Mothers' Day - May Blog Carnival

I've always wondered why Mothers' Day is different in the UK  - we had ours in March.   I got chocolate - yay!!
This post is part of the blog carnival I take part in along with my fellow artists in the Jewelry Artisan's Community .

I made my lovely Mum some beads for Mothers' Day this year (surprise, surprise! *grin*).
But I forgot to take photos, so I'll show you something completely different!!

Years ago, when I was travelling around India - I mean years ago - in my early 20's, I picked up a few pieces of rock in Mahabilapuram (now Mammalapuram), where many Indian stone sculptors are trained.  Using only my tiny penknife and rubbing on flagstones to smooth it,  I carved this for my mother.

The symbol on the front face in the first photo is the Sanskrit form for the mantra 'Ma', meaning mother.  There's a big 'J' - her initial, a fish - which relates to our surname.  The stylised sunflower is something I have drawn for years.

If you've the inclination to see what my fellow bloggers have to say about Mothers' Day - you can follow these links :)

http://beadsophisticate.wordpress.com/

http://www.catswire.blogspot.de/2012/05/mothers-day.html

http://islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.ca/2012/05/mothers-day-2012.html

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/blog_post/JewelryArtByDawn/8162/blog_carnival_-_mother_s_day

Serendipity Magazine

My 'Mantra' cuff is featured in the latest issue of  Serendipity Magazine!  Issue 4 - Symbols in Art.

I'm on pages 71 and 72 if you'd like to read the story behind my cuff. 

Oh gosh, a new year and I am more than a little ashamed at how little I blogged last year. 
Perhaps I'm not cut out to be a blogger.  I'll give it another go this year and we'll see.....

We've had a very mild winter so far here in Gloucestershire, with only a couple of sub-zero cold snaps.  Which is good for bead-making as I really don't enjoy shocky glass in a cold studio, wrapped up in many layers but still with freezing feet!

So would you like to see some beads?  

Well that's all from me for today, I shall try not to leave it so long before my next post!

Etsy listings

Phew!  I was up late last night listing a couple of new beads in my Etsy shop.  I have tons of beads photographed and ready to list, but am sadly lacking the time to get everything done!

This is one of my latest favourites, Eternity.

Now I need to get listing some more!