Jewelry as Statements

Have you seen the book about Madeleine Albright's jewelry? Shiny Little Things brought it to my attention. It's about how she selected certain pieces of jewelry (in this case pins) to set a mood or describe her own feelings .

You can read a review and see some of the pins on NPR

I think that is a really interesting idea. I think most of us try to portray a certain image when we select our clothing and accessories, but do we ever convey what's really going on inside our minds?

hmm...

Wedding rings are easy. I'm taken.





I wear an Aggie Ring which is kinda big in Texas. It's a big, rather offensively large gold ring - but it tells the world that I attended Texas A&M. I didn't go to TAMU until graduate school, so I'm afraid that I missed out on a lot of their traditions (there are a ridiculous amount of them), but it was special for me to get the ring b/c my Grandfather went to A&M and wore his ring proudly for almost 50 years. For me it's a connection to him. I went to A&M after he passed, but I think he would've been proud of me.

The rings are good symbols, but don't really describe how I'm feeling ...

Today I feel a little lonely (my husband is working out of town and even though he drives me nuts, I miss him), but I'm also getting excited because I get to see both my sister and my high school girlfriends this weekend. I'm not sure what would illustrate this mood.

Maybe a watch brooch because I feel like I'm waiting a little? Waiting for a good time and getting antsy.

??

-b-

Today seems a little flat for me, I'd say that today is a

Knotting & 1st Outfit post

Oh boy! I learned a new, simple, beading skill last night: knotting.

When I stopped by my awesome local bead shop on Monday for the swarovski beads, the owner (Jim) invited me to hangout on Thursday night. And so that's what I did last night. I hung out with a couple other folks at the bead shop. It was laid back and very creatively stimulating to see what others work on. No two people were working on the same thing.

Jim taught me how to knot last night and I was able to repair a previously busted pearl necklace. Here is it:

Ahh, precious!

Up close view of the knots holding pearls in place.

Prepare to see a lot of this type of thing in the future. I bought more nylon thread and I'm excited to try other things.

The pearl necklace determined by outfit this morning and inspired my first actual outfit post:




shirt: Bitten, actually thrifted
Skirt: Target, bought from Fallas Peredes*

Shoes: Steve Madden, ghetto dillards

I'm not loving my first outfit post...I couldn't find a good place for the camera today and kept cutting off my head. Just to prove I have a head, here ya go:

(Plus, my threading related breakout is finally going down)

You can't tell from this angle, but is a bumpit in there! Promise it's cute from the side.

* I don't know if this is just a Houston chain, but it's an interesting place. Kinda crummy and discouraging at first look, but a good place to find cheap basics. This skirt was $1.99. Yeah, I bought two.*

Have a great weekend with all of your fun hobbies!

-b-

Unique Hobbies...

I like it when people have 'different' hobbies. You know, when they say thier interests are something other than watching movies and reading. I mean, most of us do that.




I have a girlfriend that fits this, she does figure competitions. She doesn't do the bikini modeling and she's not a bodybuilder either - she is something in between. At first this seems like a really 'out there' hobby. It requires buttloads of determination and discipline. She follows a strict diet and workout schedule, but the results are pretty incredible.



She recently participated in a competition in Austin and did really well. This was my second time to cheer her on at a show and what strikes me most is how GIRLY the women are. For real. She gets all dolled up with makeup, hair, jewelry, nails, tans, stripper shoes, etc......It's like a beauty pageant with muscle.




















She borrowed some super sparkly swarovski jewelry for her competition and I'm determined to make her some items of her own. I've spent the last two days with rather expensive but super sparkly beads.

I also did a necklace and ring, but kinda hated the ring (I haven't quite got that technique yet) and the necklace was just not quite right. I'll probably take those apart tonight and start fresh.





Anyone else with unique hobbies? I've seen that Erin does hula hooping and admit to jealously.That looks like a fun one.



Not sure that I do anything too unique. Among my own friends, I'm unique in that I still play on soccer teams and go to tournements as an adult.






















I guess there's that. We still take team photos like we're kids too!



-b-

Who's the Big Winner? ME

Woohoo I just found out that I won a loverly prize from Erin at Work with What You've Got

I've won a $35 credit towards her Etsy store. Now the hard part: picking something out. Here are my favorites:

Decisions...

Decisions...

I don't have anything like these pieces and each would make a super addition!

Thanks so much Erin!!!

-b-

Shopamo

Sometimes I get into moods where I just want to BUY BUY BUY. I'm there right now and here are some items calling my name:

Benefit Coralista http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P229206&categoryId=B70:

I was stuck in a Sephora store for well over an hour last week. This blush was my favorite out of testing at least 10 others. I'm pretty stingy when it comes to makeup, so I'm having a tough time justifying a $28 blush. Am I silly, should I just get it or find a sub?

Shoes! Shoes! Shoes! Everything is on sale!

I recently bought a pair of peep toe, snake skin heels and today I saw these http://www.ninewest.com/Mane/3083204,default,pd.html?cgid=526934&itemNum=100

I want these too!

Houston is having a crazy dry summer, but that doesn't stop me from wanting the most adorable rain shoes ever: http://www.6pm.com/product/7248939/color/68150

Great, fun, interesting jewelry:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5887895

Another Purse with this fabric: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23721673

I kinda already have one purse that is with another color combination of this fabric. it's a messenger style bag, but I'd like a clutch too.

I'll take this opportunity to plug the Etsy store that made my bag (since I'm using it today). I got it last year. Charmdesign made it quickly, at the right price and it's held up awesome!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=16633

That's me today...loads of unintentional khaki. It's unbelievably cold in my office and the sweater is one of several "office sweaters". Not great, but matches a lot of outfits and is thrown on to ward off frostbite.

These are some of my wants...maybe I'll save up a little and get the blush. That's probably number one on the list today.

geez louise...blogger is fighting me on the formatting today! I've been trying to get an organized layout on this post and can't get the spacing right. forgive?

-b-

Crazy Cat Lady: History & Jewelry

I never even had a choice - I was born to be a cat lady.

My grandmother bred and showed siamese cats for decades. My sister and I used to work at the shows when we were kids. We'd go around and clean all the holding cages between judging rounds. A lot of the cats would get upset/stressed, and um, spray. But we didn't mind because they paid us a whole $10/day and we got to pet the nice ones!!! We were very cheap and enthusiatic labor.

My mom breeds siamese, but not for show. When I was young she bred apple-headed siamese. Now she breeds a cross between traditional siamese and apple-heads.

She is a crazy cat lady....as in she likes to wear kitty themed jewelery. I've been making necklaces, earrings, bracelets for a year or so now and she really wanted me to make her something with kitties. So she bought about 16 glass cat charms. She doesn't want to keep all to herself, she wants to give these trinkets to folks that take one of kitties home.

I accepted the challenge of multiple kitty-themed pieces and below are a portion of the results:

In all, I think I've made about 10 different items because some of the glass kittties were broke when my mom mailed them to me and things like earrings take up two cat heads. I'm mailing the completed project back to her this weekend and I'm going to bubble wrap them up.

Here is my cat, Borris aka bobo, demanding attention during all the mayhem.

I like to think that he appreciated my first 'collection' of jewelry.

-b-