Inspire and create

2009-05-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

I've been extremely lax in my blogging lately, and I blame the end of the semester for my failure to post anything. :/ Not to say I haven't been working on new pieces...but it usually occurs spur of the moment late at night when I've just completely become burnt out on studying. I'm stressing out about my final project -- especially since apparent the 19th is Tuesday, NOT Thursday like I thought it was...anyways, here's the happy pretty stuff that always make my day:

Going Green

2009-04-24T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm participating in the Bead Unique bead swap again this year -- and once again, its for summer. The nice thing is, there isn't a color theme but there is another kind of theme. If you couldn't already guess by the title of this post, its going green. No, not green in the color, but green as in eco-friendly. Not quite sure how I'll address that since most of my beading is in the form of jewelry making, but we'll see...

I have serious hair regret...

2009-04-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

So much so, that I am now contemplating purchasing a wig. This is because my hair is still too short to purchase the Jessica Simpson/Ken Paves natural hair extensions I've been desperate for...

I found a super awesome shop courtesy of Etsy run by LadySolo who has wigs that are personally cut and styled by her. I'm especially fond of this one: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23866135. (Sorry I have no idea how to hide links behind words. :/)

Anyways, that was on my mind so I thought I
would talk about it...

Christmas in April...

2009-04-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

I've been giving it some thought, and depending on what Jimmy's school schedule is like, I think I'd like to do the craft bazaar in Pahrump this year. I did it a couple years ago and actually sold wreaths, not jewelry, but I'd like to give it a try with some jewelry. Fortunately, the overhead isn't very high (other than the trip from San Diego,) and it'll get us out of town for a few days. So, in anticipation, here's what I've been working on...

I know that I'll be making multiples of items, but I'm trying to decide how many of each would be appropriate without making it look so "factory" as opposed to "handmade"...we'll see. I'll be posting more in the coming weeks (I would have had more but my camera's battery died on me,) so look out for those!

I know that I can't make them too expensive because the crowd that goes to the bazaar doesn't exactly want to pay a lot for anything, handmade or not, and even with my wreaths, they haggled a little. That's why I'm thinking of just using plated metals along with brass and copper, but also offering some of my "nicer" pieces made with gold-fill and sterling silver just in case. I know that the ladies who sold jewelry the year I was in it didn't sell anything at all and I think it was partially because of high pricing. :/ That and some of the items were just really too nice to be sold in that kind of "market"...

Pay It Forward Giveaway

2009-04-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

I was actually checking out AMIdesigns' blog and she was running this awesome "Pay It Forward" giveaway that I decided I would also like to try. Albeit I was too late to "win" but I've been wanting to run a promo for a while now, so here it is:

Here are the Rules:

1. Be one of the first three bloggers to "follow" my blog and leave a comment at the end of this post, which entitles you to one of the pairs of earrings that I design.

2. Winners must post this challenge on their own blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first three bloggers who "follow" you and leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift you send can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love

5. If you are not one of the Top Three to comment on this post, you can still play along. Please start your own 'Pay It Forward chain', and encourage your blogging friends to do the same.

I hope that even for those who don't "win" you decide to continue the "Pay It Forward" love!

Don't forget to leave your email and blog (if you have one) so I can "follow" you along as well!

>.<

Just an observation from your humble reporter...

2009-04-16T07:53:00.001-07:00

I don't typically like getting involved in political matters, but the blurb reading "TEABAGGERS GO NUTS" just really bothered me...

Whether or not I'm a conservative or a liberal, when did it become okay for supposedly objective news reporters to actually verbally attack people they were interviewing simply because they didn't agree with what they were doing? And when was "Teabaggers Go Nuts," appropriate on a national news service? Look, you may feign innocence, but that can only go so far when the only certain news stations are using the derrogatory phrases to essentially criticize legitimate, first amendment protected, PEACEFUL protests. And should I add that these "Tax Day Tea Parties" were not the first of their kind? The first set of tea parties (NOT affiliated with Fox News, despite what other "objective" news sources may assert) were actually conducted February 27th with very little bruhaha from the news at the time. What ever happened to free speech? Or is the Constitution only applicable to "liberals?"

