Obsession, Dependency & More Eye Candy:FTR

I started writing this from the car Friday morning, on the way to Montego Bay. A beautiful day for a drive, even if the purpose of the mission was to sort out yet another Jamaican postal calamity/bureaucratic bull shi*! I find I sail through such situations smoothly when I put on my happy face and grin with gratitude.

Update: Eight hours later, after a very long day of bureaucratic servitude, the grin of gratitude waned, and I didn’t have the energy to continue this post. I am having an impossible time typing because my keyboard has gone ballistic and refuses to function without an external mouse (which is sitting on my desk at home, oops).

Which reminds me that I’ve yet to share with you the very sad news that my beloved macbook is on the fritz. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so emotionally bonded to and dare I say, dependent on a machine (with the exception of my first record player, and perhaps my last mac). My mac is my home theatre, stereo, blog center, and correspondence aid. Almost everything to me!

There is no doubt that my creative, artistic and computer skills have grown infinitely in the last few years of relationship with this laptop. And I am sad to admit that this trusty mac is on the fast track to retirement. Hopefully, she will be grazing greener pastures and browsing the net in easy, relaxed fashion in no time. For now I am squeezing every ounce of usability from this workhorse for as long as the keyboard and mouse hold out. Fingers crossed!

This week I’m obsessed with flower forming and polenta recipes though not in combination. The options presented by these two very diverse mediums (polenta and flowers) are limitless. I had no idea! I am including a few pics of recent creations and am considering adding a recipes category.

Have a fabulous weekend!

One Love, walk good, fingers crossed, hope to blog again soon…

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Manifest Monday, To Do Lists & Simple Transformations

Really? It’s Monday? Already? Whew! What a gorgeous weekend. Hope you had as much fun as we did over here on the rock. Just soaking up sunshine (not saying this to make you feel bad, but it’s true) and the heavenly breeze, savoring ripe fruits and in joying some good ol’ fashion family time.

Sometime last week, I made a comment about wanting to disassemble the shelves in the family room and refurbish them. Within moments a few bredren (male peeps), including my husband, descended and commenced said project. Ummm, I didn’t realize anyone actually heard me murmuring to myself about wanting to make this change. How’s that for action? Well, the shelves were painted by late afternoon and well on their way to dry. The only glitch was that I needed fabric to finish the base of the shelves. And where we live, going to buy fabric is pretty much an all day event.

This is, after all, Jamaica. If you don’t live here, you may have heard that everything takes between 3 and 100 times longer to do.

So, I still need the fabric for the finishing. And silly me, I, didn’t even think to take before pics of said project for you. So the ‘after” images will have to suffice. That is, as soon as I get fabric (hopefully, later today or tomorrow) and actually coax the shelves into a photo worthy, “after” state. I think it will be refreshing to enhance this corner of our home and I look forward to the change.

Manifesting a newly refurbished space (albeit small) can be a very easy thing to do. Especially if your contribution consists of murmuring under your breath, which is all I’ve done, so far anyway. The fabric part is easy and I’ll share with you later this week some quick fix, cost effective storage (Not made in China)!

What are you manifesting this monday? Rearranging your cosmetics drawer might make your week a little happier. Maybe you are buying pretty, new towels to fold and put away in your (freshly reorganized, hint, hint) linen closet? Why not give away or recycle the magazines next to your bed? You know, the stack you’ve flipped and read through one hundred times (but haven’t parted with because you might read them one more time). Making a list of house, art or craft projects you’d like to work on is also a great start!

Remember! The simple task of writing a to do list can bring forward little and/or grand changes! Anyway, I’d love to hear what you’re working on! 🙂

Oh yeah, and do you like my latest Exotic Blüm?

One Love, walk good, off to revamp…

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Studio Friday: Specimens & A New Name?

As you can see it’s been busy  over here on the rock. My head is swirling with inspiration, imaginations and images.  I am over at Studio Jru again for show & Tell. Participating in this Friday engagement keeps me on my toes and definitely makes me more cognizant of my work/s in progress. 🙂

Thread, needles, beads, findings, embellishments and curiousities are abundant. And I dare not show you a wide angle view of the work area! Scary. But I will be doing some scooping, storing and organizing in the studio this weekend to make it more roomy and bearable. Sometimes I am so overpowered by the muse/s I actually forget where I am and what I’m doing. Moving from skrap to skrap, objet to objet, image to image. It consumes me. Perhaps too much.

Honestly, sometimes I just can’t turn it off. I need to learn how.

Nonetheless, it’s been a relatively productive week. I am gaining momentum and excitement about the potential for said new line of hair adornment/s. I am stuck on the name. I would love to enlist you to help me and give some feed back as to which name you think best suits this pursuit?

So far I’ve come up with with:

 

blüm by ila blu

or

flora by ila blu

Of course the blüm is pronounced bloom and flora is pronounced flora.

