White Party

I’ve completed a new collection of jewelry and I’m calling it the White Party Collection.   It all started when my daughter gave me a crazy pair of white wide legged pants with black designs and I realized I had no beads to wear with them.   I bought a pound of white beads from Jesse James Beads and then had more white beads than I knew what to do with.  It was like a white party in a bag.   I started making and couldn’t stop.

I’m going to digress here because some of you may never have heard of a white party.  What IS it, you ask?

Keep in mind that, of all the colors, white was an elitist color back in the days before washing machines and Clorox bleach.    If you could afford to wear white, it was like saying you could afford to toss your clothes away after wearing them once or twice.   The very first white party was held in France over 60 years ago.   The idea spread across Europe and then to the States.   Want to read more about the origin?  Click here. 

These days White Party is a trademark.   White parties are thrown to support various causes and are often much attended by the rich and famous. The LGBT groups adopted the idea so much that in Miami there is a whole week devoted to white parties to raise money for HIV.   Even the drag queens embraced the idea with their own flamboyancy and go all out with white eye shadow and nails.

Even so, the white party is now a part of all walks of life.  Anyone can be .invited to a white party.   White parties are usually about style, gettin’ your “swag” on.   Their venues can range from the poolside party or backyard barbeque to a garden party to a formal ballroom party.

So, what do you wear to a white party?      Obviously, that will depend on the venue.  Some back yard barbeques require only white tee shirts.

 

Some parties go all out and even the men wear all white suits and look mighty fine.   You wear all white of course, but a bit of color is allowed.   A tiny hint of black, or red is especially classy, though now and then pastels shoes or scarves will show up.

Enough digression.   Let’s get back to jewelry.   I have come up with simple designs for the minimalist and fancier ones for those who like to make a statement.   I’ve got 3 different lines, White and Gold, White and Silver and White and Black.   Tell me what you think.

White and Gold

White and Silver

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OMG,  I do not have room for my black and white designs here but you can see all of them in the White Party album on my Strega Jewellry Facebook page.  Or you can check out my Etsy shop, Studio L and look in the White Party Section.

 

 

Me and Jesse James

Jesse James Beads has a contest coming up in February and I could use some help deciding what to enter.   First of all, let me tell you about Jesse James Beads.   I’ve bought them a lot.   I’ve always looked for them in stores because they have very cool beads.   If you do any jewelry work, you know you might fall in love with a particular style of bead or color and buy them then spend forever looking for the “right beads” to go with them before you start “making”.  Then you might end up with half a strand here and there that just sit around forever because you have all these extra beads and are bored with them.  We all do it!  I think that is why we de-stash so much, LOL.

That does not happen with Jesse’s beads.   When I find a color or style I like, I just move further down the aisle and can find a mini bundle of beads that go with whatever caught my eye in the first place.  And, it makes it really easy to do what I love best…………create a whole SET of things that go with each other, necklace, bracelet, earrings.

So, getting to the point here, they came out with this fabulous Goddess Collection last month and I was all over the page.   There were 4 different Goddesses represented with appropriate color schemes, charms, tassels, pendants and all the things you would ever need to use.   I had a tough time deciding which set to go with.  There were two Norse Goddesses, an Egyptian and a Hindu.   I loved all of them but ended up choosing the Hindu Goddess, probably because the colors were so bright and happy and I am so ready for spring!   These are the beads I got, big beads, little beads, tiny accent beads and charms and tassels!   Love them!

 

I know, I know, I’m talking and you want to see pictures!!!  Getting there.

Anyhow, I have a Hindu friend and when she dresses for weddings and special celebrations, there is always LOTS of color and lots of gold and sari silk so I used gold color wire and just had to use sari silk ribbon in at least one piece

I designed this necklace with some gold wire wrapped in sari ribbon and that fantastic elephant charm plus some tiny beads for accents on the neck piece and those little beauties between the links.   Love it!   It’s such a happy piece.

 

Next was the bracelet.  While I was waiting for the beads to come I made up some “wedding ring” links in this gold color textured wire and all I had to do when I got the beads was put on the dangles and the little gold Hamsa charm.

