Just because it's a great song and a great song with a whakado video

Goin' with the flow

I was invited by fellow bead artist Tari Sasser, the artist behind claybuttons.com to do a collaboration with her and another bead artist Elaine Ray which we will all be blogging about later.... Tari sent me some of her amazing Tie Dye pendants to work with and as I was working with them one idea flowed into another (don't you just love when that happens) and inspired me to start working more with the copper wire that I am fond of using in my necklaces. I've also been very inspired by Melanie of Earthenwoods amazing necklaces using beautiful brass findings. I'll save the three projects for when we all blog about them but for now I can show my other inspirations.

It's all so glamorous!

I just adore the Oscars! Even if I've only seen a few of the nominated films the idea of people all dolled up and glammed out is just mesmerizing! The clothes and shoes and jewelry and the amount of time spent on this seemingly frivolous event is just plain fun! I like to think about all the behind the scenes people working hard to make every one look fab! I had my own tiny bit of glamour yesterday... shopping for some very pretty gems and the gem faire Saturday in Santa Barbara. I met a fellow jewelry designer Robin back in November at a jewelry sale hosed by a mutual friend. Luckily we timed out venture out (with out the kids this time!) between rain storms! I had some specific goodies in mind like some oh so glamours semi precious beads (chalcedony) but found quite a few fun and cheap goodies (oodles of seed beads)! We had a great time and just about couldn't walk out of the place with our booty! I only went a tad over budget but it was all worth it! I think the show could have used some artist beads and was sadly lacking in anything that wasn't mass produced. I've considered a booth but wondered about the cost ($600+ travel expenses) and the long hours away from my babies! Oh well... The Earth Day celebration is just around the corner... At least I will be well supplied to make jewelry!

I'm addicted...

This show is totally addicting!

Fun new things...

Since my throat is sore... I'll just let the photos do the talking...

I just can't wait...

to open the kiln! I have a few new goodies that I am jumping up and down to see. One of them is a new glaze technique that I hope will make the bubble pendants look more like bubbles! A few are some old pendants that never made it into production and will round out my "Victorian" pendant group. I had been putting groups of old and test items up for sale on my etsy site (www.gaea.etsy.com) and came across a few items that at the time were overshadowed by other pendants (the three flowers in cream on chocolate) some flowers and what not... I am also hoping to get hopping on the valentine/lovers plaques that I sketched and put up on the coming soon page. They will hopefully have a "tattoo" feel and be a fun customizable! More photos later....

The Golden Ring (a love story) final chapter

I met Robert through a friend. His ex girlfriend to be exact. She was fun and crazy in a way that only a Pisces can be. Wild hair. Wild words. Wild woman. One night she brought Robert to our late night, nightly Dennys coffee. She thought we would be good for each other. April 1st, 1990. April fools indeed. We talked about VW's and and movies. He was so cute and charming. I was sure they were together. I couldn't imagine him noticing me. I just had to know who this Robert fella was. So the next day I called her house. "Oh! You wanna know..." and the following spoken more loudly so as who ever might be in the next zip code would hear "...who my CUTE FRIEND IS? HEY ROBERT, GAEA WANTS TO KNOW WHO MY CUTE FRIEND IS?" Ugh. Thirty shades of crimson later she had us set up on a date. We drove around all night. Talking and laughing and having the best time. Getting to know each other. "I'm a Capricorn, January, 12th! And you?"....."February 6th... Aquarius." It was meant to be! The golden ring was for him and he was for me....

Happy Valentines Day!

The Golden Ring (a love story) continued...

