IN MY OWN WORLD

I MUST SAY..................


Today is the last day of APRIL,a month full of happenings,festivals and events.

my thoughts are always scattered.i can't focus on anything.i live in my own world,recollecting the childhood memories.the memories are so vivid,sparkling and endearing.

within days, i will be in chandra prabha.iam longing to hear the laughter of the leaves,listen to the whisper of blooming buds and see the cheerful old faces of my village.

i don't know whether the strong wind will scatter the mangoes for me.there are noone to run after the mangoes .
amma used to make mango jam-here it's called ,mangad-with the surplus yield of mangoes.one must enjoy the the magic of mangad.homemade stuff has acharm that we can't find in the market.

here,let me express my gratitude and love to all my friends and well wishers who gave me the support to write more posts who tried to improve my way of writing.it's human nature,everyone likes to be thanked.i appreciate your kind gesture.

i love to listen to the old songs which make us forget our worries.let's fill our life with magical,musical moments.

this is one of the morning greetings that i received.it brightens my day and i want to thank my friend whole heartedly.daily i receive warm greetings from him. i really feel touched.


many a time i could destress myself by writing a new post.

here tourists are enjoying the cool breeze of the beach.just one more month for you to land up here and catch the crashing waves for a splash of relief.

this is the best place to be in the scorching heat.enjoy the warm and pleasant holidays.

you can find the perfect combination of celebration through faith,festivity and fun.until the next feast comes along,your anu will be away.

when the whole world enjoys a holiday on may 1st,iam working.


when did we last dance in the rain?when did we last walk in the moonlit beach?friends,we are losing the beautiful moments of life.
but,i must tell you,at any age life can be begun again.it's never late.let's make up for the lost time.



friends,i feel lucky to have you in my life.[hey,hope my long absence won't put me in the fast-being-forgotten list of dear and near ones.

wishing one and all, a happy and cheerful may month,full of hopes and promises,

it's anu signing off.i get excited at the sight of green fields,rivers and the beautiful scenery of our GOD'S OWN COUNTRY.

we will be crossing the tunnels at night.so,i won't be able to count the number like a child.and iam sure you must be knowing ,we have maximum number of tunnels in this route.

updating the event,
tomorrow is sample trichur pooram.and don't foregt to watch the live telecast of the famous trichur pooram on 3rd may.come to relive the traditions and celebrations.imagine,forty three sets of umbrellas!

what a wonderful sight!and the pooram exhibition awaits us with numerous stalls!


it's the most happening of the coming month.


before getting into konkan railways,


and for the last time to you,

kyo ye dil teri yaad me tadpta hai,
kyo tere tassvir me hi duba rehta hai..............

sasneham,

anu

More Fun with Wire!

Copyright 2006 Margot Potter for Beadalon
Copyright 2006 Margot Potter for Beadalon

(Click on images to view close-up)

Here are two exposed wire bracelet designs I made three years ago for Beadalon. I'm working on instructions so these can finally go live on the Beadalon website. It's funny to revisit designs- on many levels. Firstly you see how much you've progressed in your techniques, secondly you sometimes realize you were on to something interesting and it's worth revisiting and finally you often like your work better in retrospect. By the time I've spent a few days on a piece, I'm often rather tired of it. I can't "see" it anymore. This is why I parade my work in front of my family and ask for their honest assessments. Then I get mad and make pouty faces if they don't like what I've created.

I'm a Leo, we're annoying like that.

I'm very excited to take both of these techniques further. The first uses thick Beadalon silver plated wire and two hole spacers to create an interesting ladder effect. The focal element is a fair trade ceramic bead from Kazuri West and it inspired a unique color palette of CRYSTALLIZED™-Swarovski Elements. I think this technique could be beautiful with larger beads and longer spacers...maybe with more beads. Everytime you make a change to these tension ideas, you have to rework everything. It's the tension of the wire in the crimp beads, along with the way the spacers are suspended that makes this design stay stiff and crisp on your wrist. If the tension isn't right, it'll flip and flop and lose structure. Though they look simple, it's a lot of engineering and trial and error that goes into getting these right.

The second design opens a whole host of possibilities. This reminds me of the Cat's Cradle we used to make with string as kids. I want to keep exploring this one. What if I add more wires and weave a tube? What if I use more beads, bigger beads, smaller beads? I'm not mad for these seed beads...I think this design would look much better with gemstones or crystals. What if it was all beaded and didn't have exposed wire?

