I’m tired, hungry and a little dirty from working in the studio. It looks like I might be doing markets both Saturday and Sunday this week. It’s going to be a tiring weekend.
I made these yesterday, the top has matte beads, the bottom faceted beads. I can’t decide which I prefer. Opinions? #earrings #handmade #goldfilled #howliteturquoise
So this isn’t my original design but I loved it so much I wanted to create my own version. The corset ring. Should I add this to my catalogue? I’m thinking silver with gold laces…. .
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#handmadejewelry #uniquejewelry #handmade #beautiful #fashionjewelry #TT #trinidad #caribbean #caribbeanlife #artisan #forher #tandt #abstract #sundara #customjewelry #artjewelry #trinidadandtobago #druzy #artisanjewelry #sundarajewelry #copper #ring #corset #corsetring
A look back at Maya Angelou’s life, on what would have been her 90th birthday.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you,” Maya Angelou wrote, in her memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” The poet and civil-rights activist, who was born ninety years ago today, lived a public life that spanned decades and received the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize. Click the link in our bio to look back at her life in pictures.
I always figured I’d make my mark as a visual artist one day, either as a painter or as an illustrator. Growing up pretty much all I ever did was draw, so visual art seemed to be my niche.
It’s interesting to me that the direction that I’m making a name for myself in is jewelry. I’ve always seen myself as a visual artist, even though nowadays it’s really rare that I pick up a pen or a brush.
I realised tonight that there’s a disconnect between what I do now and how I define myself artistically in general. Like when I see the work of local painters in Trinidad I often feel a bit of envy that my work is not out there. I’m just as good as they are. Why does nobody know that I can paint and draw? I’ve never let go of the idea of having a solo exhibition and getting my stuff out there.
But my last exhibition was twenty years ago. And I have had the time to do another and simply haven’t. The passion is not there. Because it turns out that I’m not a painter or an illustrator after all. I’m an artisan who makes jewelry. It’s something I still can’t really identify with. I just see it as something I do, not something I am.
I suppose in the end it doesn’t matter what I call myself. Artist covers it all. And I still intend to have that exhibition. I think about it more often that one would expect. It will happen. I want to be seen, all of me. I’m gonna do it.
My paternal grandmother told me her grandfather was from Mongolia. But when I did my DNA genealogy it didn’t show up.
My maternal great grandmother was from Portugal and that didn’t show up either. I got southern Italy and Turkey in my results, but not there.
It just kind of makes you wonder how accurate these tests really are. I’m thinking that narrowing it down to specific countries might be where it stops being so accurate. Like I barely got Chinese on my map and instead hot like, Singapore and stuff like that. But we’re Chinese.
I was just thinking about how much people stake on these tests. Are our ancestors lying? Or is the test a mess?
Nature is my thing but I love making these more abstract pieces. This on is silver leaf with blue colouring. I find them quite mesmerizing… .
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#handmadejewelry #uniquejewelry #beautiful #TT #buylocal #trinidad #caribbean #customjewelry #artjewelry #trinidadandtobago #artisanjewelry #sundarajewelry #handmade #tandt #forher #sundara #resin #resinjewelry #organic #nature #ecoresin #abstract #blue #silver #earrings #secretforesttreasures #caribbeanlife #artisan #fashionjewelry #abstract
Capping off the tops of resin earrings with UV resin. I usually just put them in the sun but a UV light works great too. Cures in minutes instead of hours!
Man I had so much fun in the studio today. I actually have orders to work on but I had some designs I wanted to try out. And technically it was a public holiday so I gave myself a play day. I enjoyed it. Now I need a shower and some food!
I had this vision of a ring with a stone set in what looked like a crevice, something organic that looked like rock. I decided to make a prototype today in copper and set a turquoise in it. I really like it. I may try it again and texture the band. Unfortunately I broke it (one side is not attached to the stone, can’t repair) so… ☹️ .
