FSOJ - Week 13 - Willow

The theme this time was Second Thoughts - The pendant is an 18 gauge sterling wire frame coiled with 28 gauge fine silver and sterling beads. Then I made the necklace to go with it - african jade and golden jade (both probably really serpentine - those are trade names, but I don't know what they really are, serpentine is a guess). Now I'm not sure if the pendant and the necklace even look okay together at all!

Shy Violet

FSOJ - Week 12 - Regal

The theme was Simple Yet Elegant - This lariat is faceted rhodolite garnets, faceted onyx, faceted sterling silver beads, and a handmade sterling drop accented with two little rhodolite garnet cabs. The closeup shows the faceting much better.

FSOJ - Week 11 - Rio

The theme was Native Spirit - Peruvian ceramic beads (painted round, red and blue tubes), turquoise, onyx, sterling silver wire and accent beads. The ceramic beads are from a local bead store, and although their other prices are decent (not great, but decent), the ceramic bead prices are a steal - I'll definitely be back! All comments welcome, as usual.

FSOJ - Week 10 - Sun Dew

The theme this week was "critters." Well, there are no critters in this, but it is part of the Garden Collection, so maybe there might be some critters in the garden? This one is called Sun Dew, and it's citrine nuggets and buttons, peridot rounds and chips, bali silver, crystal quartz rondelles, and 28 gauge fine silver wire coiled over an 18 guage sterling wire frame.

Shy Violet

FSOJ - Week 9 - Glade

It's late, but here it is. It's called Glade, and it's part of my Moonlight Collection. It's an 18 gauge sterling silver wire frame coiled with 28 gauge fine silver, bali silver beads, faceted and round fancy jasper, and round and oval moss agate.

FSOJ - Week 8 - Moss

I'm back! The semester is over, I can finally breathe/eat/sleep/make jewelry/photograph jewelry/etc.! This has been done for a while and is actually already sold, but here it is anyway.

This is Thai Hilltribe silver, bali silver, sterling silver wire, moss opalite, sea green serpentine, and black onyx.

Shy Violet

FSOJ - Week 7 - Upstream

Once again not on theme. :-) The fish is Thai Hilltribe silver, the rest is liquid silver and lapis. The necklace is exactly how I envisioned it. However....

I actually completed this necklace a while ago (I am in grad school, and with school-craziness, I can't take pictures every week. I make something every week, but it might be a while before you see it.). In the meantime, the necklace has gotten tarnished, mostly the liquid silver bits. How can it be cleaned? I have tried the baking soda / aluminum foil thing, and it did nothing. I used silver cleaner (which you are specifically not supposed to use on lapis, I know, I know... but I had nothing else, and with lapis I didn't know of any other options). The silver cleaner worked GREAT, and showed no immediate ill effects. I put it in a bag and sealed it up, hoping to prevent future tarnishing. Now (less than a month later) the silver is all blue and purple. It doesn't appear corroded, but heavily tarnished and distinctly blue/purple. Any ideas on what to do? The silver cleaner would work again, but I don't want to sell it if I can't tell the person how to clean it (and have it stay clean for at least some length of time).

Thanks in advance. This is one of my favorite necklaces so far and I'd hate to just chalk it up to an impossible design.

Shy Violet

Meeting 41

I attend The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. We had a special question and answer session with former President George Bush on Sunday. I sat in the second row and although I didn't get to ask a question, I did shake his hand afterwards. How cool is that?!

I believe he is generally in attendance at graduation, too, and he reads the school newsletter that I write for and help edit.

I'm finally going rockclimbing this weekend with some fellow Bushies and my hubby. The wall at the rec center is pretty good, too, so I'm excited about it.

Shy Violet

FSOJ - Week 6 - Forget Me Not

Forget Me Not is made of sterling silver, fine silver, and blue lace agate nuggets. This is one of the bracelets where the clasp worked out pretty well - sometimes they are more difficult than others.

Shy Violet

FSOJ - Week 5 - Off-Theme

The theme this week was Something Old is New. The topic didn't really inspire me this week, so I'm off-theme. However, the piece DOES fit into my Garden Collection. It is called Primrose, and also has matching earrings. It is made of pink Peruvian opal, freshwater pearls, and sterling silver.

Shy Violet

FSOJ - Week 4 - Autumn Colors

Moss I - Moss opalite, onyx, sea green serpentine, Thai Hilltribe butterfly and folded bead, and handmade sterling wire links and clasp. I love the variation of the colors in moss opalite - I got on an earthtone kick while making this bracelet! It's sort of Autumn colors... I like it anyway.

I made a second version of this bracelet, Moss II (oh-so-creatively named!) with a Hilltribe round hammered pillow replacing the butterfly and the order of the stones slightly different. That one sold from my website in just a few days! Yay!

Shy Violet

FSOJ - Week 3 - Eastern Spice

Well, it's not exactly spicy, but this necklace does have a vaguely Asian feel to me. The necklace is Burmese jade, smoky quartz, and sterling silver. The pendant is handmade Thai silver stamped with a vine motif. The clasp, which you can't see, is a sterling tab-style clasp with the Chinese symbol for "joy."

