Focus on Life: Week 35 ~ Change

Sally Russick of The Studio Sublime is hosting a year long challenge which is... sublime... as you'd expect with such a studio name. The challenge is named 'Focusing on Life' and every week Sally is sending a prompt on what should we focus the following week.

This week she asked us to look for 'Growth or Change'.

Not sure it qualifies as growth - but it surely qualifies as change.

On Monday we had a storm overnight - our sycamores were bright and happy Monday afternoon, but this is what greeted me on Tuesday morning:

The whole driveway was entirely covered in a thick 'rug' of brown leaves. Sigh!

Thank you for stopping by.
Please make sure you visit the other participants' view upon Growth and Change :)

Harry Potter - details anchored in history

William has just finished the last book in Harry Potter series with a sigh "oh, now what?! what can I read after this?".

I have to agree with the child, having read the book numerous times (usually before each volume came out I read the previous ones one more time... thus having read volume 1 an incredible 8 or 9 times - the extra with the child :) ) - every time thinking the same. I've mentioned the books before - in my opinion they are the best tool to open a child's eye on how evil can slowly infiltrate and take over. They are the best G-rated rendition of any totalitarian regime, similar to Orwell's 1984, but in terms a child can understand.

Not only that - but J.K Rowling did some serious research for the books and as I read them to the child (up until middle of 4th volume I did the reading, after that William took the matter in his own hands - I could afford 30-60 minutes a day of reading, while he could afford many more hours :) ) I found little details that made so much sense.

One is the name of Harry's Godfather, Sirius Black. In the book he's an Animagus (he can transform into an animal) - and his is a huge black dog. I got the last name (black dog, 'black' family - as in dark wizards), but I was wondering about the first. Then I came upon the 'dog days' expression and I had to look it up. Only to find my answer to the Harry Potter question.

In the Roman Empire days, during the month of July Canis Major's brightest start is the brightest star in the sky. Its name? Sirius. Sirius and Canis Major (the "Big Dog" constellation) was rising almost along the sun, so the Romans thought the heat from the big, bright Sirius star adds to the heat from the sun to create the hot July days. Hence 'the dog days' expression. And - hence Sirius' name as Harry's Godfather.

Another detail is even more subtle. Ron's oldest brother, Charlie, is mentioned a couple of times as working in Romania, with dragons. When William heard the first time he asked 'Why Romania?!'. I admit - I didn't know at the time. We are 'known' in the western hemisphere for vampires... not dragons... so I kind of assumed she just threw up a country name in there. I should have known better - since she mentions very few countries and none without a reason (I am still looking for the Albania mention, though).

Just a year or so ago I received a history book from my mom - written by a wonderful historian in amazing style. That specific book was about what you know as 'Dracula' - in fact the Prince of Wallachia in the early-mid 1400s. His name was Vlad and he's mostly known in Romania as the father of one of the next Princes of Wallachia, Vlad the Impaler (we won't get into details). Both Vlad Dracul (where Dracul is a popular translation of the English word 'Dragon') and his son, Vlad the Impaler, were inducted in the "Order of Dragon" founded by a King of Hungary, as part of a design to gain political favor from the Catholic Church and to aid in protecting Wallachia against the Ottoman Empire.

The word Dragon got translated as 'The devil' (Dracul), apparently from Latin, and then wrongly interpreted by Stoker as 'Dracula' the vampire...

But here you have it: J.K. Rowling put together one of the most renowned fiction (Dracula) with its factual origins (Vlad the Dragon) and set the dragons in Romania.

A less subtle detail is the naming of the 4 Hogwarts schools by their founders, especially the 'evil' house of Slytherin. Salazar Slytherin. You do the math on this one :)

There are many other details, like the name of Remus Lupin (one of my favourite) or the neatly Latin translations of all the spells or charms or plants.

Summer Color Surprise blog hop: the reveal

Hello and welcome to the 'Summer Color Surprise' blog hop, hosted by Lisa of A Grateful Artist.

Lisa came up with a neat system: she creates surprise packages and sends them away to the participants - and so far I loved each one I've participated in (even the very first one, which proved to be a true emotional / mental challenge, but which in the end I loved to pieces!)

