Quote of the week

Humidity, heavy rain, rapids, crocodiles, leeches, steam ... these are some random keywords that might tell you which movie today's quote is from.

I always liked Katherine Hepburn and even if I am not that big a Humphrey Bogart fan, I can't tell you how often I have seen this movie with Hepburn as the well-educated and well-behaved spinster sister of a missionary and Bogart as the gin-swilling, ill-bred steam boat captain, trying to escape the Germans (the movie is set in 1914).

What an odd couple it is maybe is best shown by this quote.

Captain Allnut says with a smile:

You carry on more over a cup of tea than I do over a glass of gin.

If you haven't seen this movie yet, do it. You know what? I think I'll watch it now myself.

African Queen, USA, 1951

Raiders of the lost stash

I'm getting old rapidly. Hurting here and there, brain cells diminishing by the minute and let's not even talk about the urge to tell young people how much better the old times were when we still had winters with 10 feet of snow for three months and ate cake made from water and sand because we didn't have eggs and flour. It's what time does with you, I guess. Sometimes at least. I'm not sure, I just lost another brain cell, you know.

And still there is a little adventurous mood left in this old body. Follow me if you are game. We might encounter cobwebs and wild beasts with big fangs and sharp claws. We'll dive into depths man hasn't seen for, well, months. The treasure waiting for us at the end of the road will be worth it, though.

Can you see it? Purple, brown, green, red, black and white!

Yup, I found beads and pearls in my travel bag that I had totally forgotten about. It's nice to find stuff. Next I'll go through my books hoping for some nice crisp banknotes.

Of course I had to make something from this treasure before my memory goes down the drain even more and I forget about it again! Don't worry, the beads are not in the travel bag anymore, so that's progress ;-)

So here it is, a beautiful pearl surrounded by red carnelian, now in my Zibbet shop.

Office chairs, a pillow, cucumber and icicles

Yesterday was ... well, interesting.

I left early from work, took a little break sitting in my favorite spot on the bench on the way home to read in the sun and then ...

... who would leave two fine office chairs at a street corner? And in the street, too. They just stood there and waited. Maybe it was an offer to sit down? Or maybe they waited to be used in some kind of street chair race? It would have had to go uphill, though, it's a one-way street in that direction.

While I still wondered about that, I stumbled on the slice of cucumber. A little dried around the edges it lay there in the street. Had it just fallen off a sandwich? Just one lonely cucumber slice? It may seem weird to you, but in my mind I try to think of possible stories around something like that, and I see somebody eating a cheese sandwich without that bit of vitamin. Isn't that sad?

If you think you've heard the best already, you are wrong. Because that was when I came round the corner and saw the pillow. A not so small colorful pillow lying in the middle of the pavement, still wrapped up in plastic. Was this Candid Camera or something?? I picked it up and found an address on the plastic. It wasn't far from where I was, so I decided to take it there.

Don't you love corner houses? No matter what I do, I always go to the wrong side first and then have to go all the way back to find the door. I rang the bell, but there was no answer. Luckily a neighbor just pulled up with her car full of groceries and looked a little confused first at me, then at the pillow. I told her I had found it and wanted to drop it off and she told me "she's probably sleeping". Shoot, I really thought this time I'd find out the story. Had she picked it up from the post office and lost it while riding her bike? Why didn't she trace her way back, it wasn't that far? Or did the parcel guy lose it on the way? Why was she sleeping at 2 pm? Working a night shift or just taking a nap?

Questions, questions, questions!

I finally made it home, ready to confront the next question in my brain - what to make for the Starving Artist Team's May challenge? The challenge was to be inspired by a picture.

Suddenly it came to me. It was so hot ... cold ... winter ... ice ... icicles ... dingdingding!

A least one question was answered today.

This is the picture that inspired me.

And this is what I made from this inspiration. It's an icicle pendant with lots of clear sparkly Swarovski crystals.