This is a really simple necklace, but I think it's one of my favorite simple necklace designs ever - the colors just really matched my mood when I made it.

On another note, I finally went back and added the pictures for my week 2 entry in the FSOJ blog, so if you're interested, I would love comments on it as well. Thanks!

ShyViolet

FSOJ - Week 2 - Complementary Colors

We finally replaced our stolen digital camera, but hubby and I both had tests and homework that prevented us from taking pictures in time for the due date, so the picture was several days late.

The theme this week was Complementary Colors. The bracelet is a link bracelet with carnelian nuggets (look familiar?) and apple green chrysoprase nuggets. The links and clasp of course are SS wire, and the beads are bali silver. Simple, and also complementary colors (if you use your imagination a little bit!). The bracelet is quite comfortable to wear - I really like making these link bracelets. I've been on a real bracelet kick lately, so you'll probably see a lot more of them.

Shy Violet

Back to Teaching!

Well, I'm teaching at karate in an hour and a half. The club is semi-traditional, at least in style if not in overall mood. I'm teaching practical self-defense, basically the stuff you could really use on the street to defend yourself. I'm a bit nervous, because I always am when I have to get in front of people. But I also know that I am qualified to teach, and I have a lot to say and show them, so that helps.

The piece for Week 2 of FSOJ was due last night, and mine was completed but not photographed. Hopefully I'll be able to actually post it tonight.

Four Seasons of Jewelry - Week 1

This is my first of the Four Seasons of Jewelry project, which is part of the Creative Wire Jewelry Forum. I'm excited about participating this year. My goals are:

- to improve my technique and design (color, overall design, structure, technical details, etc.)
- to learn 3 entirely new techniques, specifically chain mail, double viking knit, and possibly stamping and/or riveting
- to increase my website visibility, professionalism, and effectiveness/profitability
- to participate in at least one decent-sized juried show

Autumn
This is one of the pieces in my Seasons Collection. Obviously, I was very much inspired by Eni Oken (one of my jewelry-making heroes!), but I tried to make her technique my own as well. The nuggets are carnelian, the chips are Mexican fire opal, the accent beads are sterling, and the coiling is done with fine silver over a sterling wire frame. I have to confess, this bracelet has been done for a while - I can't take pictures of any newer stuff because my digital camera went missing in our recent move to Texas from South Carolina (for grad school).

Also, I didn't use Eni's tutorial for this or any of my bracelets so far - I was inspired by her work before she had the tutorial up, and I figured out my own way to do the bracelets. This one is obviously a bit different in structure, being composed of two main frame wires, each doubled. This was actually my solution to a technical difficulty, but it resulted in a really unique bracelet I think. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.

The theme this week was "Counting My Blessings"- inspiring jewelry artists, the fix for the technical problem in this bracelet resulted in the little curlies that look like I designed it that way

Shy Violet

Rita

Chase the Muse has already asked for another shipment of earrings in the next few weeks. Yay! Specifically, one set of earrings requested was the faceted rutilated quartz, onyx, and gold-filled earrings above. They are part of the Lotus set.

We're hunkering down for Hurricane Rita - the gas stations and grocery stores are like mad houses. Texas is pleading for some other states to do their share of helping the Katrina evacuees - we have something like 250,000 evacuees in Texas now. Houston is trying to accomodate evacuees from Katrina and prepare for possible flooding at the same time.

In other news, school is definitely picking up pace - I really feel kind of swamped, but I guess that's what grad school is all about. We had mock interviews today, done in class by classmates. Pretty scary - I'm shy, and that kind of thing is hard for me. It went off well enough, but still.... scary.

Soccer

I've had several sales lately from the website, which has been encouraging. The new look definitely seems to get a more positive response. The necklace above is "Saisons," the inspiration for the Seasons Collection. It is freshwater pearls, faceted garnets and diamond shaped garnets, citrine chips and buttons, and peridot chips. It is closed with a sterling silver hook clasp. You can also view it at Shy Violet.

I've also decided to play intramural soccer. I haven't played since middle school. I have no cleats, shinguards, or even workout shorts (for years I've been doing non-outside activities such as karate and even a brief stint in fencing). But tonight is our first practice, and I'll have to get some shinguards and hopefully shorts before then. Fortunately, we're playing indoors, so I don't have to get cleats.

Karate

I think I've decided which club to go with. Although they say they spar full-contact, the instructors and students seem pretty nice and not as if they would enjoy hurting anyone. Also, we've sparred once, and it was limited contact, and everyone followed the rule - it's sometimes hard to switch from full-contact to limited, especially if you do full- most of the time, so this is a good sign.

I'm thinking about offering to teach some self-defense combinations, etc. I'd like to be involved, but I don't have the time to teach alone.

On another note, my jewelry will soon be appearing in an art gallery in North Carolina, Chase the Muse.

I also have an interview this afternoon for my dream internship. I hope it goes well - they're pretty selective, so I'll be ecstatic if I actually get it.

Great Article

Go read this. I couldn't agree more.

Also, I will have new pictures up for jewelry in the next few weeks - I'm waiting on a new digital camera to come out before purchasing a replacement. Go check out the existing photos at Shy Violet.

