Bijouxfolle

Time to Make the Donuts...I mean Zucchini Bread!

2011-07-07T17:09:00.000-04:00

Yes! It is the big whopper, and soon it will be two beautiful, warm and fragrant loaves of zucchini bread. One is for my neighbors, who are the best neighbors anyone could have. Yesterday, they made us a pizza from the tomatoes in their garden. It was a Margherita pizza and the tomatoes were sliced on top of mozzerella cheese and fresh basil and sliced onions. It was Heavenly! So today I am working in the kitchen on the zucchini breads and having a lovely time. OK, let's get on with the procedure.

Mr. Biggie

Mr. Biggie was extremely happy and honored that he would soon be zucchini bread. So, he gave a great impression of a whale.

Time to remove the seeds...

Time to peel the skin ...

Cut the second half of the zucchini in cubes and place them in a freezer bag.

There it is! One of the two loaves I baked. The neighbors were delighted to have the other half. By the way, I attached a link to the previous post for the recipe for this one. It is delicious!

After baking all morning, I took Beauty the doggy for a walk outside and picked a nice bouquet of fragrant gardenias and beautiful pale purple hyacinths. A lovely end to a beautiful morning.

Bijouxfolle: MONSTER Zucchini

2011-07-06T08:48:00.001-04:00

Bijouxfolle: MONSTER Zucchini

MONSTER Zucchini

2011-07-06T08:44:00.001-04:00

Below are gorgeous zucchini squash blossoms. The leaves are so large they provide shade by covering the zucchinis and I really have to poke around in there among the stems and flowers to find the squash that are growing. Last night we had a small, tender zucchini mixed with tomatoes, poblano peppers, basil and thyme -- ALL from our garden! There's nothing better than fresh veggies you pick from your own backyard garden. YUM!

I harvested this zucchini about a week ago. It measures 16 inches long and 4 1/4 inches wide at the bottom and 2 1/4 inches at the stem end. WOW! I will be making zucchini bread today.
Here's the link to the recipe I will be following. I'll let you know how it turns out!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/moms-zucchini-bread/detail.aspx

The body of the purse

2011-07-05T12:21:00.003-04:00

To get to this point, I cut two pieces of fabric for one side of the purse lining and the other for the outside. I fused them together and used them as one piece.

The front of the purse is a piece of pink felt cut to fit the other side of the lining. I used roving and needle felting to create a butterfly and flowers on the front of the purse. I used sewing machine stitches to quilt the felt for detail and to attach a heart I cut from cotton cloth. I am now hand beading the purse to add some shine. I trimmed the top of the purse with vintage narrow pink ruffled lace and beaded that as well. Again I fused the lining to the felt to give the purse added stability.

The next steps could be to add more beading and later add a magnetic closure and a strap or handle. I'll think about that later today.

Toodles! :-)

Beaded Purses in addition to Beaded Jewelry

2011-07-05T10:04:00.000-04:00

Hi! I hope everyone enjoyed their barbecues yesterday and had a sparkling fireworks filled evening last night. We sure did! My little schipperke/pomeranian "watch dog" chose to wait out the fireworks in the bathroom until all the hoopla and noise disappeared. She is NOT a fan of loud noises, music or voices, but she is definitely a fan of loud squalks eminating from her rubber squeeky toys.

What I've been doing? The usual. Chasing beads, chasing rainbows. My most recent necklace is the one above. You can find it on my etsy shop janetkemp88.etsy.com

This necklace was inspired by a fairy tale. It is a whimsical translation featuring a jaunty brass frog, that is nestled between two stepping stones, in this case a vintage button and one of two bronze Chinese coins. Between the two coins is a lovely square, fern green, tangerine orange, and ivory white Ocean Jasper bead, entwined within a copper wrap. Hematite and jasper beads are joined by filigree beads and connect to a lovely metal pendant that features glass pearls, rhinestones.

Two glass pearl pendants, one with an antique metal adornment -- a Ferrule -- that once graced the handle of elaborately crafted French cutlery, swing from the pendant. The other side of the necklace is made from the remnants of an antique beaded French rosary that is very weathered. The white glass beads are tinted in spots with rust as are the metal wire connectors. Accenting the rosary beads is a lovely tomato red glass bead from Japan.

The necklace fastens with a barrel clasp. It is 23 inches long from one end of the clasp to the other end. The central pendant from the tip of the Ocean Jasper stone to the bottom of the longest pearl drop is 5 1/2 inches long.

So, has the princess kissed the frog yet? Let's hear from the frog, himself...RIBBET!

I'm taking another approach to satisfying my many years of bead addiction. I am going back to my sewing roots and combining all manners of soft fabrics and fibers with bright shiny beads and semi precious stones. It's a colorful and tactile world that I am happily entering into and just makes beading even better!

Sorry to Be So Long Getting Back to You All!

2011-03-13T12:12:00.000-04:00

I've been making pins for Spring that are lightweight and in pretty spring flower colors. This is one of them. Let me know what you think! Happy Springtime!

20 percent Sale at Delirium Designs Jewelry on Etsy

2010-11-07T15:18:00.000-05:00

For a limited time only, everything in my Etsy Shop is 20 percent off for the holidays! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!
Jan

A lovely day driving through the Gorgeous French Countryside

2010-10-24T08:24:00.000-04:00

We had been up very early to drive to one of several vide greniers -- the French version of a neighborhood garage sale, except that the term vide greniers translates to "empty the attic." We drove through the countryside and came upon this astounding field of sunflowers in full bloom. We pulled over and got out of the car and just languished in their beauty! I thought I'd share them with you! Enjoy!

Wow! A Big Sale at Delirium Designs Jewelry and Free Shipping!

2010-10-20T21:37:00.000-04:00

Everything in my Etsy shop -- http://www.janetkemp88.etsy.com/ is on sale!

Everything is 10 % off and FREE SHIPPING! Check it out for holiday gifts and something special for yourself.

Easy shopping, fast, free shipping, 20 percent off! Nice!

Delirium Designs Jewelry Box Embellishments

2010-10-16T10:06:00.002-04:00

This is my typical style of preparing a box for gift giving. It will typically come with a pretty ribbon or raffia bow and is always adorned with pretty paper flowers and always in DDJ's Brand colors which are turquoise and amethyst and a shop label showing a photo of one of my handcrafted jewelry pieces, the DDJ logo and website address.

Falling Leaves on a Wild and Windy Day

2010-10-07T11:03:00.012-04:00

I just finished this piece and am gearing up to teach a bracelet class next week:
Falling leaves on a wild and windy day.

