt and not simply robots... but that's a whole other soap box.

Long story short - I finally have access back.

Thank you to everyone that contacted me and even sent links to government websites for reporting these sad pathetic people.

My advice to all of those like me that think "oh it'll never be me":

- change your passwords - make sure no two passwords are the same and really... not even similar. The time and energy I have spent dealing with this is far beyond what it would take to change your passwords every few months or so.

- back up your email contacts - I had the vast majority of mine backed up on another email address, but was still missing several hundred... and those of course are the most recent ones.

- back up your email if you can - Luckily through the apple mail system - and my lack of deleting emails - I still have 10,000+ emails from the past 5 years. (sad I know...) but still - it would have saved me if I hadn't gotten access back.

I have no idea how my email got hacked and I doubt I ever will. I feel like I'm generally pretty cautious, but obviously not enough. I suppose I'd gotten too comfortable in my little online bubble. Now I am utterly disappointed and let down by gmail/google. I feel out of sorts in terms of security. And am completely overwhelmed by the fact that my whole business and much of my life revolves around the computer and that one particular email.

The good news is, I appear to have everything back. No loss of contacts, no loss of emails, no tampering with anything of super importance that I've found yet... but I still feel like I have hours and hours ahead of me of changing passwords and log-ins, deleting certain things and reorganizing everything in a new email. Sadly a new email I don't like as much.

There is part of me that feels like overall I'm handling it okay and more calmly than I might have thought I would. And there is another part of me that feels totally overwhelmed and is ready to shut down.

So for any customers that are waiting for a response from me, many apologies in any delay.

oh oh and the kicker... I'd planned on emailing my entire contact list to tell everyone what was going on... apparently b/c of all the emailing... I can't do anymore mass emails or I would be in danger of having my account shut down for being a spammer. great. thanks. so... here's this blog post!

Happy Monday!

xoxo

Blog-o-sphere Think Tank - #3 - April Edition - Favorite Book or Movie

oooh such a fun topic, but oh so hard! There is NO way I can pick just one.

I tend to be the sort of person that doesn't rewatch movies and rarely rereads books. I think it is because I like the surprise or the suspense of not knowing what is going to happen. Once I've read it or seen it, I know already and it just isn't as fun the 2nd time around. I would say I've read far more books than I've seen movies over my life time - though recently most of the books I've been reading are 'fluff' type books - highly entertaining and easy to read - but uh, most aren't something I would even mention...

So I guess the qualification comes then in what some of my favorites are by ones I am willing to read or watch again and again.

I'm going to start with books b/c that will make you giggle. Yes. I read the Twilight series. and yes, I read all of them more than once. more than twice. But that is all you get from me on that topic. oh, and no the movies are no where close to the top of my list. I haven't even seen all the ones that are out.


As for movies - I can't pick just one - just can't do it. All of my top movies are equal in some way - they're all different and fit in to a different favorite category... but the image is a bit of a give away. The Fifth Element is one of my all time favorites. It is one of those movies that if it is on tv, I'll start watching it from where ever it is. MULTI-PASS! And honestly, I don't know why I love it so much. I think the visuals are so fun and quirky, there is always something new to notice.

Next on my list is the first Lord of the Rings. I have seen that movie maybe more than any other movie. When I was in college I would just put it on when I was working on some random project. I couldn't quite figure out what I liked to much about it. The costumes were great - the jewelry fantastic and utterly inspiring - lots of trees and forests. What it comes down to though, is the complete and utter devotion of having friends there to protect you and help you along the way. And seriously... there were some hot friends, just sayin'.

Then there is the Grindhouse duo - Planet Terror and Death Proof. I think Death Proof slightly wins over those two, but they each have their charm. I love a strong badass female character, or group of them.

Changing genres now... Best In Show. Hilarious. If you haven't seen it - you are missing out. One of those movies I laugh so hard I cry. Parker Posey is incredible.

And then... last but not least in any shape or form are my beloved kids movies. I love animated movies. I have seen Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc more times than I can count. And my newest favorite is Despicable Me. The little girl in Monsters Inc - who is very much like one of the little girls in Despicable Me - that was me as a child. "It's SO FLUFFY!!!" again - a must see.

So that is it - all my favorites - sorry I couldn't pick just one over all winner.

make sure to check out everyone else's favorites!
Andes Cruz
Kathleen Krucoff
Brad Severtson
Stephanie Clark
Wendy Kelly
Andrea Bell
Barbara Donovan
Shaun Young

EtsyMetal Blog Carnival 4.4.11: For the love of Tools

This month's EtsyMetal blog carnival installment is a fun one! The topic for April is:

Most coveted tool. Why? How would you utilize it if you got it?


a robot.

that I can program to think just like me. Apparently, like the one pictured above - it will actually check on me if I should collapse and could even call 911. how handy! I could even put it in some of my clothes and an image of my face! awesome! I bet it could saw off sprues like a pro.

but since I honestly don't EVER see that happening any time in the near future... the other tool I've been dreaming about is a microscope for stone setting. I've never tried one, but I imagine it would be fantastic. I always thought my eyesight for stone setting was good. Until I used a macro lens to photograph! haha! It is amazing the tiny detail yours eyes don't pick up.

There is this one - I do love GRS...



And then there are these... which are a bit more feasible in terms of use, space and budget. so... I might actually get them! annnndddd.... they are dead sexy.



make sure to check out what everyone else is coveting!

2Roses
Elizabeth Scott
Tosca Teran
AdobeSol
Nodeform
wildflowerdesigns
Evelyn Markasky
Erin Austin