vlaDtHeBaT's aTTiC

Sulpicia Lepidina

2012-01-25T15:40:00.001+01:00

Ingredients : turquoise, Baltic amber raw and not raw, a vintage silver plated bead, wood beads, vintage African brass heishis and three Roman era discs ( one shell, two agate), sterling silver hook.
Total length: 4" or 10 cm

Sulpicia Lepidina was the wife of Flavius Cerialis, prefect of the ninth cohort of Batavians. They lived in Vindolanda (Hadrian's wall) around 100 AD.

on my bench

2012-01-22T18:25:00.001+01:00

no... I did not rob a ancient grave... ;)

little boxes

2012-01-22T14:18:00.004+01:00

Made two weeks ago, fired this past week.. they were quite fun to make..

And yesterday my jewelry making mojo made a come back... 'bout time...
Made these and some other stuff...

And more music... Tymon Dogg...I knew that this guy was a talented musician, he played with Joe Strummer... but only got curious about him this week... not much on youtube... but he has a website... I ordered one of his albums... he's brilliant..

something old some things new

2012-01-11T14:38:00.003+01:00

Made in the year 2000... I wore it a lot... need to re-string it... it's high fired ceramic...

And a couple of wooden amulets..

Nursing a cold... sneezing and all... hope you are all keeping warm and staying away from those sneaky germs... ;)

looking back

2012-01-08T16:23:00.004+01:00

I've always had a thing for jewelry and wearable ornaments... not the sparkly stuff though...
But I only started making my own some 13 years ago while I was still an art student... the coin only dropped in my third year of studying sculpture... I could make beads and with those beads I could make my own jewelry! Here are a necklace and a few bracelets I made then...

On my last year of studying sculpture, I was given the opportunity to take part in an exhibition about Charlemagne in the Karl Ludwig Museum in Aachen (Germany)... it was called "Charlemagne 2000".
This lost wax casting in pewter was made for that event... I made a few other things... some I gave away, some got lost... maybe I'll find them when I do the attic's spring cleaning... we'll see...

Have a great week! :)

show time!

2012-01-04T16:33:00.004+01:00

When I saw this necklace pouch on Alek's blog, I fell in love and reserved it before it got to her etsy shop... the photo does not do justice to it, it's awesome, light weight, and just plain gorgeous... I love it!

And it did not travel alone.. look what Alek sent along... isn't she crazy?
A bag made from an old traditional greek dress, pieces of wood she picked up for me, a very old knife she found in a field while cutting wood, an old piece of pottery, an ex-voto(?), shells, stones, a replica of a greek coin, a post card of one of her photos (she's not only a talented jewelry designer she's also an awesome photographer), some greek ceramic beads and a cool carved wooden block (will be useful when I get my clay out again in a few days)... Thank you so much Alek... mille millions de mercis! :)

And this awesome pin was made by Sherry... It did not make it in the photo I took the other day... Isn't it cute and fun? I love how Sherry upcycles things I would never think of using... Merci merci merci Sherry! :))

And the first post of the year would not be complete without an update of the monster.. yes some tiny changes have been made... can you spot them?

This one has been in the making for a couple of months (maybe more)... I don't think it's done yet... it's kind of a long process to make this kind of piece... I'm toying with the idea of putting it in my etsy shop... I don't know...

I hope you all have a great start of the year...:)

Colours

2011-12-30T14:16:00.005+01:00

Look what the mail man brought! A package from Sherry... she's been playing with enamels lately and she sent me some of her experiments along with yummy tea, some metal parts and cinnamon gum. Thank you so much Sherry... they will be put in good use in the coming year! :)))
I had some scraps of fabric left from past projects... too small to make anything with... so I thought... then I made two pendants with it...
A heart shape one :

front

back

and a kind of a Russian doll one:

front

back

May you all have a HAPPY AND CREATIVE NEW YEAR! :)

december salsa and an amulet

2011-12-25T15:01:00.004+01:00

A cousin of a necklace I made 2 years ago...

The focal is a ceramic pendant I made, the bronze thingy is a piece of a long forgotten and lost medieval purse, there's one of my ceramic bead, some raw Baltic amber, turquoise, coral, bone, ostrich egg shell discs, vintage African brass heishis, Mexican amber, labradorite, an ebony bead, seed beads, copper wire, brass toned chain and leather...

And an amulet necklace with a bit of everything...

Joyeux Noël, Merry Christmas to all of you! Hope you have some quality time with those you love!

Things

2011-12-22T14:09:00.000+01:00

speechless...

