Blog Carnival Fall 2010 Stringing Magazine: Be Mine Earrings

Be Mine, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
brass wire hoops, brass wire, garnet, peridot,
citrine, amethyst, and silver heart charms

Welcome to the Stringing Fall 2010 designer Blog Carnival! By visiting my blog, leaving a comment, and then visiting the blogs of other Stringing designers to do the same, you will be entered to win free beading goodies. I've provided a list of designers blogs, prizes, and how to win at the end of this post. Just a reminder that I am on vacation until September 1st. I wish you all lots of fun during this blog carnival and look forward to reading your comments when I get home!

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These little beauties were just included in the Fall 2010 issue of Stringing. They were originally part of an experiment I was working on last winter where people could build their earrings in my shop. My idea was that visitors could pick charms and gems from my shop selection and then mix and match them on wire hoops.

I don't know what happened. Sometimes a project loses steam. I lose interest. I couldn't make a decision on materials. You get the idea. Things fell apart, and I let go.

What I love most about these earrings is that they are pretty easy to make and fairly inexpensive. I found brass hoops at the bead shop and used brass wire to wrap my gems. Except for my silver charms, the material cost was minimal. I like the idea of being able to play with color according to my mood and thought this design illustrated how a woman could change her earrings based on style of dress.

I hope you have received your new issue of Stringing, because I am digging the new layouts, aren't you? There are quite a few pieces that popped out at me but these are the ones that I'm taking quite a bit of delight in: Heather Trudeau's The Who, Melanie Brooks' Clockwork Scarab, Tari Kahrs' Kate (yummy mustard felted beads!), Erin Prais-Hintz' The Blackbird Sat, Molly Schaller's The Bamboo Cutters Wife, and Toni McCarthy's Coral Confluence.

Have you seen anything in this Fall Stringing issue that has inspired you?

Blog Carnival

Find out more information about the prizes and rules for the drawing on Michelle Mach's blog.

If you add a comment to my blog and the blogs of other fellow jewelry designers listed below you will be entered multiple times into a random drawing. Giveaway closes on August 23rd and the winners will be announced on the 24th.

Prizes
1. Copy of Stringing magazine Fall 2010
2. Handmade porcelain pendant and coordinating beads by Gaea
3. Small goodie bag of filigree, gemstones and other findings from Rings & Things

Blog Carnival Designers
Kristy Abner
Kelly Angeley
Marianne Baxter
Ruby Bayan
Carrie Beckwith
Melanie Brooks
Gaea Cannaday
Lorelei Eurto
Amy Haftkowycz
Tari Kahrs
Stephanie LaRosa
Michelle Mach
Denise Yezbak Moore
Kelly Morgan
Sharon Palac
Anne Perry
Lisa Petrillo
Erin Prais-Hintz
Molly Schaller
Erin Strother
Heather Trudeau
Jennifer Judd Velasquez
Jennifer Zeiger

120 Day Challenge

Today is Day 120 in my 120 Day Challenge to improve my health and well being. These photos are of the beautiful flowers my husband bought to celebrate this step in my personal development. Aren't they intoxicating?

I definitely do feel like celebrating. There is a new person that has crawled from the inside out literally and figuratively. I have an inner strength that tugs at the corners of my mouth and makes me smile. Somehow I've begun to understand that I can do whatever I set out to do.



One thing that I haven't mentioned before on my blog because it felt a too daunting was that my process included 120 days straight of Bikram yoga. I took one class of hot yoga a day that was a 90 minute moving meditation in a room heated to 105 degrees. Normally people choose to do a 30 day Bikram yoga challenge or 60 day Bikram yoga challenge, but I was compelled to follow the philosophy that at 120 days you become the new habit. This idea of becoming a physical process inspired me to move forward and do the 120 day Bikram yoga challenge.

It changed me. It changed my muscles, my bones, my body chemistry, my mental health, and physical energy. It changed me so much that all the other lifestyle improvements such as food, sleep, and less TV/computer were easier to implement. Of all the modalities of therapy and sports I have encountered, this prescription of intense, emotionally charged Bikram yoga for 120 days straight has been my most powerful life altering experience.



It was not just one thing that changed me, but the 120 day challenge doing Bikram yoga was the center of the wheel that my process spun around. Here are the things I did for my 120 Day Challenge, and the tangible and not so tangible changes that I have noticed.