If the President "succeeds," then great for him. But is even remotely possible that he might not either? This is not a Democrat/Republican issue. Anybody can succeed or fail. ONLY TIME CAN TELL. We are not God, or the Deity or whatever else you believe in. We don't have the power to say definitively that he will succed nor do we have the authority to say he will fail. Whatever happens, success or failure WILL NOT be on account of somebody else. We are all humans with free will and a choice. The president is an adult. He will make choices based on the information he is given and the experience that he has. Some choices will end in failure, and some will succeed. That is what it means to be human. Whether that failure or success will lead to something worse or greater, WE WILL SURVIVE and WE WILL MOVE ON. Policies have failed and succeeded in the past and we have gotten through it. Since when did the blame game do anybody any good? Why don't we stop blaming and JUST START DOING. Does anybody look at anything objectively anymore? Its not our government that will cause our implosion, its our own failure to STOP TAKING SIDES before hearing all the facts. We base so much of our "knowledge" on personal preference and opinion that we've seriously become blinded to the fact that we're all suffering for it in the meantime. Let's get a grip people. This isn't some kind of popularity contest. We're trying to keep a country together. Or did we forget that in our special interest groups, pork-barreling and other ridiculous quid pro quo that's happening on both sides of the aisle...

2009-04-15T09:48:00.001-07:00

I am so burnt out on school right now...and sadly, I have 2 more years until my undergrad is finished and then onto another 3 years of grad school. GRRREEEAATTTT.

Anyways, here's some new stuff. :)

A Sonnet to the Quarter-Life Crisis

2009-04-13T20:39:00.001-07:00

No, not quite a sonnet. I just feel stuck right now I guess. So here's some pictures to pass the time.

I've been thinking about doing a promo and giving away a pair of earrings, but I haven't decided what pair of earrings to give away. Honestly, I feel a little guilty because in general, I still feel like there's a lack of coherence in my overall design style and I'm getting a little worried that might be part of the reason I'm not selling as well as I could be. Not to mention the economy is still down in the dumps. Of course I know people are tightening their wallets and I'm not really fretting too much, but I would still like to feel somewhat put together in my aesthetic.

I'm really into the "wedding jewelry" and special occasion jewelry right now, but I keep running out of materials. I guess maybe I need to start buying "bulk" from my favorite suppliers but its kind of hard when I'm not making enough sales to warrant bulk buying and the only income we are getting (and not very regularly I have to add) is my husband's unemployment. Its a bit sad, really.

I have yet to hear from Stringing although they did say it could take up to 4-8 weeks or something like that (I can't remember and I'm a little lazy to look it up) but I keep praying that pans out for me. Not to mention the application I put in to About.com, although looking back on it, it was kind of putting the cart before the horse. :/

But, my love for jewelry making has remained intact, and seems to be the only thing in my life (other than, obviously, my children) that brings me joy. The funny thing is, I've become so used to being "poor" and unemployed that it doesn't even really bother me anymore. I look at it as a momentary place in my life that will only help me become stronger. It will allow me to better appreciate any future successes I may have and it will make me feel even more proud to walk across that stage to get my diploma. When this is all said and done, and, God-willing of course, I finally get back into a suit and work, I will be able to look back on this moment and say that I had to work damn hard for my success and the hell I'm going to let anyone take that from me...

But seriously...

2009-04-13T19:43:00.001-07:00

This is completely unrelated to anything jewelry, but I needed to let off some steam..

With the death of my aunt (who was like a 2nd mother to me) its given me some time to reflect over some things. I've come to the realization that I don't really feel comfortable talking about my feelings to anyone (sometimes even Jimmy) out of some kind of fear of rejection. I think that over the years, I've just been so terribly hurt and backstabbed against, that I just put up this wall of fallacies and got used to it. There are very few people who truly know who I am and I doubt that that number will increase very much in the future. It takes a lot for me to open up (even though many will probably say I'm a narcissistic bastard) and truly express what I'm feeling. Most of the time its because I just don't know how to say it. I don't want to come across as weak or whiny because let's face it, there are a lot of people who just don't give a shit about other people's feelings and they'll try to "tell it like it is." I'm not like that because I wouldn't want someone talking like that to me. I've come to the realization that I really have a hard time dealing with people who are either a) narcissistic and so blind to other people's feelings that you couldn't imagine talking to them anyway or b) are so self-centered that they'll just say whatever the hell they feel like with no regard to other people's feelings.

