2 for 1 Today!!

Today's a busy day here in blog land!  

Part 1 of my post is at the top and Part 2 is towards the bottom. If you stick around for all of it you'll see why I didn't just provide links to the separate events!

First up we've got our normal Saturday post this year for Focusing On Life: 52 Photos.  This is Week 5.  

 
 
For Week 5 Sally, of The Studio Sublime, told us that our prompt was to "Capture Our Hearts" and find hearts in our every day lives. 
 
We were to look around and notice the hearts that are all around us.  I really didn't think I'd find any hearts around me, even with Valentine's Day approaching, but I couldn't believe all the hearts I found in my daily life. Sad to say, I didn't find any really cool ones out in nature while on any walks or anything, but inside was a different story.

Here's what I found:
 

Top: The earrings I wear almost daily (duh!).
Middle: The Vintaj Heart I was working on while wondering where I was going to find hearts in my surroundings! (Hello?!)
Bottom: Wall hanging over at my friend Dyann's house.

But here's the Hearts that mean the most:

 

Hanging in my bead cabinet are the two heart necklaces that Logan (a.k.a. The Masked Rider) made us for Valentine's Day when he was in Kindergarten and also his little "I Love You" note that hangs above his 'sock hop' photo from first grade with him and the hubs. 

Hard to believe the kiddo's practically grown now!!

I will not be taking these for granted every day when I open my bead cabinet anymore, that's for sure!!

 
Hop on over to The Studio Sublime and see all the Hearts everyone else captured, okay?! 

Now for Part 2 of our agenda this fun Saturday. 

It's time for the
hosted by Tracy over at Make Bracelets Blog.

 

Here's the challenge Tracy presented us with: 

"I’d like to start the year together with a healthy jewelry making challenge. Yes, that’s right, a “healthy” jewelry making challenge. It involves choosing a powerful word or phrase that is meaningful to you and incorporating it into a jewelry design that will serve as a reminder to make a positive change in your life. These are the six categories of wellness that people generally want to make changes in: Physical, Emotional, Occupational, Spiritual, Intellectual and Social.  Your words can represent any of these areas." 

So, long story short (yeah like that's gonna happen, right?!), I thought quite a bit about my word and/or phrase and here's what spoke to me.

You normally won't hear me mention religion or politics on this blog (and I'm only mentioning one today), so listen up.

Even though I was baptized in the Christian church when I was in the 4th grade, I don't follow a specific religion, nor am I what anyone would refer to as a religious person.

Spiritual? Yes, absolutely. Do I pray?  You betcha!! Prayer is powerful stuff!!  I believe in "God/Spirit" (my own definition mind you) but I'm not religious. However, I do love talking to my friends and learning about their various religious beliefs; they fascinate me and I have a great deal of interest in the history involved in many religions as well.

So, with that said, I was over on Lori Plyler's blog, Studio Waterstone, (Lori did my blog banner if that name sounds familiar and she also hosts "I heart macro" each Sunday) and she had a link posted to a series of video sermons that she said was definitely worth checking out - so I did. WOW!!

Not only were they funny in spots and really eye-opening, (and yes, religious or not, you should check out these videos) but on a couple of occasions, tears just ran down my face!  

There are two sentences that Andy Stanley says that I will share with you that really spoke to me and became the basis for my "Wellness Jewelry" that I created for Tracy's challenge here today.  He said:

"My time is limited, So I need to limit what I do with my time."

Think about that one.  I know.  It's a show-stopper, huh?

Then, he said:

"When you begin to live as if your days are numbered you will gain a heart of wisdom."

A Heart of Wisdom. 
 
I'd like a heart of wisdom. So, once I get it through my head that my time is limited and that I must limit what I do with my time (and once this becomes the norm for me), I will start to gain a heart of wisdom. 
(Powerful Stuff!)

I mean, how can you not operate from a position of LOVE if you have a heart of wisdom?  And my question here is this, "Shouldn't we all want to operate from a position of love?" 

If we all did that, the world would be a better place. The world,...not just here, where ever here is for you, but the world.  Yep, that's what made those tears flow,...

 

So, my word is TIME.  I need to remember that my time is limited and start limiting what I do with my time and spend that time wisely - from my heart.

 
 
It's so appropriate that Sally's prompt for week 5 was "Capture our Hearts", was it not? (read the first part of this entire post if that just confused you!)

Do you remember what Tracy's words for us were? "These are the six categories of wellness that people generally want to make changes in: Physical, Emotional, Occupational, Spiritual, Intellectual and Social."

So, where and how are you going to spend your TIME (more of / less of) in these areas above? 

