My Mother's Flower Garden

Over the last couple of years my mother has worked really hard to get her flowers just right. While I was hanging out at her house the other day I decided to try taking a few pictures of them just to see what kind of shots I could get. I was a bit surprised to see how well they turned out.

	These are "Black Eyed Susans". I love the contrast between the center and the petals.
	This is a close up of one of the Black Eyed Susans. I couldn't resist getting this shot.
	Yellow Tiger Lilly.
	Purple Rose of Sharon. This is actually my favorite flower.
	My daughter had been wanting me to get a good picture of a bee for her for quite a while. When I saw one land on this Purple Cone Flower I figured it would be the perfect shot. It's hard to tell on such a small picture, but on the larger one on my computer it looks like the bee is actually looking right at the camera.
	Here's another one of the bee on the Purple Cone Flower.
	White Hibiscus. Another one of my favorites. Of course, that could be because it is in the same family as the Rose of Sharon. *s*
	I had originally taken a picture of the whole flower, but I was most drawn to the center of this Red Lilly, so I decided to crop it real close. I love the detail of the pollen in this one.
	Another shot of the white Hibiscus.

Eventually I will have all the larger versions of these up in my DeviantArt gallery (sylva.deviantart.com).

The Heart of a Dancer

When I started on this necklace I had no idea in my head of what I wanted to work on. I began shaping the wire around the turquoise nuggets, then shaping more wire around that, and soon it looked like a heart. While I filled in the larger frame of the heart with tiny coral pebbles I began to think of people I knew a long time ago.



When I was younger, I used to dance. Every weekend I would be in the circle surrounded by people I cared about. Sometimes, I carried a fan in one hand with my shawl over my arm, and danced the traditional way. Other times, my shawl would be draped over my shoulders, like the wings of a butterfly, as I danced. And still, even when I did not have my regalia with me, I wore my shawl and danced anyway. As long as the drum played, I would dance. When I danced, my heart would fly.

So many years have passed since I was last able to dance. Through those years I have lost track of many of the people who surrounded me those days. The people who were as important to me as dancing was itself. The people who taught me so many things. People who knew that you cannot teach a child to live the right way without following the right path yourself. People who you knew that if they saw you stumble would not laugh turn their backs on you, but would give you their hand and help you up again. Never judging. Never hateful. Always there when you needed someone.

As this necklace took shape I began to wonder where everyone had gone to, so I looked up their names on the internet. Many of them, understandably, I could not find. Those I did find, I was only able to find because they are no longer with us.

As the years have gone by the old ones, the ones who taught so many of us what it is to really live, have slipped away, one by one. As I was reading their stories one thing remained clear. Their hearts always stayed strong.

This necklace is their story.

Finally Finished! Glory Donut Wrap Tutorial

This has been my most requested tutorial to date, so I decided to push everything else aside and work on just this. After hours of writing, re-writing and re-writing again, taking photos and editing them to the very last detail, typing and formatting the pdf file, it is finally ready! It's available in the tutorial section of my Etsy shop.

It's been long and hard trying to figure out how to word this tutorial. Getting the pictures at just the right angles was even harder. But it was totally worth it. I had a lot of fun working on this one, and laughed at myself a LOT too! I'm hoping whatever I decide to do next is just as much fun.

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http://www.gailavira.com
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Tutorial Preview - Glory

So far, my Glory donut wrap has been the most requested tutorial. Well, it's almost ready. I spent all day today taking the pictures and editing them. Tomorrow I'll work on typing it all up and making the PDF file. I plan to have it up in my Etsy shop either tomorrow evening or Sunday morning. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's a little preview. *s*

Wire Woven Adjustable Rings - NEW Tutorial!

I released another tutorial a few days ago, but forgot all about posting it here in my blog. It's a simplified variation of the adjustable rings I sell in my shop. I do plan on doing another tutorial for the more advanced adjustable rings later on, but I felt this was a better one to start on.

Wire Woven Adjustable Rings Tutorial

It's a great tutorial for beginners as well as more advanced wire workers. The tutorial shows a simple ring, however there is no end to the number of ways you can alter the technique to allow for your imagination to create many wonderful designs.

What's next? I have received many requests for a tutorial for the "Glory" donut wrap (pictured below). I plan to have that one out within a couple of weeks.


Glory - Rhodonite and Sterling Silver Pendant

As always I am open to requests. If you see something on my website or in my etsy shop that you would like to learn how to do, let me know. As long as it is not a technique I learned from someone else I will be more than happy to do a tutorial for it.