In Service for One's Country

Yesterday, my younger brother left for his first tour of duty to Afghanistan. The night before, our family invited relatives and friends to our house for a small going away party for him. Before he left yesterday, he was home with us for two weeks awaiting his deployment instructions. We were calm then, but now that he is gone, our thoughts and feelings shifted to that of certain.

I admire those people who serve one's country with pride and honor. They are after all doing a great service. But now that he is deployed, my family and I have nothing but worry for him. This tour of duty is 400 days long and it is his first since returning from bootcamp.

Tell me, am I being such a worry-wart for my brother? I am his big sister after all and I have a natural tendency to look after my younger brothers.

For those of you, who have family in the service, how do you stay optimistic for your love ones safety? I would love to hear from tips if you have any.

My Dream Art Studio

It has been a while since I've entered a blog. I have been busy learning and perfecting new techniques, looking for new inspiration and ideas for materials, then I go home to my work area and find myself bummed seeing how small and limited my work area is.

At the moment my work area is part of a bedroom with limited storage space and is it about 4 feet by 8 feet in size. I don't have my own house yet but when I do, I always dreamed of having a two-bedroom house allotting one of the bedroom to an art studio. I want it to have a ton of storage for my tools, supplies and my collection of beads and fabrics, a place for my inspiration board, sewing machine and work table for making jewelry, a place with lots of light to do the photography of my products for web posting and an area for my computer. An 12 foot by 15-20 foot room should do the trick.

If you still haven't got a studio of your own, how would you plan it, build it and like it? Join me in daydreaming for the perfect studio.

The Pearls of Jackie O.

It was one of those days where the weather was not good and it was better to stay home and cozy up. Flipping through channels I found myself tuning in to QVC. They were featuring reproduction pieces of Jackie Kennedy Onassis' jewelry. She has a great collection of jewelry not to mention a large collection of cross pendant necklaces - a symbol of her catholic faith. But one thing struck me the most.

Did you know that all of her pearls are made of glass pearls? They are not the rarest and most expensive cultured or freshwater pearls but those famous two-strand pearl necklaces are made of glass pearls from the Czech Republic including those with matching earrings. Glass pearls made from the Czech Republic are still being used today by haute couture designers like Chanel, Givenchy, Dolce and Gabbana when they make their accessory line.

This to me shows that even a great style icon like Jackie O has a certain accessibility to the rest of us much like Michelle Obama today. That they do not just wear high end fashions but they also have a great appreciation for popular brands found in common department stores.

Do you know what your pearls are made of?

http://emmalucindajewelry.etsy.com

New Products Galore

Hi Everyone,

I now ventured into the fabulous and fun world of home accessories and loving every minute of it. To see what I mean, check out my shop at http://emmalucindajewelry.etsy.com/ and you'll see what I mean.

To be able to do all this is truly a blessing and I'm so glad I get to do it.

Don't keep it a secret..

Its a New Year and I've Got New Products

Hi folks,

I hope you all have a great holiday season. Since this is a new year for all of us, I have posted new products at my shop at http://emmalucindajewelry.etsy.com .

Come check it out! I will be posting more products as I create them.

Don't be shy to leave comments at this blog or sending me an email at emmalucindajewelry@gmail.com . I'd love to hear from you.

LOL

Have a Happy Jolly Christmas

Finally! After all the weeks of technical difficulties, I finally got my laptop working for me. It still needs to do some more fixing up but at least I am able to use it for the my basics online neccessities.

Now that it is the holidays, 'till the season of great food, gift giving, meeting seeing family and friends and having a fabulous time. I have great memories of past holiday celebrations mainly because of the feasting we do in our family. So my great holiday memories revolve around food. Not bad for holiday memories, eh.

I am a big fan of desserts, and if I were to become a chef I would definitely be a pastry chef more than anything. I find baking and making desserts a lot less stressful. When I moved here in the US many years ago, I was introduced to pumpkin pie as a popular holiday dessert. We did not have pumpkin pie where I came from so I found it quite curious. It was love at first bite and I never looked back. From that day on, I could not have a Thanksgiving and even Christmas without pumpkin pie.

Since we are in the subject of food, tell me what you're favorite holiday food is. It is something fabulous that your mother made or some event that revolves around food. Recipes are welcome if you feel so inclined.

Have a great holiday. Let's eat and be merry.

LOL

Emma Lucinda Jewelry

Life without a computer

This weekend I am faced with a challenge. My handy dandy laptop have been giving me some problems for the last few days and now it has given up on me. Fortunately my brother, Roger was kind enough to lend me his computer for a few minutes to log in and check emails, my etsy shop, accounts, etc (thanks, bro!)

As I am faced with this dilemna, I began to wonder. We now live in an age where everything is virtual, automated, portable and easily accessible. If our most dependable gadget, in my case my laptop, decided not to work, all of a sudden we feel disabled. I had come into the habit of checking my emails, etsy shopkeeping, do job searches, research, check accounts on a daily basis using my laptop and I have kept it to a once-a-day limit. And now that she is out of commission, I feel unabled and uninformed.

Why is it that we have become dependent on our computers? Do you feel this way? What would you so without your computer?

Give me your thoughts....