Etsy Beadweavers

2010-09-13T08:17:00.005-04:00

There are just 2 days left!!! Please make sure to vote on your favorite Etsy Beadweaver's Sept. Challenge --Bollywood. We've all worked very hard to make our visions of Bollywood into a piece of beautiful jewelry. Take a look at what we have come up with. Thanks to all of you for your support!
http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/2010/09/september-bollywood-challenge-voting.html

The Etsy Beadweavers challenge "Bollywood"

2010-09-09T13:50:00.000-04:00

Go to this link to vote for your favorite Bollywood Jewerly piece! All designs and creations are beautiful!!
Have fun and enjoy the eye candy.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fetsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com%2F&h=b67a3

Callie and Beauty get Ready for Labor Day

2010-09-03T06:55:00.000-04:00

My cat, Callie, is approx 16 and still the Queen of the House. Beauty, my dog, is about 6 or 7, tries to draw the boundaries between her food dish and Callie, who if Beauty brushes by her too closely, she will swat at her with her fully clawed paws. It's Friday and a holiday weekend, so it is just the right time to show some pics of my fav canine and feline family members.

Beads Around the World

2010-08-29T12:43:00.001-04:00

Beads Around the World Display for Our Local Library

I will be teaching some beginning beading classes at our local library beginning in Sept., Oct. and Nov. It will be a lot of fun for me. When I lived in France, I taught classes at my home to a changing group of women from our International Women's Club. I haven't taught since then and I'm eager to do it again.

I also designed a display on beads, their fascination, a bit of their history, lore, and they types of beads from various countries. The display is in a glass case in the lobby, so people coming in and out of the library can take a look at it.

An Igloo at 90 Degrees Fahrenheit

2010-07-08T09:49:00.003-04:00

I can hardly believe how time has flown and dropped me into the month of July! I've been very busy with some issues unrelated to jewelry and I apologize for not posting sooner.

Anyway, here's what's going on in my studio and backyard! First off, I want to share what's going on in my studio.

I finished a pair of matching gemstone and glass bead woven earrings in green peridot and malachite, soft cantaloupe carnelian beads and orange and matte seed beads in purple, green, tan and orange. See photo. They are backed in suede cloth and swing from hand formed, gold filled earring wires. These are posted in my Etsy shop.

I will complete and post a matching pendant necklace today.

As I furiously watered everything as fast as I could, lest the poor plants expire, I saw a blur arise from one of the hanging flowering plants of bright red impatiens and zoom away. I surmised it might be a grasshopper, or a toad...aargh...but, I couldn't identify it.

Later in the day, I saw that same blur from the pot. This time it lightly skimmed the ground, but again, it was so fast, I couldn't quite see what it was. My husband took a look in the pot and found a well built nest of sticks with four speckled eggs inside.

The home belongs to a Carolina Wren, a small, brown and white bird who has built a nest in the plant! She has a built in garden apartment! It is a tightly knit little igloo-shaped nest, built out of small sticks and the opening is on the side of the nest. Inside are four beautiful pale blue speckled eggs. What a nice surprise! I will be careful not to water that plant too vigorously.

I will post photos of the pretty wren and her eggs very soon. I think she needs a day off from humans peering into her abode.

Borosilicate beads, live blues, old friends and jugglers at 70 degrees!

2010-05-18T18:02:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Mothers' Day was a glorious one indeed! My husband made breakfast for me and gave me a card that made me weep. He always does that with cards. I don't know where he finds them, but they are always wonderfully sentimental and he always adds his own words that are straight from his heart and pierce mine. What a wonderful man. I am so lucky! I heard from the girls as well, they both called me with warm wishes and I even got a bouquet of colorful roses from one daughter that graces and perfumes our bedroom.

We spent the day in our wonderful downtown area that boasts a natural waterfall right smack in the middle of town, a lovely riverside park and a pedestrian bridge over it. The temperature was 50 degrees when we arrived, but within hours it turned a very agreeable 70 degrees!

There were hundreds of venders, hawking their wonderfully creative works which included paintings, drawings, glass works, pottery, leather work, woodwork, and of course jewelry. I bought the beautiful hand crafted lamp worked borosilicate beads, which were crafted by Vermont artist, Anne Havel, and featured in this post. I cannot wait to create some designs with them.

Anne also had some gorgeous finished jewelry. If you ever get a chance to see her work, you will be delighted!

As far back as I can remember I’ve been piecing together tiny beads and shiny things to make pretty jewelry. At seven years old, I delighted in discovering the button tins that my Great Aunts kept. They were my joy, well… in addition to my Aunt Mame’s Boudoir doll. That doll sat on her bed pillow with her beaded skirt and crinoline billowed out around her and just the tip of one painted high heel shoe showing beneath. I sat quietly for hours next to that doll, sorting through buttons, beads, sequins and safety pins in the tin. I picked the tiny beads when the beads chose me, I strung them and a few sequins on the safety pins and my aunts praised me and served me ginger snaps and hot tea for creating brooches for them. I didn't know what a brooch was, but I was thrilled that my aunts were so happy with their pretty safety pins.

In the late ‘60s and ‘70s, I strung love beads to wear around my neck and I embroidered beaded flowers on the cuffs of my bell bottoms. It was around that time that became fascinated by vintage and antique jewelry. I scoured antique shops for Victorian necklaces and brooches featuring garnets and marcasite, bracelets of Bakelite and Miriam Haskell designs.

So inspired was I with the "treasures" I found, it was inevitable that I would next begin to develop and create my own designs. I studied silver fabrication and lost wax casting in college and beading at William Holland School of Lapidary Arts in Young Harris, GA.

A spry young 80-ish woman plucked my bags from my car trunk and carried them into the school for me before I could protest. I didn't know then that this woman who loved to cut and polish cabochons would become my mother-in-law; the bubbly man who taught chain making would become my father-in-law; or that their son, who happened to open the door to my room for me, when I couldn't, would become my husband.

In 2003, my husband and I moved to France and lived there for nearly four years. I did not work outside our home, so my days were filled with studying French and exploring the culture and people of a country so different from my own. I studied French with a tutor and I studied beading techniques from French books. I was intrigued by the French approach to beading and sought out beads and everything beady wherever I could. I frequented the local jewelry galleries, lace-making and crazy quilt schools and the two bead stores in town.

