Unrelated

” [...] I am reminded of an old man who for thirthy years or more sat in the main street of Pune and cleaned shoes. He was terribly crippled, with withered sticks for legs folded on a little wooden trolley. In his youth he was destitute and in despair. Survival seemed impossible. Then one day he began to clean shoes. He had a good chest and gradually his arms strengthened. He was not only the best shoe cleaner in the town, but he was respected and held in friendship by all who passed. […] All he had was a fine chest, prana, sparkling wise eyes reflecting the seer within, and his shoe cleaning equipmente. The Upanishad was right. With just breath and soul and courage, the man achieved a life to be admired.”

B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life

I am in a strange mood lately, I am trying to find my direction and when I read this extract this morning I thought: provided that I find my way, will I have the guts to walk it?

Reuse and reinvent

I have been playing with unconventional material lately and I found out it is a great exercise to boost creativity.

Last Wednesday, I wrote that I wanted to create something using washers (I am still not sure that this is the right term..).

Today I can tell you that my Industrial Revolution collection now features two pairs of earring. And more are coming soon.

This is the first pair I made.

I used LoS to give a rusty, used look.

And this is the second pair, made using smaller washers.

For this pair, I just filed 2 out of 3 discs to create some texture.

Curiously, as my mind was completely absorbed in this reinventing process, I decided that it was time to reinvent a bracelet I made some time ago and that never satisfied me.

It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t nice either.

So I dissembled it and, yes, now I am happy with it.

Does it ever happen to you to undo an old creation?

Bead Table Wednesday

If you are like me, you understand pretty soon why a journey to the local hardware store can be as inspirational as one at your bead store.

Take a washer for example, isn’t it a perfect starting point for a bracelet or a pair earrings?

Can you see it? I know that you can!

I am working on the details but I can say that the Industrial Revolution collection is just behind the corner!

What about you? What’s on your bead table today?

Oh, I almost forgot! Have you already seen the end result of Michelle’s Valentine Challenge?

Here is what I did with my card.

Not too much but I wanted to play with the embossed letters and I was lucky enough to find the important one.

A new challenge

Last month, Michelle Mach thought that it would have been fun to host a non-beading challenge.

She simply asked to pick up one card from her lovely embossed cards and to alter it.

There were no rules, no limitations, nothing. Creativity was our only limit.

I am not into the card craft world. I have seen wonderful things on the web, but I never walked that path. Nonetheless, the challenge was appealing and I picked my card.

Teacher Gift: Embossed Note Cards (Typography - Alphabet Letters)

Why did I chose the alphabet pattern? I can only say that it immediately stroke me, I saw it and thought “I want that!”.

Michelle sent me the card right away and in less than a week it flew over the ocean and landed in my mail box. I am sorry that you cannot touch it, because the texture and the quality of the paper are really wonderful.

I knew from the beginning what I wanted to do with the card but I was hesitant to begin. I was afraid to ruin Michelle work and the thought that I had only try didn’t help me. .

In the end I did it but if you want to see how Michelle’s card was altered, you have to wait till the revelation day: the 14th of February.