Which do you prefer? I like them both and think either could work. So???……

I am wishing you an oustanding weekend. I hope you start or continue something you love, preferably creative.

One Love, walk good, gone to get some sunshine…

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Passion, Desire & Blooming: From the Rock

Traditionally, flowers have significant meanings attributed to them. In times past, folks gifted flowers with intended messages. Red flowers and particularly roses can symbolize, passion, desire, red hot, love, and energy.

This vermillion beauty is definitely a dose of sexy. Worn as a hair adornment or on a blouse, purse or shoe, as a fascinator, a pretty drop of red goes a long way. This simple accessory can take your winter blahs to fabulous! I am a huge fan of hair adornment and head dressings. Honestly they make my day! More often than not, I clip a little beauty into my big ol’ bun o’ hair (natty dreadlocks minus the dread) to pull my look and self together. It adds such a cheerful element to my face and outings. Often a conversation opener and always an eye catcher!

I am so loving and inspired by my recent floral explorations. I think I am almost ready to offer them for sale. I feel myself blooming in new directions with this craft that draws on so many of my gifts. It is challenging and gratifying and eco savvy as I am incorporating primarily reclaimed fabrics. Yay!

What do you think?

Might you consider adding one, two or three, of these to your wardrobe experience?

One Love, walk good, hope your day is red hot!

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Not Every Day Can Be A Good Day & Discovering Nasty:FTR

It’s not often you get the opportunity to discover just how much your jewelry label has in common with an escort service out of somewhere in Missouri! And although my recent discovery made my stomach queezy like a row boat on the deep sea (in a tropical storm), and as I write this I am not feeling my full hundred, I am recovering.

The truth is, not every day can be a good day!

I feel for Saturday because it certainly is not the first day of the weekend’s fault that I am so peeved. Saturdays around here are very relaxed, we soak in sunshine, chill with the family, eat gorgeous food, and I don’t make the bed. Today is a bit different, the mood is not exactly mellow. Truthfully it’s my fault, had I followed protocol and listened to my gut (which screamed at me “no bizness today”!!!) I probably could have avoided this discovery for weeks or even months to come. ‘Nuff said.

I know we’ll get through this and maybe even laugh about it someday. Maybe.

In my last creative life, before my babes came, I was a counselor to homeless women and children. My work focused primarily on survivors of the streets, domestic violence and sex abuse. Heavy right? This cause consumed about eight years of my life. And in some ways taught me more about being a woman then I ever wanted to know. Needless to say, I have no tolerance for the trafficking, selling or dealing of human beings. It is a sensitive subject and very close to my heart. Which explains why I felt close to heartbroken to discover that somebody has co-opted the name of my jewelry label to further such interests. I suppose it could be worse, as it appears, that the individual/s involved are fully consenting adults.

But who’s to say?

Not everyday can be a good day.

Featured above is a slightly digitally altered scan of  one of my art journal entries. It sums up the tone and mood I experienced upon discovering the nasty side of  my creative life. Because sometimes words just don’t cut it.

One Love, walk good, time for some serious damage control…

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F*** Key Strokes & A Studio Slide Show:From the Rock

So, I have officially uploaded my first video to something blu today! Never mind that it’s a close up, still shot, slide show of a few inspired and interesting corners of my little workspace on the rock. I am joining the crew over at studio jru, where some very creative folks will be sharing sneak peeks of our studios on Fridays.

Little did I know how challenging this would really be.

In my college days, at Reed, a couple of friends used to call me icon girl. It was a joke (but not really) to poke fun at the fact that keystrokes were completely lost on me. I was always pleased that my handy mac offered a little picture that I could click on to accomplish pretty much any task I desired. This is more and more true with the ever growing user friendliness of the Mac and computers in general.

Well, how ya like me now? I have learned so much about computers, technology, the internet, and wordpress in the last few years. And, I am not ashamed to admit that I am still icon girl. Forgive me photoshop. What can I say? I will always choose to click a picture for a function if it’s possible to avoid keystrokes.

I’m sure I’m not alone in my icon girl preferences. There must be thousands of us out there.

In the meanwhile, I keep my hands free to focus on what is most important. Laundry, meals, the occasional artistic adventure and producing life changing adornment for the folks who wear it best!

One Love, walk good, hope you love your space as much as I groove with mine…

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Reach for the Sky:Stories from the Rock

When I was a little girl I had a friend. He was a little boy and we got along famously. I can’t recall his name. Not for sure anyway. I think it was Tommy. He was a few months older than me. And when you’re five, a few months make a big difference. He knew things, lots of things. He told me he knew how to fly. Tommy said he would share his secret with me. One day.

