April 30, 2008 12:42 AM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Foster's Clarisse Starling really rocked. Without her, imo, the movie was barely worth watching. But I found her hypnotic...just the idea of, this is a professional woman, who isn't stupid or just looking for a guy.

April 30, 2008 6:45 PM,  Dain said...

I agree. That's what I like about her too, smart and ambitious and NOT the romantic heroine.

April 27, 2008 5:53 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Happy birthday!!!!! {{{{{hugs}}}}}

I like that song! It's brilliant.

Most, but not all, cultures, tend to view anger as a purely negative emotion. To me it's an energy...and energy is neither positive nor negative. It just depends on what you use it for.

Women should be angry. They're underpaid and exploited the world over. Again though--what are you going to use the energy for? Use it to make your life better, to make your daughter's life better than yours was.

Or else make a cool song out of it. :D

April 28, 2008 3:43 AM,  Dain said...

Thanks. : )

April 29, 2008 12:47 AM,  ~Joy~ said...

Happy Birthday! [For my last birthday I received a $25 Gap gift card.]

-Joy

April 29, 2008 7:15 AM,  Dain said...

It's just an excuse to eat cake and waste my own money, I'm afraid.

May 1, 2008 2:10 PM,  kuri said...

I'm a big fan of Kelis because she seems to put her emotions out on display when she sings. Although I don't like the milkshake song either. This song is great though.

Happy Birthday! No better excuse to eat cake. :D The mac 'n' cheese looked delicious.

May 1, 2008 4:16 PM,  Dain said...

Funny thing is, I showed it to my sister, and she was like, I don't like people who scream. And then she added, but that looks like fun. I think that pretty much sums it up. It's an ugly thing to witness, but it is a beautiful thing to do. : )

May 3, 2008 11:46 AM,  kuri said...

Indeed!

March 27, 2008 12:58 AM,  ~Joy~ said...

Pretty, but seems a bit insubstantial for almost 3K.

March 27, 2008 3:13 PM,  Dain said...

Boo... Everything's too expensive these days. It's consumer madness. It took me forever to find a nice bag that was $500 and under.

March 27, 2008 7:04 PM,  Dain said...

Er, in case it came out wrong. I'm agreeing with Joy.

March 27, 2008 7:25 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

It's 22 karat gold though, that's going to be at least part of the cost. Gold is almost $1000 an ounce now. Not that you're paying that for however many grams of gold there are in the piece, but it is going to be a factor.

It would be nice to replicate the idea somehow. I'm not into rainbow, but it would be possible to create a rainbow effect. It would just take time, because it would mean slowly gathering together the stones for it.

March 24, 2008 9:25 PM,  Carol said...

Soooo.....
How do you wear those last ones?
'Cause those are pretty sweet looking!

March 24, 2008 9:51 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Hey, how are ya?

I just made a pair based on this spiral, though they're quite different from Natsuko's. I didn't oxidize them, so they don't have that blackened look (it's not hard to oxidize silver, you can use a hard-boiled egg to darken it, then you can use silver polish to brighten the areas you want to highlight).

Mine are hammered but not chased, so they're flat and shiny in places, and hard (hammering hardens wire) but not textured.

You just take the straight side and put it in your ear lobe. The stem balances the spiral so the earrings hang straight rather than leaning forward.

I put three little moonstones on mine...my daughter did some of the wrapped wire on a couple of them. I had to laugh when she did it, because it took me years to do a good wrapped loop.

March 19, 2008 10:34 PM,  Dain said...

What if you made a chain with the significant stones, that way you could have something close and sentimental with you always, and just switch the pendant around for fun?

March 20, 2008 2:18 AM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

That would be very interesting, since the stones don't really "match." I'll have to give it some thought. I had the idea first to make one of those small hoop pendants with the stuff hanging from it, but there's no reason why the elements can't be on the chain itself.

March 17, 2008 11:12 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

This isn't something I'd wear every day, it's for something rather specific. IRL it does have a lot of flash.

March 19, 2008 2:38 PM,  Duygu said...

I make jewelry..This seems pretty easy to make and looks so cute.

March 19, 2008 6:51 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Thanks! You do? Do you have a site?

Yeah, it's pretty straightforward. I saw a similar one on Etsy for $400+...they did theirs on silver with some ruby rondelles. Still I like mine better. :) The stones were so nice, I didn't want to detract from them too much.

March 14, 2008 10:02 PM,  Dain said...

Those are great! I think the lower grade stones can still be very useful. Sometimes the translucence has a hard time "showing up" without a setting, and the slight inclusions perhaps suit the handmade look better.

March 14, 2008 11:38 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Yeah, after trying out A grade tiny stones, and B grade bigger stones, I'll have to say it can be better to buy B grade. It depends on the stone...for less expensive stones, A grade can be noticeably better.

I think I'll redo the blue sapphire hoops...for one thing, it's not a good idea to use tiny beads on the ends. They tend to migrate up the sides of the hoop. I might also try the center loop idea and hang something there (probably a "big tiny" sapphire).

Here is another gem site: Beads of Cambay Someone posted it on a beading forum I go to. I believe she had bought from them at shows rather than online, but it's still a rec.

I haven't looked at it closely yet, the prices look higher than the Earth Bazaar sale prices but sometimes it's a matter of selection.

I'm dying to see the inside of that ship now! I really can't recognize the skyline anymore, except the Waterside building. Even when I was there, they were knocking down the old buildings. It looks as if they redid the entire waterfront. It's too bad in a way, I liked it the way it was.

March 15, 2008 7:42 AM,  Dain said...

This post has been removed by the author.

March 15, 2008 7:43 AM,  Dain said...

Hehehe... I forgot the closing tag on the last one. Found . It's a variation of the wrap design but they took advantage of the homemade look.

March 15, 2008 1:48 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Thanks...I will have to study it more closely. What they did was bring both ends of the wire up and twist them...and I think the rest of the wrap is the same, the two wires twisted.

March 15, 2008 2:20 PM,  Dain said...

Wah... fucked it again.

March 15, 2008 8:27 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

test

March 15, 2008 9:14 PM,  Dain said...

I think it's just me. I should get regular sleep.

March 16, 2008 11:27 PM,  Dain said...

I was looking at a pair of earrings today, and they had the large hoop have two little loops at the end, to connect to the main hoop, and had the main drop attached similar-wise. Er, if that makes sense.

March 17, 2008 11:21 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Sort of. :D

March 12, 2008 6:52 PM,  Dain said...

Hm, that citrine looks a bit too watery, but it may be the light.

I was thinking about why I automatically thought, "Colleen might like this" when I sniffed Bellodgia. I think it's because it really smells like the flower. Sure, there are other notes, but the flower really shines through, which is the case for the Montales and Joy. I'm gonna have to mail you this one. I have Normandie coming, and that's my carnation.

March 12, 2008 9:26 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

I tried it out with a deeper citrine...the thing is, the hair. The deeper citrine imo competed with my hair color, where this gives a sort of silvery pale golden look. For a pendant, a more golden citrine would be more striking, that's for sure.

Then there's a bead show I'm hoping to hit this weekend...I'll see what they have.

I dunno, carnation? I don't think I've ever smelled a carnation perfume.

March 14, 2008 1:08 AM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

My daughter wants to go to the bead show...that decides it! I'll see what they have.

I'm also going to try the weave out with soft wire...but that will have to wait until I can buy wire (it's much cheaper to buy it in bulk).