Saturday, December 10, 2011

Cajamarca.

Hello everyone!
I was in Cajamarca from the 8th to the 13th of November in a "encuentro de plateros", Something like a silversmiths congress.
This was my third time in that city. I t was a good experience but I got sick the second day of workshops, so I missed the classes I wanted to go.
I had the chance to go to the Yanacocha mine, it's an open mine at 4120m high and it was a rainy day, but we spend more time in the bus that visiting the mine. I can't believe it's huge! And now the local people are protesting against mining because they say they contaminate the water. From what they told us, they were doing responsable mining, checking the pH of water for agriculture use.
In my first day I winess a pacific manifestation in the Plaza de Armas of Cajamarca. Now the things got worse.
I had a great time with my fellow jewelry friends. It was nice to meet people I saw two years ago....
The trip and the support of my friends made me feel better and my time of mourning is over now. Now I want to keep what I do best and what I love: working with silver. My muse is back and it feels darn good!


Friday, October 28, 2011

Done with classes.

No more classes, no more homework, no more waking up early to arrive on time and realize you're the first one to arrive before the institute opens the doors...Anyway, it has been a good experience, I made new friends, I learnt a lot, the teachers were/are good and now I don't know what to do!
For the last class we had to bring what our website would be like. Thanks to my sister Bea's help, this is the result of my future website, if I decide to have one.



In a couple of weeks I am going to Cajamarca, where big mining companies are. There's a silvermiths congress, it's international so it should be interesting. I'm going to meet some friends there, it's going to be fun.
The only bad thing about it it's that it's rainy season, but the climate it's very dry, I have to take my moisture cream.
I will keep you posted about Cajamarca. It's going to be a great experience!
Vivi.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

And ta da! More homework...

Yes my dearest readers, homework from class never stops. When there's no homework (it only happened once I guess) it feels strange, like something is missing. You must be asking yourselves but why does she complain even when she doesn't have homwork? Well, homework has become an habit. This time we have to create the home page of our future website. I do not know how to do it, I don't know well power point so I asked help from my sister, she is a designer. Bea (I don't want to use her real name, she would kill me for that) can design from underwear to websites, she's very gifted, so creative and a perfectionist. We make a good team working together. I miss her very much, she and Vicki (my other sister) make me laugh like hell, I always end up crying with my make up all messed up because they make me laugh to tears and once I start, it's difficult to stop....hehe.
I hope Bea has time to help me because my homework is due this tuesday, if not, I am going to start playing with power point.
Thank you for taking your time to read about someone you don't know.
Vivi.

Friday, September 30, 2011

TFF

THe concert was good, I was very very close to the stage and could see the band with no problem. Roland still has a great voice and their back up singer was amazing!
The stage was simple but nice, with projections. I didn't bring my camera because then all you do is taking pictures and watching the concert through the screen of the camera....This time I wanted to enjoy the view of one of my favorite bands.
So this is the only proove I was there, at the concert!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Tears For Fears

Finally, after months of waiting, I'm going to TFF concert tonight. I'm supposed to meet some friends there in the line, but I dunno...

And finally, no more design class homeworks! There was an exhibition with our work, one piece per person, it was a success, it was crowded and people was interested reading the books we made with our designs and the theme we chosed.
Tomorrow we start another class, marketing and branding, a well known peruvian  jewellry designer, Gonzalo Palma (http://www.gonzalopalma.com/) , will teach us.

One of my sisters came this weekend with her friend. My sister came for a meeting on monday so I went with her friend to the centro de Lima. It was nice, sunny and warm. We saw the change of guards at the government palace, we went to the San Francisco church and visit the catacombs. It was hot and we went to T'anta for a refreshing fruit juice and some tamales, yum! It was a good day, I was a little sad I couldn't say goodbye to my sis because she left early and didn't come back home because she had another meeting, but we spent a good time together this weekend. She made cinnamon rolls, I made the topping (so easy to make!) and the rolls are easy to prepare too.