2011-12-17T16:28:00.004+01:00

I just can't find words to describe what I felt when I opened the box Gayle sent me... Box that has been given by her husband... a treasure chest of a cigar box... inside it, a very old beaded pouch to add to my collection, a vintage African comb, a very old photo (ambrotype?), a bone carved pendant (not on the photo, on my voodoo necklace now!) and some salve she made with the red oil she made this summer ( my hands are thankful... the weather and the clay are not kind to them). Thank you so much Gayle... Mille mercis du fond du coeur...
There was another package to open.. and again... I lost my ability to talk... this was from Alek... Pieces of wood... Carobe, vine, cypress (I'm addicted to its smell now), olive wood ... and pebbles ... and an antique porcelain door knob... and some Greek paper ephemera... and an olive wood bowl... and a cast of an olive branch to use with my clay... and a charm for my voodoo necklace... this charm started as a custom order and then Alek decided it would be better as a gift... ευχαριστώ Alek ;) Thank you so much... Mille mercis à toi aussi! Make sure to check her etsy shop : infinity stop

These are in my etsy shop... they have been high fired and I will have some more high fired pieces in the coming weeks... I always preferred high firing but only learned last week that the place where I fire my stuff is offering that option...

les gens heureux n'ont pas d'histoires...part II

2011-12-17T16:25:00.001+01:00

random

2011-12-06T15:34:00.003+01:00

When I was in Arkansas last Spring, Bobbi told me that she'd send me "some" stuff to use in my jewelry... this huge stash was waiting for me when I got back home yesterday... Thank you so much Bobbi, my "vengeance" is brewing... ;)

Better photos of the other day's beads

Two rings from my collection, I got them a while back (3 years ago, I think), I decided to wear them... they're a bit large so I made them smaller with some silk rags... The ring on the left is Roman and the other one is Greek... they're over 2000 years old... I wonder who wore them, who lost them...

And I tell you, nothing's like using a tripod...

big

2011-12-04T17:26:00.002+01:00

Hollow beads from today's batch... will take a better photo some time next week ... and they won't end up on etsy... they're for me ;) !

les gens heureux n'ont pas d'histoires...part I

2011-12-03T14:47:00.004+01:00

unfired clay, don't let the color fool you, they'll both be white-ish after the firing... but then I'll get to play with my ceramic paints...

busy hands

2011-11-29T16:47:00.004+01:00

on etsy

The latest stuff in the making...

not fired yet... and I'm about to add up to the collection...

It's cold here... Winter's at the door... so better keep warm and busy inside...
Hope you are all keeping warm (or cool if you live down under) and creative! :)

new batch

2011-11-27T14:16:00.003+01:00

Just got them back today... still have to add the final touch ...

Below is the raku bowl I bought last week. The artist name is Dominique Matagne and she owns the studio where I fire my pieces.

The photo doesn't show the true beauty of its colors... crappy november light...

chanson du jour...

2011-11-25T16:40:00.001+01:00

thank you...

2011-11-24T13:42:00.005+01:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you! .... hold on a second... you're not American and not what I'd call a religious person... what are you thinking???? True ... and false... I may be or may not be .. who cares... I think Thanksgiving is a great holiday, a great opportunity to say thank you to those you love...

Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?

Richard Bach

This has been a roller coaster of a year for me... but life taught me a wonderful lesson of friendship. I am blessed with wonderful friends...

I don't think miles can separate you from friends... I just have to close my eyes and there I am in Arkansas, sipping a glass of wine with Bobbi or making stuff out of polymer clay with Jay... just by closing my eyes and there I am in Tennesssee, sipping another glass of wine with Sherry and Eric or creating stuff with Sherry, or helping them cutting wood... eyes shut again and there I am in Chicago with Lindsay and Emily ( and yes ... wine is still involved... but so is art !). And if I don't want to close my eyes... I just have too look at my necklaces ... yes necklaceS... because there are three of them...it's like gremelins... And on those necklaces you find more friends : Lucinda, Dorcas, Suzanne,Gwen, Laurence, Lucie, Mireille, Gayle ( another friendship "gift" life had in store for me this year), Alek ( remember that tiny stone with a bird on one side -makes me think of Maiastra), Steph ....

And there are more friends... Leyla, Neri, Keith, Luc, Sharon and more, many more...

So THANK YOU all from the bottom of my heart... THANK YOU for being in my life

merci Docteur, aussi... :)

alek

2011-11-23T17:16:00.002+01:00

I don't usually buy jewelry... I usually buy supplies to make jewelry...but when I saw these earrings... I could not resist ... And their name "Tous les matins du monde" is the name of one of my favorite movies... And their designer is an artist I admire...
Not only these earrings are awesome but the packaging... look at it...