120 Day Challenge
1. Four liver and gallbladder cleanses and one kidney cleanse (one per month) as outlined by Andreas Moritz in his book The Liver and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse: An All-Natural At-Home Flush to Purify & Rejuvenate Your Body.
2. 120 day Bikram yoga challenge = one yoga class each day
3. A primarily vegetarian or vegan diet (no sugar, flour, dairy)
4. Raw food cuisine as 20% of my diet
5. Implemented lifestyle changes: consistent sleep, meals, and water intake, while minimizing work, TV, and computer stress.

Benefits & Visible Results
1. More energy and vitality.
2. Experienced weight loss.
3. Easier to fall asleep and experience restful sleep.
4. Crave more fruits and vegetables and have less desire for dairy, sugar and flour.
5. Eyes and skin are more vibrant.
6. Eliminated many of my reoccurring conditions that were signs of ill health: skin rashes, allergies, ear aches, and joint pain.

Nevertheless, of all the things I have learned from my 120 Day Challenge, one of the most enlightening lessons has been surrounding the concept of tolerance. My 120 Day Challenge was originally motivated by something very physical and internal, but here on my final day the biggest concept I'm walking away with is a new found practice of tolerance for what I perceive as shortcomings in myself and others. I hadn't intentionally put together a 120 Day Nonviolent Communication Challenge, but ultimately of all the elements woven together in my prescription for well-being this was the place I lacked the most strength.

Learning to tolerate the physical discomfort of a hot yoga room and endure painful cleanses; re-conceptualizing emotional discomfort when changing my diet and resisting yoga instructions; practicing self-empathy and empathy for others when placed under demanding emotional and physical conditions while in a hot yoga room are all starting points for me. This 120 Day personal prayer was the tool that showed me where my true work begins.

I am deeply thankful for the support of my husband, family, and blogging community who were always willing to listen and encourage me during this process as well as the many yoga teachers who showed up every day to teach me something new.

I hope some day you find a 120 Day Challenge that has your name on it, because I know you'll get hooked! I'm already searching for my next one :)

Gem Stories: Peridot

Stillness, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry)

Peridot, the glistening green birthstone for the month of August, is quite a powerful cleanser. Helping your soul let go of old baggage, peridot not only clears up the emotional guck in your system but also heals your metabolism and skin. A gemstone substitute for Oil of Olay!

One of my favorite stories about peridot is that in Hawaii this stone is expelled from active volcanoes in molten form. As they fall to earth they form teardrop shapes and ancient Hawaiians believe these peridots were tears of Pele the goddess of fire and volcanoes.

Whatever story these gems call to mind, in its simplest form peridot is an amazing lemony-lime color that reminds me of spring and summer. They are gorgeous to wear and add a bit of pop to any color scheme.

Heirloom Memory Necklace: July 2010

Memory Necklace 2010, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry)
silver charm bluebird of happiness

While pondering what to include on my Heirloom Memory necklace for the month of July, I discovered an interesting part of my creative mind. I wanted to add something substantial to my necklace to tell the story of my summer, but the reality was that I didn't have a whole lot of memories to draw from. Feeling a sense of creative emptiness stimulated quite a bit of frustration for me.

story board and silver bluebird of happiness charm

Here's my story board for July. Pretty simple. Birds, bees, ladybugs, chickens, flowers, etc. When I looked at my sketches, it reminded me of Winnie-the-Pooh mind. Very Zen. Completely uncomplicated. Part of me wants to jump for joy that I entered a place of quiet mind, but honestly it challenged my creativity.

I'm use to spinning hundreds of ideas and then narrowing the mess down to something simple. I found it both refreshingly new and desperately frightening to be in an empty state of mind where creativity had nothing to grasp onto.

story board and silver bluebird of happiness charm

In this place of emptiness, I discovered a new facet of my creativity. Sometimes all I need to do is to change something small: a dot of red paint, a darker line, or a round shape.

Sometimes the best creativity is making the smallest refinement

As I took heart in this idea, the only thing I wanted to add to my necklace was my bluebird of happiness charm, flying in between the raindrops.