Are you seeing where my mind is heading?

The instructions for these will go live sometime in the near future. I promise to share the links.

I'm on QVC Friday EARLY in the 1 o'clock am EST hour with two items. It's a Pink Ribbon Jewelry show. Tune in if you're awake! The host and I are both in allergy/asthma overdrive so it could make for some interesting live TV.

Until next time...craft on with your bad selves.

xoxo
Madge

Mixed Media Jewelry Project

Triple Deco Pin Copyright 2009 Margot Potter

This is a mixed media pin I did a while back for a book that didn't materialize. I really love this design. It’s got an art deco flavor and a modern appeal. I used Ranger paint dabbers in red pepper, jet and lettuce on inexpensive wooden discs I purchased at the craft store. I stamped them with Ranger dabbers in silver, snow cap and jet to create texture and interest. The pewter twig is from Ornamentea. I used Beacon 3-in-1 glue to adhere the discs and attach a pin back. It’s all sealed with a layer of Judikins Diamond Glaze.

It’s fairly easy to turn inexpensive materials into striking jewelry components. Wander the aisles of the craft stores, scrapbook stores and your local hardware stores...heck even poke around in your recycling bins. You’ll soon realize there is an endless array of cool stuff you can trick out for a small amount of pocket change.

Ten points to those of you who understood yesterday’s post. It’s from Winnie the Pooh. I didn’t suddenly forget how to spell!

Until next time...craft on with your bad selves.

xoxo,
Madge

Bisy Backson

"GON OUT
BACKSON
BISY
BACKSON"
M.P.

Link to Free Jewelry Project Confetti Collar for Beadalon

Confetti Collar Copyright 2007 Margot Potter for Beadalon

One of my design specialties is exposed wire work. I use soft wire to create woven designs that utilize tension to suspend the beads on the wire. They’re architectural and dimensional and doing them with soft wire creates a unique set of problems to solve. I started exploring this when we had our retail shop ten years ago. In typical Impatient Beader™ path of least resistance fashion I was looking for a way to get the appearance of an illusion necklace without having to knot, crimp or glue the beads in place. I discovered that by weaving wire in and out of beads you’d get the same suspended look without the futziness of the other techniques. Since then I’ve done countless designs like these ever exploring the idea of tension and suspension.

Beadalon began buying my pieces almost ten years ago when one of their employees Yvette Rodriguez discovered them in our shop window. They’ve used them for catalogs, packages, ads and newsletters and eventually I became a Design Team Member. My challenge in that role is to constantly devise new techniques and innovations to showcase their materials. We have a really great trio of designers at Beadalon and I’m honored to be among them.



Over the past two years I’ve been playing with the soft wire circle. I’ve created a lot of variations on this theme, still seeking the perfect expression of this idea. The design above was featured on the cover of the Beadalon catalogue two years ago. I’ve been waiting for the instructions to go live so I could share them with you. If you follow this link, you can get the step by step instructions for this Confetti Collar. It’s a very simple concept, mostly a matter of repetition of pattern and variation of size. It does require some patience to create, because it takes a lot of time to make that many circles! Once you start making these wire circles, you’ll want to make more, they’re very addicting. I have a simple wire bracelet in Bead and Wire Jewelry Exposed that uses a variation on this technique.

I find this work really challenging and exciting. It’s easy to keep doing the same old thing again and again, or to use techniques that already exist, but creating new techniques is far more exciting to me. Keep looking out for more of these ideas here over the next few weeks.

Until next time...craft on with your bad selves.

xoxo,
Madge

TAKING A BREAK..........

THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS

the evening was cool.we had many guests today.guests become rare these days.we don't have time for visits and the visits become a disturbance to others.people can't spare time for others and we forget the golden culture,''athithi devo bhava.''

summer holidays usually translate to vacation time.we plan for holidays and relax.


i love saturdays as the next day is a holiday.it's always work,work and work.it's high time to take a break.we are getting ready to leave for trichur after one week.i really pray,the heat should not confine me indoors.let's enjoy the sunny side of life.

we can enjoy summer with a lot of cooling food items.in fact nature provides us the right fruits and vegetables for the season.

scorching summer days are nothing new for us.to beat the sun,i want to jump into kulam,to swim in the cool water.

