Saturday Blog Shoppers

Hello! It's Saturday. Time for Saturday Blog Shoppers.

I have two handflowers I wear all the time, and I get a lot of comments about them. I seem to get more comments about one than the other, and although I won't exactly copy a handflower especially the ones I wear, I have made a similar one for sale. So here today is the Silvertone Chain Handflower:

Silvertone Chain Handflower

The last comment I got about my handflower was that when the guy first saw it he thought it was a tattoo. :-] I prefer chains to tattoos because they don't hurt and they're not permanent. Also because I just really like chains (and prisms, which are on my handflower). I haven't tried henna but I think it's pretty cool. Of course handflowers are not as intricate as henna, but you can take them off and put them back on whenever you want, which I think is a good thing. ;-)

Thanks for looking! Please check out the other SBS bloggers participating this week.

My Thoughts on Trends

Confession: not only do I not follow trends, but I refuse to follow them on purpose. Why? Because I'm interested in my interests, not "everyone" else's; because I'm somewhat rebellious against doing something just because someone I don't even know said I should; because I don't see the point of being "just another follower" of everyone else or of the celebrity that happens to be big right now; and because I know that my tastes and interests may change now and then, but not nearly as often as trends do.

So here are some of my thoughts on a few trends that we've gone through (or are going through). These are just my opinions and not flames or critisms against the creators of these trendy things (or even of the people who like them, really). ;-)

Harry Potter: I've never read the books, or seen the movies. Not one. This is because they were already popular before I got a chance to become interested in them on my own (unlike with The Lord of the Rings when the movies came out, since that's been a classic for a long time, and I do read). I do like fantasy fiction with wizards such as Gandalf and Merlin, but Harry Potter simply never interested me. And then there was some, er, worrying, among some Christians about whether it was "right" or "safe" to read books about witchcraft and wizardry, and I had to take some time to consider whether I thought they were right. Eventually I decided I do not agree; I think it's harmless fiction. But there's still the problem about it being popular before it's interesting to me personally. However, I'm currently considering reading them, for two reasons: 1. Harry Potter is now contending with the latest fiction trend, which I like because it shows that people care about their real personal interests more than what's "popular" now; and 2. because The Doctor mentioned reading them in the Shakespeare episode of Doctor Who, and I absolutely LOVE Doctor Who. If Harry Potter is good enough for The Doctor, then I can at least consider reading it and see how I like it. This might put me in danger of "following someone else", but hey, it's The Doctor. I don't think I mind. ;-) And if I don't like the books or I get bored, I'll stop reading them. Besides, Dr. Who is not a trend, it's the longest running Sci-Fi show on TV and there's good reason for that.

Twilight: the latest fiction trend which is in competition with Harry Potter. It's a teenagery love-drama about a sparkly vampire. I am so not interested. I don't care about vampire fiction anyway, although I did like that one movie... what was it... Underworld. I kinda liked that. I especially liked a certain dress someone was wearing (not that that's my main focus in movies). But Twilight? No thanks.

Dragons: I like dragons, and I like How to Train Your Dragon. I do not like Eragon much. It's ok, but it's just Star Wars with dragons instead of space ships (not literally, but major parallels). I do like Star Wars, btw; but a story should be its own story. I don't think dragons are trendy right now actually, but Eragon almost was.

So basically the point I'm trying to make is this: My style and interests are mine, and your style and interests are yours. I hope the jewelry I make becomes somewhat "popular" in the sense that a lot of people can find things I've made that they like, but trends are things that people are into just because "people are into it", and they change and go away in favor of the next one. I don't want my jewelry to be trendy for any reason. I want someone to buy a handflower because they like it, it fits their style, and they can keep wearing it through the trend changes as long as it still fits them, like I've been wearing mine for about 10 years. Also for the most part I want to continue making just one of each unique piece of jewelry, so no one can have the exact same one as someone else. Every person is different, and they should have their own handflower. That way you can wear it because you like it and not because someone else is wearing it.

I do want to just clarify one thing before I finish this post: I'm not saying there's anything wrong with liking something that happens to be popular, or anything wrong with vampires, if that's what you like. For instance I refused to watch any anime for awhile when my friends were all into it (but didn't think anything was "wrong" with them for liking it), but then my boyfriend showed me some and we started watching it together and I liked it. All I'm really saying is I'm in favor of liking something just because you like it, and not worrying about what "everyone" wants you to like.

And that is why I do what I do.

Saturday Blog Shoppers

Hello again Saturday Blog Shoppers! Did you survive tax day? I think I did, but just barely. ;-)

I plan to be out of town tomorrow and Sunday, so I'm sorry if I don't get to everyone's blogs and shops this weekend but maybe I'll get there on Monday.

Meanwhile here's my Saturday item for this week:


Golden Brass Half Persian Ring

I went to Joann's to get some wire for chainmaille jump rings, and the yellow wire they had this time was brass instead of colored copper. I like it much better.

I have four rings in my shop; they're the first rings I've made but they turned out really well. I have two in brass and two in silver colored copper; two Half Persian and two Byzantine. They're in the Rings section (of course). ;-)

The Byzantine rings are larger than the Persian ones because the square shape of the maille made it necessary to be longer in order to reach around into a circle. I think the advantage of that is that perhaps the Persian style is more feminine and the Byzantine is more masculine, and men's fingers are generally larger than women's. Of course there are always exceptions to that and I might be able to at least make the Persian rings bigger, but I think it works out.

Well I hope the weekend brings a nice distraction/balance to follow tax day; don't forget to check out the other blogs and shops in the SBS Group. See you soon!

Look What I Found

I just discovered there's an on-stage Lord of the Rings musical.

This song is pretty:

Frodo and Sam

Saturday Blog Shoppers

Hello, Saturday again. For my Saturday Blog Shoppers post this week, I'm featuring my favorite watch.


Purple and Silver Persian Chainmaille watch

If I didn't already have a watch, I'd probably wear this one. My wrist is maybe a little small for the style of the face, but I love the colors and the chainmaille style. The band is Full Persian Chainmaille, reinforced with coated multi-strand steel beading wire.

Normally I only make one of each item (except for byzantine earrings), but after I sold a watch like this at a Praise Festival with craft vendors, I made two more. Then my friend bought one for a friend of hers, so there's only one left in my shop.

Thanks for looking at my featured Saturday item and my shop. Please check out the other blogs and shops participating this week! Saturday Blog Shoppers