New musings - on spirituality

It seems that I am going in circles - at times I am very engaged in making jewelry, at other times I only think of reading a good book. But pretty much all the time I am preocupied with something else - spirituality.
Although I have many hobbies, these three seem to go round and round in circles, and they are those that I never really get tired of.

Ever since I stumbled across astrology a few years ago, when I learned to interpret my natal chart, and learned something new about myself in the process, I discovered a completely new side to life, which I was not aware of at all previously. I am by no means a religious person, actually all my life I was an atheist (that comes with having previously lived in an (ex)communist country, I guess). However I started discovering new depths to life which intrigued me, and made me want to know more about them.

Thus started my journey in discovering myself, my spiritual path.
I learned to be open minded about subjects such as reincarnation, the survival of soul when the body dies, and I started learning how to see auras, how to meditate, learned about astral travels and OBE, and generally let new things enter my life without preconception and judgement.
Also learned (or I am learning) to let go of what is old in my life and doesn't resonate with what I feel currently anymore. This means physical clutter, mistakes, people and old notions. It is not easy, but definitely necessary. And unavoidable.

While browsing the net for spiritual subjects, I met some wonderful people along the way, on different forums and user groups. One of them is the Mystic Familiar forum, where there are a lot of people on the same spiritual journey as I am.

But more on this later.

Netting choker

I made this choker a few days ago. Found my inspiration from a new beading book that I recently got.
Looks quite nice with some brown outfits I have.

The Dresden Files

So what have I been up to lately? Not much in the jewelry department, as I had to catch up with a bunch of books to read, in order to send them out to people that I am trading with (particularly through bookmooch.com).

The book I've just finished reading was the first in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, called Storm Front. A great series, it was on my wishlist for a long time. It was well worth the wait though, as the first book was very good. Better yet, since I also watched a few episodes of the new tv show based on the same series, all while reading, I kept having the mental image of Harry Dresden doing the magic, solving the cases, and the book really came alive for me.

If you like Tanya Huff's Blood series (which has also been just now brought to screen in the Blood Ties series), or Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, you will definitely love Harry Dresden!
I can also imagine Harry Dresden as a grown up Harry Potter, fighting the baddies with his magic wand.

Looking forward to reading the #2nd book.

Back to beading

I've had this bracelet unfinished on the tray for over two months now, before getting into wirework, so today I decided to finally finish it before I tip the tray over and lose all my beads, lol.
Simple cellini spiral from the big white Russian book.

Hm, when I posted the pic at the Australian beading forum, I've been told to head over to the seedbead challenge topic, and enter my bracelet as it qualifies. Oh well, looking at the other gorgeous pieces there, mine pales in comparison, but I entered, nevertheless. Even if just to keep track with what goodies other post there as well.


And this is my latest mail creation, a full persian with beaded units sticking out.
Got the idea from Plumlee's book, which I bought a few days ago. His full book is based on the Byzantine, but what an eye candy there is in the book!

Full persian with cross

This bracelet is done in full persian weave. It took a while to get the hang of it, as it's not as easy as the previous ones shown. In honour of finishing the bracelet, I also made a cross in the same weave, with the tutorial taken from the Dreamseeker's page. Once I understood the weave, the cross went very smoothly. I need to get some smaller rings to make another cross, and use this one for a necklace. Although I like it, for the bracelet it could be a little smaller.

Cyprus is a very religious country, so I figure once I start making silver jewelry, these will sell quite well. Now if I could just find a cheap local supplier of silver rings, or even silver wire and I'd learn to cut the rings myself...

Shaggy Loops set

The earrings and bracelet are a few posts below, however I wanted to have a full set for this, as I like it that much :)
So I finished today the necklace, and took a picture of all pieces together.
Hope you like the set :)

What I'm currently reading

With all my excitement about my latest hobby, chainmail, I neglected my other hobby: reading.
So what am I reading right now?
A vampire book from the late 1980s called Vampire Nights by Timothy Moriarty.
It is a horror novel, not one of those cheesy paranormal romances (which I like btw, lol) of the last few years, where the vampires are romanticized. Here the vampires are the bad guys.

Funny trivia: one of the leading protagonists, Libby, is a jewelry maker, and several times she's wearing her own jewelry.
Quote from the book: "Around her neck she wore an amber pendant that matched her rust-stained oval sunglasses and silver chains; all the jewelry was of her own design." Yayy, I like Libby already!

For anyone interested in a list of vampire novels that have appeared from the 80's onwards, here is a pretty good list by year and short book description.

And speaking of descriptions, for some great book reviews, check out Janelle's blog, she is an Armchair reviewer. Sometimes I put new books on my wishlist based on her reviews alone!

Another European...this time 6 in 1

Following Spider's DVD, the next pattern is the Euro 6 in 1. I thought it would be more difficult than the Euro 4 in 1, but somehow I found this pattern easier, more intuitive to follow.
Hubby doesn't like it that much, it's too wide for his taste, but I quite like it :)
And I bet my brother will love it too, as his favourite so far was the Euro 4 in 1.
I wonder if I can make any earrings out of this weave...

Byzantine (aka birdcage weave)

This is one of the most used patterns for jewelry. It's a lovely weave, easy to do and it's faster to complete a bracelet than in the boxchain (see previous post).
Ouch, the earrings became so very long, lol!

