Life's Stray Parts

I've been working on a jewelry project, hoping to finish in time to enter a handcrafting contest. The criteria were very specific: recycled/upcycled materials, lead-free metal, no animal-derived products (feathers, leather, pearls, shells) and it should tell a story. Well, I decided at the last minute I didn't want to enter, but I felt pretty good about making the deadline.

I think it needs to be a little messier, more like Life

What happened was, I was pretty sure I wouldn't win (how many customers like the rustic bohemian style?), but if I HAD won, I would have had to make a large quantity of these and how could I really do that with something that's going to be unique every time, let alone find enough of the components to make, say, 300 of them? Or a thousand of them? In the end, I just couldn't see myself doing that - maybe if I was making potholders, or flyswatters - but not this... And the entry form seemed skewed toward people who had a staff working for them, not just one person making everything

At least it's not symmetrical and orderly and boring!

But I was able to learn more about what I would be willing to make, or how many items I could create with deadlines. I did some research on Etsy and found 42 pages of guitar string jewelry; 27 pages of rolled paper bead jewelry; and 148 pages of wire-wrapped sea glass jewelry - there are more than 19 million entries in the jewelry category alone! I even posted a few photos on my Facebook page and asked for opinions. Several people kindly replied, and their feedback was most helpful, which will help me as I come closer to (sharp intake of breath) opening an Etsy shop...

I don't know how I got the sterling Florida charm... but it's home sweet home!

I also posted photos of three different kinds of earrings, one of which was this pair of papier roule (rolled paper) earrings...

I have been trying to find matched pairs of paper beads to make earrings

I've already blogged (and downloaded images) about the guitar string earrings and the wire-wrapped sea glass... but I made this piece a while back...fun and lightweight, pretty colors!

Another free-form necklace incorporating ceramics, chain, wood and wire

There's more, but it's late and I'm tired of thinking about this! There's a gentle rain falling tonight, and the temperature is much cooler - of course, it will probably be hot and humid tomorrow morning! 

My pillow is calling to me... time to rest now - good night

Up Up and Away

Today I was given a lovely gift... someone gave me their time, an extra pair of hands and a fresh look at an old problem.

I couldn't water the plants without moving stuff.

Now there's a clear path and more space.

My friend Karen, who's also an artist and seems to understand why I hang on to stuff, offered to come help me declutter my upstairs art space, which is packed to the gills with boxes and totes and piles of all sorts of pretty junk: pens, paper, rubber stamps, hats, glass jars, paint brushes, ink bottles and so on. 

This section was clogged with totes and stuff.

For two hours Karen kindly and gently helped me rearrange things, sweeping away fluffy balls of cat hair and pieces of shredded paper (Copper and Silver, our two semi-feral cats, used to make nests among the magazines and newspapers) and all the while she kept saying things like, "You have nice things, I understand why you want to keep it - but let's see how much you want to keep and where it should go." I was so surprised I almost cried.
 

Still lots of stuff, but some boxes are gone.

I suppose I expected her to say things like, "Oh, you don't have room for this, just toss it." or "You'll never use that, get rid of it." But she didn't. She kept encouraging me by saying, "You had already organized quite a bit of it!" Although I did discard some things, there's a lot more to go. But I'll get around to it. Most importantly, the piles are shrinking. And that feels good.





Interestingly, I didn't feel too ashamed of how much stuff there is, or why I cling to it. One work table is now organized, and all my art supplies are within easy reach. The other side of the room is still a wreck, but I can't help feeling like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Other friends have helped me with this before - for which I'm eternally grateful - but what we accomplished today was nothing short of astounding.

This corner next to the futon was wasted space.

I know all the excess stuff is keeping me from being creative and I am actually looking forward to continuing this anti-cluttering campaign. (I admit I felt obliged to vacuum the living room and mop the kitchen floor before Karen arrived - I was feeling a little ashamed about that! I wish I'd cleaned the bathroom, too...) Also, the dishes and a load of laundry got done.

The corner now has room for a small shelf

After a couple more hours of tidying up, I went outside and planted lilacs and honeysuckle in the back yard before the rain came and the light was gone. I also dug up at least a dozen kale plants (hundreds of them are springing up all over the back yard, all green and gorgeous). Let me know if you want any.


Whew! What a workout!


All that, and a blog post, too! A wonderful ending to a most productive day.