The concert is supposed to begin at 9pm but I'm gonna be there at 5:30 so it's gonna be a long time waiting by myself because my friends will be there at one or two hours laters....grrrrrr! Anyway, it's one of lifetime concert and it's one of my favorite bands so I will have to just wait. And the next day I have class with Gonzalo, I have to wake up at 7am, for those who don't know me, I am NOT a morning person, darn, I don't know what I will do!

This is the piece I made for the design exhibition, it's a brooch, a Hamsa brooch. My theme was the hamsa or fatma and from there I had to make a series of designs about the subject. We had little time to do it, I must confess I don't like much...
That's all for now people, I won't be taking my camera at the concert but I will tell you how it was.
Vivi.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Homework

I am so sorry I didn't write anything in my blog for these last weeks. As you may know, I'm taking jewelry design classes, I have to drow seven designs for Tuesday, so far I have four, I am squeezing my brain for the other three or more....Plus, I have a headache going to migraine, not a good weekend but not that bad.

These homeworks have been keeping me away from posting in the blog. For the final class we have to present a collection of eighteen designs about one theme and make one jewelry piece from that collection. Hopefully I have my design and it's not so diffficult to make, that way I hope I can finish early and help with the set up of the exposition of all my classmates and the people from the night class.
Two known peruvian jewelry designers will see our work, that is exciting!

That's all for today or this week, if  I have more interesting news I will post them.

Thank you for reading this.

Vivi.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Much ado about nothing.

This Tuesday I had an exam for my jewelry design class. There were many concepts to study, it was not difficult but still, I was nervous, so were my classmates. After the exam we had to show our sketchbook to the teacher with the works we did in class and the homeworks; one of them was to show two sets of three pieces of jewelry drawn by us and a more elaborated design  with colour.
A few days before I was scratching my head and biting my nails thinking on the seven pieces of jewelry I had to draw.  I was in blank. There was nothing, nada, zero. Extremely worried about this homework. Then I had a moment of enlightment when I saw my sketchbook: I found a design for one of the sets! I was watching telly/tv when my second moment of enlighment came: abacus. Now I had the other set. 
For the last design I took a rough amethyst stone and imagine a ring. In between all this I was reading/studying the copies from class.

The day of the exam everybody was nervous, studying at the last minute. When we got the exam, which was only two questions, everybody was relieved. It was something like this: "How would you apply the concepts you learnt in class? Which ones would you use to improve your designs?" . I think I heard I unanimous "phew!" from everybody....

When it was my turn to show my sketchbook I was a bit nervous, the teacher was very nice, she corrected my drawings and designs, it was all so simple and nothing to be nervous about. 
That day I woke up with a headache going to migraine, after the famous exam, it was gone!

This is the design of my coloured piece:



That's all for now.
Thank you for reading this,
Vivi.

Friday, July 1, 2011

San Pedro y San Pablo

Wednesday was Saint Peter and Saint Paul's day, it was a holiday here. My dad has been willing to go and follow the procession (?) of Saint Peter for many years, so we went to Callao, the main port of Perú and set sail on the small vessel called as one of my sisters. It was interesting, there were fireworks and a band playing in a boat close to Saint Peter's image (on a boat).
It didn't last long but it was nice to go away and be in the sea, balancing from one side to the other and sadly, smelling the petroleum of the boats. Otherwise, it was a good day, doing something I never thought I would.

The procession, boats of all kind following Saint Peter's image.

Father and I.

I was worried about my homework, I didn't finish it, I was lazy that day, it felt like a sunday. 
There's more to tell specially about  my design class, which was very interesting. 
TTL,
Vivi.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

The goodies

Yesterday arrived the package from Annica. I was so happy when I saw the stones! I have amethysts, aquamarines and watermelon tourmalines!
I still don't know what I will do with these precious stones, but something willl come to my mind.



I got the shark tooth necklace that Edi made for me. I love it! I will take pictures and post them. She does an amazing work. And she was the perfect person for the job.
Back in 1987 I made a class trip to Ica, Paracas and Nazca, in the south of Peru. There's a place in the middle of the desert you can still find shark teeth or whale bones. 

Here are the pictures:

To keep you updated, I just came back from the ER because of a migraine and I missed a dinner with my friends from school...
I should go lay down and hydrate.

Thank you for taking your time reading my posts.
Vivi.