Aren't they gorgeous?

Please, check Alek's shop... you won't be disappointed...

bUsY bAt

2011-11-20T20:41:00.003+01:00

It's been quiet over here... but I was busy.. these are some of the stuff that have been fired last week... got them back yesterday... gave them several washes of ceramic paints... some are already spoken for.. I still have at least twice as much to work on...looks like I'm going to be busy again...

Oh the place where I fire my pieces had open studio yesterday, I bought the most amazing raku bowl... will show it next time...

Hope you're all had a creative weekend... Guess that my friends over the pond are getting ready for Thanksgiving... :)

vLaD tHe BaT from the Far West

2011-11-16T19:19:00.002+01:00

Thank You, Gayle! :)

in the making...

2011-11-06T14:43:00.004+01:00

This is the reason why I'm making room in my drawers...

speaking of that...I listed a few more items on etsy

Making room

2011-11-02T16:40:00.003+01:00

I am sorting my clay collection. These beads and pendant were made a few years ago... Yesterday I decided to make some more but after making a lot more (it's kind of addictive), I realized that once the new ones are fired, I will have no room for them... So today, I packed a few "old" ones, took their pictures and listed them on etsy... I will list some more soon... might even list some polymer clay things too... we'll see...

A BIG THANK YOU for the visits and comments on the previous post and a BIG THANK YOU to Steph from Rodrigvitz Style for Dia de Bloglandia!

Dia de los Muertos matchbox

2011-11-01T17:01:00.001+01:00

primal

2011-10-25T15:34:00.003+02:00

fake ear stretcher, beech, silver, epoxy clay

pendant, oak(?)

hand forged rusty barbed wire from Tennessee

hand forged rusty nail

shipwreck

2011-10-23T14:10:00.001+02:00

oak, beeswax, bone

raven

2011-10-20T14:16:00.002+02:00

oak, 3"

practicing

2011-10-20T11:53:00.001+02:00

beech, about 4" tall

More to come, forgot how fun wood carving was...

and more...

2011-10-16T13:01:00.002+02:00

wood, thread, epoxy clay, metal beads and wax.

I should have checked Sheila Paine's book when I wrote my post yesterday, the wooden amulets in her book are from Kenya... I'm sure I saw some from the Middle East that are similar ... can't remember where...

amulets

2011-10-15T17:56:00.004+02:00

Inspired by the cattle amulets of the Middle East. You can see some in Sheila Paine's book.
Wood, wax, paint.

Glad I remembered I had this tool... much more easy to file and sand small pieces of wood when you use it...

time travel

2011-10-09T14:56:00.002+02:00

a gift from Sherry... a piece of history, a piece of time, a long lost camel tooth... thank you Sherry :)

voodoo redo

2011-10-09T14:30:00.002+02:00

October make over of last year's voodoo queen
Ingredients: buffalo tooth, wolf tooth, bone, wood, baltic amber, chiapas amber, silver coin, leather, turquoise, one of Lucie's beaded beads, african glass beads, bronze, mother of pearl, shell, sterling silver, copper, clay, polymer clay, silk, lapis lazuli, horn, deer antler and more...

another one...

2011-10-08T16:44:00.003+02:00

leather, bone, glass, sterling silver

monism

2011-10-07T17:40:00.003+02:00

Gayle's post inspired me to :
a) work on some Dia de los muertos jewelry
b) make a single earring

ingredients: wood, bone, turquoise, fox molar, leather scrap, sterling silver

Our Western societies are based on dualism (nature/culture), for a lot of primitive societies such a thing doesn't exist...

Jacques.

2011-10-05T15:57:00.000+02:00

more curiosities

2011-10-05T14:28:00.003+02:00

Shaman necklace from Nepal

Silver Tuareg cross

Pre-ban ivory necklace, Gayle found a similar one at Good Will (lucky girl!)

Pre-ban ivory bracelet

And a polymer clay necklace I made 5 years ago ( feels like yesterday though).

Might turn the house into a museum... lol...

the element

2011-10-05T13:40:00.002+02:00

What is your element? What makes you tick? What makes you come to life? What is your passion? Who is the true "you" ? What feeds your soul? If you don't know yet, I urge you to read this book: "The Element" and watch the following videos...

a gem

2011-10-04T07:59:00.001+02:00

in the midst of these trouble times, I wanted to share this.... wish he had a brother who lived next door.. ;)

in the mail...

2011-10-01T17:23:00.002+02:00

From Sherry, can you guess where she went? Thank you so much Sherry... once again you spoiled me.. :)) Check her awesome blog ( made by her talented son).

