Halloween Merry-Go-Round

Our second Merry-Go-Round post coincides with Halloween, so the question this month is: "What's the scariest part of creating?"

I have to change the question a bit, because for me there are several scary bits in crafting...

*Time: It goes, it flies, it disappears when I'm crafting. 3 hours vanish and it feels I've only sat down and worked for half-an-hour. There isn't enough time in the world for me to create all the designs I have whirling in my head. Some of them will never see the light of day...

*Taste: Are there really many people out there who like what I make? Or do most think that I am full of myself, that I'm really nothing special, neither's my jewellery, and I shouldn't really be allowed to present such rubbish work to the public... I tend to forget the positive reactions my jewellery receives, and focus on the negative ones. One person may look at one item, and decide that the rest isn't worth looking at. Ever. And there's nothing I can do about it...

*Self-confidence: I always look at Artists' jewellery (I'm a crafter, not an artist), and I sigh and wish I had the skills to make such beautiful art, and it gets me down and I look at my creations and they are nowhere near their standards and is it really worth carrying on? and I'll never be able to make gorgeous things etc...until I kick myself in the butt and remember that they, too, had to start somewhere. And anyway, I can't stop making jewellery. So tough tities to those who don't like my stuff.

*Have I got it? Have I lost it? Have I ever had it????

*Creator's block: Some days, nothing works. I start a new project, but it's not hanging right, it's not symetrical, it's too heavy, the colours look horrendeous together, the shape's wrong, it just does not look right, etc... In every creation there's a part of me, so I feel empty when it goes wrong.

*Compulsion: The more something looks wrong, the more I want to get it right, I will change details, redo sketches, make another piece from scratch only to toss it aside or allofasuddenIgetinarageandIthrowitaccrosstheroom, and *sigh* get depressed for a few hours... I also absolutely HAVE to get up in the middle of the night to try a design that's just popped in my head. Drives husband crazy.

*Moving forward: where do I go from here? Having an online shop has been a great experience and the bane of my crafting existence. I lost myself trying to think about what would sell, rather than create what I would like to wear... I'm still trying to find a style of jewellery rather than lots of different ones. I don't feel it's merged yet. The more skills I learn, the more I want to learn, the more confused I get.

Tremendous fun though, wouldn't change a thing.

Please go read the Merry-Go-Rounders' answer to this Halloween scary question:
(Direct links are near the top on your right)

http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com
http://insidetheartisan.blogspot.com
http://fancypicnic.blogspot.com
http://lilypangart.blogspot.com
http://florcitasart.blogspot.com
http://halfanacreblog.blogspot.com
http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com

Happy Halloween!!!

Parure J'ai laissé mon coeur à Beijing...

Thank you to Aurélie for sending pictures of herself (no, that's not me!) wearing her new "I left my heart in Beijing" set. She bought the necklace, and asked if there was any chance of a matching bracelet and a pair of earrings... but of course! So here they are, and they look great on you, Aurélie!

Aurélie a craqué sur le collier ‘J’ai laissé mon Coeur à Beijing’, un collier lasso avec labradorite et breloque, en métal argenté, avec comme lasso un cœur fabriqué main, en wire wrapping, par lequel passe la fin du collier. Aurélie m’a ensuite demandé si possible de faire un bracelet et des boucles d’oreille assortis… et voilà !! Merci Aurélie pour ces photos!!

Cette parure est une de mes préférées, car le collier est classique avec un twist, il est très long, les pierres ont un feu fabuleux, le bracelet est fin, et tout est assorti grâce à l’œil exercé de leur nouvelle propriétaire ! Travailler avec Aurélie a été un véritable plaisir ! Encore merci, du fond du cœur !!

Ban lifted/Interdit suspendu

Just found out I can access my blog, as ban was lifted while the court is waiting for more evidence... Won't hold my breath... Can't help but hope!!!!

Je viens de m'apercevoir que je peux accéder à mon blog!!... vérificatons faites, l'interdit sur Blogger a été suspendu pour le moment, car la cour de justice attend d'avoir en sa possession des dossiers apparemment manquants... Je ne peux qu'espérer!!!

Blogger banned in Turkey/Blogger interdit en Turquie

Haven't been around lately because:

Since last Friday afternoon, people living in Turkey have been unable to access blogging platform Blogger or any *.blogspot.com domain from a Turkish IP address, due to a ban imposed by a court in the south east of Turkey.