Needless to say, I try to keep people like that out of my life if I can help it. Most people "in my life" don't even realize what a struggle it has been these last 3 years and sometimes the frustration just gets too much to bear. So when I see people posting complaints about losing a job FOR THE FIRST TIME or going on WIC or applying for Welfare all FOR THE FIRST TIME, i have a really hard time being sympathetic when Jimmy and I have been nearly homeless twice, applied for welfare and WIC in two different states at two different times and Jimmy and I have both lost our jobs a total of 5 times in three years. I guess I should be more understanding, but when I hear people saying "it couldn't get much worse" after losing a job but still collecting disability and still having a roof over their head and enough money to go to a concert, the museum, the zoo, etc, its frustrating. Try going 2 months without any income, no food in the fridge and you have to depend on a grocery gift card once a week. Try losing your job 3 times in less than 2 years. Try all of that with a spouse, a baby and another baby on the way. We've given up all of the "fun" things we used to do and we still don't have enough money. Of course I want to get my kids' photos taken in a photo studio but we need money to eat. I need gas money to get to school. I used to drive 3 hours a day just to get to a job that barely paid enough to cover gas let alone food and rent and utilities.

We have had our electricity turned off, a car reposessed and we've had to pawn almost all of our valuables at crap prices because we needed just enough gas money to get home. Granted, a lot of people probably have it a lot worse. But that's not to say our life hasn't been hard either. We just don't bitch and moan about it day in and day out. We try to do something about it and we try to stay positive. We don't act like the money's still there and go do whatever the hell comes to our mind. We find money to feed the kids and pay the bills and if there's still a little bit left at the end of the week we treat ourselves to a hamburger. I've been paying my dues since I was 18, but a lot of people don't know that either. I've done everything from pick up dog shit at Petsmart to be an interior designer's bitch in stiletto heels. My life has been far from glamorous. I used to rent a room out of an old Filipino guy's house because I had nowhere else to go. My life has not been easy and frankly, its a lot for me to bear by myself. So, if I act like a bitch or I "don't want to talk about it," understand that its because I've gotten used to not talking about it to anyone.

2009-04-13T18:01:00.001-07:00

I just realized that everytime I add a new favorite item, my gallery changes. Haha. Funny that.

2009-04-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted to showcase items I find on Etsy (because let's face it, you're not going to be on Etsy JUST to buy jewelry, right?) I'll try to do it once a week because there's always something fun and new to check out and wishlist...

It seems so close, yet so far away.

2009-04-10T14:37:00.001-07:00

I'm not looking forward to going back to school on Monday, but have been, nonetheless productive. (At least when it came to making more jewelry. My philosophy paper is another discussion altogether.) Its been nice for the "brain break" but I guess there is still A LOT of work left to be done before I'm finished for good. I've been making myself paranoid reading Susan Estrich and every book under the sun about how to get into law school. I don't know what kind of toll its taken on me yet, but I do know I will have extremely realistic views about the first year when I get there...I know that I'll probably have to give up jewelry making as soon as next January when I transfer to UCSD. It depresses me a little but its been a fun ride. I'm still crossing my fingers on that writing gig but I'm not putting my hopes up too high. :/

I'm also a little disappointed in the lady at the bead store yesterday. I went with a friend of mine after we met for coffee and the woman working in the store (who isn't the usual woman I talk to when I go there) seemed kind of suspicious of us when we walked in. She seemed really demeaning when I asked her a simple question about some Czech beads, as if I was an idiot and didn't deserve to be buying in her store. Really rather insulting since I've had some small success in selling my work. I literally felt like a teenager who was being watched for fear of theft. Yet, I'm 25, married with two kids and I run (fairly efficiently) my own small jewelry business from home. As much as I like supporting my "local bead store", I highly doubt I will return to that place again...

In happier news, here is the newest pair of earrings I've been working on...I'm excited about them because I think the Vitrail crystals turned out to be so complimenting to the Swarovski pearls. They make me want to go clubbing. LoL as if I have time to do THAT anymore...