And from Dorcas from Wondrous Strange Designs... (the bead caps were sent some time ago but never took the time to show them) she does magic with raku... Thank you so much Dorcas and sorry for the picture, it does not do justice to the awesome colours of the pieces you sent...

Can't believe it's already October... and the weather can't either... it thinks it's August... nice and warm...

Have a nice weekend!

tribal curiosities

2011-09-28T13:24:00.004+02:00

First some Dayak ear weights... might turn them into pendants but there is no way I'd wear these as earrings... The Dayak people consider long earlobes as a sign of beauty..

And a child's necklace from Papua New Guinea...it is supposed to protect against bad spirits... it's vintage (and smells like it!) from the 70's

raw

2011-09-25T14:16:00.004+02:00

I "needed" some new earrings... so I took apart some old ones and made these :

raw amber, sterling silver

ostrich egg shell, old ivory tooth picks (thank you Suzanne) and sterling silver.

And carved a faux lion tooth (more of a lion cub tooth, it's about 2") out of reclaimed ivory, aged it with very strong earl grey... and off it goes on the monster!

Have a great and creative week!

never ending story...

2011-09-24T13:13:00.003+02:00

busy, busy, busy... so not much time to make stuff although I have a project in the making... something to go with my monster... and while working on that project I changed a few things on said monster...

Hope you all have a nice weekend and time to get creative or to do the things you love...

Oh and thanks for the comments on the previous post... I was not sure how it was going to be received... :)

slippery soapbox

2011-09-18T11:47:00.005+02:00

Everything looks the same and it’s depressing. This neo-shabby-grungy-romantic style is everywhere (thank you the internet, thank you etsy, thank you belle armoire and the likes). It was quite fun when it first appeared, a nice change, some fresh air but now… everyone seemed to have jumped in the bandwagon..Similar components, similar style, similar background… That you’re inspired by someone or some style is fine per-se, that is how you progress but what I see is more than inspiration…it’s not trying to interpret something you like…it’s channeling something you like and that sells… to me it’s equal to selling your soul… I know, there’s nothing new under the sun… I know there is some kind of synchronicity… I know there is coincidence… but in this internet age, it’s hard to believe in coincidence… do a search on etsy, just a few key words and you’ll get the point… I know, I know.. you have to make a living but does that mean you have to sell your soul in order to sell your stuff? I can understand the appeal this kind of stuff has for both the seller and the customer, and maybe that appeal has to do with synchronicity… you know, these things that tells stories of a glorious past… We live very troubled times, we’re insecure about the future, a lot of us don’t know about our roots, a lot of us have hardly anything left from our ancestors (because those things were deemed as garbage a few decades ago and were thrown away) so we need comfort and we invent a past that never was or we romanticize a past that did exist.. And I’m no different… I love things of the past, things that have lived, things that tell a story… I only wish that the stories told with the stuff I see everywhere were not the same… To me creation, considering there is nothing new under the sun, is about taking some ingredients that exist and making something new from them and it is not taking some ingredients that exist and making something similar (and I don’t say the exact same, I say similar… like it could have been made by the same person) … but don’t get me wrong… to learn a technique you sometimes make things that are similar… but you don’t go selling it and boast about it as being original.. you try to mature it first, to grow out of it ( literally) … but then again… it might not be about creation…just about making a living in a trouble economy, just about being part of the rat race (hope I don’t offend any real rats, they are real cute little creatures)… I talk about the neo-shabby-grungy-romantic style but I could have talked about the steampunk style…but the story is quite the same… a very nice and welcoming change that turned into something close to an indigestion…
Feel free to comment, feel free to throw virtual stones at me, feel free to add nuances to my point of view… and feel free to correct my pidgin English… feel free to share your point of view...

addendum : this post is just a rant... nothing more... It saddens me to see conformity when we ought to see diversity... this said I know there is another side to the medal... I know there are some very creative people out there... I just wish there would be more of them... and all the people linked to my side bar fall into this category... :)

for your ears, for your soul...

2011-09-05T18:55:00.000+02:00

close

2011-09-04T14:28:00.005+02:00

Ingredients : hand dyed cheese cloth, glass beads, bone beads, fox bone, buffalo teeth, wolf teeth, turquoise, coral, shell, ostrich eggshell heishis, brass bells ( the one in the center is a very old chinese bronze bell), raw amber, old coins, tiny old medals, tiny silver bells,...

This was also my very first attempt at the "lazy stitch"... and rather enjoyed the technique... what I really liked also is that there are many layers of fabric so the necklace is more or less like a tiny quilt...
I'm still not sure about the clasp... so will post a picture of it when I make up my mind about it...