The ban, initially blamed on Oktar, a well known turkish creationnist responsible for the ban of Wordpress and Google sub-domains last year, is the result of a court case initiated by Digiturk, a subscription based digital TV platform that owns the rights to the live broadcasting of Turkish football league games. Apparently, Digiturk asked Blogger to take several blogs or blog entries down containing links to pirated transmissions of the live games. Blogger did nothing, Digiturk went to court and under Turkish intellectual property law, they managed to get Blogger banned completely, effectively banning millions of websites that have nothing to do with Turkish football or pirating.

Whilst Digiturk have every right to complain to courts about people who infringe on their copyrights, it is because of loopholes, ancient laws and severe lackings in understanding the internet, that such a ban has been possible. Why the Turkish government does not see it as a violation of freedom of speech is beyond me...

Depuis vendredi, il a été impossible d'accéder à la plate-forme Blogger ou n'importe quel domaine *.blogspot.com d'une adresse IP turque, en raison d'un interdit imposé par une cour de justice dans le Sud-Est de la Turquie.

Au premier abord, l'interdit fut attribué à Oktar, un créationniste Turque responsable de l'interdit en Turquie de Wordpress et des services Google en 2007. Il apparait maintenant que Digiturk, une plate-forme de TV numérique qui possède les droits de transmission de matchs de football live de la ligue turque, a demandé à Blogger d'interdire plusieurs blogs ou entrées de blog contenant des liens vers des transmissions pirates de matchs en direct. Blogger n'ayant rien fait, Digiturk est donc allé devant les tribunaux et conformément à la loi de propriété intellectuelle turque, ils ont réussi à faire interdire Blogger complètement, en interdisant de cette façon des millions de sites Internet n'ayant rien à voir avec le foot (mon blog, notamment).

Tandis que Digiturk a parfaitement le droit de se plaindre des gens qui empiètent sur leurs copyrights, c'est à cause des trous, des lois anciennes et le manque sévère de compréhension de l'Internet, qu'un tel interdit a été rendu possible. Pourquoi le gouvernement turc ne voit pas cela comme une violation de liberté d'expression? Vraiment je n'en sais rien et j'en reste sans voix...

Xmas/NOEL

In a bid to offer sweet and cheap xmas gifts in the current world crisis, I have listed 4 new pairs of earrings in my shop, made with Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls, glass beads and semi-precious stones, costing between 8 and 10 euros each.

Petits cadeaux pas chers et tous mignons pour Noel, dans ma boutique vous trouverez 4 nouvelles paires de boucles d'oreilles, avec pierres naturelles, cristaux et verre...

I've been Tagged!

The talented Julia of Spotted Sparrow, tagged me!



Here are the game's rules:
1-Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2-Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3-Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4-Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.



Now, 7 facts about myself...

1- I did Chinese for a year a lifetime ago at Uni.

2- I can't speak Chinese to save my life...

3- I love high heels but have never been able to wear them in a dignified manner...

4- My husband says I make the best profiterolles in the world!

5- I can't live without cheese.

6- I'm a huuuuuuuuge Harry Potter fan.

7- I used to be able to sit on my hair.



Now let's see...

http://weefolkoutfitters.blogspot.com/

http://www.isabellasart.com/weblog

http://marikach.blogspot.com/

http://miniaturesbyrachel.blogspot.com/

http://www.lilypangart.blogspot.com/

http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com/

http://lolamaeonline.blogspot.com/

Vintage

Première tentative d'oxydation de l'argent...méthode bonne franquette: avec des oeufs!!!
Deux paires de boucles d'oreilles en argent .925, enfermées dans sac plastique pendant une heure, avec 3 oeufs durs, tous chauds, bien fracassés...Nettoyées, frottées à la laine de fil de fer très très fine, polies... Un p'tit air victorien/gothique pour une paire, et le bleu et le blanc qui ressort bien sur l'autre, dans l'ensemble je suis assez satisfaite du résultat...

My first try to oxydise silver, using eggs. Those 2 pairs of earrings I made a few weeks ago needed something extra...So they spent an hour in a plastic bag with 3 hot crushed eggs...Washed, wire wooled, and polished, one pair mow has a true vintage/gothic/victorian feel, and on the other, the colours suddenly came alive! Overall, quite pleased...