Crystal beaded hair piece

I recently got married. It was exactly 2 months and 3 days ago today.

It was the best day of my life and the most fun! But the lead up to the wedding was not without its own stressors and moments of panic. Playing wedding planner is so much fun and  preparing for your own wedding makes it all the more special.

Given my love and interest in beaded jewellery, well, almost all things beaded really. I was not surprised when I came across a crystal beaded head piece that I instantly loved.

It picked up well in photos – as shown below. But did not over-power the dress, or my hair style.

The good friend

Every piece of jewellery has a story.

This is one of the many reasons I love making my own jewellery – I become the storyteller!

This week I’m focusing on bracelets and bangles, and the beaded bracelets (pictured) below are not without a story of their own.

Firstly, they’re not mine. But I have kind-of adopted them by default. They are my sisters – given to her on her 21st birthday by a good friend. I never met her friend but the friendship has since gone south, and she doesn’t want to wear the bracelets anymore.

So, I have adopted them instead.  They are exactly the same and look best when worn as a pair. Ta-dah!

Beaded ambitions for 2010

New Year’s resolution. Spend more time on myself and my hobby.

My love of all things beaded was severely neglected toward the end of 2009. My life had become too hectic. I was spending more time chasing everyone else than taking time to do the things I enjoy. I was exhausted and hanging out for the Christmas break from December to early January.  But I hope to never let that happen again. I do work full time, in a field unrelated to my beaded ambitions. And I think I’ve posted before about how difficult it can be to juggle several competing demands. Work. Hobbies. Friends. Family. And, me. But I am planning to make some changes.

For one, I hope to start showcasing a lot more of my work on this blog. And, since I’m always interested in other jewellery makers/artists creative practice, I’ll try to include a few anecdotes along the way too.

So here is to a successful 2010 – filled with balance and (of course) lots of beading. =)

Black and silver beaded drop earrings

These earrings are one of my more recent creations. My inspiration was Yayoi Kusama, Narcissus Garden, 1966 (below). It is a series of reflective balls placed close together. I was fortunate enough to see the artwork last year when it came to the Sydney Biennale. So these earrings are like my little piece of Kusama’s Narcissus’ garden…reflecting, but also being reflective.

Creating relevant blog content

Coming up with daily content for a blog is not easy. Coming up with content that is both interesting and relevant is harder.

I like to start each post by thinking about the reader. If I was looking at my blog what would I like to read? What would grab my interest?

Topic specific or themed blogs tend to work better than random mish-mash, personal journal entries. And boring posts about you going shopping and buying a new brand of toothpaste are bound to be snoozers! For you and the poor reader…if they get past the heading.

I once read some good blogging advice, which I think is worth sharing. The advice suggested starting each week with a mind map of your intended posts for that week. Start by selecting major overarching themes for your blog – these will form your blog categories. Then, list topics under each category. Each topic will then become a daily post. Try to pick seven major themes and then plan seven topics underneath each theme every week.

Even if you initially only post a few times a week – this is a good start.