i fondly remember,mariyam and pranchi.mariyam chettathi was our helper at kamalayam,andathode,in my achan's house.after crossing the field,we often went to mariyam chettathy's house to play and enjoy the real life in their neat,cool hut.there was a small kulam,on one side where the ducks swam.there were trees lining the kulam and chettathy used to wash the vessels there.you won't know,how much,the memories are alive in my mind.they didn't have children and now both of them are not alive.
mariyam chettathy used to make tasty ariyundas.

i will be soon with amma and nanda.i want to go to temples in the mornings with nanda.she takes me to different tempels and the morning fresh air is so refreshing.i want to have a stroll among the different pooram exhibition stalls.the kuppivalakal are so attractive and i just love wearing them.


i know,nothing completes our day better than a home cooked meal.but there are so many new hotels in trichur to try out some new dishes.


here,people shake their legs to the rhythm of the cha cha,hip-hop and salsa to keep themselves in shape.

let's like what we do.before the rains and before the school bell rings and before work beckons us back,let's go back to our child hood activities where we can have our masti.

i will be away on along vacation to trichur,guruvayoorand chennai.i will miss the long hours that i sit infront of pc.i will miss interacting with you.

updating about the events,
VAISHAKHAMASAM begins tomorrow.it's known as MADHAVA MASAM.to have darshan of LORD KRISHNA in this month is punayam,maha punyam.

so,before this auspicious month gets over come to KRISHNA NAGARI.

and i don't have to tell you,27th monday is AKSHAYA THRITHIYA.best of luck for a prosperous life![i don't know whether you are searching for jewelleries where the salesman talks to you the minute details......]the ad world must be getting mad with the numerous catchy lines they had to script for the auspicious day!

monday 27th IS Balarama Jayanthi.and this day marks an auspicious day in the Catholic calendar at the church of st.jerome,mapusa.paying homage to MILAGRES SAIBINN[OUR LADY OF MIRACLES]on her feast day,this event brings people of all faiths together.devotees give MOTHER MARY an oil bath.

maza did her college in st.xaviers ,mapusa and with my each post she is becoming nostalgic.
my little star was at panjim,doing her professional course.

hey,friends,it's close to midnight,but i know i won't be able to sleep unless i finish my post.

it's getting late and i have duty tomorrow.so,sad,na?and evening we have kerala cultural association get together.the members join for annual cultural programme and dinner.

it's anu signing off..........

it's time to take a break from the life of this beautiful land of beachs,churches and music.it's state known for its delicious food,specially,rice and fish curry and feni.one can enjoy the boat cruises and the tasty food at the shacks.



i love you all.special thanks to my friend who brings a smile on my face daily morning.


thanks to all well wishers who encouraged me writing posts and sparing your valuable time to post comments.

this summer vacation,please browse through different blogs and let the writers know your suggestions.encouragement is the best award any writer can receive.we value your comments.


sasneham,
anu

TastyLinks™ Saturday!

Illustration Copyright Enoch Bolles

It’s going to be a hot, sunny day here in Amish Country. I’m praying that the manure spreaders won’t be in full force or I’m afraid I’ll be stuck inside yet again. The poop spreaders cometh, phew. Our trees are just about fully leafed...which means that the annual Leafing Days are upon us. Tra la, tra lay...The Leafing Days! Hopefully they’ll be fully unfolded soon because I’ve been miserable. Snerg, wheeze, cough, sniffle.

I think we may actually get our Christmas tree put away this weekend. Have I mentioned I’m so not Martha?! Egads woman, it’s APRIL! Would it help if I mentioned that my husband kept saying he wanted to have a cocktail party with the tree up in the Spring?

Not so much, eh?

There’s a lot on the docket this weekend. We’ve got to do the bi-annual clothes swap and Goodwill run. The garden is prepped and ready for planting. I’ve got to put the finishing touches on my *TSP for a presentation on Monday. I need to make one more sample for my class proposals for Tucson 2010. Plus we’ve got a family gathering to attend this weekend.

It never stops around here. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

Big The Impatient Crafter™ Shout outs to Melissa J. Lee and Sister Diane of CraftyPod for their awesome reviews of my new book Beyond the Bead! I was gobsmacked! I wasn’t sure if people would get my intention, which was to break down and simplify basic mixed media techniques in a way that would resonate for the Average Jane. I wanted the book to be easy to digest and the projects to show a variety of aesthetics. I’m really glad to see that folks are digging what I threw down.

Thanks to Wendy T. Gibson for blogging about our Intellectual Property rights day on her blog Craft Dinner!

