SOCIAL MEDIA

3/1/13

The 2nd Annual Challenge of Music Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the 2nd annual Challenge of Music Blog Hop!


The lovely Erin Praiz-Hintz of Treasures Found is the fabulous host of this unique and fun hop.  This is my second year participating, and I loved it as much this year as last!

The rules are simple: "Find a piece of instrumental music that speaks to you soul. The goal is to find a piece of music without any choral accompaniment, so that you have the freedom to interpret the colors, textures, shapes, movements and images that it evokes."

 The song I chose is called "A Look Back" by The Album Leaf, and was written for the soundtrack for a documentary called "Torey's Distraction".  Here's the plot summary from the movie's Facebook page:
"TOREY’S DISTRACTION tells the story of three children with Apert Syndrome - a rare genetic condition that causes craniofacial anomalies and skeletal mutation. Torey Harrah, Emily Hogan, and Saige Blotske were born with fused skulls, fingers, and toes. Without surgery they risk lifelong brain damage and possibly death. 

Filmed with love and humor over ten years, filmmaker Tisha Blood provides an intimate glimpse into the transforming powers of science, family, hope and compassion."

Here's the link to "A Look Back" by The Album Leaf

The story behind the song is beautiful, and I would love to see it sometime, but it isn't why I chose it.  I was looking for a soothing, simple instrumental that would calm the craziness in me, and this one does just that.  In addition, I've been really trying to get back to my roots as far as my jewelry designs go, and I thought the title was very appropriate for that as well.

 Without further ado, here's the piece I created:
"Center"

  I pulled out Barbara Lewis' book, "Torch Fired Enamel Jewelry: A Workshop In Painting With Fire", as I've been itching to get my torch out again.  In it I found a design that I really wanted to try out, which Barbara calls "Of Space And Time".  Pulling out my copper sheet and enamels, I made the focal in beautiful crackle white covered with transparent periwinkle (crackle white is my favorite enamel!).



focal detail
Then I pulled out my lime-yellow enamel, combined it with the periwinkle enamel and copper beads and made the beads for the necklace itself, which I threaded and knotted onto a piece of lavender-mauve-ish recycled sari silk.

whole necklace with accent chain and bead

 I finished the design up with some antiqued copper chain and accent beads threaded onto handmade copper headpins.  The end result is a simple and colorful wear-everywhere summery necklace.

 A big thank you to Erin for coordinating this hop!  There are a total of 48 bloggers participating today, so take a few minutes to check out their beautiful designs:
The Challenge of Music participants:

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2/28/13

A Little Quiet Music....

For tomorrow's Challenge of Music blog hop, we had to choose an instrumental song to use as inspiration.  I almost cheated and used this song, because I love the gentle quietness of the harp/acoustic guitar combination with the soft harmonies.  So, instead of cheating, I decided to share the song with you today:

"Requiem on Water" by Imperial Mammoth


Enjoy this song tonight and come back tomorrow for the Challenge of Music blog hop!
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2/22/13

Bead Soup Blog Partner and Challenge of Music Hop Info From A Very Bad Blogger...

I looked at my blog and am embarrassed to see that I haven't updated it since October of last year!  You would assume that it is because I've been so unbelievably busy that I just haven't had the time to write, but this just isn't the case.  The truth is that I've been extremely unmotivated to write.  That's it. No big event or anything - just unmotivated.

Until today.  Today I finally feel like writing again and it feels great. I've got a lot going on, and am looking forward to sharing regular updates again, so here goes:

I am participating in a couple of upcoming blog hops, and I'm really looking forward to them!  The first I'll share with you is Lori Anderson's 7th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party, with the reveal date of March 30th.  My fabulous partner this round is the amazing Laura Bracken of Laura Bracken Designs.  She sent me this beautiful soup mix:

Such beautiful packaging!

LOVE these colors!
I've got a ton of ideas as to how to use these beads, and I can't wait to start working on them!  Here's the soup mix I sent to Laura:
Beautiful poppy beads with accents by Tanya McGuire and gorgeous lampwork beads by Kaz Baildon of Cheeky Cherub Designs and Mary Cobble of Firebabies.
I can't wait to see what Laura makes!

The other hop I'm participating in is the 2nd Annual challenge of Music Blog Hop hosted by the lovely Erin Praiz-Hintz of Tesori Trovati Jewelry:


The reveal for this hop is on Friday, March 1st, and there are 48 fabulous participants.  I've been working on choosing my music and creating my piece, and can't wait to share both with you!

That's about it for now.  Have a fabulous night my friends!
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2/29/12

Blackbird: Challenge of Music Blog Hop

Erin Praiz-Hintz of Treasures Found: Inspiration is Everywhere issued a "Challenge of Music" blog hop that I couldn't resist participating in.  Music has always been a huge part of my life, and is probably the one medium that has spoken loudest to me ever since I can remember.

For this hop, we were to choose a song that is meaningful to us and create a piece of jewelry that expresses something about that song.  The song I chose is "Blackbird":

"Blackbird"
Made using a hand-etched and soldered copper bezel patinaed with white patina from MissFickleMedia on Etsy, handmade fused glass cabochon, beautiful lampwork beads from Firebabies on Etsy, a handmade clasp and a bit of etched copper chain and recycled sari silk.

"Blackbird was originally written by Paul McCartney for the Beatles after reading about the race riots in the US.  Here's a piece of an interview he did about the song:
McCartney told Mojo magazine October 2008: "We were totally immersed in the whole saga which was unfolding. So I got the idea of using a blackbird as a symbol for a black person. It wasn't necessarily a black 'bird', but it works that way, as much as then you called girls 'birds'; the Everlys had had Bird Dog, so the word 'bird' was around. 'Take these broken wings' was very much in my mind, but it wasn't exactly an ornithological ditty; it was purposely symbolic."
When I first heard this song, it touched me so deeply, but not in the way the Beatles intended.  These lines: 
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
have such a graphic quality to me.  I love the idea of someone broken who can still fly free - it is so much in line with the philosophy behind my blog and my life.


The version you are listening to now by Sarah McLachlan completely mesmerizes me - it is so haunting and clear and without pretense - so beautiful.


Here are the complete lyrics for you:


Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise



I hope you enjoyed the song and the reasons behind why I chose it for my inspiration in this hop.  You can find a list of the other wonderful participants on Erin's blog, Treasures Found: Inspiration is Everywhere!

Happy Hopping!
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2/28/12

New Blog Look and Two Blog Hops Tomorrow

I am so excited about the new look of my blog!  Leah Spence of Just Call Me Blessed  designed my new beautiful custom blog header and social media buttons, as well as a whole other lot of graphics for my other social media sites that I'm still working on updating.  She does fabulous work and  is super easy to work with.  I highly recommend her, so stop by her Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/JustCallMeBlessed and see what she can do for you!

Next, tomorrow is the reveal day for 2 blog hops that I am participating in:

The Poppy Challenge with Joanne Tinley of Daisychain Designs



The Challenge of Music with Erin Praiz-Hintz of  Treasures Found

Stop back by tomorrow and check out my challenge pieces!

Also, I found a fantastic website that gives great techniques on personalizing your blog using the HTML codes with Blogger's new templates:


Check them out - even I was able to tweak my codes without crashing my computer!
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