Memory Necklace 2010, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry)
silver charms: lotus blossom, tree of life, flaming heart milagro, bluebird of happiness, and cross
materials: apatite, aquamarine, carnelian, turquoise, lemon quartz, peridot,
prehnite, garnet, brown pearl sterling silver chain and wire, and gold filled wire

When I looked at my Heirloom Memory necklace laid out, I realized that this simple addition actually made quite a huge contribution to balancing my design and deepening my story.

Whippets

Dude
photograph by Tamas Mack

I had never heard of a whippet before until some wonderful women interested in my Love Dog charms told me they are a breed that looks physically similar to a greyhound.

Whippets are part of the sighthound family, which are a type of dog known for primarily hunting based on speed and sight instead of scent. Sighthounds such as Saluki have been around for at least 5,000 years and can be traced all the way back to ancient Sumeria.

I've become fascinated by whippets because they look so graceful, thoughtful and gentle. While searching for pictures of whippets on Flickr, I came across this amazing photographer Tamas Mack. Here are two gorgeous photos taken of his whippet named Dude on the beach. Isn't he hauntingly beautiful? If there ever were perfect Love Dog eyes, I bet these could make any heart melt.

Dude
photograph by Tamas Mack

I'm attracted to the elegance of a whippet's body and how their coat looks like the smooth, rich silk. I'm also drawn to the athletic beauty of a sighthound and its symbolic connection to Artemis the ancient Greek goddess of the hunt.

Love Dog earrings, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
sterling silver greyhound whippet dog charms and wire

My Love Dog design was based on a Celtic illumination, and I've always assumed it looked most like a greyhound. I imagined the Celts with their hunting dogs all out on a chase when I rendered this charm. However, I never consider that this design may have represented sighthounds and all their various breeds. What a wonderful surprise to be introduced to the poetry of whippets through these charms for now I've fallen in love with these beauties!

Art & Collaboration as Inspiration: Erin Prais-Hintz @ Gallery Q

botanical

Inspired by
exhibition of artisan jewelry
imagined by Erin Prais-Hintz
at Gallery Q in Stevens Point, Wisconsin

This Friday, August 13th, is the opening for Erin Prais-Hintz' jewelry exhibition Inspired by at Gallery Q in Wisconsin. Inspired by is an amazing collaboration orchestrated by Erin Prais-Hintz, which brings together the creative work of fine artists and bead designers through jewelry. I was blessed to have some of Hint charms included in this amazing array of artists and designers.

The photos in this post illustrate each regional artwork that Erin Prais-Hintz was inspired by combined with snippets of art beads and finished jewelry that pays homage to the the piece. If you haven't been following Erin's creative journey on her blog, then I encourage you to check out all the details at Treasures Found and learn how these gorgeous works came to life.

At the bottom of this post, I've included a list of artists and bead designers if you would like to see more of their work.

free spirits & joy

color

bitter & sweet

contrast

precious things

shape & movement

transformations

storms

Artists
Brenda Wenberg
Roberta Honl
Ann Waisbrot
Ann Singsaas
Ellie Honl
Jen Selwyn
Mary Ellen Pollock

Art Bead Designers
Barbara Lewis
Heather Powers
Jennifer Heynen
Kerry Bogert
Kate Clawson
Beth Hemmila
Juliana Cannon
Nancy Schindler
Christine Damm
Mary Jane Dodd
Lynn Davis
Melanie Brooks
Dora Schubert

Coleman Barks: Rumi's Love Dog

I was gifted another special connection through Hint the other day. A woman who fell in love with my courage charm, shared this YouTube video of Coleman Barks reading Rumi's poem Love Dogs. It is simply amazing to hear this poem come to life through a man's voice and music!

Coleman Barks is most known for translating and publishing Rumi's poetry into English. He has also taught poetry and creative writing at the University of Georgia for thirty years and been a student of Sufism since 1977.

Love Dog, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
sterling silver greyhound whippet dog charm

There are love-dogs
no one knows the names of.

Give your life
to be one of them.

Jalal Al-Din Rumi, Love Dogs

The Illuminated Rumi

If you're unfamiliar with the poetry of Rumi or if you are an avid reader already, I totally recommended purchasing this beautiful book called The Illuminated Rumi, which is translated and expounded on by Coleman Barks and illustrated by Michael Green. It is a masterpiece of visual image and words woven together to create one of the most gorgeous art books. I always come back to it because this book supplies me with an endless source of creative energy and spiritual connection.