 

Then I went nuts with earrings.

Here is a pair with tiny elephant charms and these cute little fabric balls.

Here is a fancier pair with big gold color pieces, tiny accent beads and gold wire.

Here are some orange beads that look like balls of string so I dangled little orange tassels from them

I fell in love with these tiny hearts that have the hole through the side so they sit at an angle when they dangle.   A perfect match for those odd burgundy beads which I almost matched up with the next beads that are burgundy and gold but instead put those with the little lotus flowers.

And finally, I made some gold spirals and dangles these tiny tassels.

 

Here is where I need help.   You can only enter one piece in the contest.   Oh, by the way, you win a shopping spree.   I don’t know for how much.  It really does not matter to me because even 20 bucks would be 20 I didn’t have to spend on beads and they just came out with some really cool beads for Valentine’s Day (WANT!).  Help me choose a piece to enter.   Just message me on Facebook or leave a comment here and I’ll go with popular opinion.

 

I made all these things with just two small “bundles” that I bought and had all these beads left over.   My daughter has her eye on some of them so I plan to come up with gifties for her, LOL.   And there are more earrings and maybe a necklace left in that pile.

 

Oh, and last but not least:   they sent me a little free gift with my order, three heart beads that had the cutest design on them.   They reminded me of the little flowers on sugar skulls.

So I dug up some skulls I had left over from buying someone’s de-stash and some other leftover beads and some gunmetal chain.   Now, I don’t think anything but the hearts are from Jesse James so this cannot go in any contest BUT if I had seen the Valentine beads, they would have been perfect with these little hearts.   I made this Goth girl bracelet and the first person who saw it wanted it!   Made me happy!

 

 

 

 

 

Versatility

Holiday season……….rush , rush, rush!   Some days are so busy it seems like you are on the go from morning till night.   It’s also cold weather season, the switch to warm sweaters and light jackets.

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE scarves!   The thing that exasperated me about scarves is that I had to stop wearing necklaces if I had on a scarf to accent my outfit.   I decided to do something about that one.   I have combined some of my favorite scarves with favorite jewelry pieces.

The beauty of these accessories is that I can start out at the grocery with jeans and a jacket and keep the same scarf till night time when I am meeting friends for a show.   Any of these pieces would go well with casual wear when you are shopping and maybe meeting friends for a quick lunch, or to work with a skirt and jacket or dress pants and top.   They go with sweaters, or with a simple dress to wear to a club.

I’m not going to do descriptions just photos.  You can find these and more in my Etsy shop, Studio L

See how pretty that cameo looks with the scarf?

How about this butterfly focal with a teal scarf.   Showing 3 views, one closeup, one with a jacket and one with a sleeveless top which I did in place of a dress.  I did all photos with black so I did not have to keep changing my model’s clothes.  The “lovely Claudia” my model is quite helpless.

And this one has a gorgeous jasper focal.   The autumn colors are so beautiful.

This one has a beautiful turquoise donut focal and bright seafoam scarf.

Here is one just for you witchy women.

and one for cat lovers

This one has a fairy and your initial.   The initial L is showing.   I also have J, D, and S.  Could not do the whole alphabet.

There are more.   Just check out my Etsy shop, Studio L.   

Do you have a favorite scarf of your own?   I can do a custom order:  design a special pendant just for you.   Message me if you are interested and we will talk.

Return

Wow! I’ve sure been away from my blog a long time! I’ve been SO very busy! Went on a great family vacation to upstate New York for a whole week!

Bought a new house and have I ever had some fun fixing it just the way I wanted! Digging flower beds and transplanting plants from the old house, fixing the inside just the way I want it, unpacking and setting up my workshop in the basement. I have a basement! Researching ideas for my naked back yard (absolutely NO plants in this new yard).
Here is my new Gothic bedroom.