I have decided not to worry anymore about prospective buyers or exhibition or "wasting materials"... so I will make more pieces like this one... pieces for which I invest a lot of time, a lot of materials and a lot of love...

A Sunday song for your ears... :)

III

2011-09-04T00:09:00.002+02:00

necklace done... I think...

tribal II

2011-09-03T16:41:00.003+02:00

Tribal makeover of the very first portrait I made when I was an art student... some 15 years ago...

Making a monster of a necklace... I hope it will be finished by next week...

vigil

2011-08-29T20:19:00.004+02:00

not a shrunken head... just a paper clay head I made... was going to turn it to a doll... but while tidying up, I put it on top of a glass bottle... liked it like that ...

candy

2011-08-28T12:44:00.001+02:00

and...

2011-08-27T17:30:00.005+02:00

Old tin boxes...

Some had stuff in them...

Made cinnamon bread today... looks ok and smells nice... will try some later... :)

oh... the coffee grinder at the back was also among my finds... now got to get some coffee beans...

Edit : the bread would have been better with a little bit more salt... or with Gayle's jam! ;)

and more...

2011-08-26T12:25:00.003+02:00

More junk for the Queen of Clutter... but inside me lives also a Queen of Zen... guess this Fall, I'm going to try to get these two happy... I need to re-think my (tiny) living space... and guess what... I still have more to show... sigh...

more finds

2011-08-24T13:59:00.004+02:00

Think I'll use some for jewelry but seeing them on the photo gave me an idea... I might sew them on a piece of fabric... either to make a bag, either to make a wall piece... we'll see...

!!! if you have time take a look at this blog, it's one of my former students, a talented young lady who's going to Australia on gap year next month ...

uninvited

2011-08-23T22:39:00.003+02:00

Tonight's guest... nearly gave me a heart attack... Please, animal lovers, hold no hard feelings against me... but I threw my guest outside... it's homeless now...

beadwork II

2011-08-23T13:47:00.003+02:00

The "souvenir" one was given to me last Sunday... amazing beadwork but needs some repairs....
And the other one was given to me yesterday by my dear friend Suzanne, it probably used to be a pouch too... the colored beads are steel cut beads... my guess is it's as old as the one I have from my mum...

More finds to share ... still... but will try to post some jewelry first...

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

2011-08-23T00:07:00.000+02:00

junkin'

2011-08-22T22:45:00.003+02:00

silver lid with ivory sculpture... was on top of a long lost, forgotten, broken Chinese vase...

Many more finds to share... soon!

Hope you're having a great week so far! ;)

books

2011-08-20T18:39:00.003+02:00

This post is for you Gayle... ;)

Made them some 5 years ago...only one of them has been used... they just sit on my desk... Not only have I a serious bead and things addiction... I also have a serious (note)book addiction... and I'm afraid there is no cure for it...

Still

2011-08-19T19:07:00.003+02:00

This sculpture is a plaster copy of this one... The sculptor's name was Jean Del Cour... he lived in the 17th Century.. Leonie always like this sculpture, my mum found this copy in an antique shop and bought it for her mum... I'm its keeper now... The late afternoon sun made me see it differently... so I grabbed the camera and took a pic..

Have a great Friday!

upcycled

2011-08-18T13:45:00.003+02:00

Cheap notebooks have a lot of potential... take this one... made a new cover from a cereal box and chinese paper... plus a bit of paint... plus a pendant I made years ago with an old coke can and some copper nails... by the way... if you make jewelry, never mix copper with aluminum... if it gets wet, a chemical reaction occurs and somehow the copper "eats" the aluminum...

Leonie

2011-08-16T17:04:00.005+02:00

These postcards were written by Julia, my great grandmother, to her daughter Leonie, my grandmother... Leonie was born in February 1914, she died on my 15th birthday...but I lost her 5 years earlier when she suffered a bad stroke... The postcards were sent to 15 years old Leonie, she had been sent to the city to be a apprentice in a confectionary shop... The city was only 30 miles from her village but in 1929, 30 miles was a very long distance...And the city was a very different world... By what I heard, Leonie was miserable there...
The two brooches were hers, the reading glasses her grandfather's (who was one of the few people in their village who was able to read and thus could vote...).

weapon of choice

2011-08-16T12:06:00.004+02:00

One of my pocket knives, the one I use the most... for all kind of things...I was ten when I got it...
When I carve wood and that the piece of wood is not too big...I use a pocket knife... then files, then sand paper...

