branching out, Lennon, and the nature of idealism

I've covered lots of things in polymer clay in my life. In fact, I once had to move out of an apartment whose floor was completely covered in the stuff...


Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. I guess that's how life is, eh? This one worked out pretty well, I think.



$15.00 here at my etsy shop.


While I spent an afternoon making picture frames, I watched a movie called "America Versus John Lennon." Since I'm generally pop-culture challenged, this was of great interest to me (although it would have had more credibility if Geraldo Rivera hadn't been on it.) Anyway, it really got me thinking, as I rolled and molded, about the nature of nationalism and how our collective need to be at the top of the pecking order makes us (and by us, I mean the US) come off as arrogant bullies. It also brought my mind to a topic I think about quite often, which is the nature of idealism. They say that as we grow older we become more practical, more loving of the compromise and the middle ground. In the primaries, we vote for the "viable" candidate rather than the one with true democratic values. And in the thousand decisions we make every day, we search for diplomacy and middle ground and fitting in. Well, I'm going to remain an idealist like John Lennon was. Nope, it ain't practical. My candidate will never win, because he/she is too left of center (and likely too smart) for the general populus. Just because it will never happen doesn't mean we should stop fighting. I'm not specifying what the "it" is; I'm just saying that we need to keep idealists in the world or pure concepts (like peace) will disappear and we'll be left with nothing but murky, diplomatic middle ground. Middle ground isn't good enough.

over the rainbow

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. I remember the days when I used mostly black, white and brown clay. Now I can't seem to resist the bright colors. So here's my rainbow for today!

www.divadea.etsy.com

Tarot card of the day

This may or may not become a regular feature. Remains to be seen.

OK, give them a random shuffling and pull out the one that undoubtedly has great meaning for me at this moment. And the winner is...

Upright Meaning: An artistic, creative and witty person. Fun to be around and very capable of assisting others. A social butterfly.
Reversed Meaning: Prone to sudden changes of opinion. Someone who is self-centered and paranoid.
Questions: Are you caring too much about what those in your social circle think of you? Are you putting your creativity and wit to good use or are you using it to belittle others?
Advice: The motives of the person you’re questioning (it could be you or someone else) are pure and well-intentioned. A shallow exterior may be covering up a good heart and capable mind.

I've been reading a fair amount of Cordy fan fiction lately, not on purpose, by chance. Some is about high school Queen C (I've written some of that myself, actually) when she was shallow and popular and the girl all the sheep wanted to emulate. And then there's later on, when she's matured and taken on responsibilities and, well, she cares.

So where am I? I'm a little bit stuck between young and old. I'm creating fan art and fiction and hanging out online like the young, hip people do. I comment back and forth with someone, and then it dawns on me that, yikes, this is a college kid I'm talking to. I'm amazed at the confidence and insight these kids have - I sure didn't at that age. Not that I was a Cordelia - my insecurities may have been the same as hers, but I displayed them differently, and I surely was not in any way ever popular! There are not words to describe the joy I feel at being the age I am, allowing myself to enjoy my creative side, and having the wisdom (a tiny bit of it anyway) to realize that my life is good and to relish every moment of it. So I guess the Queen of Wands Cordelia message for me here is look how you've grown. Amen.

New project, very excited!

It's a sofa. It's a business card holder. It's a definite conversation piece.

It's about 6 inches long and 3 inches high, and it sits on your desk, attracting everyone to you like magnets (and you thought it was your shining personality).

Where did I get that funky, retro fabric, you ask?

I didn't. It's polymer clay cane work, painstakingly handmade by me, cut into thin slices, made into "upholestery," and applied carefully over a frame made of lightweight aluminum foil.

You know you want one.

Get it here at my etsy shop.

(More colors/patterns coming soon. In the meantime, feel free to contact me with requests.)

earrings and such

Here is the new avatar I made for etsy. (No copyright infringement intended, just enjoying a little fan art - doesn't take much to entertain me.) Good thing my earrings are lightweight!

And here's the pair of earrings I just posted at love.li.

This was one of those canes that just got bigger and bigger and more and more complicated. The tortoise-shell middle of the flower was a cane by itself, and then I added the orange stripey petals, and then the surrounding red stripey petals, and then the green stripey leaves (although some of that detail is lost when the beads get this small. Then the surrounding layer of shimmerry gold clay. Love the shimmer. The whole cane, pre-reduction, was about the size of a teacup saucer and probably about 4 inches tall. Still small by some standards, but large for mine.

I've improved my presentation, too. Each pair of earrings has its own hand-stamped/collaged card in coordinating colors. It's a tent-fold, so you can stand it up on a dresser. And it makes for a lovely gift. All my jewelry now comes in hand-folded paper boxes, as I have piles of beautiful scrapbooking paper sitting around saying "fold me, fold me!"

Spring Goddess Pendant

She's only about 1.25 inches tall and is light as a feather. She can hang on a cord as a necklace. She's made from the end of a polymer clay cane - one of many ways to use up the distorted ends of a cane. Check out her fancy curls.