I forgot to mention Edi's shop on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/EdisLittleTreasures you can see the beautiful work she does with wire.
I can't stop saying that I am very happy with my necklace, after all I waited fourteen years to wear the tooth!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Weekend, homework, beginnings.

I can't believe how fast days are passing. I'm going to start my second month of jewelry classes next Tuesday. It includes drawing (or drowing?). I have my sketch book, my pencil, eraser, and many rules: I don't know how do you say "escuadra" in english. It's the rule with a 90º angle. I have my compass also and I am very excited to start this new part of the course.
The classes end on september and by then, we will have to make a jewelry collection with at least eighteen pieces, in paper of course! 
For the first time in my life I am going to do a proper jewelry collection.

I like this classes, the teacher is very young but passionate about what she teaches. I had to stay at home on Tuesday because of a dog emergency and I was feeling uncomfortable with missing a class, just the class I didn't want to miss! 
Anyway, the dog is fine and for the first time in my life I am happy to do my homework  with a week of anticipation.
The homework for this week (last Thursday) was creating a piece following a subject we did in class. I chosed Art Deco. Personally, I love Art Nouveau but I wanted to do something different, something geometric. And also I did a piece I have never thought of doing: a brooch. 
The teacher has the homeworks so I can't show you what I did, which was a combination of Art Deco fabric designs but à la Vivi style. I added a barroque pearl to put a little of my liking of the Art Nouveau, but it looks eclectic as the teacher said. Otherwise, my homework was fine.
Oh, I forgot to mention I was the second in explaining my piece to the class. Usually I am very shy, extremely shy, when I was at school I would hide or get sick before standing up in front of the class; I don't have that problem anymore.


Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Treasury

Hello! Today I got a message from a friend telling me I'm in her treasury! Nice way to start the day!
www.etsy.com/treasury/4ddce48c55238eefccca85d1/jewelry-display
Oh, and I got my first Artfire sale yesterday! Yay!


I love these earrings and I'm happy they found an owner who would appreciate them as much as I do.

I started going to my Jewelry Design classes yestersay. The teacher is good, she's young but passionate about jewelry. We did History of Jewelry, very interesting and it opens your mind to new designs and techniques. So far, I like very much Art Nouveau, it's very organic and it has this movement that flows all over the piece.
I had the chance to go to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris a couple of years ago. I visited the jewelry section of course. It was overwelming to see these works of art and trying to figure out how they did it. There are techniques that can not be duplicated today! I was amazed to see with my own eyes the jewelry you see on films or in tv documentaries or pictures. I still regret not having bought a book about Art Nouveau jewelry. Well, that would be an excuse to come back to France!

I am so glad to taking classes again, I love to learn and I missed my school.

Oh, I dont know what's wrong with my camera, some settings must have been changed by mistake and I can't post new pictures, I think it's the pixels but I don't know how to fix it. I feel very frustrated, it's like having a handicap.

That's all for now, I hope you have a good week!

Blessings,
Vivi.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Help! Socorro! Au secours!

Yes, I do need help. I have been trying to add the etsy mini thing to this blog but I don't know why I can't. I am pretty sure I followed the instructions (copy-paste the code) but nothing happens....


I really have no idea what could be wrong. If someone does, please let me know!

Thank you,

Vivi.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

May is here!

After a long time I am posting again. Next Tuesday I will start a jewelry design class. I am curious about it because as I mentioned before I barely design, I just play with what I have on my bench.


I have been buying stones from Superior Agates and Magpie Gemstones. Many of them are.....labradorites! I have aquamarine, rhodonite, labs and a brown cabochon, plus some agates. I want to make a sculpture with one of the labradorites but I have the sketches in my mind! I've been feeling a bit lazy to put them into paper. The other cabochons will become rings or pendants.


From Magpie I've got iolites (love the color, it's kinda between purple and blue), marquise labradorite briolettes, free form labs, green amethysts and......4 sea urchin spikes (I don't know how they are called in english) which measure around 6 and 8 cm. They called my attention since I have never seen one and I find them interesting for a jewelry project.



That is all for now. I will go back to classes next week after a long time....I feel a bit nervous, as if it was my first day of school!