What is your favorite tool? Your weapon of choice?

ramble

2011-08-15T18:20:00.003+02:00

reclaimed pre-ban ivory, brass, turquoise, coral, copper and epoxy clay...made it yesterday... guess where it is now...

yep..it's there, hiding... glad I made the neckpiece thicker...can you spot the Roman tweezers?

Leaves are still green but Autumn is in the air... been in the air for quite a while... not much of a Summer... unless you're a snail or a slug... they're having a ball eating the zucchini's flowers...

beadwork

2011-08-05T18:30:00.005+02:00

Obviously not my beadwork... I would need a lifetime to make something so intricate...
It's old, very old .. 100 years maybe more... the inside is very fine leather (lamb? goat?).
It was given to my mum many moons ago and she gave it to me some 20 years ago...

Wishing you a great weekend!

magpie with bat's wings

2011-08-05T16:40:00.003+02:00

Jewelry I made, jewelry given and made by friends, jewelry bought... jewelry all over the place...yeah.. and books...

This post was inspired by a new visitor...

The jewelry "holder" was inspired by Sherry.

Oh check out Sharon's cool gator lamp...

objects

2011-08-04T22:52:00.002+02:00

elements

2011-08-04T18:05:00.003+02:00

Found bone and epoxy clay

Embossed brass... made them last year.. still don't know what to do with them... maybe on a book cover...

Aluminum and epoxy clay, also made last year...

Old Glory

2011-08-04T14:25:00.006+02:00

Sherry asked if on the talisman necklace the rusty bottle cap I used was one I found on Sheepneck Road... it wasn't... so I decided today to use some of the goodies I found there last April... 2 bottle caps and a rusty piece of wire... The huge tooth ( horse? cow?) was given to me by Jay ( he said "I see a necklace" when he gave it to me), I also used one of the faces I "stole" from him.. the chevron bead, the skull bead, the "coffin" bead and the red beads are from Gayle... Thank you friends... this necklace would not exist without you... :)))

And... yeah... kinda a month late for the theme... ;)

Wah Wah - Jimmy Page & Robert Plant

2011-08-04T00:29:00.000+02:00

talisman

2011-08-03T18:09:00.003+02:00

A rusty bottle cap, two very old bronze thingies (Middle Age?), water buffalo tooth, cotton tassels and leather.
Made it last year but never took the time to take a photo... just messing with my camera today...

I thought I lost you...

2011-08-03T16:46:00.002+02:00

This is my ring... This is one of the pieces of jewelry that (almost) never leaves me... For the last two days, I thought I lost it... searched everywhere (obviously not) and could not find it... then EUREKA... I looked under the kitchen cabinets... and there it was...

This ring and I, we met some 6 years ago in an antique shop in Brussels... more of a cabinet of curiosities than a shop... mostly African curiosities... some Asian... a treat for the eyes... The owner too... bald head and a huge "bicycle handle" moustache... He told me the ring could be 50 years old or more... it was bought in Ethiopia but was probably made in Yemen... I've seen rings like that elsewhere... better made... this one looks like the work of an apprentice... it's not perfect and I guess that is why I fell for it...

Do you have a favorite piece of jewelry that never leaves you?

still life

2011-08-03T15:49:00.002+02:00

Lucie's post inspired this photo... unlike her, I don't wear bracelets everyday ( unless a huge sporty man wrist watch is considered as a bracelet).

skinny

2011-08-02T19:12:00.002+02:00

paper clay

Tom Thumb

2011-08-02T12:42:00.005+02:00

A few days ago, Gayle ( A Vintage Green Life) and I were talking ( well e-mailing) about epoxy paste... she used some on her new project and she asked me if I ever used it... I said I did but mostly to glue stuff together ( like horsehair in bullet casing) ..then I remember I once used it to make a ring.. a weird ring...I made it some two years ago... my left thumb cast in resin... and I have all the other fingers of my left hand waiting to be set in epoxy clay... they have been waiting for two years... maybe it's about time I finish this project, don't you think?

Get Low Trailer (HD)

2011-07-31T00:29:00.001+02:00

Seen it a few months ago... I think it's one of my favorite films (ok, the list is quite long..).

Robert Plant & The Strange Sensation -The Girl From The North Country

2011-07-30T00:05:00.000+02:00

Friends

2011-07-29T16:07:00.002+02:00

I saw them that year... the best concert I've ever been to... Enjoy!

Warning!

2011-07-29T15:27:00.004+02:00

There's a crazy woman on the loose on the West Coast... Her name is Gayle Hajek, she has a cool blog called A Vintage Green Life and I am very proud to call her my friend...
A couple of weeks ago, she found some cool pods that looked like bats and she decided I needed some... So we agreed to have a kind of swap... She said she'd send a few pods along with "some" stuff... yeah "some"...shaking my head... little did I know that "some" in Gayle's world meant "loads of"... and to prove it... well look at the pictures below... and she even apologized for the "messy" packaging... sigh...