 
The 3 watch hands on the altered blank represent my hubby, my son and myself
as do the 3 metal beads that are mixed with the turquoise.  The turquoise represents healing in all
areas of our lives.  The chain represents how each part (time) in our lives is linked to the next
while the swirl in the clasp represents how our energy is never ending.
 
It was a real eye-opener for me to think about each of these and see how I wanted to organize/budget my time and this bracelet sits on my wrist, next to my watch, reminding me that my time is limited!
 
Okay, I guarantee you I'm not the only one who had some deep revelations over this one, so head on over and check out all the awesome jewelry from the participants for Tracy's Wellness Words Jewelry Challenge! 
 
I bet you'll find some words and/or phrases that speak volumes to you, too! 

 
 

Thanks so much Tracy for Inspiring us to make positive changes for our over-all health, wellness and well being - what an awesome gift!

Until Next TIME,
Peace, LOVE and Wellness!!
Cheers,
~Shel~
 
Here's the list of participants in Tracy's
Inspire Change: Wellness Words Jewelry Challenge


 
 

Gem Show Special!

Happy Friday Folks!   
 
I'm having a "Pre-Gem-Show-Special" from now through Tuesday, February 5th, 2013 over in my
 
 
Get 35% off your order by using coupon code
GemShow35
upon check out.
 
 
 
Don't forget to stop back by here tomorrow, too.
There's lots going on this Saturday!
 
 
 
Everyone have a great weekend!
 
 
 
Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Special Prices!!
 
Cheers,
~Shel~

Exclusive!

Just a short drive north of Phoenix and Scottsdale on Cave Creek Road, amidst the beautifully rugged Arizona Desert, in the Red Truck Trading shopping area of Cave Creek sits Etania Gems, an upscale boutique that's a feast for your eyes! 
 
 
 
Photos Courtesy of Etania Gems
(Taken during their Grand Opening last year)
  
 
Etania Gems offers exquisite gemstone jewelry designs in sterling silver, handcrafted cloth and leather bags, various accessories and now,
Hand-Knotted Pearls by MiShel Designs.
 
I'm excited to offer my Hand-Knotted Pearl Designs Exclusively for Etania Gems at
6501 E. Cave Creek Road, Ste. #6,
Cave Creek, AZ 85331.

 
 
 
 
When you're in the area, please stop in and say hello to Lisa, (owner of Etania Gems) and ask to see her MiShel Designs Hand-Knotted Pearls!

You will just drool over all the gorgeous pieces she and various artists have created for her boutique - they're simply amazing!
 
 
 
 
Oh, and don't forget to say hello to Kaiah, too!!

 
Cute little Kaiah!  Photo Courtesy of Etania Gems


 
Until Next Time,
 
Peace, Love and Pearls, Baby!
 
Cheers,
~Shel~ 

Focusing on Life: 52 Photos - Week 4 - Create ART

It's Saturday again (woo hoo) and time for Week 4 of the Photography challenge that Sally over at the Studio Sublime started for 2013:  Focusing on Life: 52 Photos.
 
 
 
This week's prompt was "Create Art".  Art is one of those words that means something different to each person. 
 
When I think of Art, I think of my sister. She's the most wonderful artist I know and the Art she creates, no matter what it is, is always amazing! Me, well, I just laugh and say I can't draw a straight line with out a ruler and she says back to me, "Good. That's what they're for!" 
 
Seriously, I suck a drawing/painting, etc. and haven't tried much in regards to other art mediums as an adult either, but I loved creating things as a child.

I would sit at my neighbor Donna's house for hours and she'd have these little pillow cases she'd make me and I'd use some sort of paints on them, or she'd let me sit and glue cool photo collages together or paint (paint by numbers!) and she always encouraged me to try something different. I was constantly wanting to go over to her house because I was so excited to 'make' something!
 
Itching to create.
 
That feeling still resides in me today. Wanting to create. Create something. Anything. I even see cooking as creating something. Anyway, when I can't create I get kinda cranky.  Like those people who get grumpy when they're hungry (my hubby comes to mind here).  Yeah, I'm one of those, only instead of food I gotta sit down and create every once in a while or I turn into a bit of a "B".
 
My medium of choice (it chose me, by the way) is creating jewelry. Jewelry is my "Art". But instead of creating a piece of my art and showing you here on my blog (cause I never do that!) I wanted to show you something that feels just as good as a finished piece of jewelry to me.

 My sketchbook.  It's a rather sad little sketchbook. Not a fancy artist's sketchbook. In fact, I've got a couple of them that date back a few years,...or so.  
 