Wishing you a nice weekend and a good month,

Vivi.

Monday, March 14, 2011

It's my birthday!

It's my birthday this week that's why I am offering a 15% coupon code in my etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/vivilima
Enter "VIVILIMAFB40" coupon code for 15% discount in all the shop!

Come and see if there's something you like! 

Monday, March 7, 2011

"It is a very plum plum"

Me Irish earrings

Pendant for Men

Ah.....weekend...

Hello everyone! 
I had a productive weekend, better say, a productive sunday. I don't know why I feel more inspired and willing to work on sundays. Maybe because it's quiet? Or maybe because I was home alone muhahahaha! Whatever, I work better on sundaes, I mean sundays. Although a sundae would be gooooooooood!
Okay, so I made a pendant for men, very simple, looks quite primitif but I like its simplicity and black of the onix.
It is March, meaning Saint Patrick's day and the green took over me and voilà: another pair of earrings (for the LACWE : Lunaessence's Arts and Crafts World Expo) and another pair for the CCC or Color Combo Challenge.

I belong to these groups on facebook, I like them, they challenge you to create an item with the theme of the week. And also you make good friends and share experiences on jewelry making or what's in your head. Sometimes I call them the : "Jewelry Support Group", because it's true! It's not only talented people posting their work but also friends that you can count on it, and something important: they can make you laugh to tears forgetting for a moment the problem that was bothering you. Thank you girls!

Now I'm going to post some pictures of the productive sunday.....

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Marzo, March, Mars.

Good morning!
Well, I will resume what I said on my older post in french.
I said that it's going to be my first birthday without her, she will not make the chocolate cake I love so much, she will not buy me flowers, she will not hug me or kiss me and I wont feel the scent of her, the softness of her skin, the scent of coffee early in the mornings and her burnt toasts.

But today I am going to the beach, will come back in a couple of days and visit her at the cemetery. We do that when we go to the beach.

Changing the subject, I have beed productive this week. I missed my stuff! I have so many ideas but little supply! Can't work like that.

Thank you for reading my posts!

Vivi.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Marzo, Mars, March, my month, mi mes y mi santo! And my b-day! Mon anniversaire.

Et oui les enfants, c'est le moi de mon anniversaire, peut-etre le premier anniversaire "normal" après deux années...Mon premier anniversaire sans Elle. Elle ne pourra pas faire le gateau au chocolat que j'aimais tant, nous ne sortirons pas déjeuner à un bon resto, elle ne m'embrassera pas, elle ne me dira pas qu'elle m'aime : "Te quiero mucho hijita mía de mi corazón", elle ne m'achetera pas des fleurs ce jour-là...elle...tu me manques, tu nous manques. Je ne peux pas voir jusque maintenant tes photos, ces photos.
Je peux sentir l¡odeur de ton visage quand je t'embrassais les matins, la texture si douce de ta peau, l'odeur du café, tes tartines qui brulaient et que je détestais mais, qui me manquent maintenant.

Je traduirais tout cela plus tard. I will translate this text later, now, I need a shower it's so hot in here!
See ya later alligator!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Working again.

Yes, my dear few followers and you guys who take a look at my blog from time to time....I am starting working again, slowly, when I feel inspired by my stones and metals. I saw the work of another fellow jewelry friend. She  was trying working with copper and brass sheets, here are some examples: http://www.etsy.com/listing/66933941/everything-that-comes-around and this, my favorite:

I did a more rustic one, hammered, just cut with scissors and used my round nose pliers and some brushing:




Very primitive I would say, but it was fun!
I also have to upload pictures of some earrings I finished and a necklace but I don't know what is the problem with artfire.com, there's always a problem loading the page...enfin...

In the latest news: I got my Water Weaver Goddess necklace from the talented Shay Stone, I'm wearing it since monday, still didn't take it off. Here she is:

You can find more of her beautiful work here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AllThatIAm

Oh! And I have a tower fan (it's hot, summer is here) and my lil' sista is here! I haven't seen her in months!
So far, it is a good week, let's hope the weekend will also be good and fun!

Au revoir!
Vivi.