One day the phone rang. "Hello?" I answered. "Let me ask my dad if..." there was only dial tone. So I walked the two or three hundred feet to her cottage to help Mrs. Bauer. As I approached the stone cottage I remember being a bit nervous. Our now tame but once feral orange and white tabby had found a comforting patch of sun to soak up. Seeing him there performing kitty yoga and stretching with all six toes in front of him made me feel more at home. I knocked on the old wooden door. "I'm in the kitchen" was the call from inside. Timidly I opened the door and entered the dark cool room. I could see her in the kitchen lit from behind wobbling atop an old stool. Her impatience to get at what ever was on top of the cupboards made me wonder if she had forgotten her recent call. Carefully she climbed down and asked me to get the little blue box on top. She asked me to open the box. Inside was a ring. A beautiful simple golden ring with a disk on top and in it a male figure dancing with a vase of water. Aquarius. I had an inkling of what the zodiac was. Destiny? It was beautiful and special. She was giving the ring to me. Me? She must have spent the summer watching us kids enjoying her property in a way she was unable to. Or maybe she was just a crazy old lady. Either way it was a special gift. One that would connect me to her and another person. I wouldn't know how special or what the connection was until years later when I met Robert.

Because I'm a geek...

The Golden Ring (a love story) continued...

"Why does Mrs. Bauer just hang up on me?" I remember my seven year old self asking. And I remember some sort of philosophical adult reason why she would not end her calls with a reasonable "goodbye" or "talk to you later" or even "thank you". Something to the effect of not wanting to tempt fate that you may not speak again. It still seemed rude.

Summer in Ojai is like summer in hell. Living at the far end of the valley put you even further from the chance of any stray ocean breeze. Thankfully our strange house had an even stranger pool. You had to walk, what seemed to me to be quite far, to reach it and you had to go past the "bee library" as well as every creepy sound known to man, woman or child to get there. It was supposed to be the main residence for the Mr. and Mrs. Bauer. But it was never completed. Cement, stone and wood as well as some re-bar were all that were left standing, as well as a completed pool. Unheated in the winter and perfect in the summer. The house was so mysterious and fun. It was all cement with organic shapes and unusual cellings. It had a gradual path that led up to the roof! Inside, your steps echoed in misleading directions which was perfect for hide and seek! There were several rooms each of which had the outside wall missing so you could just step out of one end of the room and be outside. Which was even more perfect for hide and seek. So one summer when us kids were out tumbling through the chapparell and making up mermaid and pirate stories in the pool Mrs. Bauer came for a visit...

The Golden Ring (a love story)

Did I ever tell you about the golden ring? No? A long time ago when I was little, our family, my Dad and myself, lived in a very old house. This very old house was owned by a very old widow, Mrs. Bauer. This beautiful spanish style house was on a fairly large piece of land in a very beautiful country side. It was built by Mr. Bauer and had some unusual qualities as well as a magnificent view. A place where a kid could roam and make up stories and get into mischief. Which we did. This was in the mid 1970's and as my parents were divorced we shared the house with another family, so there were always people coming and going and visiting and staying. The property also had many cottages as well as a oddly shaped library that was inhabited by bees, but that is another story. Mrs. Bauer was a well off woman and chose to make her main residence elsewhere and rented out the main house to us and sometimes the cottages to other folks. Sometimes, when the cottages were not rented she would come and stay for short visits. I remember the air changed and was charged with the electric feeling like the queen was in for a visit. It seemed like she didn't want to be in anyones way or any trouble but you could tell, the grown ups were a bit on edge and Mrs. Bauer would sometimes need help. I remember she would call the house and leave messages for some one to come and help with fire wood or move something heavy. Not unusual requests but it made people feel like they had to hop to it. Her calls did have one strange quality... she never said goodbye and would just hang up when she was finished, sometimes with out warning....

Sweetest things

I am typically not a valentines sort of gal. I love hearts, flowers, pink red and the like, but don't feel like you need one specific day to express all that pink, red and heartiness. But this year somehow feels different. Maybe it is the elections or the economy or just the way I'm feeling, but I'm really into it this year! I must need a fun distraction. I am having so much fun with the heart and skull charms! I have been wearing them and totally feeling it. Maybe it's because I've been trying my darndest to keep on a healthy eating plan and get out and exercise that I've not been indulging in the typical Valentines goodies. The jewelry has become my no calorie sweet treat. They are the sweetest things! This song gets me every time!