Esther ~ another Heroine!

Rembrant ~Esther Xerxes and Haman dining.

Following on from yesterdays post about Miep Gies, I found my memory jogged about another heroine of mine.

As a teenager, I was told the story of Esther and for some reason she seemed to me to be an amazing woman and one whom I aspired to be like. I'm not sure why she touched me, but it was probably because like Miep, she risked her own life to protect other people.

If you are Jewish, I'm sure you will be very familiar with the story, but for those of you who are not, then I'll tell you all about Esther ...

Esther lived in the land of Persia. She was an imigrant, her father and mother were dead and she was being raised by her uncle Mordecai.

The area was ruled over by King Xerxes (pronounced Zerk sees.) One day Xerxes held a large banquet and asfter he'd had quite a bit to drink called for his wife Vashti to come so that all the courtiers and guests could see how beautiful she was. Vashti refused and theis embarrassed the king greatly. This embarrassment turned to anger and he had Vashti exiled from the palace.

The king then set out to find a new wife. He called all the eligable girls to the palace. They were all treated for a year wth beuaty treatments, lotions and potions and in that year Esther made quite a hit with everyone who met her.

At the end of the year, the girls wre paraded in font of the king.

Xerses fell in love with Esther, she was beautiful and has a radience about her.

With out knowing she was a jew, (her Uncle Mordecai had told her not to let on), Xerxes married her.

Two of the kings ministers plotted to kill the king and Mordecai told Esther and she in turn told the king. The plot was foiled and then the king elected Haman to be minister. Haman was a man who hated the jews. What fueled his hatred more was the fact that Haman wanted everyone to bow to him in him new ministerial position. Mordecai refused because he said his Jewish faith did not allow it. Haman set out to see the downfall of the jews. He asked the king to decree that all the jews should be killed. The king did indeed decree it and set a date.

One night the king could not sleep and ordered his servants to bring him the diaries and to read from them. The entry that was read concerned the overthrowing of the plot to assasinate him. Xerzes asked what reward had been given to the man who had discovered the plot and found that no reward had been given.

The next morning he called Haman to him and asked what should the king do to reward the man who pleased him? Haman, thinking that the king was going to reward him said dress him in your robes and have your top man lead him about the city. Imagine Hamans anger and surprise when the king instructed him to go to Mordecai and lead him about the city.

Mordecai begged Esther to go to the king and beg for the pardoning of the jews. Esther was afraid, to enter the kings quarters with out his summoning was punishable with death. She pryed and faested and after three days went to the king.

The King although angry did not kill her, but asked what she wanted. Esther asked the king and Haman to dine with her. They did so and Esther met favour with the king, tell me what you want h said, even if it half my kingdom and you shall have it said the king. Esther simply asked that the king and Haman would come agian the following day, when she would tell the king of her desires.

The following day Esther explained that she ws a Jew and that hanam had pltted against them. She asked for the death threat to be lifted. The king ordered the death of Haman and set the jewish people free from their death penalties.

The celebration that followed is known and celebrated to this day by Jewish people and is known as the feast of Purim.

Day 5 ~ One A Day ~ Red Earrings

These stunning silver leaf with red and pink detailing have been accented with filigree bead caps and tiny fire polished crystals to create these screw fasten earrings. They can actually be made with clip on's, hooks or stud tops.

The second pair of red earrings have beautiful red hearts with goldstone detailing and pink floral patterns. Again these earrings can be created as screw top, clip on, stud or hook tops.

Comments

Thank you to all those of you who have contacted me over the last few days to let me know that I cannot receive comments.
I have now fixed the issue, I hope, although I actually have no idea how. I simply clicked on some boxes and it now seems to be working.
As always I love to hear your thoughts on my posts.

Miep Gies

An english project to continue to share the story with those who don't know.
How poignat that towards the end of the video we are told that she is still alive and healthy. Sadly she died yesterday following a short illness.

Day 5 ~ One A Day ~ Amethyst Tiara

Created for a client, I have finally finished this textural crown. Created with aged silver wire and deeply rich peices of amethst, this crown is destined for big things!

More amethyst next month!!

Miep Gies ~ A real Heroine

Prompted by a post this morning on one of the forums I frequent, I began to think about what women were my heroes.

My initial thought were of those who had done brave and cutting edge things for women, the suffragettes who fought for our votes. Those who had pioneered work in contraception and womens health.

Sitting in the car on the way to the shops, I began to think of who else would be in my top 5. At that point Miep Gies came to mind.

Miep was the last surviver of the goup of people who protected Anne Frank and her family and hid them from the Nazi's.