The Paris Art District has many bead shops that I would get lost in for hours and museums there showcased fine examples of bead weaving and stitchery in collections of period clothing.
Over the cold, damp winters, I taught basic bead stitches and techniques and simple bracelet patterns to students from a broad range of nationalities, though the majority were Americans and French. I held several expos of my jewelry that were well received and I became known to many as “the bead lady.”

When springtime sweeps color and life through France, the flea markets open in Paris, and in Auvergne, where I lived, weekends would find me at my favorite Brocantes rummaging through button tins again, sometimes finding vintage or even turn-of-the-century beads and buttons. one day, a bonanza of antique beads lay buried under lace remnants in a rose floral fabric covered box. I was lucky! The woman who sold them to me told me that they had been in her family for years and that they were made in Italy from Murano glass. After another day of walking the aisles at an outdoor flea market, I was overjoyed to find a cardboard box filled to the brim with clear plastic packets, weathered stiff with age, of vintage seed beads and bugle beads marked “Perles pour les robes” -- beads for dresses. I often incorporate these and other vintage and antique beads in my work.

Whole villages would turn out to sell their wares at weekend Vide Greniers (literally “empty the attic” sale). Many of these took place in small villages set in idyllic, sylvan settings, such as a farm or on the grounds of a chateau, the top of a mountain or under a volcano. It was at one of these sales that I found some of the beautiful beads featured in this blog, sold to me by Sophie, whose mother had been a couturiere in Paris in the late 1800s.

I'd like to share ideas, tips and my jewelry designs with fellow jewelry enthusiasts on any topic related to bead-woven jewelry. As I always say, it’s all about moving the beads around in such a manner as to delight the senses and soothe the savage beads.

A Bead Embroidery Necklace for Spring and Summer

2010-05-18T08:06:00.015-04:00

During the spring and summer I like to lose weight, not just for myself and the impending swimsuit season, but I like to pare down my jewelry creations as well, and design them to be lighter weight for the breezy, warming weather of spring and the hot and sticky days of summer.

This necklace is a lightweight example of less is more in the warmer weather. The ultra feminine, sensuous and swirly medallion drapes delicately from the center of a fine cable.

It is a simple, 3" x 1 1/2" bead woven and embroidered medallion designed around a cube Venetian foiled Sommerso glass bead. The pendant incorporates 3mm round coral beads, rose, bronze and coppery colored glass beads. The bail is bead woven in peyote stitch and slips over an 18" rose-colored cable.

The pendant is backed in pink leather. This piece is currently showcased on my Etsy site.

Greenville Greek Festival

2010-05-16T07:00:00.004-04:00

Yasoo! What a beautiful Saturday! My husband and I went downtown to the 24th annual Greek Festival, complete with live (could it have been a Bouuzouki? There are way too many classic Greek instruments for me to identify!) music, an outdoor market full of jewelry, jingling faux coin belly dance scarves, children dancing to lively music against a painted background of a Greek village, a grocery tent laden with spices and herbs, other tents featuring gyros, baklava, feta cheese and more.

We enjoyed dinner indoors at a table. My dinner included lemon chicken, dolmades, salad with feta, moussaka and, of course, a couple of the vast array of fabulous, mouth watering pastries on hand. I chose baklava drizzled with chocolate (OMG) AND Galaktoboureko, a delectable custard dessert baked between thin pastry sheets and covered in honey syrup.

After dinner we walked next door to the beautiful St George Greek Orthodox Cathedral to hear Byzantine chanting, a spiritual musical form which draws from the classical Greek age and is inspired by the monophonic(non harmonized) vocal music that evolved in the early Greek Christian cities of Alexandria, Antioch and Ephesus.

Thank goodness I have another year to work off the calories, and get prepared for the 25th Saint George Greek Festival!

Decoupage Deja Vu

2010-03-31T10:15:00.001-04:00

Click on the Title to see another pair of decoupage earrings.

More Decoupage

2010-03-31T10:02:00.003-04:00

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43725454

Decoupage is an interesting medium to work in. It evolves in layer upon layer of matter, be it paper or fabric, metal,feathers, leather or what have you. Then there are the many coats of lacquer and distressing techniques if you use them...it is a thoughtful process that can evoke a lot of emotions and many ideas. I am testing the waters with this and find myself being led in various directions I haven't taken recently. The images I've been working with and the ways in which I've presented them are suggestive and those who have seen them have various interpretations of their own to apply to what is going on in the small illustrations. Very interesting! Here are some other of my decoupage earrings for you to look at.

Good Monday morning! It's a Beadiful Day!

2010-02-01T07:23:00.001-05:00

ART HEARTS

Decoupage is on the agenda for this morning. These earrings are pretty and bright, light weight and lots of fun! They are wooden hearts decoupaged in fabric and gold foil with 10 layers of matt finish, sanding and two layers of high gloss varnish. They are finished with goldtone jumprings and earring wires and are part of my new line of affordable art hearts. A lot of hours of work goes into the craft of Decoupage, but this craft, which began in Venice, as a "poor man's hobby" combines bits and pieces of many different elements, such as paper, paint, fabric, metals, and often fragments of language to name just a few of those elements needed to create a "whole." The process certainly can bring about a cathartic and very expressive experience. Take a look at my growing collection of decoupage jewelry in my Etsy shop.http://www.janetkemp88.etsy.com

2009-11-23T08:32:00.003-05:00

Delirium Designs Jewelry "Surf's Up!" earrings on Etsy Treasury

2009-11-12T08:08:00.001-05:00

I am overjoyed that my earrings, "Surf's Up!" are currently (until Nov 14) included in the Etsy Treasury, Pleeze Mr. Santa! Click on the title above (which is a link) to take a look if you'd like.

Delirium Designs Jewelry at Lemonade: Accessories, Gifts and More

2009-10-29T14:22:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone, I'm so happy to announce that my Delirium Designs Jewelry (my handmade jewelry and beadweaving) is now featured at Lemonade, Accessories,Gifts and More at 2327 N, Pleasantburg Drive, Suite D, in Greenville, South Carolina. This shop is beautiful and has a broad array of lovely items like Save the TaTa'sT shirts, Carolina Girl T-shirts, Wood Wick candles. Drop by and say hi! You'll find delighful handmade items there.

Multiple beading projects at once!

2009-10-24T05:03:00.005-04:00

Here are a few photos of a necklace that I call Wild Vines and Wood Roses that I recently finished using Keishi pearls as flower petals, many Swarovski glass pearls and glass seed beads.