Can be worn with any top and your regular washed out jeans, it implies a very casual look ;-)

Second set - box weave

I'm on a roll! Just finished this second set, and I love it. Even hubby liked this one, lol.
The weave is called 'box chain', and although I first found it a little more difficult than the European 4 in 1, once I got used to it, I find it actually easier and more fun to do.
Have to work in the ends of the earrings, otherwise they are ready to be worn.



















In the middle, a pair of earrings with a so-called shaggy loops weave. Very easy to make, and it works up very fast.

And last, bracelet and earrings with the shaggy loops weave. Made it within the hour (or two).

Set

I added a pair of earrings to the bracelet today, using the same weave, so here is the pic again with bracelet and earrings included.

Chainmail - new addiction!

I'm so excited, I've just finished my first chainmail bracelet, with the European 4-in-1 weave.
Spider's DVD just arrived yesterday, and this is the result. Now if everybody out there who teaches were using her style, I'd buy everything that's out there, lol!

I don't want to take it off my wrist, and it's time to go to bed, it's 10 minutes to midnight!!










As a matter of trivia, this particular stitch was used in Europe in the medieval times, to create chainmail shirts, coifs, vests, etc. It was used during battles, to prevent arrows or other weapons cutting to the skin.

Here is an example of a chainmail coif using this weave.
(original picture taken from http://www.schmitthenner.com/chainmail.htm)

My first wire bracelet

We went with hubby today to a christening (lunch at a restaurant), so I had some wine, had nice food and felt generally pretty nice and cozy. Coming back in the afternoon, hubby started to watch the tennis match between Bagdhadis and the French guy (well, just found out that Bagdhadis is living in France. I thought he was still living in Cyprus. Oh well, one always learns).

So then I retreated to my room and started following an Eni Oken tutorial for a pendant, which I then turned to a bracelet. Simple, full of mistakes, but it's my first of this type. And definitely not my last.

New earrings

This pair was inspired by something way more beatiful than mine, found it on a Russian beading forum. However after the first few twists, mine became something else entirely (and much simpler, lol).


On Monday we have a bank holiday (Green Monday), which means I get to stay home and rest for 3 days, yeppee!!

It's Valentine

I'm not sure how I feel about Valentine. It's something we never used to celebrate in Europe before. Now it's the rave and a lot of money is going into it. We decided with hubby last year to stop 'celebrating' it, as all those bunnies and what not we always bought each other, end up being thrown away after a while anyway. And the Valentine flowers are the most expensive all year around!

At the bookrelay forum, however, I've taken part in a surprise Valentine exchange, and today we opened all our gifts. I got 5 great books from my wishlist, all paranormals, I'm so happy with them!

Here is a pair of earrings I made tonight, it took me only a few minutes to make them. Beading with wire is definitely faster than with seedbeads!

I 'got' the herringbone!

I've been trying my hands at the herringbone weave from Eni Oken's free tutorial, without success and I was pulling my hair in despair. Then I remembered I bought a DVD from Nix' creations, where this particular technique is explained. Was sort of skeptical, but the lightbulb finally went on and I got it! Yayy!
I still need plenty of practice, this piece is by no means a masterpiece, but hey, it's a start!
Btw, the bead is my own earlier creation, from the time I was dabbing my fingers at lampworking!


And here is my first herringbone pair of earrings. I'm using right now cheap material (glass beads and copper wire) until I learn the techniques well enough to be able to advance to silver and *sigh* gold filled wire...















And I managed a second pair as well. The end loops are not the best, but I do like this pair better than the previous one.

Green lariat

I was browsing last night through some beading books, and saw a very nice lariat in Kate Haxell's The Seed Bead Book, and I decided to try to do it.
This morning I woke up very early and started stringing.
This is the result. For a first project with stringing on wire, I like it enough to wear it.

Wire wrapping again

My second wire wrapped jewelry is a pendant, from a free tutorial by Eni Oken. Funny how the picture shows all the mistakes that the naked eye doesn't see so easily *lol*.
I have a long way to go, but these first pieces will be something to look back at while I'm getting better with the wire and the tools. One thing is sure, I definitely have fun making these...

First thoughts on wire wrapping

My starter kit hasn't arrived yet, but hubby bought me from the local hardware store some tools. Last night I had a go! P loops and eye loops are better now, 8 connectors are 'almost there', but I'm still having problems with wrapped loops. And eye loops when they are on both sides of a bead. But it was only my first day so I'm patient!
I've done my first pair of earrings, which I will keep in my 'crafts museum', to go back to again and again when I want to check on my progress :-)

Since I am not posting my first earrings, here is my second pair. Still not very happy with them, but for a complete newbie at working with wire, they could have been worse :) Hope the next ones will become better and better...
I made the earwires as well, it was fun to do them.

TGIF!

Yayy, Friday!
While waiting for my wire wrapping supplies to arrive, I'm dilligently browsing through online forums, tutorial sites and eye candy. I can't wait to try out some of the things I've seen!
I'm totally in awe with Eni Oken's jewelry, and she has some free tutorials as well. Plus the paid one are not expensive at all. What an eye candy her site is!

In the reading department, I'm making my way through the Kate MacAlister Vampire series, and I'm reading now Sex and a Single Vampire, which is the second one after A Girl's Guide to Vampires. A good series for the cold winter evenings, light and fun.