Here are some things I have planted around the patio

Here is my ugly “extra” room in the basement, the empty place where nothing is stored, there is no workshop and nothing but space and ugly walls. I cleaned out the area which was no small job. Believe me, I hired help! A drug addict had been sleeping on a mattress in that back corner. UGH! After the walls got a fresh coat of paint, I started a faux brick wall. I had to teach myself how to do this………..read some instructions on the internet and went from there.
This first section took so many hours to do that I knew if I had to pay myself, I could not afford to hire me. Halfway through this first wall, I had the beginnings of a system. By the time I finished the final wall, I had it down pat. I can now do a wall in two four hour days. One to set the work and let it dry and the other to paint. Now I can turn pro! Seriously! One of my friends is buying an new house and thinks he might want his walls done this way. Another friend buys houses and flips them. He said if I could do this kind of work he could hire me and tack on a couple of extra thousand to the selling price. LOL I could start a whole new career! At my age, that’s amazing!

 

Anyhow, I’ve settled in. The animals have settled down and love their new home. And I am ready to start working on my crafty things………..well, as soon as the guys get finished installing my new furnace I am. So, I’ll be writing about the progress in my “spare” basement room, about some new things I have learned, about the new Etsy shop I am opening and of course, accessories and more accessories! woot woot! I’m back!

Size Matters

Whenever you choose jewelry for yourself you need to consider your body size and shape and how the piece you are drawn to will look in proportion to these.  We talked about face shapes and how the earrings you wear can draw attention to features that you want people to notice and how they can help create an illusion, shortening a jaw or minimizing it.   Now, let’s talk about how what you wear can accentuate your best physical features.

Let’s start with some basics.

Petite ladies, we’re talking under 5’2″ and smaller sizes, need to be careful about the size necklace they wear.  This and petite gals do not want large pieces.  Something like this, for instance, would make you look like you were overburdened with too much jewelry.

I’m not saying don’t go with original styles for gosh sake, you want to be unique, just don’t over do it.   Let’s take two sizes of the same basic design.   These are my new mermaid garden pieces, small mermaids perched on stones.

This style is NOT for a dainty petite woman.

This one would look much better.   It’s still unusual, but it’s smaller scale and more suited to your body type.  I have this posted in my new shop.

If you are petite but on the heavier side, wear a piece that is more open, that has dangles that draw the eye up and down to give a slimming illusion.

or this one……see how the dangles draw the eye up and down?

Ladies of medium height, between 5’5″ and 5’7″ have more freedom of choice.  Just keep in mind where you want to draw attention to create those illusions.   If you have a long torso and shorter legs, you want to draw the eye up to the shoulders and face, giving the illusion of longer legs.

Longer legs with a short torso calls for a longer piece to draw the eye down from the face creating the illusion of longer torso length.  This Egyptian style is a great example of that longer length and of a bold piece.

Tall gals really want to wear bold statement pieces, one of a kind beads and other accessories with a lot of substance like loads of bangle bracelets.   Dainty chains and smaller pieces can get “lost” on tall gals.  So go bold and beautiful!

or this boho style

No matter what you height, keep your SHAPE in the forefront of your mind.   Larger women, you want to emphasize your very  best features also.  Don’t think these choices are just for long lean ladies.  You plus size divas are at an advantage here.  You can not only wear bold pieces, you can get away with lots of layers!   Just be cautious HOW you layer those necklaces!

First, do not start with pieces that are too close to your face and that are chunky type stones.   Start with at least 24 inches.   Use oval stones or rectangles, not pieces that have a lot of width, drawing the eye from side to side.

Leave an open area around the face so it shines and your smile makes it a focal!  Then, use layers to take the eye up and down.   A lariat like this one would be great for a woman with large bust and defined waist, drawing attention to the waist.   Add some simple chains or a medium length necklace with an oval pendant then a chain on either side of it with the lariat at the last bottom piece.

L\

Women of all sizes and shapes have plenty of choices.  Each can be beautiful in her own way.

