Day 7 ~ One A Day ~ Polymer clay play

I decided that today I was going to play with clay, but when I went to get it our, there wasn't the array I thought there was. This bracelet is what i call a sample run. The beads are all made out of related canes.
The bracelet base is an elasticated base in gold plate.

Sunshine Blog Award

What a lovely surprise when amid all the washing machine flood and hectic life, i discover that Elissa of Not Just Handbags has awarded me the Sunshine Blog Award for inspiring her to get crafting again! Thank you so much, it will look very pretty.

I now have to ellect 12 blogs to pass the award onto, not an easy task!

Ladies and gentlemen, may i have your attention please, the sunshine blog awards go to:

Sweet nothings : BJ thanks for sharing your lovely photos with the world!

Crafterholic: I love your blog and find it incredibly inspirational!

Sue Beads: I love to see what new creations you've been making!

Bodrighy: great to see so many beautiful things in one place!

Chasing cherios: Love your eclectic blog!

Unbought delicaces: wonderful crafting inspiration!

Emma Lamb: such a beautiful blog to read and look at!

A bun can dance: What a cute name for a blog. Great read!

Desert Colors: stunning photos, very inspirational!

A Baby changes everything: Such an inspirational read.

Aquamarine: love your use of colours.

Arlines allsorts: weddings and crafting ... too things i really love!

tat's all folk! I have to go and tidy up now!

Day 6 ~ One A Day Challenge ~ Floral mobile charm

Very nearly didn't get to make anythig today diue to a serious washing machine flood. Not going to shout too much about it because the filter drain became blocked with ............ a bead.
Luckily I managed to utilise my jewellery tools to open it up and remove it.

Anyway, better late than never is a mobile charm created using more of my acrylic flowers.

Blogging ~ A celebration

Another post inspired by a forum!
A year and a half ago, Blogs were unknown in my life. I barely knew what one was although I'd have had a guess. Those that wrote them were passionate about them and eventually inspired by one particular blogger (swirlyarts), I started my own.
It was a relitively easy process and Crystal Velvet Weddings sprang to life. I then had to make the decision as to whether to keep it as a professional or social blog and professional won the day.
That left a gap in my blogging life and I contacted another crafts forum member and together we set up Creative and Faithful. I really didn't believe that I had the time or inclination to write two blogs. Very soon though it became clear that I could and the friend left as she had big things happening in her life. Crystal Velvet is a happy balance in the crafting, personal thoughts and a bit of worship thrown in for good measure. I then started up a third blog Hallelujah Joy which is purely worship. There are a few cobwebs over there, but when I feel led, it'll be polished up!

My blogging day begins by logging in to see if there are any comments on my blogs, I then go onto the dashboard and read the posts on the blogs I follow. The beauty of Dashboard is that I can see just a snippt of each blog and can click on any that I want to read more of. I like to leave little comments of encouragement and in some cases prayer. It's such a privaledge to read the inner thoughts of people who don't even know me, to see what makes them tick and to share in their highs and lows. Thnk you to all of you whose blogs I read for giving me inspiring thoughts and stories. It makes me feel that I start my day off surrounded by my freinds from all over the world.

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.