Whew! Busy as a bee beading! I am up to my ears in beads (always a good thing), designing a line of beaded and beadwoven jewelry in Fall and Holiday colors. Deadline is next week. In addition to several finished pieces, I have completed two necklaces, several pairs of earrings and a bracelet. I'll post a few pics after I photograph them this morning.

I've updated my portfolio and I am designing new earring cards using the good old cut and paste technique, which my helpful and very supportive husband will transform into printed versions. I'm packing my props and displays to take to a cute, local shop that features many handmade items that will be displaying some my work for sale. Just in time for the Holidays! I am very excited!

Hat Draw Friday Winner

2009-08-26T07:38:00.002-04:00

This is a present for our new Hat Draw Friday winner, Allison who lives in France! She specified that her dream earrings would be chandeliers not too long, but dangly in gold with amethysts and/or crystals. These earrings are chain maille in 1/20 14kt. gold filled wire and beads with three dangles of amethyst gemstone beads and glass crystals. Shhh....she hasn't seen these yet, but I'm hoping she won't see this post until after she receives them in a couple of days. They are en route!

Fun Hats and Headdresses

2009-08-16T14:55:00.008-04:00

This straw hat originally had a wide brim, which I removed. Without the brim it resembled a 1950s style pillbox hat, so I added a length of leopard ribbon to the bottom of the hat, a generous amount of faux rhinestones and netting dotted with very faux rhinestones. I gathered the netting with long stitches so it would fan out and in the center of the fan I added a pretty vintage brooch that I purchased in France. You can almost hear this feisty leopard roar! Grrrrr!

Art Marketing Action: Return to your art

2009-08-13T07:32:00.001-04:00

Art Marketing Action: Return to your art

Posted using ShareThis

Finished 1920s Inspired Headdress

2009-08-12T21:17:00.005-04:00

Today I put the finishing touches on a 1920s-inspired headdress with antique and vintage French beads, plenty of jet, lace and an old ostrich plume. This headdress ties at the back of the crown of the head.

Creating in France

2009-08-10T07:15:00.005-04:00

The living-room/dining of our apartment in France had 6' tall windows that lined half the width of two walls and flooded the apartment with light.

It was in that room that I kept an antique hutch I bought at a flea market in Auvergne, France, and filled with my beads, threads, findings and jewelry tools. This beautiful room was where I designed and created jewelry.

I had a large square whitewashed wooden table that was made in Mexico to work on. It served as our dining table when not covered in beads. You can see it and the hutch in the very first post on this blog.

In this photograph is one of the bracelets that I made at this table. It was a free-form peyote bracelet made with glass seed beads, paper beads (the long cylinders) carnelian gemstone beads and a beautiful cloisonne button that my father-in-law brought back from Korea many years ago. In the lower right hand corner, you can see the tip of a silver pendant that my husband made.

Oaxacan and Zapotec Indian Weavers

2009-08-09T09:06:00.007-04:00

I've been to Oaxaca, Mexico, several times in my life. I shot this photo of Zapotec Indian women and children weaving hand dyed wool into garments including serapes, shawls and wall hangings in 1979 on my third visit there. They would tie their hand- fashioned looms to trees for stability and sit all day weaving their intensely colorful wares.

I was fascinated by their nimble fingers and their focus/state of meditation. I'd worked in beaded macrame and embroidery in the 1960s and could relate somewhat to how they must have felt being so transfixed on their craft and livelihood. They would start early in the morning, sitting in one spot and weaving for most of the daylight hours and then pack up their goods and return to their homes.

I began to string beads in my childhood, continued in the '60s. In 1999, I began to learn about bead weaving and have been learning about it since. It has become a passion and indeed a meditation and a pleasure.

Many thanks to the beautiful Zapotec Indian women for being a significant creative influence in my life, both with their weaving and their dedication to their craft.

Hat Draw Friday on Facebook

2009-08-08T20:48:00.001-04:00

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Delirium-Designs-Jewelry/85889350924?ref=mf

Please take a moment to become a fan of Delirium Designs Jewelry and answer the discussion question to be eligible to win a free pair of earrings. Free shipping too. Get in on the fun of Hat Draw Friday!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Delirium-Designs-Jewelry/85889350924?ref=mf

Fascinator Final Steps Before Comb

2009-08-02T15:17:00.005-04:00

Today I stitched beaded loops on the silk petal foundation to finish the edge of the fascinator. I also added white, green and iridescent feathers. The last step will be to attach a comb to the back.

Renewed Energy!

2009-07-29T07:49:00.004-04:00

Let's hear it for what a few days back at the gym can do for physical and mental stamina! I've been to the gym two days in a row and will be back there this afternoon. Although I am a bit stiff and sore, I am sleeping better and enjoying the workouts after sitting in a chair blissfully beading for hours on end.

Soo...first off, I'm going to finish the fascinator pictured on my blog by stitching and beading the edges of the foundation petals and adding a comb to the back.
The black headdress is calling me, too! It's waiting for its ostrich plume and fringe.

The next project is the Rhodocrosite cabochon pictured on my blog. I will be integrating that into a delicate bracelet. I will post photos along the way. Be back in a bit!

A Fascination with Fascinators

2009-07-28T14:15:00.005-04:00

Here's a close up photo of the Butterscotch and Baby Blue fascinator in its final stages. I will add more white feathers and Italian ribbon, hand stitch beads to the edges of the two petals on the foundation and attach a hair comb on the underside of the foundation.

Headdress in Progress

2009-07-28T13:40:00.009-04:00

I am working on several headdresses for a friend. I want to get them done soon so they will reach her for her birthday. This is a self-imposed deadline for me of Aug. 10. The black headdress is reminiscent of the '20s flapper era. There are lots of French black jet in this piece, as well as vintage glass beads.

I've been working off and on with this piece. I started it about two weeks ago with a black satin ribbon and centered a vintage bead-embroidered trim (I have a collection of beautiful vintage hand embroidery, beads, etc that I purchased from antique dealers when I lived in France) that I restored with some of the original, but superfluous beads (as they were on pieces of the motif that I trimmed from the design) vintage jet beads I have on hand.

I will further embellish this piece by adding more jet beads, beaded fringes at the temples, and the tip of an ostrich feather will be an element in the central motif.

This particular headdress will simply tie in a bow at the back of the head.
Here's a sneek peek at it in progress.

All things French and Fascinators

2009-07-23T12:55:00.012-04:00

I'd just purchased this pretty blue enamel pitcher from a flea market in Clermont-Ferrand and thought I'd give the April flowers an imaginary drink!