Ebay

Once again, eBay has failed. Not that there is anything WRONG with eBay, but there are eleventy trillion items listed in any given category. How are the two or three buyers buying that week ever going to find my listing? Only by paying oodles of money to eBay, and probably not even then. I listed a bracelet that normally sells for $295 for $79, and no one bid. I sincerely doubt it was even seen by more than one or two people.

On another note - what is your opinion of full-contact sparring? I'm disappointed by the limited choices here in the martial arts clubs, and the two I am interested in both do full-contact. One is primarily a fighting-competition team, and I have the most serious problems with them. The other is more focused on instruction, but happens to spar full-contact.

I have a few problems with full-contact sparring, some general, some specific to me.
1. General objection - martial arts moves, done correctly and hard, are designed to injure or even kill someone. Padding up does NOT make this impossible. One of the clubs, the more competition-focused one, spoke proudly of having knocked out many people in fights before.

It is possible, although a bit of a stretch, to turn a martial art, or fighting art, into something suitable for sporting competition. Point-sparring is such an attempt. To win, you must be skillful, but you do not need to hurt each other. It is a step away from the self-defense aspect, but it can be a legitmate sport. If you do full-contact, you negate all attempts to make the art safe and it's simply a fight. I have a moral objection to being in a situation where my goal is to HURT the other person.

2. General objection - The primary goal of martial arts is self defense. Competition can be a way of refining your skills, gaining confidence, and a fun recreation, but it is not the purpose of martial arts. Martial arts were not designed to be a competitive sport. Focusing on the competitive aspect can seriously interfere with your ability to effectively defend yourself in a real life-or-death situation. If some guy tries to grab me and drag me into a dark alley to sexually assault me, I do not want my reaction to be to kick him in the head. It's too risky. I want my reaction to be to kick him in the groin, poke his eyes, break his knee.... whatever it takes to protect myself, whether it's pretty or not. This is self-defense, and I will do whatever it takes.

3. Specific objection - I have had 11 1/2 years of martial arts experience in 4 different open-hand styles and 1 weapons style. I have three black belts in different styles. I am fully capable of injuring or killing someone if I go full contact. I do not WANT to do this. I do not have any desire to hurt anyone. I am the person who, in the Nationals sparring finals, apologized to my opponent for knocking her breath out. (I did win, by the way, 5 to 1). I LIKE being nice, and I should not have to be mean in order to be respected as a martial artist.

4. Specific objection - While I am very skilled, I am also small. I am a 23 year old girl, a hair under 5 feet tall, weighing 98 lbs. I am NOT convinced that having a 5 foot 11 inch 200 lb guy, hit me as hard as he can is a good idea, regardless of his skill level. Knowing that we will be padded up helps, but doesn't mean that you can't get hit in the head hard enough to knock you out, or hit in the face by accident, or whatever. Accidents happen, and going full-contact is a good way to ensure that when an accident does happen, someone gets seriously hurt. And regardless of who made the mistake, being the smallest one, it would probably be me.

5. Specific objection - Being small, and yet being a black belt, I think I will be a target. Clearly in one club, there is no stigma associated with hurting people. It isn't outside the realm of possibility for some brown or blue or whatever belt to say, "Hey, I bet I can knock out that black belt." I am fully confident of my ability to stand up to anyone within 30 lbs of my weight in a structured fight, but I'm not so confident of my ability to stand up against someone who outweighs me by 70 lbs and is willing to hit me as hard as he can.

6. Specific objection - In a street fight, although small, I have an advantage in that a random hoodlum would not expect a 98 lb girl to fight like I would. I have the element of surprise, as well as the benefits of the training itself. That's one of the few benefits that being a small girl has in self defense. In a full-contact fight, that's gone, yet their weight/size advantage remains. I do not trust the people in the competition club to make allowances for my size when deciding how hard to hit me. Their coach clearly looks benignly, if not approvingly, on people going as hard as possible at all times.

7. General and specific objection - I am here for a purpose. I am in an extremely challenging and fairly exclusive graduate program focusing on national security, with the goal of working for the intelligence community. It is much more important to my life, long term, that I do well in school than that I win or lose in a martial arts competition. While competition is fun, I have more important things to do. Jeopardizing my ability to do well in school is not an option. I do NOT want to have to miss class or get behind in my work because I have a concussion or broke a bone. Aside from the basic desire not to get hurt, there is much more at stake here than my comfort... school is thousands of dollars, an 1100 mile move, untold amounts of student debt, and two years of my life (if I'm lucky). I do not want to mess it up by getting my nose punched through the back of my head.

I've taught before, and I'm capable of starting a new club here. It's a really tempting idea, and I think there's a definite lack in the martial arts instruction available. All the coaches are skilled, but at least one I have serious issues with. I could do it... except for the reasons listed above. Teaching takes time that I probably don't have to devote to it. I'll also only be here for two years (again, that's hopefully). I'd feel pretty bad starting something and deserting it after only two years.

So... that's the frustration of the week. Any thoughts, anyone?

Go to Shy Violet and buy some jewelry!