2009-04-08T18:47:00.001-07:00

This last week I've been on Spring Break from school and I have to say its never been more sweet to be so lazy. But I really haven't. I've been using the time to catch up on jewelry making and have actually decided to set my sights on wedding jewelry. Although, it can be daunting since there's so much competition out there it's easy to get lost.

This is what I did today ------------>

The neon blue looking one is actually a heated aqua colored chalcedony and the other one is Swarovski crystals. I find it interesting (and I reflect on this from time to time) that my techniques have improved since I started making jewelry last January and definitely my choice in materials. When I first started, I couldn't imagine doing everything in sterling silver, thinking it was all so expensive and I just, well, sucked at making loops so why should I waste my money? Now I feel guilty NOT using sterling or gold or vermeil.

So Exhausted

2009-04-06T22:07:00.001-07:00

Whoever said that Spring Break would actually give me a rest was so wrong! I finished my wedding jewelry order only to place bids on 3 (or was it 4) more custom jobs, so we'll see. Stringing acknowledged that my jewelry got to them in one piece so I'm praying that works out so I can make a respective amount to justify continuing this "hobby." My application hasn't been reviewed by About.com yet either, but I guess everything will happen the way it should. I did manage to post some new items to my Etsy shop: (http://hiplobesatbp.etsy.com)
Incidentally, I was in full box-making mode today because I realized I only had like, 3 boxes left from all the boxes I'd made. For my last wedding order I had actually managed to push out 6 boxes (which was actually a lot harder than it would seem) and I think I got to making 3 this afternoon before I got kind of lazy. Really I suspect part of the reason for my inability to make more than 3 or 4 at a time is because I'm standing the entire time and it really is labor intensive to trace the pattern, cut it out and then glue it with super glue. But I think it really makes my packaging a little more unique than just putting it in a box and tying a ribbon around it.

As far as my actual jewelry, I ordered quite a few new materials to play with over the weekend, so I'm hoping to have some new stuff up soon! All this plus I have like, 3 papers to write? Nice.

2009-03-31T11:08:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my wedding order! Needless to say I feel rather accomplished. I made a total of 5 pairs of earrings and they actually turned out better than I thought they would! =) Here are some highlights:

How productive of me!

2009-03-29T21:38:00.001-07:00

And yet, I feel so unproductive. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I actually RAN OUT OF HEADPINS yesterday. How does that happen? I'm not entirely sure but it means that I need to be buying much more than I need at any one time. Luckily, one of my favorite suppliers is offering FREE shipping so it gives me more incentive to buy. Other than that, I've managed to feed my jewelry fix by using my next favorite finding, 24 gauge wire. Yippee! I wanted to expand on the whole "drops" concept and this is what I came up with:

I wanted a clever name for my earrings so I've decided to call them "Girly Girly Gumdrops." I thought the name would be appropo since they're such a "girly" color combination. I've been trying to become a little more emboldened with my color choices -- hence, my "Spring Fling" earrings:

I've also been tempted to try to get a booth at the Chili Cookoff coming up in April, but while the actual cost of renting a booth ($45.00 for a 10x10 space) is fairly inexpensive, I'd need a canopy, tables, displays etc. That would be a little too much up front investment for me -- especially if I don't sell anything! But I'm perfectly happy on Etsy since I can juggle Etsy and school and two kids a little bit better than worrying about a craft booth! Maybe when I'm selling more and can afford to invest in that kind of capital...

2009-03-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about my new earrings! I don't typically get this excited, but for some reason, these just made me really happy when I finished them. Maybe because they were so simple but made such a big impact. In any case, it will be hard for me to let them go, but to the lucky person out there who'll be wearing them, I'm sure you'll be just as smitten with them as me. =)

As usual, they feature sterling silver earwires and the drops are cubic zirconia and the white beads are czech-glass. I actually just discovered these earwires; I'd been using a slightly different but similar earwire up until just recently. But, ever since I used these rounder ones, I've been extremely happy with the way the earrings turn out. I'll probably be experimenting with this design in other colors as well, so I'm looking forward to that!

2009-03-27T21:54:00.001-07:00

So its nearly 10pm and I feel a little bit productive. I finally got the beads I was waiting for to finish my custom order and I ran out of headpins! That would be my luck, I guess.