Now this was way back in the days of making cardboard cameras out of Carnation Breakfast Bars boxes. I believed in the power of cardboard cameras. Back then, I believed I could fly. I believed in Tommy. Over the course of a couple of weeks, he did share his secret. It turns out, Tommy had a magic ring. A ring with a propeller on it. If you made the propeller spin fast enough the ring had the power to pull you up into the sky. The ring could make you fly.

I remember day dreaming about said ring. Sooooooo, magical. Eventually, Tommy promised to give me the propeller ring. I was gonna fly. The promise gave me new purpose in life. I had never been so excited to get to school. Every day I hurried to the playground to find Tommy. So sure he brought the propeller ring for me. I can’t count how many times Tommy forgot that ring. I never lost hope. This went on for weeks (maybe months); Tommy forgetting, me dreaming.

Tommy never brought the magic ring. Although, just before he moved away he gifted me with another ring. Beautiful it was but lacking magic. Silver with a blu rectangular, faceted, stone. I don’t know if it was blu glass or aquamarine. It was huge. I used scotch tape and meticulously wrapped the ring to make it hold firmly to my tiny finger.

I don’t know what became of that ring. I do know the little girl that lives inside of me still believes in cardboard cameras and Tommy’s magic ring. I still believe I can fly. Maybe not like Super Girl, but I can soar. And so can you. Here’s to the power of intention. Spin your ring and reach for the sky.

You never know, you just might fly…

One Love, walk good, off to soar…

 

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Charm Lura™ Mama Necklace: From the Rock

Recently, I had the pleasure of creating these one of a kind Charm Lura™ pendants for a long time classmate and friend (from the high school years). I love making Mommy necklaces as they carry a special vibration and purpose. I incorporated Jamaican limestone inside of the charms and added swarovski pearl, amber and czech glass for “sparkle”. A huge fan of yellow, Melissa naturally gravitated toward the warm, yumminess of copper and amber.

It is especially good fortune (krafty karma) to design and create pieces for creative folks. As a mom and crafter, Melissa, knows the significance and value of hand made, intentional, lovelies. Melissa is the owner of  Lullababes, Hip Blankies for the Next Generation. If you know any expecting mommies or toddlers who’ve recently lost their blankies, Melissa’s handmade hipster blankets rock! Lullababes blankets are thoughtful, unique, loving gifts. You can learn more about Melissa’s crafty success and purchase her handmade blankets here.

Charm Lura™ pendants make fabulous Mother’s gifts and necklaces, or bracelets. Here is a photo of the alternate sides of Melissa’s charms. She chose to include the birth years as well as names in her one of a kind ila blu piece. Melissa, I wish you the best of everything (especially crafty aspirations) this coming year. In joy!

One Love, walk good, Happy New year!

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Fare Thee Well 2010! More Love:From the Rock!

In the end, Love is all there is… What an amazing year! Full of creativity, connections and custom adornment. This is the last post of 2010! The picture above says it all. A recent commission for a dear friend’s mother, Love is all there is. If we practice nothing else let us practice love. May love be the foundation, and fountain for every word, choice, thought and action this coming year…

I feel blessed beyond. I am grateful for the fabulous folks that light up my days and life. Thanks to all of the readers who come here for building something blu into something real. Stay tuned for the next phase of branding (site and blog overhaul). For now I leave you with a list of a few of my favorite posts this year. In joy.

What’s your favorite? I’d love some feedback!

Finding one shoe in the dark: From the 33rd Parallel

Ode to Moms and Housewives

Never Go to bed Angry: Lessons From the Rock

Ten Reasons Every Day Should be Father’s Day

You Are Never Alone

Ghetto Love

Five

One Love, Walk Good, in to 2011…

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And the Winner is…

Happy Holidays to one and all! I hope you are still feeling the joyful holiday vibe! I am thrilled to announce the winner of the December ila blu give away! And although we can’t all be winners, all of the time, I do have a treat in mind for those of you who participated but did not win this time around. I will share in full detail later this week. So stay tuned. So many thanks for all of the upful and positive comments regarding my jewelry and this little ol’ blog. And big ups to Random.org for the technical savvy and random determination of the winner!

Emily Allison, the poetess, prolific prose, phenom, of  True for Now will receive a design consultation and one of a kind piece of ila blu adornment! I look forward to speaking with Miss Emily Allison so we can dream and design her statement jewelry. I adore Emily Allison’s blog and was thrilled to have discovered it some time ago. Do take a moment to bless and bliss out your eyes, heart and soul with her blog. Reading her prose I felt as if I was unearthing some long lost piece of myself. Her writing is stupendous, haunting, simple, complex, anthropologic, ancestral, juicy goodness. And I am deeply curious as to what we will design together! Something Fabulous no doubt!

I am grateful that you dropped by to be a part of this offering and community! Give thanks and praise! Any resolutions, solutions, transformations or aspirations rising to the surface for you as the New Year rapidly approaches? I’d love to hear. I am inspired by your dreams…

One Love, walk good, all is calm and quiet….

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