Any questions?  Just ask.   Next blog is a metaphysical blog about gemstones and their meanings.   Come back!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wheel of the Year: Lammas

 

Whooo-eeee, I sure missed the Lammas post by a mile!   It’s about the busiest time of the year with all the harvest coming in.   Seems that every day I’m picking the must do up the food for storage.   Love the fresh ripe tomatoes the best but crisp green peppers and cucumbers make such great eating.   My daughter stopped by the other day and when she said she was hungry, I went to the garden and picked salad fixin’s fresh right then.  I keep grilled chicken and bacon crumbles handy for summer salads.  Add some burnet out of the herb garden, some fresh parsley and what a meal!

I’ve been doing a lot of other work also.  Just now opened a new shop on Etsy.  I’ve called it Studio L Jewellry, featuring my own work and that of Liam Mac Steamish.   It’s a fresh start with new things.   I hope you will check it out and “heart” it.   I’ve not too many items yet but it’s a work in progress.

Made some decisions also.   Quite a few folk have messaged me and want to know if I am ever going to do new podcasts.   It’s been years since I started Salem Avenue and I did have a lot of fun doing it.   I am going to try to do my first “new” one on October 1st.   I am, however, moving to a new host, one that has better support and more bandwidth.   I’m excited about it and have projects planned for my Facebook page and blog and for the podcast.   I do believe I’ll start my own webpage on GoDaddy called 1313 Salem Avenue.

I’ve got some fun ideas.   I want to do some “stone readings” so I can tell you what stones you need in your life, a “stone personality” event and I have plans for a mini tarot reading.  You’ll get the mini reading and the cards will tell me what stones you need to wear or carry to help in your situation.

I’ve been doing some jewelry experiments also with “living” wearable art.  My mermaid gardens are way cool.  I have a prototype made and just today made 4 more to sell.  Do not have photos of the new ones but here is the prototype.

 

 

Let’s Face It: Oval Faces

This is the final part in my series which looks at face types to help choose jewelry and accessories.   Parts one and two looked at round, square, and heart shaped faces.  Being aware of your face type will help you choose the best accessories to emphasize your better features and the best to minimize attention to any “faults” you may find in your features.  This is also a great gift guide for guys who want to choose jewelry for their girlfriends, moms or sisters.  So, gentlemen, pay attention.

The oval face is probably the most desirable.  Any type of earrings or necklaces can be worn with this type of face.  There are, however, exceptions.  If your oval face also happens to be long, you will want to make it appear shorter and balance out.   I have some good suggestions here for doing just that.

If your face appears long, you will want to wear necklines and earrings that draw the eye from side to side, giving the illusion of width.

Keep your hairstyle medium or shorter, bringing the eye up and away from the chin.

Wear necklines that emphasize a side to side glance rather than plunging necks that draw the eye downward.

boat neck

round scoop neckline

Earrings should be shorter and not too slim.  Flowers are great for long face, their petals draw the eye sidewise as do stars.

Just because your earrings are shorter, it does not mean they must be boring.  In fact, the more unique they are, the more the eye is drawn to them and the glance goes away from that up and down sweep that makes your face appear longer.

YOU are the perfect girl to rock these “big ole hootchie mama” earrings!

Keep your necklaces shorter and close to your face, again, avoiding that up and down sweep and going for the side to side glance.

These  chunky agates with the scarab are perfect!

Something simple like this pyrite sun slab and a silver collar will give the illusion of width to take away from the reality of length.   The shape of your focal piece can bring  width to the view.

If you really want to wear a longer necklace, choose an unusual piece that has width, one that has simpler beads which will bring the eye directly downward to the piece itself.

I hope this series has been helpful.  Remember, if you want to see more pieces for your type of face, check my Facebook page, Strega Jewellry.   I will have an album for each type of face where you can see more choices.

Wheel of the Year: Imbolg

 

February 2nd, Imbolg or Candlemas as it is sometimes called is a time of quickening.   Beneath the frozen ground, the seeds and roots of returning plants begin to stir.   They have slept through the “dark time” of the year but now begin to awaken as the first signs of the coming spring appear.  Snows melt, the rains begin and the very top of the ground becomes a muddy mess.   Birds and geese begin to return.  The yowling of cats at night marks the start of mating season.  Last night, I knew for sure that spring was on the way.  I smelled a little skunk, roused from his winter sleep.  Did you know that the males spray when they are sexually excited?   Yep.   It’s officially the mating season when you smell your first skunk of the year.