Behind the Scenes: Scrap Paper Freedom

One of my artistic foibles that I wish I'd get over and be done with is the belief that when I make something, I'm being wasteful. Oops! Did I just make an environmental faux pas?

See I'd like to believe I'm a pretty good advocate of recycling and whatnot, but somewhere deep in the root of making art is a sensuous and gluttonous obsession with material. Digging my hands into the most lovely chunk of chocolate colored clay or slathering on an incredibly decadent red oil paint is part of what has me hooked. You caught me. I'm guilty of artistic extravagance.

Nevertheless, I've spent a considerable amount of time feeling utterly shame faced over my gluttony and the inevitable waste that goes along with learning how to make art. I've noticed that these feelings of guilt hold me back creatively. Like a rider pulling back on the reins of a stallion, I miss opportunities to break free and let my imagination run wild.

So I've found myself playing tricks on my head and finding alternatives that somehow seem acceptable to my inner Waste Police. One tool I've embraced over the last couple years is hoarding all my scrap paper and making it into small sketch books. This paper was going to end up in the recycling bin anyway, so instead of future toilet paper it's a place where I draw whatever I want and as much as I want without feeling guilty. Scrap paper has allowed me to be more free.

As artists we tend to hoard things in hopes they will be used in the future, so I'm guessing you may have a whole bunch of ideas for recycling material in your studio so as to free up creative energy and move it forward. What's your best way to meditate the relationship between making something and being wasteful?

Recalibrating Your Hidden Beliefs

Day 108

Hidden beliefs reside in the deep recesses of your mind. They're like dust bunnies hiding under your dresser -- you know they exist, but you choose to ignore them.

Once you start digging away at hidden beliefs, you see mountains of these shocking thoughts hanging around, secretly demanding your attention. Like dusting the house, pulling out hidden beliefs may feel like a losing battle so why even start. However, I like to think of this process as being an emotional archaeologist, discovering amazing remnants that are worth exploring deeper. Locating these hidden beliefs are like walking through a dense rain forest and coming upon an ancient playground where you get to imagine why it's here and what the future holds for it.

What's the point of all this? Why might this process of uncovering your hidden beliefs be an important part in your development as a human being?

One of the essential ingredients to being happy is to accept complete responsibility for your life. That's right, you're responsible for everything, including every mishap and painful outcome. Sounds unreasonable? I mean it's hard to take responsibility when he broke up with me, or she swerved in front of my car, or I was sick that day.

One of my greatest challenges is to see that everything that has happened to me or I have ever done has moved me in a direction to be right here, right now in the life and moment I have chosen for myself. Whatever life you have is the learning you were wanting. Getting in touch with your painful yearning to construct your particular life circumstances is one of the most liberating experiences. When you begin to see that life is exactly as you made it to be, you immediately become responsible for it.

You are the answer to a question.

In the universal order of things, your life is a mathematical proof. You posed a question and you are working towards a solution -- a question that can lead in many directions but have only one true answer, and you already know what it is. This life is you delighting in the question, while playing through to the answer.

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A couple weeks ago in my post Fear of Success, I uncovered some of my hidden beliefs that I have been playing with for quite some time. My intention in the following is to demonstrate how I take a hidden belief and rewrite it into something that may serve to remap the course that I'm headed. It feels a lot like recalibrating the direction of my soul. Maybe a hidden belief sent me on a short detour, but by examining and rerouting it, my life may choose a new direction.

Here are my hidden beliefs concerning success:

1. I believe that if I am truly successful, I will lose love.
2. I believe it is easier to receive love, if I am rallying support from others when I am not successful.
3. I believe that to be a success I might need to be different, which could physically and emotionally isolate me from the people I love.


If success = being grounded in my true nature, then

1. I believe that if I am truly myself, I will lose love.
2. I believe it is easier to receive love, if I am rallying support from others around an act that is not true to my own nature.
3. I believe that to be my true self I might need to be different, which could physically and emotionally isolate me from people I love.