Congrats to Herbette of the Little Epiphany blog for winning the Rings ‘n Thigns loot. Email me at theimpatientcrafter@gmail.com with your mailing address so I can get that out to you!

Without further adieu here is this week’s sampling of TastyLinks™ “All the good blogs wrapped up in one!”:

About Family Crafts Why not make a special May Day treat for your neighbors!

Aileen's Musings Aileen has a Bottle Cap project just in time for Mother's Day or for that end of the year teacher gift!

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner Swelldesigner finds some colorful inspiration by Wrecking her Journal!

Blisstree Arts Cyndi's done a round-up of all her image transfer tutorials.

Cathie Filian Cathie Filian has lots of spring garden projects! Pop by her blog to learn how to recycle paint stir sticks into a garden planter, blend up fresh fruit smoothies, easily create wood burn garden markers and ideas for painting a garden set that is perfect for mom.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside has a call for entries: 1000 Artisan Textiles, a tutorial on how to upcycle an old promo charm with stamped polymer clay, fusing plastic bags from the soon to be released book: Green Guide for Artists, and two asymmetrical jewelry designs made from recycled elements.

Crafty Princess Diaries More about YuDu - If you still aren't convinced after seeing Margot Potter's video on how to use this interesting contraption, then here is some more information for you to consider.

CraftyPod Sister Diane is super-excited to launch her new ebook, Making a Great Blog: a Guide for Creative People. It's all about how to write and photograph compelling blog posts, and how to keep the inspiration flowing.

Cross Stitch at About.com How do you organize your flosses and fibers? See what other stitchers do, then share your own methods.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Earth day Jewelry Making Inspired by Heidi Boyd's Simply Beaded Bliss- making charms from button covers and advertising buttons.

The Crochet Dude Drew met the King of San Antonio!

The Impatient Crafter Madge shares some thoughts about copyrights, artist's rights and intellectual property theft in this thought provoking post.

Copyright Linky Love!

Thanks to everyone who participated in Wednesday’s Artist’s Rights and Copyrights event! Here is a list of related links with some great posts on the topics. Hopefully we can keep this dialogue going!

Cindy Gimbrone’s insightful post on making a technique your own.

Art Bead Scene shares the 411 on copyrights and fair use.

Barbe St. John’s concise and clear explanation of trademarks and copyrights.

The Copyright Alliance has a great site filled with valuable information. Super shout outs to Crafty Chica for sharing these links!
http://www.copyrightalliance.org/content.php?id=86
http://www.copyrightalliance.org/files/userfiles/file/10myths.pdf

Here’s a great Facebook notes post from my talented and brilliant mom, Sharon Scanlin.

A page of great links from the Starving Artists Law site.

A great informational resource on artist’s copyrights.
http://www.rightsforartists.com/copyright.html
http://www.rightsforartists.com/definitions.html

And finally here are two saucy, smart and hilariously funny posts about copyright infringement from a gal who always tells it like it is Linda Woods.

Here’s a great post on claiming copyrights from craft industry Trademarks and Copyrights Expert Tammy Browning-Smith P.C.:.

If you posted and I neglected to mention you, remind me and I'll get you into Saturday's Linky Love post. If you posted about my Video, I'll get you in tomorrow! I'm off to my monthly coif and pouf session with Angel...the world's best hairdresser!

xoxo
Madge

Three Big Things!

Copyright Margot Potter 2009 Butterfly for Houston Museum Holocaust Project
Copyright Avalon Potter 2008 Butterfly for Houston Museum Holocaust Project

So much to share, so little time! Eek! I have three big things to share today.

First I wanted to let everyone know we are nailing down the details of the Beads and the City trip for August 13-16th 2009 and the Crafty Cabaret Southern Caribbean Cruise for October 9-17th 2010. As soon as I have links to the sign up info online, I’ll post them here along with details about both trips! I hope you can make it!
Secondly I received my Create Your Style with CRYSTALLIZED™-Swarovski Elements Ambassador kit on Wednesday afternoon. Calloo callay! I am one of 21 designers who have worked with the CYSWCSE brand as teachers and consultants and were invited to become official ambassadors. A few folks asked for a sneak peek, so here is a little of what I got. I also received bead mats, a Create Your Style color wheel, the ginormous catalog, a look book for Spring/Summer 2010, a jaunty mouse pad and educational materials. As always, impeccably presented. I’m so honored to be among such a talented group of designers and to be an ambassador for a brand in which I wholeheartedly believe. Plus...we all know how much I love to sparkle. Here’s a little sneak peek at some of my kit.

