We're All Ears :: April Reveal :: Safer At Home

Hello bead peeps!

I am sorry to be a little late to my own party. And I am not prepared (!). I clearly have not been very good at mastering time management of late. I am ashamed that I have no earrings to show for this post, but I do have something creative to share. And as they say on Broadway...the Show Must Go On!

I didn't make any earrings, but I am very proud to say that my creative constipation has finally busted through! LOL! I did manage to make the first in what will become a series of mixed media mosaic assemblages, so that is what I am sharing with you today. And there is a little bit of earring tucked into it....

I have had these little house shapes for some time and more that are larger and smaller, as I really resonate with a house shape. I have wanted to make these into something for a long time but just couldn't figure out what.

Then I stumbled on the "leaning tower of discarded jewelry" which is really leaning and it is so large it is a tower in my studio that I literally stumbled into! I found a necklace that I had made back in 2014 as a sample for a video series that I did with Interweave called "Shimmering Garden" (that I see is still offered for download!). It was in the discard pile because it had been strung incorrectly and the flowers didn't hang right. But all good pieces, and nothing ever gets thrown away in my world! So I just took a scissors to it and started cutting. Those three large flowers were what I made in the video and were the perfect focals for this new project. From there it was just fun to find all the bits I had lying around to make this mosaic assemblage. Included in here are actual earrings that were in my mother's jewelry box. There was a whole bag of these unfortunate costume jewelry pieces from decades past (nothing valuable or sentimental), things I can't even fathom my mother would have worn, still I couldn't get rid of them. So even though I didn't make earrings, there are still earrings represented here!

These will become a series that I will debut at the Gallery Q when we do actually reopen. And now that I have made one, the flood gates of creativity are opening. Huzzah!

A picture of my home before when we bought it in late 2009.

When this home isolation mandate came down I embraced the change, even though it was hard. I thought that maybe I would tackle some creative projects I had been putting off. But no, that sadly hasn't happened. Yes, it has been a shock to the system, but it is clearly NOT the worst thing. Despite the negative connotations, the actual hardships that people are facing, and let's face it, the inconveniences that are seemingly the main thing that I see people griping about, this time on pause has made me appreciate more than ever all the blessings that I have in my life: my family, my friends, having a job, the food on my table, the health that we have, the beauty of nature all around us, the rising of community spirit, the undeniable worth of a positive outlook, scientific facts and discoveries that will carry us though, the value of seeking to learn something new every day.

My friend Shannon has been doing a Facebook live "Stories with Shannon" each week for little ones, complete with a story she reads, plus coloring and even yoga bits. It is simply delightful. She read a book about mindfulness called A World of Pausabilities this week and it really resonated with me. Pushing pause on our lives as we knew them is not the same as pushing stop. There are many opportunities to be had if we only take the time to look up and out and see how we are all tightly woven in our communities, local, state, country and world - dependent on each other for health and happiness. This mindfulness is what I hope to carry through to the other side, wherever and whenever that may be. So I ask you...

What do you hope to carry with you to the other side of this pause? 

If you were able to play along in this challenge, now is the time to share!


P.S. Today, April 17th at 2:00pm I will be doing my very first Facebook live with a little art project that anyone, anywhere can join in on. We will be doing Greeting Card Mosaics with paper. Would love to have you join me! It will be hosted on the CREATE Portage County Facebook page.

We're All Ears :: Safer At Home

Hi, friend. How are you doing? No, really. How ARE you?

It has been a bit weird lately, to say the least. Last month I completely missed doing a challenge, and since each day is now like a week, it seems so long ago that I can't really recall. Is that a thing for you, too?

I wasn't sure that I would make this month either. Because, let's face it....my Muse has left the building and no matter what I do, I can't seem to coax her back. Between the hand washing, and the meal prepping and the working from home, and making sure that my kids are doing their school work (they are college students so it is much easier on me, but we talk about how grateful our kids are grown at this point because you parents adding homeschooling to your days get a lot of praise!), and worrying if our elderly relatives are doing okay with not just the isolation but the loneliness....well, the last thing on my mind is actually creating.

No, wait. That isn't quite true. The FIRST thing on my mind is being creative! I even have a sticky note that I see every single day, and my home office is actually on the other side of my Bead Cave, which you would think would be an easy temptation.

Seafoam Squarepants says, "DO SOMETHING CREATIVE TODAY!"

But yet, I have not made one thing in the past three weeks. Not one. And that just has to change. This creative constipation stinks!