On the agenda today is continued work on headpieces for my best friend who sings with her jazz band throughout the San Francisco Bay area. I'm working on hats, veils, combs and fascinators. In progess now is a pretty fascinator of turquoise silk with a violet chatoyancy, that I formed in two petals, and attached vintage French lace, peacock feathers (tendrils) and slim Italian ribbon. Here's a sneak peek...

Two cats, one dog and thousands of glass beads

2009-07-21T11:18:00.005-04:00

Yes. Max the cat is the newest member of our household. He has always been a member of the family, but is now a temporary member of the immediate household, along with Callie the Kitty Kat, and Beauty the Black Ball of Fluff Doggie.
Today, I'm working on beaded headdresses, hair clips and fascinators. Stay tuned, as I make them I will post photos. Have a great day!

Gorgeous Vintage Style Corsets, etc.

2009-07-08T08:25:00.001-04:00

1000 Markets

Vintage Opulence

Visit the Shop

I love these handmade creations.

1000 Markets

2009-07-08T08:16:00.003-04:00

1000 Markets

Shared via AddThis

I love this gorgeous hat! Click on the 1000 Markets logo above to see it! Check out this seller to see more of her beautiful handmade hats.

2009-07-06T20:13:00.004-04:00

Here is an amulet bag I made as a gift for my daughter's 21st birthday (7 yrs ago). It was the first peyote stitched bag I had ever attempted and it seemed like a lot of work at the time...little did I know I would invest many hours of my life picking up tiny beads on the end of a needle and stitching them into place. What joy I've found in this simple, repetitive (meditative) and creative task of bead weaving.

The charms hanging from the bag's fringe are a dove, star, flower, heart and key symbolizing peace, brilliance, life, love and opportunity.

New bracelets and works in progress

2009-06-30T12:27:00.010-04:00

I am working diligently on several new bracelets, earrings and necklaces. Some are completed, as you will see in this post and some are in progress. It's a beautiful sunny day in South Carolina and I am feeling fabulous! Bring on the beads! : )

2009-06-22T07:28:00.000-04:00

test

2009-06-16T08:42:00.001-04:00

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Delirium-Designs-Jewelry/85889350924?ref=mf

2009-06-16T08:29:00.004-04:00

Hello Everyone! Check out my latest listing on Etsy here
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26055866

Visit my Delirium Designs Jewelry fan page on facebook to participate in the upcoming 2nd "Hat Draw Friday". Click on "Discussions" and describe your dream earrings to be entered in the drawing. You will need to do this between June 16 and June 30 to be eligible to win a pair of earrings handmade by me to your specifications.
If you are not a member of facebook, join and become a friend and a fan or Delirium Designs Jewelry!
Check it out __http://www.facebook.com/pages/Delirium-Designs-Jewelry/85889350924?ref=mf

2009-05-12T08:34:00.004-04:00

I've just got to share this with you. My dear friend, Kay, a jazz singer and actress, has just released her brand new video singing a song she wrote the lyrics for and it is fabulous. I just had to let you know about this one. This girl is going places! Keep your eye on her.
Visit her website: Black Olive Jazz. Link is on my link list.

Cut and paste the following or find this URL on my link list
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N0r6hpGSQo

ETTEAM Giveaway!

2009-05-12T06:21:00.008-04:00

Calling all jewelry designers! This is not to be missed.

The Etsy Treasury Team has organized a cool giveaway and you can enter it by following a few directions they've listed on their blog. Here's the scoop...
Friday, May 8, 2009
ETTEAM GIVEAWAY!!
The Etteam knows how to do a giveaway! Click on the link to the Etsy Treasury Team or cut and paste the following URL http://etsytreasuryteam.blogspot.com/

Our own fabulous MidnightCoiler has provided us with some of her beautiful hand made charms (24 total - valued at over $30.00) for our first big blog giveaway. You jewelry makers are going to love these gorgeous rustic charms that Lynn makes. The charms are a stoneware/pottery that are lovingly crafted and fired, each a unique individual work of art. They will look fabulous in any jewelry project that you have.

The giveaway starts today, Friday, May 8th, and will end at Midnight Pacific time on Friday May 15th. They will use a randomizer to pick the winner. You can have multiple enteries, but be sure to make each of your entries in a *separate* comment on their blog. The winner will be announced on Saturday, May 16th. Be sure that you put your email address, Etsy store, or blog address in your entries, otherwise they won't be able to contact you if you win!!
Good luck to all!

The Gargoyles' Tree

2009-02-26T06:10:00.003-05:00

This was one view from our kitchen window in France. The 12th Century cathedral was built over a 5th Century chapel and it was literally ten steps from our door. I called it my "direct link" to God and would often walk inside to sit and meditate or pray and light candles for my daughters and anyone who needed strong spiritual energy. It felt as if I was inside of a mountain. The walls were made of volanic rock and it was damp and chilly inside. The Rose Window cast streams of red and green light on the walls and floors of the individual chaples. The stairs to the cript were worn in the middle from centuries of wear, candles burned at every alter and the lingering fragrance of incense permeated the air. In spring and summer a tree would grow on the roof and die back in the winter. You can see the small tree to the left.

2009-02-24T15:46:00.007-05:00

Midway up a hill, just across from the musical instrument store secured by huge wooden doors painted the colors of sunflower orange and scarlet, sits a restaurant. Bright yellow umbrellas shield small clothed tables and white wood chairs from the sun. Brightly colored paintings, some still wet, rest on easels and pigeons scavenge for breadcrumbs on the narrow cobblestone street. Inside the restaurant, people are packed in like poppies in a spring field, raising their heads above the rest and yet still close enough to catch the scent of one another's breath. The French are used to it. It's the Americans who feel the crunch the most. Their comfort zones are compromised. But as the evening unfolds, fruity rose wine flows freely and course after course of Meditteranean delicacies a la Provencale tease the palate and perfect strangers become friends whether they can speak one another's language or not.

2009-02-22T06:18:00.002-05:00

New Listing on Etsy

2009-02-18T16:59:00.005-05:00

Yes! A new necklace. A pretty three dimensional pendant, handwoven by me with Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls, Carnelian gemstone beads. It is 22 inches long with a sterling silver clasp and beads and strung on fine cable.
It has been raining all day and given me time to focus on jewelry today. Will write more and catch up tomorrow.

Have a great evening!

VOTE ON ETSY BEADWEAVER CHALLENGE

2009-02-08T18:49:00.008-05:00

Please take a moment and vote for your favorite entry in the Etsy Beadweaver Challenge "Tropical Holiday." Voting begins Feb 9 through Feb 15. It's easy! Just go to http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/ to cast your vote!
My entry is number 11, and there are many beautiful pieces in addition to mine, so feast you eyes and cast your vote!