RECALIBRATING HIDDEN BELIEFS

Old Belief: When I am successful = I lose love
New Belief: When I see new love unfold every day = I am available for what I most desire

Old Belief: When I am unsuccessful = it is easier for me to receive love
New Belief: When I am open to receiving love = I am grounded in what I most need

Old Belief: When I am successful = I am isolated from others
New Belief: When I belong to each moment = I show up for the best in myself

Notice how I switched the order of things around when moving from an old belief to a new belief. For instance, before my brain would think "When I am successful" the result would be "I lose love." Now I choose to change how I perceive the previous resultant "When I see new love unfold every day" so that my thoughts about success become "I am available for what I most desire." In this model for recalibrating my hidden beliefs, my ideas of success have become the outcome of my positive thought instead of the negative thinking that drives my reality.

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Digging into my pile of hidden beliefs has been an essential part of my 120 Day Challenge. They're tricky little buggers, and as I said in my previous post, working with my ideas concerning success have been an ongoing process for the last five years. There may be an outcome or maybe I'm just having fun playing with my life. Whatever it may be, it certainly has enriched my learning to see what hidden beliefs have been lurking in the corners.

I hope with a smile on your face and a well intentioned broom, you too will join in the fun! I offer many blessings as you embark on uncovering the little dust bunnies of your mind :)

Miss Mouse & Demeter

Bianca, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry): peridot and fine silver mouse charm

I have this secret fascination for rodents. Growing up, I was the kid that begged their parents for gerbils and hamsters. An avid reader of Stuart Little, I always wanted to hang out with the gang in The Rescuers or An American Tail.

Rodents. I love them and yet can't explain why. What's even more surprising is that I've found a whole slew of people who love them too through my shop!!! My Bianca mouse charm is one of my trusty sellers and usually each purchase comes with a story attached concerning a beloved pet rat or a daughter nicknamed "mouse."

They're just so sweet and irresistible! I guess they have to be because how else could such a small creature become one of the most important characters in the Magic Kingdom?

Italy, Lucania, Metapontum. c.335 - 330 BC. AR Nomos. 7.83g.
Veiled head of Demeter right, in triple-pendant earring & necklace.
Seven-grained barley ear with leaf to left and right; mouse on left leaf

Maybe Disney or Stuart Little had a hand in my love for small, furry rodents, but lately I've been wondering if there is a deeper connection. A while ago, I stumbled across these ancient coins that have the goddess Demeter on the obverse and a mouse perched on a ear of barley. Hmmmm...this peaked my curiosity!

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find anything decisive about this little mouse linked to Demeter, so I've had to come up with my own fanciful ideas concerning the connection.

Demeter is the Greek goddess of agricultural or Corn Mother. She is the overseer of all fields and harvests, so it's no wonder that an ear of grain would be symbolic of her powers, but why a tiny mouse?

Hey, I'm not a farmer and don't know the first thing about cultivating grain, but it seems logical that mice might have been an agricultural threat during the ancient world. Perhaps this image was a way of asking these tiny rodents to be considerate of the field and not take more then what was necessary. Then I began to wonder if this mouse was actually another way of viewing humanity from Demeter's point of view.

Are we not mice? Scurrying around in our fields, gathering as much as we are able and sometimes forgetting how we fit into the whole picture. Maybe to adore a mouse is to understand and cherish that part of you that is deeply loved by Mother Earth. It is the mousy part of you that she asks to remember to take only what you need and trust in leaving the rest.

I don't know what ancient stories this little mouse could tell us. Maybe you have some ideas or insights. What could this little mouse mean?

For right now I'm taking great pleasure in imagining being a tiny mouse looked after and cared for by the Great Mother :)

The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go oft astray
And leave us nothing but grief and pain
Instead of promised joy!

Robert Burns, To a Mouse

Hint on Vacation: Changing Perspectives

Wow July just flew right by! I've started to realize that I haven't been out enjoying the summer as much as I would like, so I've decided to close Hint for a couple weeks in August as I travel to see family, enjoy some more of our Portland summer, and refresh for the busy fall and winter ahead.

If you have been imagining a special gift for a friend's birthday or wanted to treat yourself to a charm, please be sure to stop by before I close for the month of August. Here is my plan below:

August 13th - August 31st: I will be on vacation.

August 12th: Last shopping day. All items will be shipped by August 14th

August 7th: Last day I will be making charms for custom orders or out of stock items. All special requests for items that may not be in stock need to be made by August 6th.

Thank you so much for supporting my business this summer with all your generosity and enthusiasm! I look forward to recharging during the month of August, seeing how my perspective changes, and working on some new surprises for fall and winter :)