Some of the goodies already found their way to my "voodoo" necklace... I think the necklace should have another name... I like "voodoo" because it kinda creeps some people... but the more I think about it, the more I see it like some kind of shaman-memory necklace... each element has a meaning, a story to tell about my travels, my family and my friends (who are family to me)...

Gayle makes and collects memory jugs ( the very first ones I saw were on her blog even though I heard of them before) and I think this necklace is my wearable version of a memory jug...

THANK YOU GAYLE... for your friendship, your support and for having found me... And THANK YOU to all of my friends... It's hard for me to express my feelings but I want you to know that I love you to bits...

When The Levee Breaks - Jimmy Page & Robert Plant

2011-07-29T12:28:00.000+02:00

still

2011-07-27T23:38:00.002+02:00

tribal

2011-07-26T19:51:00.002+02:00

2011-07-24T15:41:00.000+02:00

hoodoo you think you are?

2011-07-24T14:58:00.003+02:00

... a mess... in progress
A bit lighter... a bit darker... a bit deeper... a bit stronger... still there...coming up for air... even if air burns my lungs...

This one was made some 5 or 6 years ago... It changed a bit 4 years ago... then was forgotten... yesterday I found it again... I toyed with the idea to change it but decided it was okay as it was...

Pearl Jam Just Breathe video

2011-07-21T00:19:00.000+02:00

Pearl Jam - I Am Mine (Reading '06)

2011-07-21T00:02:00.000+02:00

Pearl Jam - Given To Fly - SVT

2011-07-20T23:46:00.000+02:00

2011-07-20T23:37:00.003+02:00

Why do you think you're odd and different, a lonely outsider,
when all that's happened is
you haven't found your family?
Richard Bach

Thank you for your awesome comments on the last post and for your e-mails...

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.
Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
Richard Bach

the forgotten child...

2011-07-19T00:53:00.008+02:00

I usally don't like it very much when people get too personal on their blogs... It upsets me a bit, I feel like a voyeur and at the same time I think of how brave they are... Well it's my turn... it's a bit like joining the AA meetings...
So here we go...
I am the forgotten child... Who is the forgotten child, you might ask?
The forgotten child is the one who lives and grows up with a sick sibling... in the shadow of a sick sibling...
My brother had cystic fibrosis... or should I say my family had cystic fibrosis... because this disease not only affects the one who suffers from it, it affects every family member... and especially the forgotten child... Why is that so? Because the forgotten child suffers is silence... When you are the forgotten child you learn from a very early age not to complain... Why should you? You're healthy... So you don't complain, even when you have the right to do so... you shut up, you shut down, you repress you needs and emotions... you don't want to be a burden to your family, they already have enough on their plate... you put a brave face on, you are the little soldier, you carry the world on your shoulders and you don't complain... never... and if you do well you are soon reminded that you should not... And Cystic Fibrosis rules the family life... every aspect of it... from the time you get up to what you will eat... And Cystic Fibrosis tortures the sick one and then the sick one bullies the healthy one but you don't complain... never... remember? And you feel guilty, guilty to be healthy, guilty to hate the ways of the sick one, guilty to be able to live a normal life... but do you really live a normal life? No, you live under the rules of Cystic Fibrosis...And it gets so deep into your skin that you become unable to live a normal life, that you become unable to live normal relationship...
And then the sick one dies... you feel free for the first time, able to breathe ... but then guilt creeps up on you... you feel guilty to feel free... you feel guilty to be alive... you thought that CF died with the sick one but you soon realize that its ghost doesn't want to leave you... and it does not leave you, it continues to rule your life, it continues to feed your insecurities, it continues to wreck your life... until one day you wake up and say "enough is enough"... until one day you realize that if you don't get rid of that ghost, it will get rid of you... Today has been such a day... a very painful day but also a day full of hope... My brother died 8 years ago... It took me that time to face and to listen to the forgotten child... I'm ready to take her by the hand and I'm ready to let go the hand of CF...
If you read all this, well thank you... and please accept my apologies for the bad English and for all this... I needed to share my experience, maybe it will help someone out there... I'm not looking for pity... I just want to help the forgotten child in me and the forgotten children that are out there...

quick stone age necklace

2011-07-14T17:36:00.003+02:00

Stone with natural hole (gift from a colleague, you can see a pic of it here), deer antler, stone picked up in the South of France 9 years ago (polished it a bit and drilled a hole), recycled wood bead bought in Chicago, leather cord.
Just a quick necklace, really... needed something to go out tonight!

herbalista II

2011-07-12T21:33:00.004+02:00

Got these petals yesterday... they're from rose bushes turned wild... on an abandoned piece of land... had to fight nettles that were as tall as me...

