Things considered

I am having a sick day, today. Unfortunately, I AM sick. That is the worst kind of sick day.
My pup is sick, too. I am hoping it's nothing or perhaps, just something that is easily taken care of and she will be right as rain again before long. We go to see her doc tomorrow. She is next to me in her new comfy bed and we are couch bound.
My first entry on this blog wasn't actually my first simply beMused blog entry. There was the blog I created a 3 am one sleepless night. The next day, I had forgotten the Log In information. I tried everything. Except the right combination. So I gave up and created a new one.
Well today when I was signing on, that was the information that came up. Apparently I use the same part of my brain when I am over tired and when I am seriously congested. I guess the point is that it's not so much that we forget anything as much as we just misplace it.

I was thinking about my favorite mediums. Silver, copper, yarn, paper, ink. I get so much out of each one. The metals are earthy. Of the earth. Grounded. Hard but malleable. When I work with copper and silver, it is like we are working together, separate but in concert. Strings and percussion.
When I work with yarn, it is like water. It slips through my fingers like the rush of water. It is easy and free and it's very nature is to expand, to unravel and recreate itself. It is willing and wanting. Wants to know what else it can be- like water.
When I work with paper and ink, I feel air. The ink mixes together as if on a breeze. I think of a fiery sunset- the reds and pinks, the dark purples and blues melt together like weather fronts, folding over each other and every where they meet, something new is created. It is loose but not in the way that yarn is. Ink wants intention. It wants purpose. Yarn will play just for the sake of playing.
I was wondering if I should focus on just one avenue of expression.
But how can I choose? Can I choose just air, or earth or water?
I don't think that I would choose even if I could.
in joy,
ellie

Going with the flow

I don't know what happened.
But it did.
The other day, I had a session with an energy coach. It was very cool. Based on e-ching, she looks at what year I am in and what year my business is in.
Business- Heaven- this is the year (the year starts in Feb) that I bring heaven to earth. Cool. I mean, really. I get to do that for a living? Okie-dokie! This is a year of joy, wonder and inspiration. A year that my business will grow. Fine with me. Just load me up with copious bags of heaven and I am on my way!
Personal-Lake. This means that I am relaxed, reflective, calm. I am benefiting from my efforts last year.
That is what happened. I spent a lot of energy last year getting my Professional Coach Certification and making sure that I would create a life that reflects who I am. A coach and yes, an artist. Well, at least, someone who creates so that she may buy more supplies!
As I spoke with this energy coach (the session was a gift and what a gift it was), I realized that I am CHILL. If you look in the dictionary, there is my smiling mug next to "Laid back"- adjective...etc.
Big departure from the job I left what feels like 2 lifetimes ago.
Tomorrow, I get to do some re-organizing in my studio. Hooray! My creative expression has really changed over the past 6 months and I want to honor all that calls to me by putting it in a place of honor and easy accessibility. I am not a cleaner but this sounds like A LOT of fun.
This entry is a big thank you. Thank you, Universe, for being so responsive to my desires. Thank you, all you awesome people out there who support me in my perfectly crazy collage of a life. Thank you, Heaven, for wanting to hitch a ride with me. And thank you, Lake, for the being my mirror, my rest, my peace.
I am with you. I am going with your flow.
in joy,
ellie

color

I want to be periwinkle
light and playful, complex and a bit elusive,
the swirl of delight offered up by the sea

I want to be orange
bold and unapologetic, fun and out of control
alive and unbounded

I want to be lemon butter yellow
soft and warm and clean and true
flitting, precious, a glimpse

I want to be pink
hot and soft, feminine and fun,
powdery sweet like candy

I want to be red
like dorothy's shoes
and candied apples at the fair,
brassy and loud,
hard yet inviting

I want to be green
like my cat's eyes,
piercing and aloof at the same time
like a starlet from the silver screen

I want to be blue
like the carolina sky,
deep against the pines
and light beneath the sun

I want to be brown
like newly turned earth,
the bark of the sapling
or my hair when I was younger

I want to be the color of the wind
the one that fluttered the wings of the Bald Eagle I saw in flight
just the other day

I want it all

Yes, I want it all.

And like orange, I stand unapologetic.

Square Peg in a Round Hole

Why not?
I mean, it's all a matter of proportion, right?
I never understood the saying.
Maybe it has been one of those accepted ways to limit us. Well, to use another hackneyed phrase, where there's a will there's a way.
I am feeling round. Swirls and curls, spirals and circles.
But as you can see with some additions going up tomorrow on etsy, you can put a square in a circle. No prob.
What else can we do that we have learned or thought we couldn't? Almost daily, I stop myself in my tracks when I realize that what I thought was true, might not be. I was in a seminar last week and heard the speaker make one comment- just one out of an hour or so of enlightened statements-that changed one major direction in my life. It can be that way.
A couple of days ago, I took a class in silver smithing. Fun. Informative, great teacher. It was a new experience. I wasn't the one in the class who caught on right away. I guess thankfully, many of the things that could go wrong, did. At least I learned how to deal with them.
I also learned that if you are going to a long class, eat before you go or at least bring something with you to snack on.
I got tired. My blood sugar dropped. I lost patience. I simply wanted to go home.
Yeah, I am the one who learns quickly, helps other students and gets done quickly. Not that day.
The sweet girl next to me, who I am sure I could have given birth to at a respectable age, did great. She was nervous at first but found her stride. She helped me. I let her. We laughed. I saw myself in her eyes. In the eyes of the teacher. It amused me.
I didn't pick up the technique very quickly but I did get it. I took my time and when I was tired, I sat back. I went outside and got some fresh air. I got a drink. And I did what I could.
I did what I could.
It is like that breath you think you haven't got while singing. The options you don't think are open to you. The choice to be in the moment and offer up your best in that moment.
Maybe not your ultimate best but your best at the moment.
There is a freedom in allowing yourself to be your present moment best. Whatever that may be.
Okay, off the soapbox and off to bed.
in joy,
ellie

