Projects While Seated

Friday, June 26, 2009

Hi there! Yep, I am really back.

This is my finger puppet friend, Schmoozie. He gives me lots of encouragement and always has a smile for me which is also a very good example to me....to keep on smiling! He is helping me get back on track with my creative processes. So here goes!

I thought I would share with you a couple of jewelry projects I worked on while I was down recently with a fractured foot.

The first one is a silver charm bracelet. I really enjoyed this project more than I thought I would. When it comes to making jewelry, many of my friends do such wonderful bead work, but my fingers are 'super CLUMSY' when it comes to beads. I drop beads everywhere, so I decided to give wire work a try. I made this bracelet by making "S" links which were cut, shaped and hammered from silver wire. Hammering is such fun! Talk about letting out some stress! I used a fairly large gauge of silver wire for plenty of strength in the links. The jump rings (which link the S pieces together) were also made with the large gauge of silver wire - there is a terrific tool that helps with that (see picture of tool at right). Then comes the REALLY fun part. With a somewhat smaller gauge silver wire, I began to play with beads, jewelry finds, wrapping, etc. I took parts of earings and necklaces, charms, beads and the silver wire and simply "played". I wrapped beads, made coils, hammered coils, etc. and came up with what you see here. Fun, fun, fun! My next bracelet will be with more unusual found objects: scrabble tiles, beetle wings, miniature bottles, etc. My close group of lady friends that comprise my Crazy Quilt Bee have decided to do a found-object charm exchange much like what was outlined in the book, A Charming Exchange. You can read more about the book and its authors here: http://acharmingexchange.blogspot.com/

The next project I worked on is a crocheted-button necklace. Now, I have to be honest here and admit that I don't know much about crochet except the basic chain stitch. Luckily, my dear friend, Barbara, is a master at crocheting and took pity on me enough to make the crocheted part of the necklace. She also showed me how to use the chain stitch to add each of the buttons and charms that comprise the necklace - boy, that takes some time! But, I am really delighted with the outcome. Thanks a mil Barbara! The center of the necklace is an ivory piece given to me some years ago by another dear friend, Jane. She was travelling the world at the time and brought this lovely piece home to me. It was a pin, but I decided it would really fit well as the focal piece on this necklace. What would we do without dear, dear friends in our lives!

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I am sure you have all heard about the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. So much sadness in the news lately. I watched Farrah's Story on TV tonight and it was very poignant. She videoed her journey of living with cancer and fighting to survive. I guess what struck me right off was her immediate response, to connect with God - asking for a miracle of healing. Recently, my husband had a phone conversation with a cousin who has cancer and he relayed a story of meeting a woman who confided in him that she was dying with cancer...he looked at her and replied, "I am living with cancer". God calls on us in many ways to build Christ's character within us.

It really hit me how easy it is to go on with our lives, day in and day out, maybe thinking about God a bit, maybe not, but when things get difficult, when things get scarey... all of a sudden, we can find our way directly to Him in a second, when WE need something, even with all the junk we have piled up in the path to His presence. Just like kids, huh? All about ME, ME, ME. In today's world, now more than ever, prayer warriors are needed, not just for ourselves, but for our world...for others.... those who are hungry, those who are homeless, those who are confused and scared, those who are making decisions that affect so many of us... What a beautiful sight it would be for Christ to see us on our knees sending up prayers for others and thanking Him for every breath we take! How fortunate we are that God is always there, waiting for us no matter what circumstances bring us into His presence. He is just glad to see us, glad to hear from us - He loves us no matter what.