Sunday, March 28, 2010

What do you do when you're not feeling well?

Everybody handles illness in different ways. My husband likes to relax in his chair and watch old Star Trek episodes and really old horror films. Normally I end up watching those with him when I should be doing something else. We are both big Star Trek junkies. When I'm not feeling well, typically I like to stay in bed and read and drink tea and nap as much as possible. Well, I've been out of the loop for about a week now dealing with some illness I've never had before and finally, finally I'm starting to feel better after nights and nights of sleeplessness, new symptoms arising with each sunrise, and "medication time, medication time" (who knows what movie that quote is from?) that I so do not like to take. But I was not in a place where I could concentrate enough to read or relax enough to nap or do most anything that I would do during a "normal" bout of sickness.

So I'm going to spare you the horrid details and just tell you that at least this sickness gave me a chance to do a little beading over the past two days, which I haven't done in a long, long time. I sure didn't have the energy to paint or to do scrimshaw, so beading was a good choice because it's rather relaxing and I can easily walk away from it if I need to. And no cleaning of brushes... the cleanup that accompanies painting is not such a fun task.

I began by doing repair to someone else's work. I have a friend who keeps me supplied with repair jobs, and this one has been hanging around for too long, so now it's done! Shown below are a few photos of my own new creations from Friday and Saturday. I may list one or two on Etsy, but I'm thinking that my Etsy shop will be foremost devoted to my paintings and piano key necklaces and an occasional unusual or interesting beaded necklace.

Arches of the Desert:
This necklace reminds me of Southwestern Desert colors and the movement in the enameled pendant reminds me of those Arches in Utah. The pendant is recycled/upcycled from an old pair of earrings. I love this piece with its ambers and browns and pinks and blacks. It contains coral, shell, copper, mookaite, red jasper, and oilslick rondelles.


Night Song:
Created with hematite rounds and freshwater pearls for the strand, this is a different kind of piece for me for two reasons: it uses only two stones where I normally use a variety of stones, pearls, crystals in one piece, and its pendant is removeable, so you can wear it with or without. The pendant features a glorious piece of agate that reminds me of the sky at night when the moon is almost full and the atmospheric clouds are lit up with its brightness. Surrounding the agate are tourmaline and a beautifully pale citrine.

Roots of My Soul:
Here's a necklace that features a wonderfully rustic and unique pendant by Etsy's claynfiber, a member of Etsyveg, one of the teams I'm a member of. I'm not sure if I'll list this piece or keep it myself. The pendant reminds me of tree branches and I've included earthy beads to accompany it. There are pietersite, white turquoise, Russian Picasso Jasper, hematite, moonstone, and copper. I think this is an elegant little piece in all its rustic goodness.

And finally, Sonoran Sundown:
Ah those desert colors again! Well, they're here too on the east coast during the fall and winter... the colors of grain growing wild in the barren fields, hay against a dark sky, fallen ash leaves mixed with the browns of oak leaves on the forest floor. This is a long necklace so that the gorgeous, and I mean gorgeous, lampwork glass focal bead nestles in the right spot of cleavage. This focal bead was created by R. Andrew Glass Studio on Etsy. It's large... 22 mm across and long, and it's full of beautiful ambers, creams, peaches, pale greens swirling throughtout the borosilicate glass. I've had it for about a year and waited for the right time to use it. It hangs from a 48 inch strand of a mix of gemstones, pearls, swarovski crystals, and fabulous sterling silver beads... all put in place to complement the focal bead. And sorry, folks, this one is MINE!


All of this to say that I guess you have to make the best of whatever is happening in your life while it's happening. Of course, that's not always easy, but it's often worth it.

11 comments:

  1. So sorry to hear you've not been well, Rebecca, but you certainly made great use of your time! My favorite is the Sonoran Sundown!!!

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  2. It's fun to see one of my pendants incorporated into your beautiful necklace!

    Hope you're feeling 100% quickly!

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  3. Gorgeous work, Rebecca, .yours and your use of others' pieces.. lovely blog post as always keeping us informed in your beautiful writing style of how you are faring and what you are up to!! ..Hoping the next one has news of complete recovery!

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  4. Wow! The first one is so eye-catching, as are all of them...beautiful photos! I hope you're feeling better!

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  5. Oh my Rebecca! You certainly used your "down" time in a beautifully creative way. I LOVE all these new pieces of yours! And so hope you're all better now! xoxo

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  6. Rebecca, so sorry about your illness, but amazed at what you created while you were "down". Every one of them is just gorgeous!!

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  7. Sorry you're under the weather, I hope you feel better soon. In the meantime you've made such gorgeous pieces. What I like about your jewelry creations is the weight combined with the earthy feel. They are all so unique. Incredible!
    As for Star Trek, I too am a big Trekkie and nothing is better than cozying up to an episode. Feel better!
    Cheers,
    Jo

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  8. Love that first necklace.

    I, and many people I know, have been sick lately too! I am finally on the mend and excited to be back in the world again:-) Glad to hear you are doing better.

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  9. The pieces are really lovely and I hope you are feeling better. Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I thought what you said was so true and thought provoking.

    xoSherry

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  10. Hope you are feeling better! I admire your tenacity when you are not feeling well. These creations are lovely! I'm into the allergy season and hoping things will soon stop blooming! Feel better soon!

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  11. that first piece is really special! Glad you are feeling better, too.

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