The sap begins to stir in the trees.  One of my favorite memories of this time of year when I was a girl was of my uncle making maple syrup.    He would tap the maple trees.

We would ride the tractor and trailer with him the gather the sap from the trees.  We took mason jars and drank it cold from the buckets.   It tasted like sweet water.   At night, the saphouse was a haven of warmth from the fires and the smell of cooking syrup.   I found a video on YouTube if you are interested in the process.   It is an art to make really good maple syrup.

 

One of my favorite treats from this time of year was Jack Wax.  To make it, your pour the fresh syrup, boiling hot, on the last of the winter snow.  We had to go up on the mountain to find clean snow left deep in the woods. My aunt would pack the snow in dishes and we eagerly awaited the time when they syrup was just right to pour into our pans of snow.     The syrup does not totally harden to candy but becomes a soft ball of “wax” and eating it is sheer delight.   We would eat and eat.  I found a recipe for jack wax here at Mother Earth News.  

As the Earth begins to quicken in anticipation of Spring, so do our bodies and spirits.   Seed and flower catalogues arrive in the mail.  I pour over them eagerly and plan what I will plant.   I found a great website for ordering herbs and seeds this year.  Sand Mountain Herbs.   If you love unusual seeds, heirlooms seeds and herbs, check out Larry’s website.   I ordered seeds from him and he takes such care to package each group of seeds.  All instructions are written on the outside of the package, sometimes even handwritten.   He has put a lot of love into his site.   There is advice for when to plant and what different herbs are used for.   His prices are so reasonable you will want to buy a lot!

It is still the dark time of the year however and there is still “work” do be done as we go within ourselves and prepare for our own transitions.   This year, I have had a lot to think about.  After my cataract surgery, I can see perfect 20/20 at a distance, something I have not been able to do since 5th grade!  It’s amazing!  BUT, my close up vision, because of the implants, is terrible.   With simple reading glasses, I  can read and knit very well BUT, my jewelry making is very difficult.   I talked to one of my old instructors about it and she said experiment with creating by touch.  There are blind artists you know.   I fought this for a few days then decided to try it out.   I played with my polymer clay and found that I can do this without so much trouble as working with wire.   This may be the path I must take up at this time.

I have a blogger friend, Nan who does these amazing oracle readings with Goddess amulets.   We had talked, at Samhain, about an idea I had to make small Goddesses to go with her readings.   Initially, I had thought to use polymer clay and stamp designs onto it.   As I experimented with my “touch” method, I realized that my tiny figures would be small “sculptures”.   I want them to look primitive.   I played with colors, the colors of the goddess aspects themselves.   This week, I finished my prototypes.   I made them into beads at first but I think they do not want to be beads, they want to be tiny sculptures to be held in the hand.   I didn’t like the colors.  I found I liked the ones I made that looked like stone.   I have some photos here.  They are terrible of course because the sun refused to come out and  help me. The colors look too dark. Tell me what you think.   Don’t you like the stone goddesses better than the colored ones?   Well, except for the River Goddess.   I think she wants to be mostly blue.   Anyhow, this transition was not easy for me.   I spent 2 months when I could not see at all until my eyes were both done and I could see with 2 eyes then another few weeks fighting to “see” and not “feel”.   I am ready to make my 2nd batch now and have confidence that they will turn out much better.

If you are wondering about your own life and transitions, take a look at Nan’s blog and consider getting a reading for yourself with the Goddess Oracle Amulets.

Here are my awful photos of my prototypes of the amulets.