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#handmadejewelry #uniquejewelry #handmade #beautiful #fashionjewelry #TT #buylocal #trinidad #caribbean #caribbeanlife #artisan #forher #tandt #abstract #sundara #customjewelry #artjewelry #trinidadandtobago #druzy #artisanjewelry #sundarajewelry #goldfilled #sterlingsilver #copper #ring #semipreciousgemstones
Another prototype by request. Looks like today is ring day… what do you think of this double knot ring? Would it work with silver/gold or rose/yellow gold combinations?
I gave up on the leaf 🍃 ring… I tried to reproduce it and it’s clear my sawing skills are not up to par. I gave up after the third try. I’m going on a different direction and it seems to be working better. More to come…
Well one side came out much nicer than the other. Maybe next time I should get off the phone while I’m sawing 😁 It’s just an experiment thankfully that’s why I chose copper first.
Busted out the saw today… I’m working on a prototype, first in copper then in sterling. Let’s see how this goes. .
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#handmadejewelry #uniquejewelry #handmade #beautiful #fashionjewelry #TT #buylocal #trinidad #caribbean #caribbeanlife #artisan #forher #tandt #abstract #sundara #customjewelry #artjewelry #trinidadandtobago #druzy #artisanjewelry #sundarajewelry #copper #sawing #metalsmithing
venus: do you flirt more knowingly or unknowingly?
Well I’m really not much of a flirt and if I’m doing it I know I am. But I’ve also had many instances of me just treating a man like a normal human being and they interpreting it as some kind of come on so like, maybe flirting looks different to different people. But trust if I’m flirting in purpose it can’t be mistaken as anything else.
mercury: who’s your go-to person when you need to talk?
I’m not really much of a talk things out kind of person I tend to keep things close to my chest. But I most often turn to my girlfriend Alannah.
lilith: what’s your biggest turn on in someone?
Levity. A sense of humor. The ability to be fun and playful and make me laugh.
A male colleague was making fun of the #metoo movement a few days ago, and many more (I’m one of 5 women in a department of 200 men) joined in. So I raised my voice and said I was glad women were speaking up about sexual harassment and assault and that I hoped that everyone who perpetuated this toxic behavior got taken down.
“Yeah but it’s a trend now, lots of them are just saying it for their 15 minutes of fame.” He then continued to say that he didn’t know anyone who had been harassed or any man who had done it.
I asked him if he had a daughter. He did. I asked him how old she was. She was was 17. I told him I’d bet my rent money that his daughter had experienced sexual harassment.
“That’s impossible.”
“Did you ask her?”
“No.”
“Well then, do it.”
The next day, he came in the office with five bouquets of flowers for all the women in our department, including me. He publicly apologized for making fun of sexual harassment and for making our lives harder by doing so. He said that he simply hadn’t known how widespread it was. Apparently, his daughter deals with it very regularly. She hadn’t told him because of the way he spoke about assault cases that were on the news. She thought he’d think less of her if she’d mention it. It was her idea that he should make a public announcement. He said he felt like a bad father.
I said: “You were. Same goes for everyone who laughed with you. Be better, now you know better. And educate other men that still think the same way you did yesterday. And next time someone tells you about an experience they have, don’t automatically assume that because you haven’t seen it, it’s not true. That kind of willful ignorance is why we still deal with this shit.”
He also offered to pay my rent as that was part of the bet, but I told him I’d rather have him put effort in being a person his daughter and wife could be proud of.
In conversation the other day my mom stopped and asked my dad about what percentage of women he thought had experienced sexual harassment. He said about 20-30% maybe. My mom told him that both of us had been harassed multiple times at work (same goes for both of her sisters) and that she had actually been assaulted by a groper on a public bus. I have never seen anyone’s face go slack so quickly before as he realized that literally every woman in his family had experienced this. And while I’m glad he believed us and has changed his view on that subject I still can’t shake the frustration, the anger, that it required being sat down and spoonfed these incidents that we didn’t particularly wanted to relive. This is something that women have been saying for years, but men just never listen. Not even when they’re forced to sit in mandatory harassment in the workplace training seminars.
men’s loyalty to violence is disturbing. when women want a life free of abuse, assault, threat, & coercion, men’s first suggestion is “learn to fight back. learn to defend yourself”. i don’t want my life to be a fight. i don’t want to “prove myself” through inflicting pain & fear.
i don’t find violence and physical conflict fulfilling or self-actualising.
