Two Necklaces

I saw some beautiful and reasonably priced lampwork beads on ebay and bought some. Here's a chest length necklace made with carnelian, pearls, lampwork beads and sterling silver findings.



Rectangle mother of pearl coupled with fresh water pearls with sterling silver caps and clasps.

Jordin!

Jordin Sparks is the newest American Idol. Her performances yesterday were outstanding and she deserved the American Idol title for this season. The song, This is My Now, was beautifully performed and her repeat performance of the song after being announced the winner of the competition was heartfelt and emotional. It was also an emotional time for her parents who were watching in the audience.

My good friend, Esther, will be thrilled that her prediction came true. From the beginning of the season, Esther was convinced that Jordin will be the newest American Idol.

The results show was a star studded show and was most entertaining. Gwen Stefani appeared from her concert stage. Smokey Robinson, Bette Midler, Tony Bennet, were among the stars that performed during the two hour results finale show. All the previous American Idol winners, except for Fantasia, performed too. Carrie Underwood, winner of season four, received a special recognition for sales of over 6 million albums. The final twelve contestants of the season also performed and I really enjoyed their performances, even Sanjaya's solo with Aerosmith's guitarist!

Can't wait for Season Seven of American Idol!

Finale Night

It was quite a treat tonight because it was the finale night for two of my favorite programs. Thank goodness there was no clash in the schedule!

When Melinda Doolittle got voted out of American Idol last week, I couldn't care less as to who should win the title. But after watching the finale tonight, I thought Jordin Sparks deserved to win it instead of Blake Lewis. No doubt Blake is the better performer, but as the judges keep reminding the audience, American Idol IS a singing competition. Jordin is a far better singer than Blake.

We shall see who the voters choose to crown American Idol tomorrow night.

The Dancing With the Stars Finale was quite exciting. I enjoyed watching the last three couples. They were all very good. Apolo Anton Ohno, an Olympic Speed Skater gold medalist, won the competition. I thought Joey Fatone of N'Sync and his professional dance partner did very well too, and if he had won, I would have been happy with that result too.

Now that my two favorite TV programs are over, there is not much left to see on TV. The new reality show called On The Lot, about budding film directors debuts tonight. Err, that competition doesn't interest me. Next week, So You Think You Can Dance, premieres on TV and if I don't forget to turn on my TV, I might follow that show next. :-)

Sponge Coral Turqoise Necklace

Coral beads, turquoise nuggets, and sterling silver caps, beads and clasps make this pretty necklace.

Ear-rings

Virginia's Quilt

I had to take a break from beading to finish off Virginia's quilt which she'd dropped off three weeks ago!

I like the combination of browns that she'd put together on this very traditional pattern. I might do one like this myself!

What is a Mother?

When the good Lord was creating mothers, he was into his sixth day of overtime when the angel appeared and said, "You are doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order ?"

"She has to be completely washable, not plastic, have moveable parts, all replaceable, run on black coffee and leftovers, have a lap that disappears when she stands up, a kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair, and six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands, no way !"

"It's not the hands that cause the problems, said the Lord. It is the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."

"That's the standard model," the angel asked?

The Lord nodded. "One pair that sees through closed doors, when she asks, "What are you kids doing in there, " when she already knows. Another in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in the front so that she can look at a child when he goofs and says, "I understand and I love you," without so much as uttering a word.

"Lord," said the angel, tugging his sleeve gently, "Come to bed .."

"I can't," said the Lord. "I am so close to creating something so close to myself. Already, I have one who heals herself when she is sick, can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the model of a mother. "It's too soft," she sighed.

"But tough," said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure !"

"Can it think ?"

"Not only can she think, but it can reason and compromise," said the Creator.

Finally the angel bent over and ran her fingers across the cheek. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model."

"It's not a leak," said the Lord. "It is a tear."

"What's it for ?"

"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride."

"You are a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there," he said.


As found on The Story Bin

Happy Mother's Day

What is a Mother

What is a mother? Who shall answer this?
A mother is a font and spring of life,
A mother is a forest in whose heart
Lies hid a secret ancient as the hills,
For men to claim and take its wealth away;
And like the forest shall her wealth renew
And give, and give again, that men may live.


By Francis Cardinal Spellman.

Wire and Beaded Necklace

This is my first wire and beaded necklace. A good friend's first piece inspired me to do something similar. The 10 mm round stones are aventurine and the dichroic beads were something I picked up at Michaels Craft Store. The metal is copper and the green and copper go quite well together.

A pair of ear-rings to go with the wire and beaded necklace.

Agate Jewelry

Agate ear-rings with sterling silver spacers and golden shadow swarovski crystals.

Agate beads, copper swarovski crystals, sterling silver spacers, hill tribe silver beads and sterling silver toggle clasps.


Agate beads with carnelian chips, sterling silver beads and clasps.

Terengganu to ease polygamy rules

This is one of those stories that, we Malaysians who live overseas, cringe at every time we come across it.

Are there not more important things for the state government of Trengganu to worry about than the fact that there are single mothers and unwed women without a man in their lives?

The dirty little secret is the rise in the rate of divorced women is partly caused by the Islamic law that allows man to take on a second wife! Many women do not want to share their husbands with another woman and prefer to be divorced instead.

What do you bet that the married man take on a woman who has never been married as his second wife? How many men when taking on a second wife think that he is doing his civic duty, that is, he is helping to reduce the number of single mothers and unmarried women? How many married man would marry a divorced or widowed woman already with children? Not very many, I am sure. I bet lust and a new "model" is what is in most men's minds.

BY R.S.N. MURALI

KUALA TERENGGANU: The Terengganu state government intends to relax its rules on polygamy to make it easier for men to have more than one wife, citing the high number of single mothers and unwed lasses.