The summer has been crazy and I barely set foot in the studio - so when I went to grab her package... I found this:

I have a confession to make: I believe I switched the packages for the Summer Color Surprise and her Seasons blog hop... If you recall, my 'Seasons' package contained gorgeous lavender colours, all summer and happy! and all one colour :) This package contains 2 colours, neither representing summer...

But - since they are both from Lisa, I hope she'll forgive me!

I brought the beads downstairs (it's still too messy in the attic) and I stared at them for a little bit. Mixed and matched them, re-mixed and matched them until an idea formed... actually 2 ideas:

I definitely need better pictures of the first pendant - I'll have to add probably leather to finish it - and then at least I'll be able to drape it on a neck-form. Until then - you'll get the concept: wire, wire, and more wire :) Each heart is 'strung' on a wire that's been hammered down to act as a natural end, a bead-stop, (on the central component) a spiral, and another bead on wire. The 3 components are then 'strung' together with some of the tubes, and some of the wood beads on 2 wires twisted together (to create a more heavy support wire).

It looks like my original intention, doesn't it? I was quite happy with the result, so I moved onto the main piece.

Isn't it lovely when the muse is home and helping? The next focal almost created itself - I had this idea of using a 2-level combination, for a more interesting look. Originally I thought the top part will be a straight wire - however, when I added the main component and the glass beads - they would simply not stay put, the main components begged for a more comfortable setting. I had to listen :)

At this point I have to admit I was so pretty-pleased with myself, I was ready to wear it! But it needed a chain and it had to be special and matching. First I created the beaded components (with the ceramic 'tubes'). Then I had to put it down for the night and come back next evening - trying to figure out the links in between. I had limited wire widths to work with (20 ga and 24 ga in round, and 21 in square) and no matter what I thought of, I knew it won't keep everything together: I needed some sort of a wrapped link.

Out came the jig (I *must* get myself a good one, really started to hate the cheap plastic one!) and the infinity links where born (I am not happy with the middle part, where wires are wrapped... but it will have to live this way, it is a messy wrap 'by design' :) )

The 'hook' is made of the twisted square wire, and beaded too, to blend in nicely.

 And a view of both pieces:

I can proudly announce I used *only* beads from Lisa! All I added was the wire (antique bronze) in the above-mentioned gauges.

I can also admit that had I have used them a couple of months ago, in the Seasons' blog hop, I would have probably just wire-wrap them simply... So maybe it's fate I switched the 2 packages, because this is one of the best designs that I've created so far: I am simply in love not only with the piece itself, but with its flow, its general idea, and very proud of the multiple level focal on the necklace!

Somehow Lisa's packages just bring something new (and always the best!) out of me every time - she has the magic touch! Thank you, Lisa, it is a true pleasure to be invited to your virtual parties.

Thank you for stopping by - and please make sure you visit all the other participants. It promises to be a nice summer day (with some early hints of autumn, sorry!)

Your Hostess: Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Chris Eisenberg, Wander Ware
Audrey Belanger, Dreams of an Absolution
Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs
Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes
Monique Urquhart, A Half-Baked Notion
Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool
Charlene Bausinger Jacka, Clay Space
Tara Plote, The Newbie Beader's Blog
Renetha Williams Stanziano, Lamplight Crafts
Leah Mifflin Tees, My Beady Little Eyes
Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design
Toltec Jewels, Toltec Jewels for Jewel School Friends
Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me
Alicia Marinache, All the Pretty Things <- you are here
Laurie Vyselaar, Lefthand Jewelry
Eleanor Burian-Mohr, The Charmed Life
Julie Lockhart, Copar Aingeal
Dolores Rami, CraftyD's Creations
Elizabeth Bunn, Elizabeth Beads
Mowse Doyle, Mowse Made This
Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera
Candida Elkins Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks
Shaiha Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings
Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry
Andrea Glick-Zenith, ZenithJade Creations

Focus on Life: Week 34 ~ Add something

Sally Russick of The Studio Sublime is hosting a year long challenge which is... sublime... as you'd expect with such a studio name. The challenge is named 'Focusing on Life' and every week Sally is sending a prompt on what should we focus the following week.

This week we are to take a picture and... 'add something' to it. As in - explore our editing applications and play with them :)

Play I can do any day! What picture to choose now?!

That wasn't very hard - this week I've discovered the 'Music in the park' series at Royal Botanical Garden... yes, almost at the end of the summer... but it's better late than never, isn't it? The music is on Wednesdays evenings and it is jazz / blues.