Her name is Beth, she's a summer solstice goddess, and she's only $3.50 here at my etsy shop.

Beads for the masses

Yolanda Beads

I have a lot of beads. I recently sorted and consolidated them, so now they fit in about 20 boxes instead of 30. Yeah, that's still a lot of beads. There's only so much jewelry a person can make, so I'm selling some of my beads on etsy.

Lucy Beads

To see my whole pages of beads and pendants, go here. Most are 20 for $10, and all the beads are handmade out of polymer clay (Sculpey).

Jona Beads

I am available for custom orders if you are interested in certain colors or need a certain number of beads for a project. Feel free to comment here or email me at admin@divadea.com.

Rainbow Beads

You are free to use any beads purchased from DivaDea in your own items for resale, but I would greatly appreciate being given credit for the designs. Thanks, and happy beading!

Cindy Beads

This is my song

Song of Peace (listen here)

To the tune of Finlandia by Sibelius

This is my song, oh god of all the nations
A song of peace for lands afar and mine
This is my home, the country where my heart is
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine
But other lands have sunlight, too, and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine
Oh hear my song, thou god of all the nations
A song of peace for their lands and for mine

Sung by Marmalade - www.marmaladies.com

Dancing Mathilda

Just posted at etsy, right here, in fact. I'm not sure why I thought Mathilda was a good name for this cane. And actually, I must give my sister Bird credit for making the actual cane, although of course I made the beads out of it and assembled the jewelry. Bird's canes are always incredible - detailed and creative and unique. The Bird is brilliant. (Duh.)

Mathilda Necklace

The necklace is 23 inches long with a small silver lobster clasp. The clay beads are chunky millefiori beads in various shapes from 1/2-inch to 1-inch long.

Mathilda Bracelet

The bracelet measures about 6.5 inches around and is strung on sturdy, stretchy cord to one size fits almost any wrist. The clay beads are just under 3/4-inch across.

the bestest earrings ever

OK, I know they can copyright the characters and the stories and the whole beloved Jossverse, but I'm pretty sure no one can hold a copyright on pointy pieces of wood (or in this instance, polymer clay). I just got these from deltafine on etsy. Life is good.

Brie anyone?

No, it doesn't look, smell or taste like uppity french cheese (mmmm, cheese). It's made of a clay cane that I named after an acquaintance of mine who is a nice combination of casual, striking and sweet.

Specs:

Almost 19 inches long

Clay beads measure about 1/2-inch across

Small silver lobster clasp

$20.00 here at www.divadea.etsy.com

Matching bracelet and earrings available

Fabulous Flowers

This is currently one of my favorite designs. I cut seven slices of a cane and fuse them carefully together to make one bead. It has a wonderful millefiori effect. And the beauty of polymer clay jewelry is that you can wear something big and bold and still have it be fabulously lightweight!

Mathilda Earrings


Lillie Earrings


These earrings and much more are for sale at my etsy shop: www.divadea.etsy.com. Thanks for looking!

Just posted

Here are the earrings I just posted on Etsy. I love them. They're named Gwen.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers. That is all.





www.divadea.etsy.com

Poppy!

I am loving this jewelry made with the Poppy cane - named after Poppy from the movie "Noises Off." I miss John Ritter. Sigh.




Poppy Bracelet


Poppy Necklace (this one's listed here at my etsy shop)


Poppy Earrings

Lots more unique jewelry listed at www.divadea.etsy.com.

The A's and B's

I'm liking bright colors these days. Here are my A and B jewelry pieces for sale at my shop, http://www.divadea.etsy.com/. Any comments are always appreciated. Information about each piece is found at my etsy shop, like length, etc. - just click on the pictures or the names to go there. Or feel free to comment or email me (admin@divadea.com) with any questions you have. Anything in my shop is 10% discounted if you tell me you saw it here at my blogspot blog.

Brenda Earrings ($8) I love this cane. I made it a looooong time ago when I was just learning to do cane work. It brings to mind for me whimsical things like the Mad Hatter or a flock of balloons.

Belle Necklace ($18.50) I have never been able to duplicate this hand-mixed seafoam green background color. Sigh. The tube-shaped beads are my favorite millefiori style - there's just something elegant about them all in a row like that.

Beth Necklace ($16.50) This would be a nice one for Mother's Day, to give to your mom, or to wear yourself and impress your mom...

Arabelle Necklace and Bracelet Set ($22) I am totally in love with these beads. The aqua is so clear and bright, it makes me happy. Also, the black glass spacer beads are just beautiful. Sometimes I wish I made my canes bigger so I'd have more beads, but then again it's that never-repeated quality that makes these pieces so unique and fabulous.

Amy Earrings ($10) These are seriously funky. That is all.

Annetta Earrings ($7) Just listed. I love millefiori cubes, they're just fun.