Held Inside, 2.15.13

A silent sigh of sadness
To punctuate the pain
A single tear of loneliness
To start a gentle rain

The heart that breaks so quietly
Has healing that is slow
The depth of feeling never shown
Permits that none should know

The Sun, 2.11.13

Radiant light of morning
Sweet blushes of the sky
Hail in the dawning
The sun, it draweth nigh

Glorious rays of sunshine
Across the blue expanse
Keep it as a treasure thine,
The heavens' mighty dance

Dreams, 1.2.13

I fall asleep
Into a brighter existence.
Thoughts and fancies
Freely take flight.

The mind's dreams,
Alight, alive and true.
But Awake! and find them
Just shadows of the night.

New Year's Resolutions

Last year I decided that I wanted a goal for the year.  Perhaps a little foolishly, I thought that I should write two friendly letters a week for the entire year, or 104 letters total.  For the first half of the year everything went fine, I had plenty of time, and even got a little ahead.  But then I graduated and got a job and I slowed down a bit.  November and December came and found me writing a bit more than two letters a week.  On December 31st, I posted my 104th letter, so I reached my goal, though a little scrambling was involved.

This year I decided to be a little more realistic in my goal.  And by that, I mean I set the goal of writing 365 poems in the year 2013.

It all started when I bought a journal in November, 2012.  I already own around six journals, but this one was so pretty, and I was on a strict diet, so I wanted to console myself by buying something (I know, really bad of me, but at least I wasn't cheating on that awful fast/cleanse thing I was on).  Since I have writing in four of the journals that I own, and have never yet completed one, I set it aside for a brilliant idea for what to use it for.

This last year I hadn't written much poetry, but I found that if I sat down to it, I could jot off several tolerable ones pretty easily, and it was really... I guess fulfilling might be the best word for it.  So in the last weeks of December, while finishing up 2012's goal, I started mulling over 2013's goal, thinking along the lines of journals, and tossing in the poetry idea every now and then.   I ended up "committing" to filling the lovely new journal with at least one poem per page, so it would come to at least 148.

You may notice that 148 does not come to an average of one poem a day for the entire year.  I changed the goal to that after writing eight the first day and eight more the second.  I've missed a couple days so far, but my total poem count for the year is 77, so I think I'm well on my way for my goal.

I'll admit, many of the poems I'm writing this year are rubbish.  Some are silly, some have no rhyme nor meter.  But every once in a while I write one that says exactly what I mean, and says it well, and even if I only get one of those per hundred, I think it's worth it.

Quilling: Earrings

Here are several of my earrings.  All of these pictured here are original designs that I have made over these last few years.  I'll post more designs as I get together more pictures.

Prices range from $8-$22, please contact me (Chava.April@gmail.com) if you have any questions.

 Above: I call these my African earrings as I designed them for an African costume I had put together.  Price: $8

 Above: These Descending Triangles have a very modern look.  I can make these with just one color or with any color combination you choose.  Price: $12

 Above: I have not yet named this design (feel free to give me suggestions), so I'll call them Untitled #1.  These were inspired by some earrings I saw in a movie, though I'm fairly certain that those were plastic instead of paper.  Price: $15

 Above: Again, un-named, so Untitled #2.  These were inspired by some earrings that Shaylynn (from http://shealynns-faerie-shoppe.blogspot.com/) made, called Fireworks, I believe.  These were designed rather last minute when I discovered that a class I was going to teach that I thought was going to be 2 hours was instead going to be closer to 30 minutes.  Price: $8

 Above: Free-fall Circles are fun to wear.  Each earring is five circles of different sizes, all interlocking and falling down from each other.  Price: $18

 Above: I'm sorry for the very bad picture, I ended up selling this pair, otherwise I would post a better picture of it.  I'll call these Splash, as they are made up of about seven "droplets".  Price: $12

 Above: Untitled #3.  As possibly my "simplest" and cleanest design, these earrings match well with any outfit, being simple enough for denim, and elegant enough for dressier outfits.  I have only done these in a single color, but I would be willing to do several colors, or to attempt a gradual color change in these if desired.  Price: $15

 Above: Untitled #4.  These were my first successful earring design.  They are made from 1/16" wide paper, so are thinner and more delicate than most of my earrings.  Price: $18

Above: These Concentric Circles may well be my favorite personal design.  They dance when you move!  Price: $22

 Above: Water Drops start large and end in a small droplet at the end.  Price: $10

 Above: These Fuchsia Blossoms were inspired by another artist's quilling.  Since they are a particular type of flower, they are made with a dark red and purple.  Price: $15

 Above:  I designed these around the time that some friends and I were getting together a writing group, so I named them Inkblot.  You may not be able to see clearly in this picture, they are made with both blue and black paper.  Price: $20

Quilling: How I got started

When I was 14 my parents sent me to a craft weekend as my birthday gift.  When signing up, Mom helped me pick out things because I wasn't quite sure what all of the crafts were.  We came across quilling and Mom told me that I would enjoy it, though from the description I was a little doubtful.  Twirling bits of paper?  It just didn't sound appealing.  Little did I know how amazing quilling can be.

Over the last 7 years I have developed quite a bit in my quilling.  I started designing earrings a few years back and I have loved the ability to picture something and then create it.  I have also played about a bit with 3d quilling, creating a living-room scene, a sewing machine, and a few other freestanding items.

On this blog I will post several entries with pictures, descriptions and prices attached.  Contact me if you would like to make an order or if you have any questions.  My email address is Chava.April@gmail.com, though I'll make sure that information is somewhere handy on the blog as well.

Let's try this again....

This time I mean it, I will be bringing this blog back to life. 

I've decided to use this primarily for posting some of my poetry, but I'm also going to include quilling information about what I make, what I sell, and what kinds of prices my things have. 

For any new reader, no reason to read any posts older than this (except the very previous post, as it's about a really cool blog), since they are all about school.