Mission accomplished!

P.S. I still wonder about the cucumber ....

Fraud

This is not what you might be thinking of now. No online fraud, my bank card did not get stuck in the cash machine and I got the right change at checkout in the supermarket.

No, even if it's hard to admit - I'm the fraud.

Maybe you wonder why you didn't hear about my kitties for a while. Ponder has his own blog now and there he's telling it like it is. Before he's giving Esme the chance to call me out over there, though ... well, I decided I had to do it myself. Here's the photo that could ruin my reputation.

Esme claims I rented the place out as a two bedroom flat. And she was not happy with her bedroom. Mainly because there was no bed there, just a floor. With carpet, but not by far as nice as her brother's bedroom, a nice old big office chair with a clean blanket ... with kitties on it!!

So I guess I'll just apologize officially to Esme. I know she will keep me under surveillance very closely for a long time now.

Wish me luck.

What's in a name?

"That which we all a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Thank you, Mr. Shakespeare.

Sorry to disappoint you now, but this rose doesn't smell at all because it's from polymer clay. I got some carving tools and this is one of the first results. I might not have a green thumb, but there's no way I could water this rose too much or too little. Nice, huh?

The other thing I like about this necklace is the way the crochet ribbons are set on the focal part. The idea came suddenly and I really think I'm onto something here for other focals. My mind is already working ....

Summer scent

By the way, this necklace was made for the Polymer Clay Smooshers challenge with the subject "Fusion" (of materials and/or techniques).

Quote of the week

Today I present a quote from one of my favorite childhood TV series. Unfortunately there were only two seasons.

What happens if a wizard from the dark ages gets transported through the times into 70s Britain? I tell you what - it's hilarious! Of course you know now who I am talking about?

Let me give you another hint:

Salmay, dalmay, adomay!

It's Catweazle! Still as funny today as it was in 1970 or probably in 1066 ;-)

Catweazle, UK, 1970/71

Self defense

Have you been in that situation before? You just happen to go for a little walk, see that murky castle up on that hill and think you'll go by to check out their ancestor gallery. When you knock on the castle door, it just opens up by itself and the next thing you know is a vampire charging at you, obviously being very interested in your neck?

Now wouldn't you feel better if you had something to defend yourself with? Like a cross?

Ok, seriously now. I have no idea if this cross works against vampires, but it sure looks as if it should.

Dark red and black Swarovski crystals around a big black glass cab on black wire make a pretty stunning combination. This is a statement piece. It's huge, it's sparkly and it's impossible not to see. How could I have resisted to make it??

You can find it in my ArtFire studio now.

Quote of the week

So Captain Jack Sparrow will be back, in part 4 of the "Pirates of the Caribbean".

I have to admit that part 1 is still my favorite. It was on TV the other night and although there's the DVD on the shelf, I watched some of it (I hate commercial breaks).

When they first catch Jack, Commodore Norrington says he must be the worst pirate he has ever heard of. Not quite, Commodore. Of course Jack tricks them and steals their best ship which makes one of Norrington's officers say following:

Officer: That's got to be the best pirate I've ever seen.

Norrington (with annoyed look on his face): So it would seem.

Seem??? ;-)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, USA, 2003

Sun and moon

I have a secret drawer. Sometimes I store things in there for a bit until I find time and energy to take pictures for example. And sometimes I forget I stored things in there. Then I'm in for a surprise, just like yesterday.

When I opened it, a necklace came out. It had been a spontaneous in between project which maybe is the reason why I forgot it. Maybe the reason is that someone stole my brain. I should check for Zombies again. Wait, I think I can hear one!

*elevator music*

Ok, that was false alarm. It was just Greebo snoring somewhere behind me. He's not interested in my brain.

Back to the archeological find. This is it, one of my tube ropes with a pendant.