What can be better than listening to music while admiring the blooming gardens, royally attended and cared for? It's listening to music in a fragrant park (the roses are still in bloom) while going through an exhibition! Every year it seems our RBG hosts the Zumbasculpt, an exhibition of Zimbabwe traditional sculpture: mostly cut in soapstone, in incredible Brancusi-like curves.

Photo attributed to William :)

 Since I'd love to learn to draw properly I thought this 'add-on' will work best: sketch (from Picasa).

Thank you for visiting, I hope you could imagine the lush vegetation and the soft sounds of jazz while we walked through the exhibition.

For more successful manipulations of favourite pictures - please make sure you visit everybody else, we're gathered right here:


P.S. If you'd like to know why I said the sculptures are Brancusi-like, please come back next week, I will post more pictures of the sculptures and you'll understand better :)

The Elements

William is quite attracted by nature and its elements - and that shows in his designs too. Yes, he actually *loves* to design :)

He's usually choosing one elements and designing a piece (a necklace most of the time) around that element.
I made 'The Fire' necklace for him long ago:

'Fire': Swarovski crystals, sterling silver (designed by William)

and not long after he asked for 'The Water' necklace - in a much similar manner:

'Water': Swarovski crystals, sterling silver (designed by William)

Somewhere in between - he asked (and also designed it himself) for 'The Earth' necklace:

'Earth': faceted stone, carved stone, metal beads (designed by William)

If you think this is candy eye - wait for what follows!

As you know, there is no such thing as 'I am not buying more beads until I use everything I get'... not in this household at least (although I must admit I was quite good and refrained myself from the usual shopping sprees I'd get into every 2-3 weeks :) )... and on Sunday we ended up at the bead store.

Where his tray looked like this:

There is jade, agate, quartz, some unknown stones, and bone beads (under the pink slip).

We couldn't make the necklace that same day, as he hoped, but we sat yesterday listening to music: he reading (last Harry Potter book), me wrapping loops and... the result is 'The Elements' necklace:

Note: the pictures are taken by William himself, that same evening, in the 'golden light' :)

'The Elements' necklace: jade, agate, quartz, antique brass 

Why the elements? Because each stone represents an element (or force) - and it is balanced (or matched) on the other side by another one.

From the left side, top, we have the following:

• life (it looks light-blue in this picture, but it's really a light green jade - representing plants)
• light (the disc, also jade, representing the sun)
• air (the hexagonal quartz, clear like the air)
• darkness (the black diamond, some agate) - matched to the air (dark/light)
• fire (the orange oval, also agate) - matched to light
• earth (the green-brown agate) - matched to life/plants

In the middle: 'the core' - also an agate, half dark half light, and incredibly enough containing specks of all the other colours (elements). I even made the 3 jump-rings myself, as well as the triad element for the 'core' (a stroke of genius: the stones would not fall properly just looped through each other). 

All wire-wrapped on antique bronze, and spaced with lovely bone tubes. 

It is very nice to wear and quite light; I admit that I expected it to be more heavier, considering the number of stones it contains. It has an organic feel - as it should, since it tells a story about nature's elements: very warm and inviting. 

There you have it: the mini-designer in training :) I only hope he will retain this love for living life fully, his eye for beauty, and his good taste in music and gourmet dishes. 

Right now - I'm glad to have someone designing along me, and I will enjoy it for as long as it will last. 

Moments

Have you ever observed how the special moments in your life require only tender loving care and not much extra?!

We have been blessed with a boy with a very artistic spirit, probably genes he inherited from all sides of the family, as (with very few exceptions) pretty much everyone has a keen eye for beauty. With him it manifests in many ways - every time warming my soul in a special way.

A few days ago he insisted we make a special dinner - from the menu (vegetable borsh, penne with shrimp, and ice cream) to the actual setting:

See, he wasn't content to bring the 'golden' table cloth, with the matching napkins (the set we use on special occasions only), good wine glasses, and the silverware for special holidays (I managed to say 'absolutely not!' to the golden-rimmed plates set :) as much as I love them it would feel like Christmas and I don't want to think about winter right now!)...

... he absolutely needed flowers too! He personally picked them from the backyard - and was happy only when the colours went well together.