My daughter and I worked on butterflies for the Houston Museum Holocaust project. You can see our finished designs above. We both used Tim Holtz™’s Grungeboard Elements, CRYSTALLIZED™-Swarovski Elements and Ranger paints to make these vibrant three dimensional butterflies. Avalon did a stellar job, I love the colors she picked! I followed her pop art vibrant color lead.

The Houston Museum is attempting to collect 1.5 million handcrafted butterflies for a display that represents the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust. My dear friend and gifted poly clay artist Michelle Zimmerman asked me to participate. Her father is a Holocaust survivor. Everyone is invited to join the cause and I truly hope if you’re an artist or even if you’re not, you’ll consider making a butterfly and sending it to the museum. If you’ve never read the poems written by the children of the concentration camps, you should. They are deeply moving and viscerally powerful. It is my hope that one day we will live in a world where this sort of thing is impossible. Unfortunately, we’re not there yet.

Here is the poem that inspired this project. Amazing.

I Never Saw Another Butterfly

The last, the very last
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing against a white stone....

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly ’way up high.
It went away I’m sure because it wished to kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I’ve lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.

That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don’t live in here, in the ghetto.

Pavel Friedman, June 4, 1942
Born in Prague on January 7, 1921.Deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp on April 26, 1942. Died in Aushchwitz on September 29, 1944

Finally if you posted about internet piracy and copyrights this week, send me your link so I can do a link round up for tomorrow. Thank you very much for your participation!

Love,
Margot

MY REFLECTIONS ON A HOLIDAY...................

A LOVELY HOLIDAY.................


One more holiday in this month of april,due to elections.i would like to share the beautiful morming sms received from my friend.

''friendship is like a mercury drop.........if it's dropped then it's impossible to collect.so,be careful.do not drop your friends.''but i have dropped many of them as they proved wrong for the title,'friends'.

we all know,smiles and laughter are good in many ways.smiling is apotent beauty treatmen,the simplest most easily recognised action-even a brief flash.so,friends,flash asmile,the world will be on your side.

the more we smile,the more we are known for our smile and more popular and likeable we will become.and it is abonus,we become happier inside.so,friends,sharpen your sense of humour.

on holidays,here we wake up to the konkani songs flowing through the speakers.the locals enjoy life with music,feni,beer and fish curry,rice.by the way,'feni' got 'GI' status;that's Geographical indication status.it's the hot news and all are thrilled.this is the first alcholic spirit to get the GI status.

now,no one need to smuggle out the liquor anymore.[i know,in many of the baggages,feni bottles were hidden on the way to their hometown].
the mood is upbeat and there is a sense of excitement and joy in the air.just within a walk of every five minutes one lands up in a bar here.

and i must say,an important feature is the crosses,the life of the people.we can often see,people stand together and say the rosary at the cross on the roadside.

here,neither exams elections nor the rising mercury levels are able to keep people away from dance floors. there are wide publicity for HIP HOP summer dance camps.

like in kerala,so many people have sold their old ancestoral homes here .the builders who buy them demolish these majestic houses and create a concrete jungle.

a depressing feature of today's landscape is rapid giving way of traditional houses to modern high rises.

the problem starts with the children migrating to foreign lands and the parents are left in a big house all by themselves,who ultimately crave for their children.they are also then taken along,leaving their houses totally unattended.finally when they come down, after four to five years they find the house in such a mess that they feel, it would be better to sell it off.

with the passage of time,we will have to see the wonderful ancestoral houses only in photographs.

a practice that is disappearing is ,'saving for a rainy day'.here,in the month of april,women stock up on chillies,onions,tamarind,dried mackerels apart from salt and sausages.

first they will be dried in the scorching heat of april.
women start buying onions in bulk from the month of may itself.these onions are tied into bunches and tied to the kitchen roof as we do with vellarikkas and kumblangas.

the joy of storing food items and being ready to face the long monsoon season was something that the people of the good old days thoroughly enjoyed.

waiting eagerly for the showers,to walk along the thin varambu in between the green green padam,occasionally,spalshing water in the small chira.so,cool just like the cucumber!when we get down at punnayoorkulam bus stop,we cross these fields,playing in water before reaching achan's house,kamalalayam.very small paral mean thullikalikkunna chirayile vellam!ethra sundram!