 

Let’s Face It Part 2

I started this 3 part series as a gift giving aid and a help for women to suit their jewelry choices to their face shapes.   By making choices that suit the shape of your face, you lower the risk that you will buy something on impulse that does not look right once you get it home and try it on.   Let’s face it, we have all done this.   Also, for men, it’s a great way to help you decide what to buy the women in your life.  You all have sisters, moms and wives or girlfriends, and there are plenty of holidays that call for gifts.   Christmas, birthdays, Valentines Day and Sweetest Day, Mothers Day and oooops, I’m sorry days.   Be sure and check out Part 1 for round and square shaped faces.  In this post, I’m going to talk about heart or diamond shaped faces.

heart shaped face

Let’s start with earrings.  You think they are an easy gift to choose until you start looking at all the different styles.   For heart shaped faces, you want to look for styles that draw the eye sideways, horizontally to add width to a small and often pointy chin.

Pear shapes and triangles with the wide part at the bottom or fan shapes are the best.   Upside down hearts would also work.

When considering necklaces, think about the necklines that look best with heart shaped faces.  Boat necks are a great choice, drawing the eye from side to side.

boat neck

For this neck line the necklace should echo the line of the garment and not crowd the face.  Chunky beads are perfect.   Assemblage pieces draw the eyes out and away from the chin.

Off the shoulder necklines have the same appeal at boat necks and often look similar.

Simple round one strand necklaces are best with this neckline or a simple collar like this one.

If you love cowl necks, go for the higher cowls, not the deep cowl neckline.   You have interest at the neck but are not drawing the eye downward too much.

high cowl neck

Remember, with any cowl neck, it’s earrings you want to feature, not necklaces.  A brooch is also great with a cowl neck like this.

 

If you really love V-necks or lower cut round necks you can still wear them.   Just add a light jacket or sweater with wide lapels or other interest to draw the eye outward instead of down.   Again, a simple one strand piece keeps the eye at the neck and holds it there.   A brooch on the lapels is another piece that you can wear that does not draw the eye downward.

 

 

Hopefully, this has been helpful to help you choose holiday gifts.   Remember, if you “like” my facebook page, you can find albums for each type of face with earrings and necklaces that go with each.    And if you subscribe to this blog, contact me and I’ll email you two downloadable pictures with earring and necklace styles for each face type.

Wheel of the Year: Yule

We are here on the Wheel.  Again and yet again, it is pointed out that Yule is a lesser “holiday” for pagans and not such a huge deal as the Christian Christmas has become.   There are many websites which will explain all the ways in which pagan traditions were taken to make up the traditions that manifest at Christmas, the tree, the Holly King, the sweets, the mistletoe and more.  I’m not one to repeat all that here.

Yule is important because it marks the longest night of the year.  The days have gradually become shorter until winter arrives and while Winter is nowhere near done, Yule marks the promise that Light will reign again.  From this day forward, each day will become a bit longer, the light will last longer.  It’s  a promise of Spring and Summer that seem so far away.

These days, it’s easy to forget that.  We have electricity and furnaces and food in plenty.  At this time of year, I am always amazed that in older times, people would have such faith in the turning of the seasons that they would feast on the darkest of days. Think about it.

Their homes were drafty and cold.  Even when the harvests were good, they didn’t have the means to store food like we do.  Their lives depended on what they had stored from the harvest and what the men could hunt.  On December 21st, they still had the coldest months of January and February to depend upon their food stores then March before they saw a hint of fresh herbs growing wild.  Game was scarce.  Animals stuck close to their dens and men close to their fires.  Yet, every year, from the humblest of towns

to the high halls of the lords

(photo from Dreamstime.com)

the lady of the house would take stock of her stores and lay out a feast for Yule.   What faith that must have taken!  To use the best of what you had to celebrate the coming of Light when you could not know if you would have enough to last through the coldest months!

That is the magic of Yule for me, that incredibly enduring Faith.  I am always mindful of it as this season comes.  I wonder that it does not get “lost” in our mad scramble for gifts and decorations.  I try to take time to reflect on what really matters, not what gifts I can buy but what gifts I can give, of my time, my love, stories, food and just sharing good energy.  Call  old friends, forgive someone, laugh with children, share joy and light, the riches you have and have faith that these are things you will not run out of.

Send a card:  If you are looking for pagan cards, I know the perfect place to find them.   Moondragon Cards is based in the UK and has some gorgeous cards for all seasons AND calandars!   Find them on Facebook

Celebrate the birth of the child of Light