Thanks for your support!
Jan

2009-01-27T08:24:00.006-05:00

Hi Everyone! I'm sorry, but I totally forgot to publish a post to show the back side of my EBW challenge -- Tropical Holiday -- necklace. You see, this necklace can be worn in reverse. It's actually two necklaces in one. There is a side showing the dichroic cabochon and beaded bezel and the flip side is covered in ribbon that I purchased in France, with a design that resembles a petroglyph. I still recall strolling along a deserted beach in Kaui, Hawaii --another tropical holiday -- my honeymoon! -- and seeing an image on a boulder jutting out of the sea at low tide. When I walked back about 30 minutes later, I couldn't find the boulder. The tide had come in and the water covered it up. I never found it again. This necklace is meant to be exciting, full of energy and color and above all, lots of fun to wear. Here, you see it in reverse. Type in EBWC in the ETSY search bar to see other challenge entries.

Bijouxfolle: Etsy BeadWeavers Tropical Holiday Challenge

2009-01-22T13:47:00.000-05:00

Bijouxfolle: Etsy BeadWeavers Tropical Holiday Challenge

Etsy BeadWeavers Tropical Holiday Challenge

2009-01-21T20:33:00.008-05:00

I created this shimmering colorful necklace for the Etsy BeadWeavers Street Team's Winter Challenge with the theme "Tropical Holiday". See Etsy BeadWeavers Blog http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com to view member entries and vote.

I was inspired by the sensual delights I encountered during the tropical vacation I took over the Christmas holidays. The colors that influenced my choices for this piece are the colors of robin egg blue sky, the turquoise, azure and mediterranean blue of the sea, the sundrenched bronze of sea-shell sand, the frothy white caps rolling into shore. These are the colors that make up the strap in milky opalescent chalcedony beads and Swarovski crystals, bronze and silverlined turquoise glass beads and 14kt gold-filled lobster clasp.

The pendant is an artisan fused dichroic glass cabochon that suggests the view underwater as seen through a swim mask. It is set in a beaded bezel, embellished with Swarovski crystals, chalcedony beads, seedbeads, Murano glass gold-foiled lentil beads and vintage marquise-cut, foiled-back turquoise colored glass sew-on cabochons.

The spiky crystals symbolize the shimmering palm fronds bedecked in holiday lights on a sultry tropical evening. The orange-red crystals are symbolic of juicy blood oranges, mangoes, tangerines, heavenly sunsets and exotic blossoms. The beaded fringe is playful and joyous.

The Murano disks symbolize fresh, tangy slices of Key limes floating in a tall and frosty tropical beverage.

Tropical Holiday inspiration

2009-01-07T09:30:00.008-05:00

Florida is always lovely in December and a wonderful reprieve from winter weather in States further north. Christmas lights washing over shimmering palm fronds add a festive glow to warm evenings. And the sea, ahh, the sea...always bold, always elegant.

Rococo Necklace Gets New Earrings

2009-01-06T08:05:00.008-05:00

My friend, Wendy, wanted a pair of earrings to match the necklace she purchased from me a few months ago (shown), so I designed this pair of 14kt gold filled hammered and textured wire with amazonite beads, and caramel glass beads.

As a member of the Etsy Bead Weavers Team I'm gearing up for our winter challenge theme, Tropical Holiday. This is very exciting for me and I'm looking forward to working on this project today.

Gotta get busy!!!

2008-12-01T08:53:00.002-05:00

Tropical Holiday EBWC

2008-11-29T15:31:00.006-05:00

This is wonderful! The Etsy Beadweavers Challenge topic is "Tropical Holiday." I will be fresh back from a Florida holiday when I begin the piece. I'm sure there will be plenty to inspire and motivate me and I will definitely haunt some of the bead shops while I'm there.

I'm really excited to participate in this challenge. I've not yet had time to create a project for any of the others since I joined the group a few weeks ago. Also in February, I'll be busy planning and teaching my first class at a local bead shop. Yipeeee!

After Turkey Down Time

2008-11-29T14:12:00.008-05:00

Yes...back to gym on Monday! We enjoyed the turkey and all the trimmings and rick rack and have been feasting on the appetizers that didn't make it to the oven, let alone the table. Time and full stomachs called it quits.

Today we tried a batch of puff pastry "fingers" brushed with Thai sweet chilli sauce mixed with soy sauce, topped with butterflied shrimp and sesame seeds. Yum! Very good, but the middles were raw dough and one end of the pastry didn't puff!

Back to the drawing board on that one. My husband fixed the next tray of of them, manipulated in various ways. He just peeked into the den to tell me he forgot the sesame seeds. Now he says the pastry is not rising. I conclude that the dough is just plumb tired, having sat in the fridge since the day before TG it is now too limp to care...just like us. We're in a triptophan semi-coma.

"I didn't see any difference at all in the amount of puffing," he says. "The ones that had two or three thicknesses are a little thicker but not any puffier...and they are all stuck to the aluminum foil. It's just a real mess. You know?"

Thank heaven we didn't try to make these on TG, I'm thinking.

We're watching Comedy Central and munching on raw dough and sticky shrimp, taking breaks now and then to design jewelry, read up on various"recipes," to turn silver, copper and brass various colors.

It's fun to have a day to relax, make a big mess and take a nap.

2008-11-14T07:51:00.004-05:00

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog. It's raining. Yipeee! A fabulous day to work on jewelry!

The photo above is of Mermaid Cuff, a cuff bracelet that I wove entirely by hand in vintage and contemporary glass beads and couture pearls using a variety of stitches and the prettiest vintage glass button closure. It's available at my Etsy shop.

I've updated my Etsy shop with several new items. Please take a look. http://www.janetkemp88.etsy.com/ and do tell me what you think!

I've also added a holiday present for all my clients in the U.S. -- FREE SHIPPING UNTIL DEC. 12, WHEN MY SHOP CLOSES FOR THE HOLIDAYS. I've added several stunning new pieces at affordable prices. Yep! And, there are more to come. With the economy on the down low the way it is this season and for Heaven knows how long, I've been working on a line of jewelry that incorporates less expensive components, which equals savings on gifts for you, while you still get a gift of fine crafted one-of-a-kind handmade jewelry wrapped for gift giving and delivered to your door sans shipping fees.

No malls, no gas, no crowds, no time waste, no run of the mill gifts.

