A Scarf named Gloria,and the history of Braids

From earrings

I"ve been on a bright color kick lately. Believe it or not I went through a phase in my life where all I really wore was black, and my closet still has a lot of black articles of clothing. However I decided that I really like color, it brings energy and joy to my day, so I've switched to having really bright, and fun accessories.

As I wove Gloria we decided that she should have a lot of braids to really show off her wonderfully bright warp colors ( warp are the strings that run vertically) On a side note, I started added long braids to my work about a year ago. The nature of weaving on the loom allows there to be a foot or two of waste yarn, which I hated. So I started playing with different designs that would use ALL of the warp, and leave no waste behind.

From earrings

I recently purchased some cooper tubing at the hardware store, I didn't really have a plan for what I was going to use it for, it just seemed like a good idea to buy it. Sometimes I wonder what the people at the hardware store must think when I leave. It's just down the street from my house, so I wonder in quiet often, and pick up random bits and pieces of hardware. I'm not really sure what you're actually supposed to do with this cooper tubing, but I like adding it to my scarves.

From earrings

 As I"ve been working in the studio lately I'm becoming inately aware of how challenging and rewarding it is to work as an artist. ( I think this could apply to anything that you really committ to working hard at and finding success) For so long I thought that the "people" that were really good at something were so lucky, their life must be so easy. But in reality they aren't "lucky", they are hard workers. Don't get me wrong I find that weaving and creating is a wonderful gift most days. But there are also days were I catch myself thinking that life would be easier if I didn't create. Opening my life, listening to the creative voices that call me can be stressful, requires endless hours, causes me to not get as much sleep as I want to , keeps me from putting away my laundry, and at times totally dominates my life if I"m not careful. It's a balancing act that somedays I master and some days I totally lose. As I've been spending a lot of hours in the studio, and questioning why I"m doing what I"m doing, the scarves have kindly reminded me; I"m bringing glory to the lives of people that meet and experience my scarves, I'm bringing glory to God by using the talents that he has given me, and I"m bringing glory to myself, by allowing myself to be who I truely am, and not trying to fit into the norm.
Because someone is experiencing success does not mean that their life is simple.

Notes from Gloria:

When someone is really good at something it's probably because they spent a lot of time practicing

Just because something is hard doesn't mean that you shouldn't work through it.

Don't ignore who you are, or the direction that your soul is taking you
, even if it is hard and demanding.

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Since Gloria is so full of braids I did a little bit of research on the history of braids, while this is related to hair I still thought that it was interesting.



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