Miep was originally from Vienna, but moved to Holland when she was 11.

She worked as a secretary for Anne's father Otto.

When the war broke out and the Nazi's invaded Holland, they arrested all the Jews and rounded them up, put them on trains and sent them to concentration camps.

Miep, along with five other people risked their lives taking food and supplies to Anne, her sister and parents, another family and a single man who were squashed into an attic of the wharehouse where they worked. Miep and the others daily put themselves at risk, sharing their rations and visiting them. Miep provided the journals and notebooks that became the "Diary of Anne Frank"

Sadly Anne and her fellow hiders were betrayed and they were discovered and sent to camps by the Nazis.

Anne died of Typhoid in Belgen Belsen camp.

Annes Father Otto, was the sole survivor and after the war he returned to Amsterdam. It was then that Miep Gies handed him the diary written by Anne, that she had found in the attic after the Nazi's had taken Anne away.

Miep is in my eyes a true Heroine, a person who putting thoughts for her own safety and well being aside had cared with compassion for someone else.

What makes my thoughts so humbleing is that after I had been into the shops, I put on the radio for the return journey to hear the news that Miep Gies passed away on monday following a short illness. She was 100 years old at the time of her death and her lasting statement "I only did what seemed necessary at the time" should be a mantre for us all.

Day 4 ~ One A Day ~ Beaded Bookmarks

Todays make was beaded bookmarks. Created with these stunning silver coloured crook style bookmark bases.

Beads are then added to produce weight that hangs gracefully down the outer spine of the book.

Always great little gifts for taking to dinner parties, or for giving out to friends!

Day 3 ~ One A Day ~ Earth toned wrap around bracelets

I love working in an earth toned palate. These two bracelets are created on memory wire which is a special wire that maintains it's shape and "holds on" to the wrist. The bracelet above is created with smal beads and chips in gemstones including tigers eye, amethyst and rhodonite. there are also wooden, glass and metal beads.

This second bracelet is accented with wooden and glass beads. The small beads are a mix of ochres, oranges, chartreus, and grey, purple lustre beads.

Day 2 ~ One a day ~ Art Cards

If you saw this blog a couple of days ago youu'd have seen the sheets of mini artworks I created using acrylic paints.

These cards are made using the cut out and mounted art works.

By changing the mounts, I am able to highlight different aspects of each piece.

Suitable for all occasions as they are left blank for your own greetings.

So that's day 2's creation!

Day 1 ~ One a day challenge ~ flower girl band

I have had these stunning acrylic flower petals and heads for nearly a year! This has been a great excuse to get them out to start working with. They are accented with Swarovski crystal beads in amethyst colour and some filigree bead caps. The flowers are available in many many different colours and can be combined to match perfectly with any colour.

That's day one over and done with!

My Challenge ~ one a day!

Having been inspired by another blog trawl yesterday I have spent the night thinking and am going to go for it.

Go for what?

The challenge to create something everyday for the next year!

So have to get on my thinking cap and go for it.

Paint Playtime!

I haven't had time to make any cards for a very long time and most markets someone comes and asks me if I have any cards yet.

On the spur of the moment this morning I grabbed my paints (acrylics) and some acrylic paint board and started to play.

The top three images are the individual painted panels that will be glued onto the front of cards.

They start life as a series of developing colour blocks each a little different from the one before, but all worked in sequence. (above: top row : left to right. Middle row: right to left. bottom row: left to right.

Once the paintings are dry, they'll be cut out with a small white border area.

The next time someone asks me f I have any cards, I'll be able to reply "yes".

South Cave Farmers Market ~ January

South Cave Farmers market for Saturday 9th January 2010 has been cancelled due to concerns about the weather.

Cocoa and blankets

One of my joys is going onto the dashboard setting of blogger and reading through the offerings on every ones blog. Today a post caught my eye and I went for a read and as usual got lost in the blog. That blog was Cocoa and blankets. written by a Drama teacher from West Yorkshire.

After meandering through her beautiful photos of recent excursions I stumbled upon this post, the story of the other wise man. The story is beautiful and is accompanied with amazing artwork.

Thank you for sharing!!

New year ~ New beads!

Happy New Year to all my Blog readers. May 2010 be all you hope for!

For the past few days in the lull between the christmas festivities and the new year, I have been rearranging my Pandora style beads and bracelets. I have received two huge consignments of beads and have had endless fun sorting out and partnering up the beads. There are still lots more to add so keep checking them out.

Pandora style beads

Pandora style clips and metal beads



Pandora style crystal beads and bracelet bases

all available through www.crystalvelvet.co.uk