Hey! You can't beat that!

I'm so looking forward to the holidays! I'm feeling confident, hopeful and happy about the New Year. I can feel the excitement in the air already or maybe it's just in my own head...either way, I am bubbling over about the season of giving, because for me it's always been about the emotion, the love and the family gatherings, the euphoric excitement on all the kids' faces...ok... the comfort food, too.

Anyway, I thought I'd take an early opportunity to thank my family and friends and all of you who tirelessly support me as an artisan jeweler. I've been generously guided in my vocation this year. I wish you all a Happy Holiday Season with oodles of love and many unprecedented miraculous blessings.

Vive l'amour!

2008-11-03T16:38:00.004-05:00

I've been listing new pieces in my Etsy shop today. The above photo is a pair of pretty copper chain maille earrings set with pastel teal shimmery glass cathedral beads. They are light weight and swingy and lots of fun. You can find them at www.janetkemp88.Etsy.com In addition to my regular line I'll be offering a less expensive line for those seeking holiday presents that are well made with less expensive metals than gold filled or Sterling components and less expensive beads as well. I know that our current economic woes have prevented most of us from spending on gifts this year as we did last year. So, I hope to make it a bit easier on jewelry enthusiasts.

Etsy is a great venue exclusively for handmade items. Check it out!

I am on Etsy!

2008-10-23T14:30:00.003-04:00

I have a shop on Etsy. Take a look at it here http://janetkemp88.etsy.com

Flickr

2008-10-09T14:00:00.001-04:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

If I were Diana Krall...

2008-09-26T15:38:00.006-04:00

What do you think about this fabulous rose that greeted me this morning?

Happy Friday, everyone! It's a relaxing day for me. There is a gentle rain falling and I have lots of work to do in my studio. I am categorizing crystals and finishing a new design.

Earlier this morning, I just couldn't resist grabbing my camera to document some of the serenity in my sleepy and very thirsty garden. Here in the drought-stricken South Carolina Upstate, our lakes have been way below normal. Our rainfall level has been 20 inches below normal for months. An unnamed storm made landfall on the Carolina coast last evening and pushed north-westward, bringing gusty winds to my neighborhood that took down some branches, nothing major. An absolutely glowing line of yellow marigolds that frame my tomato and herb garden met my eyes as I stepped outside. It is so lovely to finally have some rain to speak of. Folks around here have taken to calling this part of the country The Desert Southeast. I do hope the birds and critters are loving this as much as I am. If I were Diana Krall, I'd sing The Gentle Rain. Oh, what the heck, I'm gonna do it anyway. Have a great day and a wonderful weekend!

Bijouxfolle: Another view

2008-08-22T21:29:00.000-04:00

Bijouxfolle: Another view

Another view

2008-08-22T21:17:00.005-04:00

another view of the necklace

lots of color, shimmer and shine

2008-08-22T20:37:00.012-04:00

I've been working on my website and making great strides in improving it...just tweaking it a bit here and there and breathing some new life into the corners that were beginning to strike me as cobwebby. I hope you'll take a look and maybe give me some feedback. I love feedback! http://www.deliriumdesignsjewelry.com/ The photo above is a design I really love. It was such a pleasure to create. I started by bending a length of sterling silver wire into a squiggly shaped armature and then I textured and annealed it with a hammer and anvil. I then wrapped fine silver wire around the armature, string Swarovski crystal beads at random around the curves. This photo doesn't show the beaded necklace strap, which is strung with lilac colored fresh water pearls, deep grape colored Czech glass beads, Bali silver bead caps and toggle clasp. I made a silver pendant that is adorned with cutwork in the center and hangs from the looped wire on which the crystal beads are strung. More pics to come tomorrow. I call this piece "To Murasaki Shikibu" a Japanese writer, whose name Murasaki literally means Violet. Good Night!

Curly Cord Earrings and Antique MOP button necklaces as promised!

2008-05-09T16:44:00.012-04:00

The earrings in the top photo are made with chartreuse Curly cord and
Swarovksi crystals. They are very lightweight, have lots of movement and are a ton of fun!The set of photos below the earrings are two views of the first of two necklaces I was inspired to make from antique mother of pearl (MOP) buttons.
I dumped all my button tins/bins on the floor to sort out
the MOPs from all the rest and grouped them by size and design
so I could layer three buttons together as simple "rosette-like"
bunches by threading thin wire through the buttons' holes and
tugging gently on the groups to allow the rosettes to lie
flat.
The closeup button and full necklace views above are
of the very first one I attempted. I used
large, medium and small MOP buttons and alternated
and centered small powder blue antique MOP shank buttons with creamy peach Swarovski glass pearls on the tops of the second buttons. I hand-picked these buttons from antique venues across
France and Italy. This necklace is just 15" long -- choker length -- and
would look especially pretty with a colorful sundress in the
summer. I'm leaving necklace number 2 in the MOP button necklace
collection for a different post.
Look for it next week.
Have a wonderful weekend!
See the good in everything!

Beneath the Beads: Sunny French Elevator

2008-05-08T09:24:00.005-04:00

Sometimes I get inspiration for a piece of jewelry in the strangest places. Take this one, for instance, I was in a very sunny elevator (note the glasses) carrying the flowers I'd bought at the outdoor market that morning. I was wearing a contemporary Mother of Pearl button necklace made by a French friend (who is a jewelry crafter), and carrying a chartreuse purse. I was on my way, with my husband, to our friends' apartment several floors up, for dinner. While in the elevator, I stopped thinking of what they would be having tonight... confit de canard (French for slow-roasted duck leg) with carmelized onions, and began to look at the colors around me..It was then I decided to create a pair of earrings with chartreuse curly cord -- the French love it and use it extensively in Bridal jewelry --and pink Swarovski bicones and tiny matching glass beads. I'll be posting a photo of those wonderfully fun earrings in my next blog. I also had an idea for a modified version of the necklace I was wearing in this picture, using the vintage and antique buttons I'd collected at antiques shops, brocantes (flea markets) and vide greniers (translated: "empty the attic sales,"where whole villages put their items for sale on tables outside their homes), and trocantes (warehouses where mostly used furniture and household items -- but also an occasional bead or button can be found). Look for a posting this week of the two button necklaces I designed and created from antique and vintage Mother of Pearl buttons I purchased in France and Italy. If you're into beads and buttons, you are sure to love these necklaces!