 
My original sketchbook
 
 
See, nothing fancy,....just paper to capture what's up in my head (wish it came out on paper as beautiful as it appears in my head,...).  It's rather private - I don't share it much with anyone.  I see my 'jewelry life' as it transitions and I love looking back to see how 'spot on' I was years earlier with things happening now or how I was just 'out there' with certain designs. Growing. It's my growth chart, if you will.

 
My markers, my sketchbook and my new Art Poem! ;-)
 
My most recent (and largest) sketchbook was with me a couple of summer's ago at my sis's cabin when we were evacuated during the Wallow Fire here in Arizona.   It was in my book bag along with some of my new and/or favorite beading/jewelry books. As we tossed things into the Subaru to evacuate, the book bag was tossed in the back along with a few gallon jugs of water and other things.

 The water ended up tipping and leaking out all over.  The next morning when I opened the back of the Subaru I found the spilled water jugs. I was a bit upset, but then I reached for my book bag and it was soaked - the bottom was just drenched! My heart sank and tears welled up before anything could even really click in my brain,...my heart knew what was going on.
The heart always knows first!


The pages are dry, but not as neat as they once were!
 
 
I have one of those liners for the back of my subaru, so that wasn't the issue. The issue wasn't even our suitcases, those didn't get too saturated. The issue was my book bag. That did not have a lining,...that was cloth and paper. And inside the book bag was something that was practically priceless to me - my jewelry sketchbook. My inspiration. My ideas. My art before it becomes art in my hands. My inner me!
 
 All my books, including my precious sketchbook, were completely water logged. Soaked through and through.  I just stood there holding it, looking at it like it was something foreign to me. I was in disbelief. "No, not my sketchbook?!"  My brain said to me.  "Oh, and look at all my poor bead books - some I haven't even gotten to look through yet! Oh man!"

The hubby came to my rescue and assured me all would be okay and that it was going to dry out and we'd take care of the pages, etc.  Even though it took more than a week to carefully seperate the pages as they were drying, it did turn out fine. Some of my bead books didn't recover so nicely, but I can always get more of those,.....my sketchbook however, is definitely One-Of-A-Kind ART!

Upper Left: the beginnings of my wire wrapped "Freya" Pendant in 2010
 Upper Right: Earring Designs from 2006
Lower Left: Design from Metalsmith class in 2005 - still have not made that!
Lower Right: Amber pendant drawn out and created back in 2009.
 
So this week, I played around with some photos and more editing programs for the photo challenge. I have not however, been able to create jewelry due to smacking metal around for tons of earwire orders, so this little girl's getting a bit cranky,.....and now it's time to go CREATE ART!

 
My Poem for Week 4: Create Art
 
 
My sketchbook and I are outta here - see ya later!
 
Please hop on over to the Studio Sublime and see what all the other participants have done this week to Create Art for Week 4 of Focusing on Life!
 
Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Creating Art!
Cheers,
~Shel~

Quick Reminders

Just wanted to give you a quick reminder of a couple of things happening in the blog world right now,...
 
First up, don't forget that this weekend (starting January 25th) is Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party Sign Ups - and there's only one Party each year - so don't miss out if this is what you've been wanting to do!
 
 
 
 
Also, Artisan Whimsy's got a couple of challenges that are sure to catch your eye and it's the place to go to find out all sorts of info and stay informed, so be sure to drop by there this week.


 
 
 
 
Also, if you're up for a fun photo challenge this year, be sure to check out Sally Russick's Focusing on Life: 52 Photos weekly challenge over on the Studio Sublime - we're on week 4 this Saturday, but you can join in any time!

 
 
There's tons more out there this week/month,....so be sure to share all the fun things you know about here in the comments so other's can find them too!
 
Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Fun Things to Do!
Cheers,
~Shel~

Focusing on Life - Week 3 - Take Time

By now you probably know that I've joined in with Sally over at The Studio Sublime to step up to the photo challenge each week. 
 
 
 
 
 
We were to Take Time for ourselves (something a lot of us don't do very much, if at all) and to photograph what we did to Take Time for ourselves.
 
Me, I took a break one afternoon and sat outside. 
I read my new book, sipped some Chai Tea and enjoyed some yummy chocolate!



Taking Time for Myself - NICE!

I even had some fun playing with some editing software, too.



And YES,...I  did enjoy my favorite chocolate.

Thank you for asking!

 
 
 
Please hop on over and check out what the rest of the group did to Take Time for themselves this week!

And thanks to Sally for hosting such a fun photo challenge each week. It actually makes me Take Time for myself,...to think and photograph our next prompt!! :-)
 
Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Taking the Time for Ourselves!
Cheers,
~Shel~