let's love nature.be eco friendly.when you cut one tree,please plant two trees.let's pledge ourselves.
celebrate ''THE EARTH DAY,EVERY DAY''.


it's time for me to pack my bags.i will soon be leaving for trichur to join amma on tricur pooram.nanda will be leaving for the city at the Hudson river.shankar is so excited as he is going to witness pooram after along gap of fifteen years!
even though iam a loud speaker,i don't like sound pollution!

achan used to take us to the pooram exhibition stalls.hope i may get a chance this time!i fondly remember those summer vacations,so colourful,full of excitement!

don't you have plans to visit this lovely place? enjoy the fish curry rice at the shacks in the beaches.you will love it!


it's anu signing off.........................

have a great day!

before,winding up,let me share another sms with you.

''the best cosmetic for lips is Truth,for voice prayer,for eyes pity,for hands charity,for heart love and for life friendship.''

let's be friends,ok?

sasneham,
anu

Copyrights and Artist's Rights

Permission Free Image Dover Books

I work really hard each and every day to come up with unique and inspiring ideas. My goal in life is to inspire creativity. I love seeing people riff on my ideas, because that’s a dialogue. In the classical music period, musicians had musical dialogues with snippets of music called motifs. They were expanding on each other’s ideas in creative and fascinating ways. Jazz musicians also do this. That’s the sort of dialogue I want to have with my readers. I also love knowing that they’re making the designs I’ve created and enjoying them as is. That’s a really wonderful feeling.

I don’t so much love finding out someone has co-opted my work as their own. That’s...the complete opposite of the point. It’s a subtle distinction, but let me see if I can’t clarify.

My blog, my books and my magazine projects all have a common thread. They’re protected by copyrights. That means if you want to reproduce a project I’ve shared with you for yourself, that’s my intention. I want you to do that! That’s why I make and share projects! If you want to give said project to a friend or family member as a gift, that’s fabulous! But...and here’s the big but...if you want to copy said project and make it into a kit, a class or a design for profit...that’s not okay. It’s okay to take a technique I’ve shown you and make your own unique design and sell that, because then you’ve engaged in a dialogue. Can you see the distinction?

If you copy and paste the picture of my project or an entire post into your blog or on your website without my express permission, that’s also not okay. The internet has created a free for all when it comes to horking intellectual property and I’m here today along with other artists to start staking our claims to our work.

The problem is that everything is so easy to take from the internet, so it seems less wrong to take it freely. It is, however, wrong.

If you copy someone’s art work and sell it for profit, you’re stealing. Do you steal regularly? Do you feel entitled to walk into a store and take things off of the shelves without paying for them? Do you hork stuff from your friends’ houses? If you visit them and see a vase you really like, do you feel entitled to plunk it into your purse?

Intellectual property is property. Artists and musicians and creative people work incredibly hard and they deserve to be paid for their work just like everyone else. Illegally downloading a movie or a song is stealing. Pirating software is stealing. Copying and pasting a copyright protected image into your blog without permission or credit is stealing. Uploading a segment from a TV show to YouTube is stealing. Copying an image that is under copyright, printing it and reproducing it in your artwork is stealing. Copying a design, reproducing it and selling it for profit is stealing. (On a side note it is okay to use images you cut out of books or magazines in collages, it’s just not okay to copy them and use them multiple times. See the difference? One is recycling, the other is theft.)

Anytime you co-opt someone else’s professional creative output for personal gain or profit or even for your personal pleasure without paying for it, you are breaking copyright laws. These laws can be very expensive to enforce, so you may just get away with it. Lots of people do. That doesn’t make it right. Because it is theft and theft isn’t right. It’s becoming a rampant and serious problem with the boom of the internet. People who create for a living have the same right to make a living as everyone else.

I see my work in projects sold to magazines and in ads for manufacturers and even winning design contests, only it’s actually other people copying my work. What incredible audacity it must take to steal someone’s work and claim it as your own. The way I see it, if you aren’t creative enough to make your unique designs or to give due credit when you are inspired by someone else’s work; you probably shouldn’t be selling your work. I’m just sayin’.

This topic gets everyone all kerfuffled. Even artists can’t agree on what is and what is not copyright infringement. If we can’t agree or if we’re so afraid of being unpopular we can’t take a public stand against copycats and copyright infringers...well I’m afraid this sort of activity will continue.