Delirium Designs Jewelry Website

2008-01-28T14:57:00.000-05:00

Wow! Establishing and maintaining a website sure is time consuming and lots of work, but I really enjoy seeing how my website improves over time. Delirium Designs Jewelry is the name of my company and website and it's full of inspired one of a kind designs in various techniques.

Take a peek! www.deliriumdesignsjewelry.com

I'd love to hear feedback from you, so please feel free to drop me a line. Gotta go bead! Have a good one!

Time to change everything...again.

2007-10-23T07:47:00.000-04:00

Our move back home was smooth and as expected a bit involved with the physical aspect of getting the three of us (Callie the cat made the trip, too) back home and the experience of changing countries, scenery, cultures, residences, etc.

A few months after we arrived, we fell in love with a sweet little rescued dog named "Beauty." We adopted her -- here's Sleeping Beauty.

We have been here now for almost a year and getting settled enough to work on our website -- check it out (just remember, it's a work-in-progress and there are still a few glitches to iron out. http://www.deliriumdesignsjewelry.com/

I've got some interesting European-inspired ideas for incorporating cabochons into my designs. I'll be sharing some pics of them when they are finished.

Can anyone out there who works with cabs suggest another backing material other than Lacy's Stiff Stuff? Any suggestions on the type of glue to use or whether to use glue at all on the cab??? I don't normally use glue, but am considering trying a dab of a light tacky glue to hold the cab in place until it's set with stitches. (?)

Thanks for any suggestions.

Jan

Bijouxfolle

2006-10-14T07:58:00.000-04:00

Bijouxfolle

Hi! Well, we are moving home to the United States after nearly four years of living in France. Yes! We are excited! Will we miss it here? Yes! But right now I am up to my ears in boxes, our major appliances are being whisked out the door every weekend, my cat is freaking out with all the changes in furniture placement, her missing window seats, and periodic buzzing at the door, which makes her hide under any available bed. We leave in a little over two weeks and really cannot wait to have the international move behind us and get settled into a new house and new car back in the U.S. near our families. We've enjoyed this "chance of a lifetime" and experienced daily life in a foreign culture. More on this later...some pics as well. Nap time.

Antique Beads

2006-04-26T04:14:00.000-04:00

Here is a small sampling of the antique beads I purchased at the brocante. There are about 30 more bags in their original packaging which have become fragile and brittle over the years. The box is marked "Perles pour les robes" = Beads for dresses. Ahhh....where shall I live when every last corner of my house is inhabited by beads?

Beads at the Brocante Again

2006-04-26T02:56:00.002-04:00

The Sunday brocante proved abundant in all sorts of treasures. Pres found a late 17th- early 18th- century rosary of lilac colored crystals and a pretty enameled bracelet with motifs of several French cities for me. He poked around the ancient and vintage tools and found some diecuts for shaping silver jewelry pendants. There is usually everything AND the kitchen sink at these sales. Among the notable, though undesirable items I noted were two stuffed pet dogs from a bygone age! Late in the day I found a bonanza of antique beads in a rose floral fabric covered box. The woman who sold them to me suggested they were likely Murano glass. (Photo published in following post.) Pres also pointed out bits of a heavy brass chain with links resembling pods or a tubular blossom and others that are at least 16-gauge brass pigtaled wire on which has been strung a pretty 12mm (?) brass bead. I happily gathered up all the available lengths of chain and tossed them in my sack. Here's the photo. I haven't begun to design a piece with it, but I have a few ideas in my head. The links are a bit too heavy (solid brass) for earrings, but could lend themselves to a beautiful bracelet -- or -- used sparingly they would make a nice focal point or station for a necklace.

We stopped for a cold drink at Bar l'Universe and were pleased to see that the gypsy musicians that we enjoy so much were there with an additional member, a woman with long black hair, expressive steel grey eyes who passionately sang along to the melodious strumming of the two guitars. She twirled, rattled her skirts, shimmied and stomped as if set into a frenzy by the energy aroused from the collaborative efforts of the musicians, the people watching and clapping in time, the vital and luscious Spring day!

Picnic in the Park

2006-04-24T07:25:00.000-04:00

Bijouxfolle

Spring has sprung! Saturday my husband and I packed a picnic lunch of herbed ham and spicy dijon mustard on a baguette and Italian Parma ham wrapped around a sweet, ripe melon and drove to Parc Montjuzet, where we ate our lunch under the tall pines. The branches of the cherry trees are laden with delicate white blossoms tinged in pink. When the wind blew through them a shower of petals rained all over us.
In a few weeks visitors to the park will stuff their bellies with their sweet fruit. Just as they will with the abundance of blackberries that grow along the perimeter of the park. They are not yet in bloom. It will be a while. The lilacs are just in bud; tiny tight dots of purple or white ever so slowly awakening to the warm rays of the sun. The fragrance of hundreds of rosemary shrubs fills the air and soon so will the sweet and pungent lavender. It was a beautiful day in the park. Mother Nature awakens and celebrates the season. Life is good!

CATWHISKERS

2006-03-08T18:52:00.000-05:00

This is my cat, Callie, sorting sea glass. She likes to push the pieces around and smell them. She likes to bat beads around too, but they often roll under the couch or hutch and she loses interest in playing and simply falls on the rug waiting to be brushed.
Callie was given away by both of her previous owners because they were moving to Europe. When we saw a poster on a telephone pole in South Carolina advertising her as "Free to a Good Home," we went to see her immediately! She was lying on a soft perch in a sunny window asleep and when I patted her head she swatted me and drew blood! I instantly fell in love with her. LOL. We took her in and after six months my husband was offered a five-year business assignment in France. (A Magic Cat?) We definitely could not and would not part with her. We did have to leave her for 2 months with friends to clear the waiting period after her rabies titer test, but two months to the day my husband made a special trip back home to retrieve her and bring her to France. She is truly spunky and can also be very affectionate, clingy and sweet. She loves to cuddle up with me and take an afternoon nap when it's raining.
Callie has a link to her own site, where she is dressed to the nines in her funny hats on my Jewelry showcase website www.deliriumdesignsjewelry.com

2006-01-31T20:55:00.000-05:00

Hello!

2006-01-31T20:44:00.000-05:00

I am just beginning to set up my blog! My name is Jan Marie and I am an American woman currently live in France. I've been here for 3 years and will likely be here for another year and a half. I'd like to share my jewelry creations and other handcrafts on this site and hear from fellow jewelry enthusiasts, fiber artists on any topic related to creating jewelry, collecting vintage jewelry and lace, beads and buttons and other items that delight the senses and soothe the savage beast.