As he put it: "the soft green of the mint provides a calm background for the bright red; and the small yellow flower just 'pops' on the red; the purple - softens and brings everything together"... yes, I think I can rely on him for my colour needs :)

And how can one be happy just putting ice-cream in the cups and adding a pop of colour?! Nooo, sir, we must add "the finishing touch" - a bit of sauce spread quite skilfully (the sauce wasn't the one to stick, though, I think I must make him some for future fancy dinners like this one).

Just a couple of days later we stumbled upon a huge end-of-summer sale and we finally got some backyard furniture (anybody knows when do they have indoor furniture sales?! :) ). After lots of pulling, pushing and usage of a fancy screwdriver (it was from one of those Swedish stores, where you put it together yourself) we have managed to put one set together. Right when the night fell... but that couldn't stop us from having a light dinner outside, could it?!

How do you make it light and counting? One word for you: fancy. So here we are again, in need of outdoor fanciness.

Outdoor fanciness is achieved with (again) the 'fancy' wine glasses, candles, Niagara-on-the-Lake wine-and-fruit spread, small canapes, some prosciutto and olives, all presented in 'fancy' dishes (the smaller, the fancier).

Gourmet dinner at your service!
 

Cheers!

The day before, while shopping for groceries, he got inside the 'cool room' at the store, the room where they keep the cut flowers. In there I usually enter just to 'rinse my eyes' - it is full of beautiful colours (and some fragrance too), and magnificent shapes, and I don't really need to get them home every time, but I do need to see them, to touch the softness of the petals, to feel like I am in a royal garden. 

He insisted to pick some roses for me - I am really not sure why he decided upon roses. Those majestic ones you see in the movies a dozen in a box. He didn't want a dozen, he only wanted 3... and he wanted them pink. Why?! Apparently yellow is not my favourite colour (it is not, indeed), and white is too bland, and (in his exact words:) "red is too romantic, that's daddy's job to bring you red roses". 

Can't say I can argue with the child - but I can say I was surprised by his wisdom and his perfect 'touch'. I know he is smart and very diplomatic (he has an innate ability to say the perfect thing at the right time, and to choose his words carefully as to not hurt anybody's feelings - present or not), I know he observes the smallest details, but I was still surprised to hear that comment. 

Aren't these the perfect 'blushing' roses you've ever seen?!

Wishing you a joyful and joyous day: may you find your special moments too!

Focus on Life: Week 33 ~ In season

Sally Russick of The Studio Sublime is hosting a year long challenge which is... sublime... as you'd expect with such a studio name. The challenge is named 'Focusing on Life' and every week Sally is sending a prompt on what should we focus the following week.

Her prompt this week is to 'do some investigating and search for what's in season where you live'.

That's easy-peasy, lemon squeezy :)

See, I live in the Niagara Peninsula, in an amazing geographical area where the harvest just started for pretty much anything and everything. On top of that, about 10 minutes away from home, we have a Farmer's Market 3 times a week: Wednesdays, Fridays and  Saturdays from May 1st to November 1st: 6 months full of freshness and the pleasure of talking with real people, the farmers who actually know how they grew their produce and when certain veggies or fruits will be best (they even have recipes to share!)

Being on vacation for the past 2 week I missed the market for a full 3 weeks and today I found myself unable to wait: I woke up at 6:00 am (I am the 7:30 - 8:00 am person) and I left house before 8 to be there, at the market, when it opens, promptly at 8:00. The farmers hadn't even managed to get everything out, no prices where posted (but it's extremely easy to ask and find out :) ), and the market wasn't crowded so I had the pleasure of roaming around and fill my car in about 30 minutes.

And fill I did - after getting back to the car with a helper from the first booth I tried to explain my inability to stop adding items in the basket: I really, really missed the market these 3 weeks. Apparently I need this roaming through fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs laid by free roaming hens, flowers that you can't get in a store and made in splendid bouquets, fresh honey and honey comb, cheese, baked goods, and what not. You name it, we probably have it at the market :)

This is my 'crop' for today:

I had to have the Hungarian peppers bushel (with the promise the shepherd peppers will be next, a couple of weeks) and I found a cabbage with thin leaves. I also found (the farmer is my favourite one for many reasons, one of them being that he plays classical music in his 'booth' :) ) that I need to wait until end of September for the sauerkraut cabbage - which I will, but I will try to pickle this one too, just in case :)

There are fruits: late summer strawberries (incredibly sweet), huge blackberries, blueberries, peaches (the Winona Peach Festival is next weekend!), apricots, grapes (from Niagara region, picked up yesterday)...

