Shows and Loraine

I have been in a few art and jewelry shows lately. I have been just focused on my jewelry since that has been the bigger seller. I have been very fortunate now that my cousin, Loraine lives near, so often times we go together and have our booths next to each other. It is so nice to have someone you know next to you. For me, it's like a security blanket. I tend to get nervous and apprehensive before and during shows. I know I should be strong and not care what others think, but for me that is challenging. Since I am unemployed EVERY cent counts, and there is more of a need for my jewelry to sell. I don't think that is good, and I think people can sense that. I LOVE to create, but I don't like marketing. I would love to "hire" someone to do that for me. I think that creativity and marketing do not always go hand and hand.

Ok, I am going to quit my whining, and introduce to you my cousin Loraine's beautiful work. It is truly beautiful and each piece she does is like a masterpiece. What she does is called beadweaving, and it is gorgeous! Here is an example of some of her work:

Those are vases that she has stitched beads on. Here are her bracelets:

They are so much more beautiful in person! She has an etsy shop which is: http://beadandknot.etsy.com/
Please check it out! She will be in the street fair in downtown Vista on September 12th. I might be there too, but I am still debating.

Bracelets!

I love bracelets! I started making them because I couldn't find any in my size. I have small wrists, and the only ones that would fit me were children size. When I discovered the elastic ones, I figured out how to make them my size, and then I started making them bigger for others. In recent craft fairs, bracelets have been the big sellers. I love using Swarovski crystal sliders, but I have recently made some none elastic types that are made from semi precious stones and seed beads. Here are a few of my favorites:

Which one do you like?

Is It A Color Obsession?

The other day I was watching How Do I Look? It's my substitute for What Not to Wear (where are Stacey and Clinton?). There was a woman who dressed only in purple. She also had purple as the color of her bedroom and her accessories. She was stuck in purple and she didn't look good in it. Of course she had a total transformation at the end. I thought to myself, "how silly to be so stuck in a color". The other day, I decided to get all my sweaters out of my wardrobe to make room for my summer wardrobe. Every so often, I decide to organize my clothes by color. Of course, that idea only lasts for a week or two- tops. I looked at my groups of colors, and I realized that I am a relative of the Purple Lady, but my choice of color is aqua/turquoise/teal. Here is a picture of some of my tops:

Now, I can say in my defense that this color looks good on me, but then I noticed the color is evident in my accessories and even my cell phone:










Well, that's ok. I like to match. There's nothing wrong with that! But then I looked at my bed, and the mixed media I created to match:










Maybe this is an obssession! Then I took at some of the art I have done:










The color is in there too! I don't know if I need a color intervention.