Wednesday, March 3, 2010

A gray and cloudy Spring day

So I must think of brightly colored things. I like brightly colored things in general, unless they are violent green, burn your eyes out blue, safety cone orange, or such colours. I also like warm colours. So, to fight of the annoyances of gray cloudy days, I decided to blog about pretties.

Here is a wonderful example of bright, fun, warm colours.

I also love how the blue works really well with the red, and the white tips of the ends of the fins. I am a fan of the Beta Fish, also known alternately as Japanese Fighting Fish and Chinese Fighting Fish. I actually used to own a few that were really fun colored.

I am not sure if I would actually wear this mask... I would probably mount it on the wall so it can be seen. I wouldn't have many occassions to wear something this fun, colorful, or flashy.  That thought actually kind of makes me sad. I wish I had occasion to wear such a lovely thing.. and genuine leather, too!


You should take a look at her shop and her masks. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40582298 is the listing for this particular mask.


Another fun-colored thing to look at is basketry. Not my own, here, but a very talented lady who makes pine-needle baskets. Something I lack the patience for!

It doesn't show how warm the colors are in this photo, but it shows the pretty bottom to this basket, which must have taken so many hours that I wouldn't be able to sit still long enough to do it.

The stitchwork is lovely, creating beautiful patterns while carefully coiling the piece. This basket makes me feel all warm inside just looking at it!

This piece can be found and purchased online at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25312550



For Something a little different, here is an obsidian knife. It is the red in the obsidian that I am liking here. Something about it and the red bead with it just make me smile. May also involve the sunshine filtering into the background of the image.

This appears to be an obsidian with almost pink in it, but I think it is just the lighting on the red. A lovely knife that would look great in any household. The hilt is antler, I believe, and is also pretty, but I wanted a closeup of the blade.

This item is for sale, too! Because lots of the things I feature on this blog are. This one is, guess what, also listed on etsy.com.

Here is the listing for this particular item: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40892137

Happy spring, and may the rest of your day and your week be less cloudy than mine. Hopefully the weather will clear up enough to go flower-gazing at all the blossoming trees around here.

Picpic Tewlikitpe

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Spring Is Here! :: Today is Purple

Hey!
It has been spring-y and sunny lately (though today there was a downpour) and it made me think of all the pretty things that I could be wearing in warm weather were I to try to dress up. These are the items I thought of.

Yes, this is my own necklace/choker. It is a really nice piece with a really lovely purple to it that makes me think of all the gorgeous flowers in bloom right now. There are purple hyacinths blooming and those are my absolute favourite flowers! Though not quite the same color as the beads, here is a picture of my favourite flower: the hyacinth in a lovely purple.

I hope you will agree that those are an inspiring flower. If not, that is okay. As a friend once told me, "Opinions are like noses, everyone has one and they are all different.


So after I looked at the pretty choker with purple that I am posting, I decided to take a look around at other pretty jewelry and items on etsy. There are an abundant amount of purple things, but I tend to like featuring artists that I find particularly interesting in my blog. Here are a few things that I liked and hope you will enjoy. It is an arrangement of things that, while not all jewelry, fit the color scheme of the day and the festive spring mood that I am in (despite the downpour I was in earlier).



The first is a floral-based design on a hairclip. I have stolen the following quote from the person's etsy listing for the piece and am including it here because she can describe better than I the design, background and care of such a lovely item.

"This one is a personal favorite of mine! I have one of my own and it's one of my favorite things to wear. It's a super adorable blend of colors - pale violet petals with barely blue tips, sea foam green leaves and an iridescent crystal center, all mounted on a black french clip.
Every single petal is made of habotai silk - hand dyed, hand folded and hand mounted by me with love, care and skill.
The bloom is just over 1.5" wide and the French clip is about 1.5" long.


---Kanzashi Background & Care---
Kanzashi are hair ornaments worn in traditional Japanese hair styles, most often seen adorning geisha or maiko. Flower kanzashi are called 'hana kanzashi' and the traditional technique used to make this type is called 'tsumami'.
All of my kanzashi are made using as many traditional Japanese techniques and materials as is possible. The few modern materials I use are only done so to make the assembly stronger for more liberal wear.
Even though these Kanzashi are tougher than they look and hold up very well, they are still a bit delicate by nature and shouldn't be worn out in the rain or high humidity."


You can find this description, more information, and this item online at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40565629. It is a really lovely piece and I kind of wish, had I money, I could buy it.



As I was stumbling and bumbling across the site, I noticed a really neat feather ear-cuff that I kind of really want but wonder when I would ever wear... It is a gorgeous purple and very vibrant. Looks like a lot of fun!

I don't think the purple cushion is included in the purchase, but if funds turn up this feather ear cuff may end up being mine. The shop has a lot of other really shiny, pretty things in a variety of beautiful colours. I picked this one because it looks amazing and I want it and the color happens to be the color of the day of this blog entry.

It can be found online at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40446713 and if you buy it before me I will just have to request my own version of it.


So looking at feathers and purple, I stumbled across this really funky and fun hair clip that I also want.

And what is not to want? Brightly colored, shiny, and definitely different, this piece is amazing! It says in the listing it is custom order and you have to specify if you want to wear it on the left or the right because I guess it only goes one way. Or at least by design.

Another person who makes a number of pretty and fun things to wear using feathers. It is a really pretty piece, and the others are too. This artist has everything from headbands to earrings to hairclips and more!

So you can go buy this one, or another one, at the etsy shop. This exact piece can be found at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41853952.


So this has been another long, vaguely rambling post in which Picpic Tewlikitpe talks about various beautiful, amazing, astonishing things and hopes that you read about it.

Happy Spring!
~Picpic Tewlikitpe