More fruits: raspberries, and another type of peaches - plus some fresh sweet corn:

There is no successful visit to the market without flowers: sun flowers to brighten up the fireplace mantel, carnation, and my favourite summer flower... I forgot its name again!

Aren't these grapes delicious?! They make a great wine - and they are also nice for eating (being seedless). Yummy

Let's not forget the plums - a variety of them. Hubby mumbled I should go back and by more of the black (purple) ones, to make him plum dumplings. Now that he mentioned it - I should do that!

My favourite farmer (see above) brings the tastiest tomatoes: beefsteak tomatoes. And at another booth I found these small green apples - I had to try them (haven't tasted them yet).

Here you have my favourite flowers again - it's a shame that no matter how many times the farmer or someone else tells me their name I promptly forget it :( Something with 'L'... they are late summer flowers... phew, I finally figured it out (after about 10 minutes of google-ing all sorts of combinations): lisianthus!

And that splendid sun face one more time - I can never get enough of the sun flowers: they inevitably remind me of my traveling back where I grew up, in the summer: there were never-ending fields of sun flower, next to never ending fields of corn :)

I don't know about you, but I am truly hungry right now - so I will let you admire the season products in everybody's region.

I presented you the Niagara Peninsula (South-Eastern Ontario, Canada) region - thanks for visiting!
If you are in the region, remember we have lots of fall fairs and festivals starting - and the Peach Festival next weekend (yummiest peach sundae ever!).

Please make sure you visit everybody else - we have gathered our crops at Miss Sally's as usual. She might not be up and running yet, but I'll have a link with the participants as soon as possible :)

Focus on Life: Week 32 ~ From where I stand...

Sally Russick of The Studio Sublime is hosting a year long challenge which is... sublime... as you'd expect with such a studio name. The challenge is named 'Focusing on Life' and every week Sally is sending a prompt on what should we focus the following week.

This week the prompt is 'From where I stand'... here we go :)

From where I stand...

... there is a Genesis every day: the dark turns into light and becomes a new day. Full of hopes, in a symphony of colours! For me there is little as marvelous as the sun rising from the see or up in the mountains (although I prefer the later, I would take the former any day).

... even the clouds can't stop this miracle from happening... and the colours are even more gorgeous from behind the clouds!

... there are myriads of small miracles waiting to be discovered: in a perfect shell or in a perfect idea for not one, but two collections! (on this more after we arrive home).

... life presents itself with unexpected surprises. Yesterday it was lots of small fish and interesting shells. Today it was lots of jelly fish (including *in* the water - ouch!)

... you can make unexpected friends too! In my morning walks I made friends with this white heron: he actually came to me today to give him some fish, but the sea didn't bring me any, so I couldn't make him happy (the fishermen do, though)

... and you can also transform online friends into *in real life* friends! So happy to meet Shirley (left) and Niki (middle) - funny things is that I am the tanned one, although they live at the beach.

... each day comes to an end - but it's the little miracles of the day that bring you joy. We all are gifted with miracles, we only need to look for them and discover them! 

Thanks for taking the journey with me today - to see how everybody else sees their life at this moment, please make sure you visit Miss Sally or check the links below.

Wishing you a day full of miracles: may your day shine bright and clear :)

Focus on Life: Week 31 ~ Hues of Blue

Sally Russick of The Studio Sublime is hosting a year long challenge which is... sublime... as you'd expect with such a studio name. The challenge is named 'Focusing on Life' and every week Sally is sending a prompt on what should we focus the following week.

This week we are to capture hues of blue.

Isn't this lucky?! Right now we are parked on the beach for our vacation. For the past few days we haven't had that much blue: it was cloudy and it rained (luckily for us only over night and between 3 and 5 pm, just to give us a break).

But today... oh, today...

The vastness of the Ocean is incredible... even at low tide...

Not sure what those birds are, but they were quite unafraid of any humans around them, and very intent on picking up something from the sand... not sure what either :)

Look, even the child has some hues of blue on him today!

Wherever you are I hope you enjoy your day - we're taking the customary break in the afternoon, while the skies open... and get a much needed rest.

For more of my favourite colour interpretations - please make sure you visit everybody else; we've gathered at Miss Sally's, as usual.