2009-03-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

I've been so horrible about updating to this blog, but I pledge to be a better blogger for all of those lucky few who might stumble upon this. =) I've been dilligently working on creating new pieces, some a little bit pricier, some a little bit more affordable. I think that ultimately, the search for what is "my style," which many advise you should discover early on in your jewelry making career, is what I describe as "ecclectic." I like everything and anything beautiful and fun and elegant depending on what I'm wearing and I don't think that people should be limited. But I could be totally wrong about that. I will keep you updated on that!

In more interesting news, I submitted some of my pieces to Stringing magazine so I'm crossingmy fingers that they get published! I applied to About.com to be a guide also, but given my lack of previous professional writing experience, it may be a case of putting the cart before the horse. We'll see.

Other than all of those exciting happenings, I've slowly been finishing my general education credits so I can finally transfer to UCSD. Its been a long time coming, so needless to say I'm both estatic and anxious to go. I've finally become comfortable on a community college campus (which I guess is, in itself a sign that its time to move on) but considering I've only been really going to school full-time since last summer and I'm ready to transfer as a junior by the end of this upcoming summer makes me feel fairly accomplished. Curiously, my goal is to work in microfinancing or with a company focusing in on corporate responsibility. I'm set to transfer for next Winter (January) and I'll already be taking my LSATs (crossing my fingers again) in February that same year! This seems in opposition to my "budding" career as a jewelry designer, but we'll see how well I can balance the academic goals and the artistic goals in the coming years!

2009-03-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

Well, 3/4 of my family is still sick. We have this lingering cough that just won't go away and its kind of putting a damper on things. On the bright side, I've managed to sell my first overseas order and I was extremely excited to send it along yesterday.

2009-03-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

So I've decided to experiment with wedding jewelry. I've been getting requests lately to do custom work and I just gave a bid to a gal looking for jewelry for her bridesmaids, and it just got my little brain thinking. The picture posted was one of two samples I was working on, that I think I'm going to go ahead and expand on. I'm planning on working off of the whole "Something Blue" theme. Pictures will be posted soon!

2009-01-10T14:56:00.000-08:00

So I think this is the third attempt at blogging. Maybe this will be my new year's resolution: to actually keep up and maintain a blog. :p I think part of the problem is that I always seem to lose my password but I wrote it down this time and I'll keep my fingers cross.

I guess all in all this last year has been yet another stressful, roller coaster ride of events for us. We spent most of it doing pretty well financially and then welcomed the new year jobless yet again. I've attempted to find work also, but with 4 classes this semester, its going to be tough if I end up being the one with a job. Jimmy's supposed to finally start school -- which I consider to be a 15-month-blessing -- and by next year, we'll hopefully have everything settled down for a while. We had a decent holiday -- my parents generously helped us pay for a vacation to the Philippines. The upside is that they have the house there so we didn't have to pay for accomodations or food. The downside is that we came home to no money and no job. Jimmy enjoyed himself as this was his first trip anywhere outside of America (he doesn't count Mexico since its 20 minutes away) and the generous monetary gifts we received at our "re-marriage" helped make sure we could thoroughly enjoy our 3 week break from reality.

Since I have what amounts to a month long break from school, I picked up jewelry making again. I closed my old Etsy shop, Hip 2B Square, and reopened it as Hip Lobes ATBP. The "ATBP" stands for "at iba pa" in Tagalog. Kind of a colloquial phrase meaning, "and other things." I'm trying to get beyond making earrings and have begun really expanding my design into more necklaces and bracelets. I've also been trying to "use up" all of the beads and findings I've accumulated over the last year from the countless bead fairs I've been to since we got back to San Diego. Basically, I need to sell everything in order to break even. Running one's own jewelry business requires a lot of time and upfront investment and I need to begin really trying to get my returns on those investments. Only time will tell in the long run, however.

One of the items I like the most is the pendant I created on accident. It was actually meant to be earrings, but I thought it would make a sweet little necklace so it saved me the trouble of making a matching one! I'd been thinking about how I could "string" the rose for a while, and since I'd gotten pretty good at making wire wrapped loops, I figured I could attach a briolette to it and call it good. I think it turned out pretty nice.

Its definitely something I would wear, which, I've learned is the most important part of design. It was foolish of me to make things I myself didn't believe in 100%...