Anyway right now I am craving baked sweet potatoes. I have some but I also have food to eat. It’s that time of the month. My body is craving carbs. *sigh*
I was craving wonton soup this afternoon for no good reason. It made me reminisce a bit about Chinese food of the past.
When we lived in Caracas we used to eat out at restaurants a lot, usually every Sunday. One of our favorite places to go was this place in the Chinese part of the city. It wasn’t fancy. The tables were formica. Often we had to share. It was noisy, filled with Chinese people all speaking at the tops of their lungs. And the food was the absolute best.
We had a waiter from Hong Kong named Edwin. He used to practice his English on us so they’d seat us in his section every time. He was really pleasant.
My sister was famous for ordering the same thing every time. Wonton soup. It became something of a family joke to ask her what she wanted because the answer was always the same. Meanwhile I was known for having the luck of picking something unknown off a menu and ending up with the best dish at the table.
One day we saw something we didn’t understand so we asked Edwin, in English, what it was. He hesitated, and then replied haltingly, “Uh… baby beef?”
We exchanged glances and shrugged and decided to try it. When it arrived it was fantastic. A succulent meat dish cooked in a delicious sauce with tender vegetables. We all loved it and it became one of our favourite dishes over time.
It wasn’t until years after we moved from Venezuela that it randomly crossed my mind one day what it was that we’d been eating all those years. It was veal! Had I known of course I never would have ordered it. In retrospect it seemed obvious. But at the time we simply figured Edwin was struggling with his English and didn’t give it another thought.
I can’t feel too bad. We didn’t know. And it was delicious. I still miss their food. We’ve never had anything come close to it since.
Ack. We’ll have been together for 20 years in June. So, it’s been growing up together. The first year of marriage is often the hardest. Ours was rough.
But the growing up together still has to apply to people who haven’t been together since they were young. Marriage is change for both people. For us it’s finding the things we enjoy together and recognizing the things we need to do on our own.
It’s nice to be in a relationship with people who aren’t in your field, because it cuts down competitiveness.
Some of it is recognizing that you as a human are exactly as irritating as your spouse. I can’t put a mug in the sink for the life of me; he can’t put the cardboard in the recycling bin. Same damn thing. We just don’t see our own issues so we’re not bothered by them.
It’s also talking about things that are uncomfortable, and letting the other person know what makes those things hard to talk about. Then EMPATHY that shit like a motherfucker.
Kids mess things up for a lot of people. For some, having children takes the same emotional toll as a death in the family. We don’t have kids, that was something we agreed on early on. It’s a deal-breaker for me, which I was up front about. Which leads to the expectations thing.
It’s good to know from the start what you can and can’t expect out of each other. Like, much as I love the idea, he’s never going to discuss Graham Swift’s Waterland with me in depth, or carry me places. I am never EVER going to enjoy jam bands or be able to watch ¾ of the movies he loves. But, if either of us is sick, if we lose a relative, or anything that matters, everything else stops and the rest of the world can go away. That’s the deal.
Mostly it seems like it’s forgiveness and wearing into each other’s shape.
No marriage is a perfect marriage – ours isn’t – but lots of marriages are good. I think we’ve just been sold a faulty concept of what marriage is supposed to be. It isn’t a grand romance (which is nice); it’s a grand caring (which is better).
*Also, if at all possible, don’t drop mad cash on a wedding. It sets you up for failure by creating elevated expectations that marriage itself can never meet and wasn’t intended to.*
I think we’ve just been sold a faulty concept of what marriage is supposed to be. It isn’t a grand romance (which is nice); it’s a grand caring (which is better).
Hoedvands Aegs were the forerunner of smelling salts or perfume bottles. The object had a main chamber which held a sponge into which the Hovedvand (head water) was placed. It consisted of the distillates of plants such as lavender, carnation, cinnamon, cardamom, musk and ambergris. Via Goldstein Design Museum
When i was starting my business I considered marketing myself as an eco friendly business. As a small manufacturer it’s quite easy to sustain. But because I source my gemstones from all over and have no idea how they’re mined, I wasn’t sure if it would be fair to make that claim. In the end I decided against it just for my own personal sense of ethics. But like, how do we really know where anything comes from? @hopefulmisanthrope
Huh. Apparently Brazilian gold is a thing. It’s considered “highly sought after”. How could I have lived right next door and not known that? My parents did quite a bit of jewelry shopping when we went there. Maybe you don’t pay attention to these things when you’re fifteen.
