Hat Week Day Three - Tuesday Turquoise

Day Three of hat fun!

No great insights today, just a really pretty color combination captured in a fabulous hat spotted at Churchill Downs last year. High fashion, great color sense, and a ready supply of quill pens at the back in case you need to sign an IOU for the amount you lose in Race 3.

These earrings came together as I was putting together a selection of work for a local gallery. I love these colors together, and was thrilled to discover that they were such a good match for this hat.

There are others among us who love hats, and Antiquity Travelers created a Pinterest board last year that features the beautiful, the sculptural, the fantastic, and a few that will make you say, "huh?!???" Lots of loveliness from Audrey Hepburn (style incarnate) and Downton Abbey to feed your hat inspiration need.

Before I leave you today, here's my current favorite crazy hat.  It looks like a pheasant and this woman were travelling in opposite directions at high speed, and the pheasant lost. I crack up at the model's expression of, " Darling, everyone knows bird butt is this season's fashion must-have accessory!".

Hat Week Sunday

Yesterday, I decided that the confluence of the Royal Wedding on Friday and the Kentucky Derby next Saturday was the universe's way of telling us we should celebrate opportunities to wear hats.

So I declared it Hat Week (because in my mind I am the Queen of Creating New Holidays). Each day, I will post at least one photo of hat fabulousness and, where possible, link it to a piece of my jewelry that seems similar in color, inspiration, or mood.

Today, I start with a classic hat that has a little extra flair in the form of a giant red peony and a spectacular pheasant feather.


I'll admit it - my jewelry is a little light in pheasant feathers. But the black and red combo is always a goodie, so here's a necklace I finished this weekend.

The pendant is a wonderful red coral zinnia that I had picked up at a bead show a couple of months ago. Not quite a peony, but close.

I'm having a blast searching for photos of Derby hats. Find a photo of a hat you like? Send it to me!

Bead Lust-ette, and a Pay It Forward Invitation

In my last post, I mentioned that I had gotten five, count them, five postcard notifications about a bead show last weekend.

Not being one to ignore what was obviously a message from the bead gods, I went.

And oddly, I behaved myself, purchasing only a few things. Not that the lovely lampwork on display didn't sing a siren song. And there were enough seed beads to make a rainbow blush by comparison. But I behaved. Thus, we have not a full-fledged, all-out, unbridled bead lust moment, but more a lust-ette.


So allow me to introduce the lovelies that came home with me -- lovely faceted fire agate, smoky quartz, and some fun crystals, luscious and delicate coral roses and zinnias, and ooh shiny silver.

And there's still a chance to Pay It Forward -- make a comment on my blog post that's here, and I'll send you something handmade by me (fun!)

All you have to do is post information about the Pay It Forward idea on your blog and promise to pass along treasures that you've handcrafted to the first five people who post to your blog.

Come on - play along!

While waiting for the snow

The weatherman told us to expect 4" of snow. Nothing epic, especially when friends east of us were expecting, and getting, 2+ feet of winter joy.The snow here amounted to a whole lotta nothing, but I completed the "what if" project I posted about last night, with some really cool black faux coral multi-holed beads, using agate with a nice chatoyance and some red coral. It's different than many of the pieces I usually do, but that's the point of pursuing the answer to "what if?", isn't it?

So I've added another goal for this year (I'll post about all of the others later. Not that it's of interest to anyone else, but if I make those goals public, maybe I'll feel a little more pressure to follow through on them!) The newest goal is to, on a regular basis, push myself into that area of discomfort, of unfamiliarity, of "what if". I want to explore the new, to expand those boundaries and limitations we all sometimes impose on ourselves, to give voice to the creativity lurking in my brain somewhere. Some things may stay in the Drawer of Ugly Projects when they're done, but each will help me explore, learn and grow.

And in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy wearing my new necklace!

It all started with "what if?"

So many things start with "what if".



What if I take that jewelry making class? What if I take that technique and do this to it? What if I mix this with that (admittedly a lot safer when working at a beading table than, say, a chemistry lab)? What if I take a deep breath and try to sell this stuff?



What if I reach out to the wider beading community I know is out there and share some of my ramblings?



Thus, this blog.



And tonight's installment of "what if"... last time I went bead shopping (seriously, the only reason Benjamin Franklin said that beer was proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy is because Ben didn't have a bead store nearby) I found these quirky little black ceramic-ish beads that look like small branches of coral, with two horizontal holes and a hole through the length of the bead. They don't look like much from this scan, but trust me, they're pretty cool. Wasn't really sure what I'd do with them, but I got a handful of them anyway.



So tonight, I sat down to design something with them. My first idea was going pretty well until I saw some fabulous grey agate, just waiting to be invited to the dance. "What if I put those together? What if I put them on an angle? Hmmmmm....."



Picture of the results tomorrow!