You see, creating is a life-giving action, no matter what you are doing. Creating generates endorphins* and those happy chemicals lighten your load and gives you a positive outlook on life.
(*I am not a scientist, but it sounds about right!)

So now is a great time to make something!

My daughter is a dancer, and we cleared out the living room for her dance studio. Even bought her a portable dance floor which really helps. Dancing is a great stress relief. In Wisconsin, we had a statewide dance party on Saturday afternoon at 3pm. Radio stations all across the state played the song "Jump Around" which a sort of unofficial Badger anthem. People all over the place went out in their driveways and on their front porch to do just that: jump around! So much fun!

She has also been baking a lot. Each week she makes us a new treat, usually cookies.

My son has been practicing his chipping game. We have a huge backyard, so there is a lot of room to chip and putt all over the place.

My husband has been doing all the yard work. That is sort of an unofficial hobby for him. Roto-tilling, raking, riding the lawn-mower. The yard looks ready to green up.

Me? Nothing much. Just trying to keep my family fed. And clear out my studio so that there is a space to even create a pair of earrings. In the process I am finding all sorts of things, which makes me think I should have a massive destash event because there is no way I could ever use all of these things myself!

The good news is that I really don't mind being at home so much. Aside from going to work every day, I really don't get out that much (and clearly I can work from home so now I think I should do that always). Since this local mandate started about a month ago, I can count on one hand the number of times I have gone about town. Our house is large enough that everyone has a space they can call their own, so that really helps, and I know we are lucky in that. But I do miss going out and about, or seeing friends. But the more we embrace this new normal (and I think it will be this way for a much longer time than we think), the better.

I hope that no matter where you are in the world that you are staying safe and healthy and positive and sane. Perhaps you are under some sort of mandatory or voluntary stay-at-home mandate. We all must be doing our part. Here in Wisconsin it is called "Safer At Home." I just wish that every one would abide by that so that we can all come together to fight this common enemy by standing {six feet} apart.

What does Home mean to you?

I have always argued that Home is not necessarily a place but more a state of mind, a feeling, and certainly not limited by four walls and a roof. But in these uncertain and odd times, Home is taking on a much greater and deeper meaning.

I hope that your Home is a safe haven, a comfort zone, a place where you want to be.

I am sure that Home is where you have a lot of memories, where the pantry is always stocked, where friends and family and pets come together to laugh and play, where the laundry always smells fresh, the counters are always cluttered, and the chaos of the everyday makes you smile.

I want to believe that everyone's home is a place of acceptance, security, and, most of all, love.

Make some earrings to represent HOME to you*. Come back on Friday, April 17th to show them off and it would be great to see pictures of your home as well!

*Thanks to Sarajo Wentling for the inspiration! 

There's No Place Like Home

When we switched on the TV, Wednesday night, we came upon final scenes from The Wizard of Oz.  Dorothy closes her eyes and recites, "There's no place like home.  There's no place like home".  Then she awakens in her own bed, surrounded by her loved ones.

As I was making today's earrings, I remembered that phrase - There's no place like home - and decided it was a perfect title.

The house charms came from Inviciti.  I wanted to frame them with some kind link.  I had some sterling silver kite shaped links in mind, that I was going to hammer and patina.  But it turned out the links were smaller than I had remembered them to be.  So I got out a bunch of other links before I found this round pair that were the right size.  But then I realized that the holes at the tops of the houses were itty-bitty.  So next I pulled out all my jump rings and wire to see if I could find something in a small enough gauge to fit through the holes in the charms.  Without going into all the unsuccessful details, suffice it to say that my work table looked like this before I was done with the job!  The earrings are hiding in this mess.  Can you find them?

My husband wandered in when I was in the middle of this disaster.  I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted, but I was having a hard time bringing it to life.  He pointed out that pewter is quite a soft metal and that I maybe able to gently enlarge the hole with a thin drill bit.  I didn't have that thin a bit, but I very, very gently enlarged the hole by twisting the tip of my round nose pliers in the hole at the top of the house charms.  It only took the tiniest bit of pressure to enlarge the hole enough to slip a jump ring into it.  The rest of the project came together effortlessly.

I rather enjoy the problem solving that is sometimes required in order to make the vision in my head come true.  Admittedly, at times, that process can tip over into frustration.  But in this case I had fun and am quite pleased with the result.  The "There's No Place Like Home" earrings are available in my shop now.

 There's no place like home.....

Linda Landig Jewelry