I had bought that moonstone cab such a long time ago, but it's not very big and therefore it was a little challenging to make a bezel for it. The gunmetal bezel alone made it look dark, so I added the golden wire.

When I was done, the irony wasn't lost on me. The pendant now reminded me of a sunflower with the gunmetal and the gold color, but in the middle was a moonstone! Maybe that's just me, though. Maybe others see something totally different in it, who knows?

Quote of the week

Did you know that on Tuesday there's the International Monty Python Status Day on Facebook? Think of one of your favorite quotes and use it for your status.

Oh come on now, really? I can post just one lousy quote of the hundreds I so love?

Lately people have been telling me they can't deal with the British humor. That's alright with me, there are things I can't deal with which a lot of people love. I however can't help myself.

And to be truly honest with you, it's not hard at all to choose my favorite Monty Python quote. Actually it's a bunch of sketches belonging together, but one recurring sentence from them has become infamous. Any idea? No? You don't want me to fetch the comfy chair and poke you with the soft cushions, do you??

Now did THAT give it away?

You didn't expect it? Well, we know that ...

... nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

 

Monty Python's Flying Circus,  Series 2, Episode 2, UK, 1970

Big Bling Theory

A bad pun, I know, but after working on one bling Swarovski cuff after the other this weekend, I couldn't come up with anything smart.

Black, crystal, silver, padparadscha, montana blue, crystal AB, copper - you'll find all of these colors in the cuffs. They have different lengths and widths and patterns ... now I think I won't want to see a Swarovski crystal for some time!

Well, of course after I have taken photographs and listed these six ;-)

Mabel is exploring her romantic streak

A few weeks ago I was given a DVD to watch, Victoria & Albert. I guess it woke the romantic in Mabel (before I get asked, no, I did not watch the Royal Wedding).

It started out with a seed bead destash lot I had gotten a while ago. Sometimes it does have something calming to put seed beads on a wire, hundreds, thousands of them. Actually it always takes me back to a certain day in my early teenagehood - when we met at a friend's house to put together a self-made "journal", a project in my German class. Our journal was about animals. It might have been a real market niche then, hadn't we "stolen" the articles from all kinds of other publications. Don't get me wrong, we were not supposed to write the articles ourselves, we probably would have needed a year for that. I still have it, by the way. I got it because I wrote all the articles by hand and because my brother contributed that cool article about the sharks. Anyway, I remember that when we were brainstorming that day, I was putting together a looooong seed bead necklace.

Sorry, I'm back from the land of memories now, now we can get back to nostalgia and romantic muses ;-)

Here are two pieces Mabel made me crochet (the links underneath the pictures lead to the listings). Of course I had seen designs like them before, but somehow I never tried it myself. I still got more of those seed beads you know. I wonder what they'll end up in.

Old blue lace (with blue goldstone)

Old yellow lace (with tiger eye)

Quote of the week

I know, I know ... I'm late. Way late. I have been distracted for a while, it's hard to concentrate and get things done.

So this post was written on the 4th, but dated back to the 1st. Don't let it confuse you. It's enough that I am confused.

Last week I have been introduced to two English movies. First let me say (again?) that I love the English humor, black, twisted, with that serious undertone. These two movies are crazy, insane, bloody (not something I usually go for), did I mention insane?

Let's start with the zombie movie.

Shaun and Ed, two friends, just found out there are zombies in their neighborhood. I like that idea. I wonder what I'll see when looking out of my window. Seeing a zombie would probably kind of spoil my day. Seriously, are you prepared for a situation like that?

Ed: Any zombies out there?

Shaun: Don't say that!

Ed: What?

Shaun: That!

Ed: What?

Shaun: The zed-word. Don't say it!

Ed: Why not?

Shaun: Because it's ridiculous!

Ed: All right ... are there any out there, though?

Believe me, there are. With a Z for zombie or a U for undead, they are out there and this is just the beginning of a wild ride.

Shaun of the Dead, UK/France/USA, 2004