Jewelry Fashion Trends 2008

Jewelry Fashion at the Teen Choice Awards
Well, normally this wouldn't be something I would even check into, but since it came into my inbox I decided to give it a look. I didn't see a whole lot that inspired me. A lot of gold chains with delicate pendants, nothing to inspire my beading brain! But, this one, I loved and wouldn't it have been great to make it for her!! Check it out!



Kristen Bell at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards - August 3, 2008 in Los Angeles, California
Kristen Bell's long necklace appears to be made from turquoise, onyx and pearls, all set in yellow gold.

There were a couple of others that caught my eye too! Scarlett Johansson just because she can never look bad and of course here she is ever so bold!

Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Scarlett Johansson at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards - August 3, 2008 in Los Angeles, California
Big flashy beads on a huge chain -- Scarlett Johansson pulls off a look I probably wouldn't like on most people.

And finally this really awesome ring! I don't make rings personally, but I have seen lots of pretty ones on Etsy and so this one made me take a second look!

Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Driver Danica Patrick at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards - August 3, 2008 in Los Angeles, California
Danica Patrick's large floral ring with a pearl center spread out to cover a good portion of her fingers. Her purple (snakeskin?) clutch is embellished with colored gemstones.Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Driver Danica Patrick at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards - August 3, 2008 in Los Angeles, California
Danica Patrick's large floral ring with a pearl center spread out to cover a good portion of her fingers. Her purple (snakeskin?) clutch is embellished with colored gemstones.

If you would like a link to the whole article with all the pictures, here you go!http://jewelry.about.com/od/famousjewels/ig/Jewelry-at-Teen-Choice-Awards/index.01.htm

Enjoy!!

Fashion Color Forecast For Fall 2008

Pantone is the leading forecaster for what's hot in color in the fashion world. And this article tells us what will be happening for fall with regards to color. Designing jewelry now for fall I need to start thinking about what everyone will be wearing and match my jewelry colors accordingly. Sounds like it is going to be a beautiful fall!! You can find this article at http://www.pantone.com



A Season of Change
Best described as a season of change, fall ’08 is defined by rich, elegant hues that offer a vibrant selection. New York's fashion designers emphasize cooler blues, greens and purples in the top five tones used in their collections, followed by variations of warm red, orange and yellow.
"Fall is traditionally a time for subdued, quiet colors, but this season we are seeing a shift toward cool hues with bright, exciting undertones," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. "Conventional tones such as warm autumn hues, chocolate browns and steel grays are also among the fall color choices. Blue and purple tones have become staples, as illustrated by Blue Iris, one of the top 10 colors chosen by designers this season, and Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2008."
Preview colors for Fall 2008.

Say a Little Prayer

We had some very sad news the other day. My brother in law's wife's sister's daughter (there must be a better way to say that- I am very bad with family connections) has been diagnosed with cancer. She is only 10 years old and a beautiful child. To give you an example of her beautiful spirit she was at the time of her diagnosis, growing out her hair for "locks of love." It appears to be a "Wilms" tumor and they have removed it. Now they have to put her through chemo. I just can't believe little children have to go through chemotherapy. It just seems horribly unfair. And, if the diagnosis is correct, this is a cancer that only affects children. Talk about unfair! But, the reality is that she is not alone. There are many more children just like her and younger than her and with far worse conditions, in far worse conditions. And so I pray for acceptance for all those who love her and for Cassidy herself. I pray that God will give comfort to us all and courage and strength to those who need it.

My Favorite Place to Shop

I love to shop on Etsy! Right now I have to window shop as funds are tight, but I like to put the things I love in my favorites and look at them from time to time and think about what I might like to get first. Most of these are just fabulous finds to me. These under $50 that just thrill me because they are handmade, creative and created with love and care. I am going to post some of my favorite things here but before I do that I want to find out a few things first. I also want to post a few of my favorite shops. I don't want this to turn into one of those rolling, scrolling places where everyone's shop is listed though. I want it to clearly be just MY favorite shops. I have looked on other shopping sites, I am not an Ebay person, I just don't like the way that is set up. To me it is messy and disorganized and I always find TOO much of everything and NOTHING that I really want. Etsy just suits me. It's clean and organized and pretty and creative and full of very talented people all just trying to get their art out there for people to see and buy so that they can do more of it. A really nice shopping experience!

Why I Make Jewelry

There is more to this question than I am going to address in this post today, but the primary thing is that after I found out how much I love beads, the earthiness and organic nature of beads, I realized that I love making people happy by giving them my jewelry. I would prefer to give it all away and if I were a rich person then I suppose I could do that. But, making jewelry costs money and so to support my habit, I sell my jewelry, some of it anyway, at what I believe are pretty reasonable prices so that people can buy it and I hope be happy wearing it. While I know that "things" do not make us happy, I also know how much pleasure I receive from some of the simplest things that have been given to me or that I have purchased in my life. They are usually not the expensive gifts or purchases. I'll give you an example: about probably 15 years ago now someone beaded for me an anklet at the request of a friend of mine. It was really a nice piece of work, done on a loom with seed beads. It was an unusual anklet at the time and hand little brass clamshell beads that hung down by my foot and jingled just a bit when I walked. Well, I love unusual things so it suited me very well. As you may have already guessed I still have that anklet. I still love that anklet and I am still grateful to both of them. I get a thrill whenever I pull it out of the jewelry box and wear it. A simple thing yet it gives me great pleasure. It doesn't make me happy, but it adds to my happiness for that day. Also it was one of those times before I started beading when I realized what a very cool thing beads were. It reminds me of the Native American beading and how awesome their designs and beading is. Anyway, enough for now. That is a large part of my motivation for beading. JOY!

Ruby

The picture I have put on here today is a picture of little Ruby at 10 weeks old. Little did I know then that this dog would become my sweetheart! She was the runt of her litter. She was born in the back of the car. Her breeder had gone up to N.C. to see them be born and pick them up- I forget all the details, but anyway, she put the mom and pups in the car and headed for Florida and next thing she knew little Ruby was being born in the backseat. She instantly fell in love with her too and named her Ruby. We didn't change it, though we call her boobies more than anything, don't ask me why. Seriously, I don't know.



She is one precious dog. She loves me. She is right by my side at all times. She sits by my left leg much of the time and I love it. Never had a loyal dog before as I have been a husky lover for a number of years and loyalty is not their thing.

Spirituality

To know me, you have to know that I am involved in a search to better know myself and to better know God. God as I understand Him, not a religious God by any means. In fact, organized religion really turns me off. I feel sorry about that, but I have tried with churches and they are just not for me. I love being open minded about spirituality and in my search I have found that I love many of the things the Buddha taught as well as the teachings of Jesus and that I think the Buddha had it right about a lot of things. In fact, he taught many of the very same things that Jesus did. That lets me know that it is absolute truth!

There will be much more on this topic later, but for today that is all I have time for. Jewelry making and blogging and marketing and taking care of six dogs and myself is quite a task. Never did I realize I would have so much to keep up with.