Flying

Flying.
This has been a visual that comes up to me so often. Standing on the precipice- the cliff's edge, me facing into the wind, the current that will support me.
I have so often thought of flying away from this point. I don't see where I am flying. Things don't fly to me. I am stepping off the edge and just take flight.
Not until lately, that is.
I am magnetized. I guess I have always been but now I have some really cool stuff coming to me. Like ideas for things to create. House floor plans. Colors- orange, over and over again. Desires to do things that I have never thought to do before.
It's a new year, to be sure. That usually makes me want to get rid of stuff. This year is no different. It's surprising what I am willing to let go of now.
The most significant thing that I am letting go of is expectation. I am replacing them with intentions.
I want new. I want growth. I want freedom. To be, to create, to fly. So I will.
That will result in new energy in my jewelry. Art that dangles from your ears, dances around your neck or wraps around your wrist-all from a heart that is like a child-open where everything is new.
I can feel the wind...

got air?

I am done with my 'work' for the day. I am feeling a bit tired but it's okay. I have a date in a few minutes.
It's going to be great. Maybe a little noisy but good. Just me, at this point, Bella and some sterling silver and orange hoops. I am so looking forward to this. And I am going to make a pair to keep.
How many times do we get tired from doing something only to find that we have energy for something else that we really want to do at that moment? I know I do. It's our body's way of letting us know that we are being called to do something else. I guess the question is do we answer the call? And when, if ever?
I remember a million and a half moons ago when I was in school and singing, my director would ask us why we couldn't hold a note. We told her that we didn't have any more breath to sustain the note. She asked why we sighed when we were done, then. Obviously there was more air in there that could have created music.

Today's challenge is to go and do something that you think you haven't the 'breath' for and create something be it a bubble bath, doing your nails or making some fab orange earrings.
light and love everybody-
ellie

She just won't leave me alone...

She's at it again. My muse, my little stinker who thinks that night time is the right time. I have a pair of earrings that just wants to be made. I found some fabulous orange donut beads and want to do some hammered silver swirls inside. But it is 1:20am. Does she care that my husband and dog are asleep and they might not appreciate the hammering at this time of night?
Nope. Not a bit.
Tomorrow, trouble maker. I promise.
I am so drawn to orange right now. I am not an orange person though I confuse to a serious Diet Sunkist addiction. But when I see orange right now, I can't step away without at least a moment of consideration.
I decided to look up orange and see what it represents and here is what I found-

Orange is a power color. It is one of the healing colors. It is said to increase the craving for food. It also stimulates enthusiasm and creativity. Orange means vitality with endurance. People who like orange are usually thoughtful and sincere. Lady luck's color is orange. I have been told that if a change of any kind is need in life, just burn an orange candle for 7 nights.

Orange Energy

While red is associated with fiery heat, orange is associated with the benign warmth of the sun. A dynamic color to be sure, orange offers a more thoughtful control than explosive red. Curiosity is a driving characteristic of orange, and with it comes exploration of new things.

Put some orange in your life when you want:

• to spice things up when you feel time is dragging
• to become more involved in something
• to increase creativity
• relief from things becoming too serious

Orange gem stone properties

Orange gemstones contain some of the fiery energies of red, but are gentler with a more creative spirit. They are used to promote personal power and are useful for people who could use more self esteem. Carry or place orange gemstones around your home or office to stimulate creativity, mental quickness, ability to adjust to changes.

Well then, I guess I understand my draw to it. The creativity which I am allowing myself to express more freely now, the healing, stepping into my own power...it just goes on and on. Interesting. Maybe I will make two pairs of those earrings and keep one for me- gasp!

Bella has decided if I am going to be up then she can chew on my embossing pen. I have lost more paint brushes to this crazy kitty of mine.
Okay, I am going downstairs in a moment to continue work on the neck snuggly. It is almost done and quiet to work on. And not too surprising, has some orange in it. It is a textural delight. Can't wait to finish it and get it up on Etsy- for those who don't live in North Carolina where it will be 71 degrees on January 9th. Makes menopause that much more fun!
Look for th

Why you shouldn't create blogs at 3 am...

Okay, I was pretty pleased with myself for creatively using time that I should have been asleep. The good news is that I was getting more sleep than I thought as I simply cannot access the email address I used to set up my other blog. No worries. I wrote this one down.
The good news is that I have gotten the tags done and they are now up on etsy. I am making some progress.
Which brings me to another thought...
One of my friends, Suzanne, whom for years I have called my creative soulmate, and who also helped me put my etsy shop on here(!) said to me that this should be fun. I have to admit that since I decided to make my stuff available for sale, I feel pressure. This is a great chance to reconnect to the part of me that just makes stuff. That was my intent. Do what I love.
So thanks Suz for reminding me of this before it became an issue.
Off to do some coaching...
love and light,
ellie