For the record, I am taking a stand. I have no interest in making lazy people easy money. If you want to sell kits, classes, projects for publication or finished goods, use your fertile imagination. I want you to make my designs and wear them and enjoy them. I want you to be inspired by my work to expand into new directions and most of all I want to see you become empowered to make your own unique designs. If you want pictures to post on your blog, take them yourself, use stock photos, permission free images or credit the source, if you’re thinking about taking my pictures or text from my blog or website make sure you ask permission and that if I grant it...you give me credit.

So every time you illegally download a song or a movie or copy software or sell a copy of someone else’s work in your Etsy shop or copy and paste a picture from a Google search into your blog, think about what I just told you. It’s not okay.

If you'd like to participate in educating the public about this topic, please post a blog this week and I will share your link with my readers in a group link post. We can't complain if we aren't willing to take a stand.

Cheers,
Madge

Linky Love Showers!

Image Copyright Gil Elvgren

We interrupt this blog for the following newsflash! The folks from ArtBeads are having a $1.00 Super Bead Sale! Run don't walk!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled post.

This is a hearty and heartfelt THANK YOU to the following talented folks who posted our new The Impatient Crafter I do, YuDu video in their blogs this past week. All of these artists are people you should visit. I’m so incredibly blessed to have so many amazing friends scattered like wildflowers across the planet. No one can live in a bubble, though we all know I’d like to this time of year. Wah, wah. We're here to connect and to celebrate those connections.

We put a lot of love into our humble video offerings. It’s our intention to educate, empower and entertain. We try not to take them or ourselves too seriously. I mean...it’s crafting. We’re not saving the universe, but we are doing all we can to make it a prettier place.

Grab your slicker and your wellies folks! Linky Love Showers are commencing for the following friends of The Impatient Crafter™:

The Technicolor Crafty Goddess Ms. Jennifer Perkins of The Naughty Secretary Club

Thoughtful, Talented and Thought Provoking Mr. Andrew Thornton

Ever Inspiring and Inspired Leslie Smith Gidden of Mad Maggie Designs

Porcelain Bead Master and Steampunk Genius Ms. Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood Studios

Delightful and Endlessly Eclectic Designer Candie Cooper kindly added us to her weekly link round up.

I’m also sending a whole lotta Linky Love to the O June Jewelry Blog for posting a fabulous original project utilizing a fun chipboard technique from my new book Beyond the Bead.

If you linky love us, we’ll linky love you back. It’s only fair. If I’ve neglected to mention you, just shoot me an email at theimpatientcrafter@gmail.com so I know in case Google Alerts don’t pick it up.

Until next time...Carpe Gaudium!

xoxo
Madge

Recycled Jewelry Project and Madge's New Tiara

All Eyes on You copyright 2009 Margot Potter

This is the All Eyes on You necklace. I’m mad for this one. Every time I wear it, I get rave reviews. I’ve got it on in the new video, so I figured I’d give you the 411.

These are 1.75” Bazzill Basics thick chipboard circles with images from fashion magazines cut out and adhered with decoupage medium on both sides. They are light as a feather, so you can really pile them on. I used my Crop-a-dile to punch a hole in each one so I could hang it from a 10mm jump ring. To give them a more distressed look I took a nail file to the images (gently) and then added layers of stamped flourishes in Ranger archival ink in jet black and stamped type in Ranger silver paint dabber. I sealed it all with Mod Podge Glossy using a brush to get some texture and edged each pendant with Krylon silver leafing pen in silver. They look fabulous with the Beadalon Quick Links components, very mod. I have a similarly themed project in my second book The Impatient Beader Gets Inspired taking sections of images from vintage fashion magazines and adding ironic text from the actual ad copy beneath each image. I put those in soldered microscope frames, which added another element of irony to the concept. I think it interesting to dissect the messages with which women are regularly bombarded. Plus I’m all for upcycling and there are so many great images in the mags we toss out, why not put them to good use?

The BQOTU's new tiara.

Green Acres is the place to be!

This past weekend my hubby took some pics of me in a new tiara I’m hoping to teach for an upcoming special event. Here it is and here I am wearing it in a Green Acres photo op with our escape chicken and Amos, one of our pot bellied pigs. I gave my ‘Holly Would’ tiara from Sparkletastic to a very lovely woman who worked in a washroom in Chicago. She had the most gorgeous voice...forget Susan Boyle-move over Aretha...this woman was a superstar. I just figured she needed that tiara more than I did, and she was thrilled. Honestly, I think every gal needs a tiara. Even if you just wear it to wash the dishes. I think we should all crown ourselves queen of something, which is why I sometimes call myself Bead Queen of the Universe or BQOTU™.

