Mother Necklace

Hello again :)
I thought I'd share some pictures of my Mother Neklace with you.
I call it Mother Necklace not only because I actually made it for my Mom, but also because it's mother themed.

It all began when I found some bottle tree (Brachychiton populneus) seed pods on a weekend trip to Barceloa a few weeks ago. I looked at them and found that their shape was...ahem...quite female :)
It reminded me on childbirth.
So the idea was born to create a necklace for my Mom from it.

This necklace is full of meanings and symbolism. Almost every detail tells a story, but most of them even my Mom won't understand. To make this piece, I went on a trip down to memory lane, and sometimes it hurt a bit. In a way, this was some kind of birth for me, too.

Behind a "leaf" (sewn of recycled recycled sari fabric and Lacy's Stiff Stuff and adorned with some glass beads, a brass sequin and a garnet) are childhood photos of my sister (top), my brother (bottom) and me, embedded in resin.
I didn't pour the resin directly into the pod. You can'tsee it very good, but I made a mold especially for this piece. The finished resin piece has the shape of a leaf, and on the back of the piece you can see the cast of an elder blossom that is shining through. I highlited the elder blossom a bit with Gilders Paste in antique gold. Then I put some dupioni silk loosely into the pod. Above came a piece of mica, also cut into leaf shape. Finally the resin piece was placed on top. Tiny golden glass seed beads, "sewn" into the pod with waxed linen thread, prevent everything from falling out.

I am quite pleased with this necklace. 

Yesterday I gave it to her. 

Versatile Blogger Award and a necklace

Normally I am not the award type.
But I am feeling very honored because Steph gave me the Versatlile Blogger Award.

Steph is one of my favorite artists, blogger friends, etsy sellers and fellow etsy circlers. Please visit her incredible blog and shop.
I don't take this as an award only but most of all as a good opportunity to show you some of my favorite blogs and... to finally blog again :)

There are several rules to accepting this award:
1. Add the award to your blog -- To come. Blogger doesn't let me today.
2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you. -- Merci beaucoup, Steph! 1000 Dank!
3. Mention 7 random things about yourself. -- See below.
4. List the rules. - Check!
5. Award to 15 bloggers. -- See below.
6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

The 7 random things about myself:

1.) I can't stand to see a fruit fly in need. I have already saved the lives of thousands of fruit flies, snails (yes, even the naked ones, and even in my own garden), spiders and other little insects, crawlers, mice, rats..... Whenever I see a being in need, I help. The only exception: ticks, lice and fleas. But I would save their lives too, if I only knew how to save them and my family (including the cats) at the same time...!

2.) Ever since I was a little child I have altered and distressed things, and I have always collected what other people call "waste"

3.) I am coffee addicted and love to sit in coffee bars, writing or doodling and watching people.

4.) I love cooking, but I don't like to cook for my family.

5.) Someday I gotta get organized.

6.) I love Berlin. Every time I go there it immediately feels like home. Actually I am a town mouse. But I am also a nature lover and often need the silence.

7.) One day I want to say hello to a blue wale.


And the Versatile Blogger Award goes to...

...these fabulous bloggers:

1.) Mary Anne

2.) Claire

3.) Kim

4.) Richelle

5.) Petra

6.) Louise

7.) Steffi

8.) Nicki

9.) Mich

10.) Annette

11.) Gaby

12.) Mary Jane

13.) Moxie

14.) Vera

15.) Kate


Thanks to you all for being you.

And now to something different:
This is what I made for my little one's 13th birthday. She had asked for a white necklace with the same lace and one of the same tiny folding knives I used in these earrings.

Please double click the pictures to see more details.

 The adorable handmade leather book is made by Louise (see list of awarded bloggers). It's detachable, so Yola is able to write in it without taking off the necklace. 

I have also incorporated a bead from Steph and one of my paper beads.

Printed leather strap.

Yola loves her new necklace. Pheew....

Ornament Swap 2011

Hi everybody,

I hope you had wonderful holidays. 

My family and I stayed at home and enjoyed some very quiet and pieceful days together. 

Oh, look!

 This is an incredible bell, isn't it? Renate made it for our this year's ornament swap. It blew me away.  Do you see the rock crystal? It makes a lovely sound. Oh, you should see this bell in real. 

And this totally cute little snowman was made by Steffi. To look at him always puts a smile on my face. He is perfect!! I love him!!

 Renate's bell was packaged in this beautiful cone which is an ornament itself. 

Thank you ever so much, Renate and Steffi. Not only for these incredible ornaments but for being friends and inspire me in so many ways. Just... thank you for being you. 

I am looking forward to our next German Ornament Swap in 2012!

If you want to read their posts about our little swap (and see what I made), please go to Renate's and Steffi's blog.

I wish you all a Happy New Year!!! 

Greetings from the shabby side

Ahem.
Obviously it's almost impossible to describe these earrings without using ths S-word.
 No, the other one.
"Shabby" I mean.
 These are so shabby chic - I wouldn't believe that I made them if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes ;) I made them (in a slightly different version) for myself to wear with a special dress on a special occasion. I wore them with great pride and got lots of compliments on them, but don't worry, there won't be a lot more shabby chic here in the future :)

Aren't the miniature pocket knives cute?!
The German words say "aus Treue Rache wurde". It means something like "of loyalty revenge became".

Recently my computer has commited suicide.
I don't want to tell the kids that Santa won't bring them anything because Mommy needs a new PC. So this will have to wait.
And I don't have a lot of time anyway, so I doubt if I would write a lot more if my computer was still among us.

Y'Akoto's video below inspired me to these earrings. I absolutely love these vintage Mah-Jongg counting sticks and have to pay attention so that I won't use them in every further piece of mine ;) Soooo many ideas for these incredible thingies!

Nothing from me. Just music.

This is Y'Akoto. She is from Hamburg. I thought I'd share this with you.

Work in progress

Hi to you all, sorry for having been so quiet lately. For some reasons I haven't created anything in a long while. Finally, here is some work in progress I started yesterday. Not much, I know. But it's a beginning. At least I hope so. I made these pendants from epoxy clay. The flat one (not finished yet) has an image transfer on it, then I painted over the transfer, glued the German words "Donner und Blitz" (thunder and lightning) from an old book on it and distressed the whole thing. It was just to try out if an image transfer of an inkjet picture would work on uncured fixit sculpt, and let me tell you: it works great!! Just press an inkjet print upside down onto the uncured clay, allow to cure, wet the paper and rubb it off. The hand has a kuchi charm as a bail. Have a great sunday!