Tansy, keeps the insects away... My grand parents had a few cows and as a kid I remember seeing bouquets of tansy in the stable hanging from the ceiling ... Picked it today during my 4 miles walk..( picked up some black berries too but ate them right away!).
Hope you're enjoying the summer and the gifts it brings!

addendum

2011-07-10T20:19:00.001+02:00

Watch the full documentary if you have time... it's eye-opening...

Fed up...

2011-07-10T16:00:00.005+02:00

I know this blog is dedicated to my creative life but…
I am so disgusted by some research I did that I want to share it with you…
So here’s my rant…
The food industry is a criminal organization… on one hand they are starving people in South to satisfy the markets in North and on the other they are slowly killing people in North with (sorry for the bad language but hey, it’s a rant) the crap they add to the food… Palm oil, corn syrup and glutamate are some of the worst… No wonder obesity is epidemic, no wonder kids can’t concentrate in the classrooms… The crap they feed us are making us fat and dumb… if we, the consumers, don’t react, we will soon look like the humans in Wall-e … unless the predicted financial collapse makes things even…

One way to react and to act is to read the list of ingredients on the food you buy... unfortunatelly I don't think it's possible to avoid these poisons completely... but still, less is better...

Sinead O'Connor -Oro Se Do Bheatha Bhaile

2011-07-08T14:20:00.000+02:00

The Pulse: Style File

2011-07-08T13:52:00.003+02:00

Check out Seth Apter's blog this Sunday... well to read about my stuff... otherwise check his blog everyday, it's an awesome place to visit!

I haven't made anything lately,jewelry wise... I'm just enjoying the good weather, taking long walks (about 20 miles over the last 5 days... not much but not bad either...) .. and since I don't like walking without a goal, I have been harvesting loads of herbs : wild origano, meadow sweet, millefoil, wild mint ... next on the list is agrimony and tansy...

The photo above was taken two days ago... the world can sometime be an ugly place but I forget all about it when I see a sky like this...

I hope you are enjoying the good weather too!

The Pulse

2011-06-30T19:06:00.003+02:00

Begins this Saturday... go to Seth Apter's blog for more info : The Altered Page

Earrings

2011-06-25T18:18:00.002+02:00

Rose quartz, moonstone, aquamarine and labradorite.

herbalista

2011-06-23T15:49:00.006+02:00

St John's wort, in French millepertuis.

It's time to harvest it to make some red oil. You chop the leaves and flowers, fill a jar with them, pour olive oil and leave the jar alone in a sunny spot for one month at least, the oil will turn red. After one month or so, you filter it and bottle it ( you can add a few drops of lavender oil). It can be used for burns, rash, sunburns...

Cinnamon... really a magical spice... since I gave up diet coke ( and all kinds of chemical sodas) I've been craving for cinnamon... I sprinkle it on my morning muesli, in my soy latte, on diced apples... yesterday I was a bit worried it might not be very good for me so I did some research and found out that it's quite the opposite... cinnamon is GOOD for you...

Note : don't use the St John's wort oil if you go out in the sun... use it after... it's photosensible...

as it is..

2011-06-21T18:42:00.003+02:00

June update of the "monster"...

Wishing you a Happy Summer!

meet Lucky

2011-06-16T17:26:00.002+02:00

She lives with my best friend now... she needed "someone" to watch over her!

Oh I also want to share a great find with you... this BOOK... I knew it was going to be very interesting ... it's more than that... it's a must have! I received it today... I know what I'm going to read tonight ...

Did you know you can make insecticide with garlic, onion and soap? I made some today... my chinese cabbages needed it! You can find all sort of natural insecticides HERE...

And another thing, that's it, I broke up with aspartam! ... I read some things about it... this stuff is pure poison... no wonder, it was created by monsanto... no more diet coke for me... go green tea and lemon!

sunday eye candy

2011-06-12T22:47:00.002+02:00

amber
top left amber beads from Iran ( probably not real amber but some kind of resin)
bottom left Chiapas amber, young amber... it's around 25 millions years old ( Baltic amber is around 40 millions years old) and more brittle than Baltic amber.
bottom left, raw Baltic amber.
Long before its origin was known a lot of legends were told about amber... Some people believed amber was formed from the tears of weeping birds...

naTuRaLiSta

2011-06-11T10:30:00.002+02:00