Why the hell not? You can be anything you choose. So choose well.

“I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny, old attics; even if they dress in rags; even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young. They're still princesses. All of us. Didn't you father ever tell you that? Didn't he?” A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett

xoxo,
Queen Madge

OUR CHAKKA,THEIR PHANAS

THE JACKFRUIT


hello,friends,

i feel like writing another post -this time on our own chakka.kishen n amma have already told me to make the posts,short.let me try.

the jackfruit or 'phanas/ponos'is credited as the world's largest tree borne fruit.chakka is called phanas in konkani.

idichaka is known as KUVLO[tender jackfruit without seeds].i love idichakka thoran.

in our tharavadu we had a jackfruit tree with was ladened with tender chakkas.

it was later cut,while chandra prabha was constructed.
after marriage,when i went to meppadam,i was so excited to see thamara chakka.it's small and round in shape which we can hold in one hand.we planted the seeds,and many jackfruit trees are grown.but,sadly,none of them bore fruit.

i like varikka chakka.after removing the chakka chula,the sweet madals were given to the cow and oxen.

the cleaning and cutting a chakka is a headache.we must apply coconut oil on our palms and the knife blade so that the latex does not stick while cutting.

a few recipes from this state with chakka are here.

a tender jackfruit is used to prepare a dish called chaako or charkuto.it's craved by everyone in this summer season.

kulvo is boiled in water.the outer prickly portion [char] and the central core[mav] is discarded and the edible portion is cut into fine pieces.chopped onions are then fried in heated oil and are fried in heated oil and a fried ground paste of coconut and masala powder ,pieces of jackfruit and salt are added.the ingredients should be allowed to cook for 7-8 minutes.

tur dal is boiled with chakka pieces.added to this is mirya vatap,which is a paste of coconut,pepper corns,tamarind,red chillies,salt and turmeric.
after cooking,temper it with asafoetida and mustard seeds.



a spicy preparation can be made by cooking boiled peas,tur dal and kulvo pieces with a piece of coconut,tamarind or ottambachi sola[rinds],chilli powder,salt and sambar powder.a tempering of asafoetida and mustard seeds is poured over it.the addition of jaggery is optional.

a well prepared chaako should have an appealing colour and aroma and should be spicy.chaako,as a vegetarian recipe,offersan excellent source of high quality dietary fibre,plant proteins,antiviral substances ,vitamins,calcium and phosphorous.

KUVLO or raw jackfruits of the right size are easily available in the countryside.

back in kerala,i was amazed to see the trees full of jackfruits from kunnamkulam onwards.the soil is the best suitable for jackfruits.we can see the fruits right from top to bottom of the tree.

our place,we have sandy soil in which coconut trees grow very well.



nature is kind enough to pamper us with such delicious fruits.those still long for the marvellous chakka,please plant the seeds in this monsoon.

how can i forget the chakka varattiyathu my mother-i-law sends for us.it remains for one year and for special occasions we make chakka prathaman with it.hours are spent to prepare it.

kumbalappam is also special with arippodi and chakka varatti.it's so tasty.


last time when i was in pune to attend a training,my friends were busy buying the chakka chulas.i was surprised to see the excitement in their eyes.they were really enjoying the delicious fruit.

my all time favourite is idichakka thoran.shankar's ammamma used to have hot kanji with chakkappuzhukku.we used to feel nice watching her having kanji with plavila.my little star enjoys someone really respecting food and enjoying it.

the fried chakka chula are so,yummy.we can just finish it within no time.i prefer it to banana chips.the long thin,chakka chula fry is added to my favourite list.it's the most wanted snacks with the non keralites.


i still remember,our tenant kuttippennu, coming to our compound to collect the leaves of the tree for her goats.she sells the goatmilk for a living.even now when her son has reached the middle east,she still keeps her goats.



it's nice to live in a house surrounded by all kinds of fruit trees.we have to just remember to be ecofriendly and for the next so many generations,our kind gestures will be a blessing..............


it's anu signing off...................

yes,friends,it's rightly said,''oru maram,oru varam''.

tharumo,enikkoru varam?





sasneham,
anu