Monday, July 23, 2012

Creative Procrastination

In my Twitter profile I call myself a creative procrastinator and it's true. There are times when I'm trying to nut out a scene or a plot point when I have to drag myself away from the writing arena and do something else — take a walk, or if it's raining or night-time, do some kind of fiddly craft activity. I find fiddling with small things helps free up the muse.

As well, if I'm watching TV I like to do something else at the same time. My mother was the same. In her case it was knitting, but I'm no knitter, so for me it's fiddling with small things — usually dolls' house stuff, or making Christmas decos or jewelry or on the odd occasion, I'll crochet.

These days it's mostly making jewelry and I thought I'd share with you this pearl set I made recently, while watching a Burn Notice DVD. I made it for the Romance Writers of Australia silent auction fundraiser. We've been doing this at the RWAustralia annual conference for years now since the first one was organized on the initiative of Harlequin author Carol Marinelli.


We usually raise money for medical research that will benefit women — we've raised heaps for research into breast cancer and ovarian cancer but this year the money will be going to the Heart Foundation. I did wonder if I should make something in red — a red coral necklace, perhaps, but in the end I went back to pearls and a crystal heart, though not pink pearls for a change. The pearls are baroque pearls, because I love their individual shapes and the tiny silken ripples on their surfaces.

One of the first necklaces I ever made was the black and white pearl necklace I'm wearing in my blog photo.  I'd never been a big fan of pearls until my dad bought me a triple string of white pearls interspersed with small chips of black jet. I love black and white and these were funky pearls, not boring,  and I wear them a lot. That's why when I came to make my first pearl necklace, I put in some black beads as well. I often mix my dad's pearls with the ones in my photo.

Below are some pieces I've made for the auctions in past years. Since they were for a "pink" (ie women's cancer) fundraiser, I mostly used pink pearls and crystals. I like to make them a bit different every year.

And below are the ones I made in 2010 for the silent auction - a mix of pink real pearls and white synthetic pearls.
This one was to raise money for  flood victims —grey pearls and crystals.
And the woven pink pearl necklace and bracelet was for last year's pink auction.

So it's fun for me to do, and nice that some money is raised for a good cause.
So what about you — do you do any craft? Are you a skilled procrastinator? Are you fond of pearls? Do you think I should make something in red for the silent auction, seeing the theme is heart health and we're supposed to wear red on the day?




9 comments:

  1. Anne, you make gorgeous pieces and every year I drool over your jewellery. I love pearls, particularly black ones. I'm not sure about red for the auction but I'm sure you'd do something amazing.

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  2. Thanks, Louise. Alas, I haven't seen any black pearls to purchase. I wasn't thinking of red pearls — I made some last year for Bron because she asked for pearls in red and gold -- the logo colors, but in general I like pearls in cream, pink and I also have some bluey ones that are gorgeous.

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  3. I cook to work through writing bumps. I used to needlepoint, but tendonitis forced me to choose between typing and needlepoint. The writing won. :-) Pearls are so elegant. For the auction, maybe something with a single red stone. Have fun!

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    1. Judy, I cook a bit, too -- chopping vegies for soup is oddly satisfying and productive, I fine. As is stirring... Sympathy on the tendonitis — I battle with that, too.

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  4. Pearls go with everything...and nothing ;o)

    I love pearls. And your jewelry is always so gorgeous.

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    1. I think the pink pearls are probably harder to match — you need either a complete contrast, like black, or the exactl shade of pink. A friend wanted some pink pearls for a wedding, and I made them and sent them off and they were the wrong pink, so I made some more and sent them off, and again, the wrong pink. In the end i made her bring down the shade she was wearing and we took it pearl shopping with us and got the exact, gorgeous shade, which was a pinky lilac. but white pearls will go with anything and I find some black added to a white pearl necklace will make it suitable for a wide variety of occasions. Plain white pearls are more formal, I think.

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  5. I adore pearls, they are so beautiful and lustrous. I'm a cross-stitcher, Anne. That takes hours and hours to produce something - but it usually looks beautiful (even with the glaring mistakes that I can see but the recipient may not).
    Malvina

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  6. And I should add... your jewellery is simply exquisite.
    Malvina

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  7. They are all SO pretty it would be SO hard to choose! I love the pink, but I would probably choose grey so that I could wear them with EVERYTHING! :o )

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