The truth is I have no idea where my gold filled chain is manufactured. Or the wire which I buy elsewhere. I don’t know if the gemstones I buy are mined in a sustainable, environmentally friendly way either. It’s virtually impossible to know unless you know where it’s coming from. And I have to take the word of the vendor that I am in fact buying African amethyst when they sell it to me. Truth is I’ve never given it much thought. I don’t know that it makes a real difference.
A lady came up to me today and pointed to my necklaces and asked if they were Brazilian. So I asked her what part and she said the gold. I was confused. Is Brazilian gold a thing? I know they’re known for their gemstones. But it’s never knew about gold. Now my have to go look that up.
it’s also worth reminding yourself that everyone you admire has failed and everyone you admire is disliked. nobody achieves lofty success through their very first piece of art. there are people, probably lots of people, who think your favourite band are shit. your favourite artists have torn up drafts and thrown them in the bin. you don’t have to be achieving something 24/7 and you don’t have to impress everybody – nobody does and nobody can.
Firefighter demonstrates how to put out a kitchen fire
Reblog to actually save a life
If anyone wants to know what’s happening, basically when you close it quickly you are taping oxygen inside with the fire with will keep it lit until it is used up. However when you slowly slide the cover on the fire there is no more oxygen being introduced to the fire and it essentially uses what little oxygen it has left in pan and it quickly dies out.
I bought minced (ground) lamb today to make shepherd’s pie. I’ve always used beef in the past which I guess just makes it a pie. I’m trying to decide if to make it today or Sunday. I have a market tomorrow so it would be nice to have that to eat. But I’m feeling really lazy.
Also I’m in the mood for some creme brûlée but again… lazy.
I just went to the supermarket and the only spot I could find was partially taken up by the car on my left. I still was able to squeeze in, and then just as I was about to get out someone banged on the back of my car.
It was the dude whose car was parked to my left, over the line. I immediately got pissed. Like, don’t bang on my car. It’s startling. You can tap the window like a civilized person. So anyway he gestures to me to reverse. I don’t know why. Then I wait as his groceries are offloaded during which time he proceeds to try to direct me back into the space he just asked me to reverse out of. For reasons I still can’t fathom. Cause simple lil me couldn’t park there without assistance. When he’s the one who couldn’t park between two lines.
I sat there with my arms folded and gestured that I would wait until he left, which I did. Then I do my grocery shopping and find I’ve forgotten my wallet. So I go home and get it and come back and say fuck it and park on the side and collect my shit and go. And I’m sitting here feeling hungry and in a bad mood cause of this old asshole at the grocery. Potatoes are baking and I have a rotisserie chicken. All is not lost. But anyway happy fucking Easter.
I just got some random call from Russia on my phone. I have a lot of friends all over the world but I don’t have any in Russia. I didn’t answer it and blocked the number. I’m not taking any chances.
I have some money to pick up from a store. The guy called me and asked me to come in today and said he’d be in by ten. I called him at ten, he said he was running late and would likely be in by eleven. I asked him to call me when he arrived. It’s now 11:15. No call. Seriously I cannot spend all day waiting on you. I hate when people do this shit. Jesus just be on time. How hard is it???
It’s been several months since my old one migrated and left the country, and even longer before I could secure a recommendation for a replacement. So my last session was sometime in November.
I’d been feeling some anxiety leading up to this appointment for some reason. But I’m perfectly calm now. Go figure. I hope it’s a good fit. The services are free. Fingers crossed.
I spent the day up on the farm helping out (we’re still here, it’s almost 6). After a two day Market I really didint think I had the energy but I sucked it up and went. I made sure this time I wore long sleeves, long pants and gloves when picking the ochro. Right now I’m so hungry I could eat a horse. We’re having steak for dinner tonight. Cause I won’t eat horse…
soulsistrin 