Random Thought

Bird in progress--a recent custom work.

Something I noticed: I actually like making custom orders. I had figured myself to be a hardheaded girl who was fiercely protective of her creative space, so I thought I wouldn't like collaborating on anything. Well I was wrong. And happy to find out that I am!

I find that other people's input stimulates my imagination, makes me think of creating stuff I wouldn't otherwise, as was the case of the ladybug pirate now in my shop. It all began with a grandmother wanting a little bug for a girl's party, and then mentioning that another grandchild loves pirates. Later that evening, I decided I'd combine the two and came up with something that made a lot of people chuckle at the recent crafts fair I did. Although I have to admit that one guy's comment did make me think that maybe I didn't do it quite right.

He said, "I knew it was a pirate, but I thought it was a pirate rabbit!"

P.S. And I have been blogged! Gretchen, illustrator of wonderful stuff for kids and also occasionally known as ChichiBoulie, did a little something about me in her blog. Click here to see.

Let's Swap!

Time to clean up! I'm trying to clear my workroom of stuff left over from my jewelry-making days, so here I'm posting several lots of beads, and some finished jewelry for swapping.

I'm looking to swap for sewing stuff: nice cotton and linen, buttons and ribbons galore! I'd especially love to receive vintage pieces, as well as lengths of beautiful lace. I'm okay with fabric swatches rescued from old clothes--as long as it's gorgeous!

If you see anything you like, tell me what you'd like to swap with, either by sending me a convo through my Etsy shop, or leaving a comment here as to how I can get in touch with you.

Oh, and I live in France, so postage may be a consideration.

Here goes:

Blue Lot: 4 carved lapi lazuli flower beads (2.5cm diameter), 10 glass beads (2 cm), half string of dyed cultured pearls, 6 African glass beads, 2 blue quartz beads, 4 miscellaneous beads

Gold Lot: half string rice pearls, half string yellow cultured pearls, 2 big mother-of-pearl leaf pendants (6 cm long), 1 small mother-of-pearl leaf bead (3 cm), 2 shell pendants (one oblong, one teardrop, both 5 cm long), 2 gold pins, mother-of-pearl beads, 6 sodalite beads, plus various gold-toned beads

Green Lot: jade pendant (5.3 cm diameter), 23 flat green stone beads (maybe chrysocolla, but am not sure, sorry!; 1.75 cm long), 3 carved glass flower beads (1.75 cm), 5 small crystal beads

Black Lot: 13 carved horn teardrop beads (3 cm long), 3 jasper rectangle beads (1.5 cm), 2 onyx (1.5 cm), 9 oval hematite (1.7 cm), ring-shaped hematite bead, antioch heamatite pendant, a few black cultured pearls

Pink Lot: an overflowing handful of mixed pearls, crystals, and beads, including bigger pieces of rose quartz and pink jasper (see second photo); plus a string of vivid pink cultured pearls

Flower Choker: Something I made. The pendant is a flower made from green crystals and another type of green bead whose name I've forgotten (sorry!). The center is cultured pearls. The cord is braided satin. I can send you more photos if you wish. 16 inches or 40.6 cm.

Crocheted Lot: A set of three chokers. Pendant is made from crocheted copper wire, and various pearls, glass beads, and mother-of-pearl beads. The cords are braided satin. I can send you more photos if you wish. Length is a little more than 16 inches or 40.6 cm.

Boxed Universe

To continue this thread on the small and the cute...

Maybe it has something to do with that I've been near-sighted since I was 11. Or maybe it's that when I was young I was always considered a "big girl"-- too tall, too broad-shouldered, too angular -- and so of course I was always wanting to be petite and delicate. Whatever the reason, I am unfailingly attracted to tiny things; and at those flea markets and vintage-goods fairs I often talk about, I never fail to fall in love with all things mini.

Of course, if you've seen my Etsy shop, you'd know that this obsession continues even while I'm in my work room. So look what I've done to two old tin cans and a vintage pill box I have in my stash!

Nature in a Teacup

The tea set from yesterday's vide grenier was calling out to me all afternoon! It could not wait, so a few hours ago I sat down with teensy-weensy teacup in hand, and ended up with a piece of country field:

Should we have a little tea party?

Yesterday, Cindy and I attacked the vide grenier* at La Roquette in Arles, and came away each with an exploding paper bag of various odds and ends. My most precious find was this tin tea set. Look at how tiny it is:I'm already dreaming up what to do with the lovely things...

vide grenier = flea market, or car boot sale; lots of fun!

******

And this may be late, but I would really like to thank Marichelle of Heart Handmade for writing such a sweet feature on my White Swans, and La Rimule for my first write-up ever in a Francophone blog. You girls absolutely made my day when those articles came out!

This little piggy went to market, and went "Wee wee wee" all the way home

So for the first time ever, last weekend I showed my fabric creations live, at the Free Market in Montpellier.

The first day, Saturday, although the market was going to start at 10 a.m., I woke up at five (!!!) because I still had to translate some of my product descriptions from English to French--and, believe me, this is not the most fun thing to do first thing in the morning. By 11 p.m. that night, when the market closed for the day, I was about ready to lose consciousness, but decided to hold on instead and reward myself with a plate of steak tartare and some girl-chatting with Ana and Manu. Fortunately, the next day was a little less traumatic, as there was no more translating to do, and the market finished much earlier, at eight p.m.

Aside from the shock to my circadian rhythm, I absolutely loved the experience. Some highlights:
* A little girl who saw my yellow apple-head doll and refused to budge from the spot unless the doll was going along with her.
* Another little girl who took 30 minutes to decide if she was going to take the miniature basket of cats, or the one with the bunnies, but did it so charmingly and sweetly that I didn't mind her being there at all.
* A whole bunch of sisters coming over, taking my dolls, and playing with them right there in the middle of the market. They were so cute! But of course I made sure they didn't have hands sticky with ice cream :)
* People keeping on saying how my creations were "poétique." (Yep, insecure little me needs some affirmation!)
* Meeting other crafts artists, and actually already setting up an afternoon exchange of know-how with one of them.
* Meeting the couple behind pOOmplastick. Etsy is almost unknown over here in France, so to meet other people who keep a shop over there was cool. And, of course, I had to buy something from them. A mini apple--what else?

Getting Psychic

"I find Elisa in my parents’ bedroom, embraced in our mother’s arms. With their faces relaxed like that, they look so much alike. Same high cheekbones and prominent foreheads, almost identical full lips, their hair long and straight, all over the pillows.

On my way back to bed, I pause in front of the mirror hanging in the hallway to the bathroom. It is a simple square on a wooden frame. I don’t really like what I see in there: me, my father’s child, short and round, with hair so curly it is unmanageable if it isn’t cut very short like a boy’s.

I keep looking only because there is something else. There are reflections of our bedrooms, the Rose and the Lavender, my sister’s and mine. Maybe, if I just look long enough, manage to catch the right angle, I can also finally get a glimpse of my mother and sister’s secret world."

So goes part of my short story "Psychic Family," published in the magazine The Digest of Philippine Genre Stories. For several weeks now, it's been for sale in certain Philippine bookstores, like the Comic Quests in SM Megamall and SM City. For updates, go to publisher Kenneth Yu's blog here.

I love the cover of this issue, done by comic-book artist Lan Medina; and am thrilled to be published alongside Vin Simbulan, Yvette Tan, Dean Francis Alfar, and Mia Tijam. (Tijam's wild and wacky The Ascension of Lady Boy in the Philippine Speculative Fiction 3 was one of my favorites in that anthology.)

If you love me, you'll get yourself a copy!