Those who now intend to take a new wife are no longer required to seek the green light from their current spouses.

State Islam Hadhari and Welfare committee chairman Abdullah Che Muda told The Starthat this would give opportunities for single ladies in the state to have their own families.

"However, those who want to take up new wives should adhere to certain rules and conform to criteria set by the Religious Department," he said when contacted here.

Abdullah said that a man keen to marry again should be mentally and financially stable, have indepth knowledge of Islam and must be able to treat all his wives fairly, including his first one.

"Only after a rigid evaluation would a man be allowed to take another wife," he said.

Abdullah said the state now has large number of single mothers who are either widowed or divorced. The number of women who have lost their husbands has also soared.

There are currently close to 18,000 single mothers in the state and clubs have been set up at the district level to oversee their welfare.

Down to Three

Ok, so the contestants of American Idol are now down to three. LaKisha was the latest one to get voted out this week. Blake didn't do all that well either but of course being the only guy left, he was not likely to get booted out!

Barry Gibb was their coach and the contestants had many good Barry Gibb compositions to choose from. I didn't understand why LaKisha and Blake had to choose a disco song?! I thought Melinda's first choice was good but it didn't go down well with the judges. Only Jordan's first song choice had the praise of the judges.

Who do you think will be the in the final two? Blake will most definitely be in but between Melinda and Jordin, it is hard to tell. Melinda has been the one consistent contestant in the competition but who knows who the viewers will choose?


Here's Melinda's 2nd choice, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart. The song that Simon thinks has put Melinda Doolittle in the semi-finals.



Here's Blake's version of You Should be Dancing with beatboxing thrown in. The judges didn't like it, but I thought and agreed with Barry Gibb that the beatboxing fitted the song well. His second song was some obscure song called Danger Zone.



Jordin Sparks version of Woman in Love sounded very karaoke-ish, but her To Love Somebody was outstanding and won praise from the judges.



LaKisha is far more talented than Blake Lewis but in terms of marketability, of course she loses out to Blake. Her choice of Staying Alive was the one that did her in, but her Run to Me was a lot better. I am really sorry that she did not make it to the final two. I had originally hoped that she and Melinda would be the final two.

Crystal and Pearl Ear-rings

Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls, and sterling silver findings were used in this creation.

Necklace and Ear-rings

This three strand necklace is made of a mix of grey beads and tubes, peacock colored freshwater pearls, citrine tinted quartz and 6 mm round cantaloupe swarovzki crystals. What I find interesting is that the cantaloupe crystals only look green at night under artificial light.

This three strand necklace is more stunning than the picture portrays!


The findings of these ear-rings are made of copper and are hand-made. The crystal rondelles are peridot.

Twisted copper links and swarovski crystals make up this dangle ear-rings.

A Morning's Work

I am still learning about wire jewelry and these four pairs of ear-rings were made with silver and copper artistic wire. 20 gauge half hard sterling silver is a little too hard for me and it doesn't bend easily. Instead I used artistic wire for the fancier wire work. My next purchase will most definitely be a dead soft 20 gauge. Copper is soft and pliable and fun to work with. The twisted link with the red bead turned out better than I expected.

It is great that I can now make my own ear-ring hooks! I used to spend quite a bit on sterling silver hooks but with the wigjig I can make better shaped hooks than those I attempted free hand.

American Idol Rock Week

I wished I was in LA watching American Idol Live on both days this week! Bon Jovi was coaching the contestants and I think this week's show was the most entertaining for me. I have always enjoyed Bon Jovi and the contestants did very well, with the exception of Jordin Sparks, with Bon Jovi's songs.

On the results' day, I had a pretty good idea that Phil and Chris were going to get booted out. Actually I also thought, based on Tuesday night's performance, Jordin was going to get a hit too.

Blake Lewis took a huge risk with his beatboxing which is not actually singing on a singing competition. But he made it sound as if the beatboxing belonged in You Give Love a Bad Name. Doug and I are inclined to believe that Blake will make it to the final two.




LaKisha recovered from a few bad weeks. She has the talent but a series of bad song choices make it appear like she has peaked too early. But this week she redeemed herself with This Ain't a Love Song. Bon Jovi's advice to her was, despite the name of the song, the song was a love song and that she ought to sing it like she wass pleading for the man to stay. The kiss with Simon Cowell was priceless!



Doug and I believe that Melinda Doolittle is going to make it to the final two. She has been the one consistent contestant throughout this competition .. the resident pro as Randy Jackson likes to put it. Her rendition of a not too common Bon Jovi song, Have a Nice Day, was outstanding. Bon Jovi did teach her how to rock! The judges thought her performance reminded them of a young Tina Turner. I think so too.



Living on a Prayer was a poor choice for Jordin Sparks. I thought that she has indeed become a serious competitor to LaKisha and Melinda but this week I agree with Simon Cowell .. her performance of Living on a Prayer was on the verge of screaming. Forget Simon's comment about her looking like a member of The Adam's Family! Heh. I am glad that she will still be around next week.



I am sorry to see Phil Stacey go because he has performed really well the last two weeks. Except for Simon, Paula and Randy thought his opening act, Blaze of Glory, was one of the best of the season. Blaze of Glory is one of my all time favourites, and I think Phil did justice to the song.



Chris Richardson has been on the bottom three a few times before and this week, he was not one of the lucky ones who gets to stay for another week. I think his performance of Dead or Alive was not that bad, all things considered. Chris has quite a following, and I am sure like previous Idol finalists, he has want it takes to be a recording artist. If Bucky Covington and Elliot Yamin, previous season's finalists, each has an album out, why not Chris, eh?



Things are going to get pretty tough for the final four. Everyone will have to be on top of his and her game. Next week Barry Gibb will be the coach.