Today is The Art of Awareness blog hop - hosted by the most awesomest Lori Anderson. Lori and Heather are hosting this hop to bring an important message -- the cause you're bringing awareness to, and the handmade bead artisan who made the beads.
Mom and I discussed what word we wanted to choose - let me tell you, I think this was the hardest part - but we finally decided on the word "Dignity".
Definition of dignity: self-respect, self-regard, self-worth (noun) - the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect
I think mom and I are having a hard time this year in regard to our self-worth. I know it has been difficult for mom since her surgery to get motivated to do things. She is a go getter and being out of commission dampens her mood. Though the doctor said it would take her up to a year to get back to where she was and that depression is a factor of knee replacement surgery.
A friend of ours sent this to mom:
"Your value does not decrease based on someone's inability to see your worth." -Unknown
Mom has that quote in her wallet and I have that on my monitor at work. That quote is to remind ourselves we have worth and we should be treated with dignity - EVEN BY OURSELVES!
As many of you know - I despise drawing or sketching. Well - here is my second attempt at my idea for this piece. I wanted to have a quote stamped on a pendant. I wrote up six different quotes and mom and I laid on her bed deciding on which quote we wanted to use.
Once we had the quote picked out then it was trying to decide what we wanted to have me create for the lampwork glass beads. I knew I wanted to go from dark beads to lighter beads - so we decided to go black, dark gray, light gray, dark pink to light pink. I also knew I wanted to use SIS (silver ivory stringer) on the beads - both mom and I didn't want dots - so went with lines. Of course all of this planning is on mom's bed with the cats using us as an obstacle course while mom is trying to write.
On the copper, mom drew out lines and wrote the quote out for me so I could go to town on stamping. I also have the sketch next to me to make sure I don't misspell any words. Boy, that was a lot of fun! I haven't stamped anything in almost two years. Though I am sure the cats weren't too happy hearing me hammer the stamps - that work surface is right over their litter box cabinet :)
Next it was mom connecting our awareness bead to the copper pendant. I really love what mom did with the bead - it fits perfectly - the only bad thing is that you can't see the ribbon stamp - but you at least see the word.
Next is laying out the beads on a cookie tray (I love these trays because it is so nice to be able to layout everything and move beads around without us losing the beads) and figuring out what we wanted to use for accent beads. We ended up deciding to use rounded copper discs between the glass beads and seed beads.
It has actually been so nice to work out in the garage again. This is a photo of my work area and then what mom is doing is inventorying all of our pieces for our show at Zionsville, IN today.
So - since you have lasted this long here is what we created:
We don't have a name for this piece yet - though we should be really original and name it "Dignity".
Mom and I decided to not go with a clasp - instead you can take it on and off over your head.
I love how the lampwork glass beads turned out. I did experiment with four different pink glass rods. Mom and I decided on using two of the pinks in this necklace and I used the other two pinks in a bracelet. I love how the beads go from black, to dark gray, to light gray, dark pink and light pink with pops of copper from the accent beads. Also, the beads are pretty heavy, but it is a nice weight - it has some heft!
Here is a closer look of the pendant I stamped and the bead from Heather. I first put the pendant on our garage cement floor and put some texture on it. Once that was done I stamped the pendant and then sawed out the perimeter. Once the sawing was done I filed and sanded and then put it into liver of sulfur (which we need to buy a new container because I think ours went bad). I left it in the liver of sulfur overnight and then sanded off the darker color and sealed the copper. Once all of that was done then mom wire wrapped the bead from Heather.
So, that was our process of how our piece came about.
Thank you again Lori and Heather for putting this challenge together. It sure was an adventure for mom and I this time around.
Mom and I have a show today - so we won't be able to blog hop until Sunday. This is our first time attending this show - it is over at 5pm but I don't think we will get home until 8pm.
Thank you again for stopping by and checking out our piece for this Awareness Blog Hop.
I will leave you a list of those who are participating and if you can't read the list head on over to Lori's blog because I am sure she has the list posted:
Good luck at your show today! I think it is wonderful that you and your mom work together. What fun. I hope your mom heals quickly!
ReplyDeleteWow, all those lovely lampwork beads. Just perfect with the hand-stamped metal focal. Beautifully done.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love reading about how you and your mom work together. What a wonderful team. Your necklace is gorgeous! I love every element you decided on - the word on your bean bead, the quote on the pendant, the pendant itself, the beautiful lampwork and how the colors flow and the lovely spacers. It's all just perfect! I also love the quote your friend sent about your value not determined others' inability to see it. EXACTLY. I send thoughts for your mom's continued recovery so you both can feel back up to speed. Have a great show today!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work! Love the quote. Wishing your mom a speedy recovery:)
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful design! I love the word choice, and I love even more that you collaborated with your mother to create this. Thank you for sharing your story and such a lovely work of art.
ReplyDeleteThat is a gorgeous necklace. Just gorgeous. I love the pictures you took so we could see the steps.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful necklace and very moving story on how it came about. And I do have to say that I love those copper spacers.
ReplyDeleteWonderful piece! You two always work so well together to come up with spectacular pieces!
ReplyDeleteWhat a truly beautiful piece! I am so impressed at how you two work together to create something so perfect! Dignity is such a powerful word. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteA lovely reminder to love and give dignity to ourselves, with a lovely necklace to celebrate it.
ReplyDeleteThat is really a beautiful piece. I'm loving the bead on the copper and the lamp work beads are so beautiful. Great quote also.
ReplyDeleteWow, love the necklace. And I love your story. Such an important message. I hope your mom will be much better soon
ReplyDeleteWOW, that is such a clever use of your bead ! I hope your mom feels better soon.
ReplyDeleteWishing your mom well, gorgeous gorgeous necklace. Awesome design.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. I so love that. I'd wear it. A lot. Dignity is something I feel I've lost since I've been sick -- so many people poking at every part of my body, etc. I truly love this piece.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful and inspiring story! I love your collaboration and your piece turned out wonderful! Beautiful beads! Thank you for sharing!
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