The printable parts

[sihayadesigns]

Quickly, quickly. This weekend, I -

-- Gorged myself of lolcats as a form of mental vacation after a very stressful Saturday.
-- Watched 'Game of Thrones.'
-- Made a bunch of resin pendants and other jewelry (watching 'Camelot' while working produces a distinctly medieval flair).
-- Hosted my sister Melissa for some chick time.
-- Participated in the MD SPCA March for the Animals, hung out with Anna & Brad there.
-- Found out that my work was featured by Susan Lenart Kazmer, superfamous mixed media artist and the creator of Ice Resin, in her Ice Queen Zine.

Today’s Flickr Friday are a couple of gorgeous necklaces from Sihaya Designs Jewelry. She creates her own backless bezels from PMC clay and then uses delicate dried flowers and ICE Resin in these pieces, which she calls her Reliquary Flower series. We think they are breathtaking.

You guys, I bounced all over the place.

Today, I have to be in at Terra Firma and get lingering pieces to the post office. After that, I'm heading up to see Ashley's newborn baby boy. Can't wait.

Comments

[greylistening.livejournal.com]

You earned that feature spot! You do some of the most beautiful resin work I've ever seen.

Maybe some day you'll do a seminar, and I can come?

[sihaya09.livejournal.com]

I do teach private lessons. :)

[greylistening.livejournal.com]

Oooo. That goes on my bucket list. :)

[reedrover]

How was Game of Thrones?

[sihaya09.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the source material, though I do have it on my bookshelf. It's a matter of time. So this is ONLY based on one hour of the tv adaptation: I liked it, cautiously. I liked that it was visceral, I liked the copious amounts of pretty. The sets are gorgeous, though some of the wigs are bad. It was not a safe, predictable hour of tv. However: I am nervous that the "savages" are the only people of color represented thus far, and there's already been a 'big brutish savage forces himself on nervous lily-white virgin' thing already.

[aethyrkitten.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the books either, but heard from disappointed book fans that Daenerys' wedding night scene was one of the few big "what the fuck?" fan moments for them in the show. Apparently in the books, she's surprised to find that her new husband, despite being a "savage," is actually fairly gentle and sensitive with her, and it's a big eye-opener for her and puts them on the path to actually having a pretty good relationship despite the circumstances.

Their guess is that HBO wants a more dramatic transformation from victimized child bride to strong female gaming a patriarchal system to her advantage, but still... it bothered me to hear about the change.

[atriel.livejournal.com]

I have read the books and the HBO treatment of Daenerys' wedding night really pissed me off too.
The reason being is that that's scene is when she realizes that there's more to the Dothraki than brutal savages. Over all, I'm pleased but as a fan of the books there were a couple of things that just irritated me all to hell.

[wickercabra.livejournal.com]

However: I am nervous that the "savages" are the only people of color represented thus far...

Westeros is essentially a medieval Britain analogue. In the far south of the continent, you have the Dornish - Dorne is mostly desert, so I wouldn't be surprised if the producers went with a Middle-Eastern look. But apart from that, if you're looking for anyone much outside the medieval British mold, you need to go overseas. And at the moment, Daenerys is the only viewpoint character not in Westeros, so the people she's hanging out with - the Dothraki - are the only people of color to make an appearance.

Except for the rare visitor from the Free Cities or the Summer Isles, you're not likely to see many in Westeros... so it's only in Dany's story where you'll run into much racial variety.

[sihaya09.livejournal.com]

It's more the POC = 'savages' trope that irks me. It's been done over and over and it comes from an incredibly racist root, from a meta-standpoint.

[atriel.livejournal.com]

You could compare the Dothraki to the Mongolians because I think that's the inspiration that Martin used for them. The books are incredible and I'm a huge fan of them.
You realize in the books that the Dothraki do have an incredibly rich culture with mythology,a language and traditions. But at that point, Daenerys is completely unfamiliar with them and to her, they are alien and completely unfamiliar.
Illyrio, (the guy that sets up the wedding), is a person of color in the books. Not so much in the show.
I could not recommend the series more highly. Martin does an amazing job of world building and telling a story through character view points.
I think you'd enjoy it.

** Edited to ask:
What do you think of Camelot? I'm really unhappy with it over all. I love the costumes. I like the scenery. The only character I care about at all is Morgan.

[sihaya09.livejournal.com]

And I'm sure that with more airtime, the culture will be more fleshed out. Crossing my fingers that it doesn't follow any "white girl civilizes the savages" tropes.

[atriel.livejournal.com]

No, no - I am hoping that HBO won't go that route. In the books Daenerys finds her strength in the Dothraki and integrates entirely with that culture.

[sihaya09.livejournal.com]

Also, I pretty much agree with your assessment of Camelot. It's just very flat.

[atriel.livejournal.com]

I hate Arthur. After the last episode, I hate Merlin now too. I really hope it gets better because I *want* to like it so much.

[sihaya09.livejournal.com]

All Arthur ever does is moon over Guinevere and ignore that she wants to be with her husband, despite that one time they screwed. And he looks like a fetus.

Merlin... I think in the hands of a different actor, I might care. But Joseph Fiennes... something about his portrayal is just too smug or something. Like he's aware he's Acting, capital-A.

[atriel.livejournal.com]

The whole Excalibur thing just ... oh man ... I had a, "so now you're not just an asshole, you're a liar too." GREAT.
The whole series just feels like a big cliche. Like the writers could have tried just a little bit harder and not just reached for the first idea in their idea box.

[aethyrkitten.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the recognition! It is well-earned. I already spent an acceptable amount of my first paycheck (it was going to go to you and Olive, but one of my OTHER friends - Donna, who runs Clockwork Couture - was two months behind on her rescue horse's stable/food fees and one month behind on house rent due to shitty April sales, so... yeah, urgency won), but I've started scoping out your jewelry to find what I like best so I can get it with my second paycheck. Manu and I plan on coming back to MD for a weekend either sometime in the next two weekends or, as is looking more likely now, sometime in May, so if you're able to free up, like, an hour of a Saturday sometime in the next month, I can save you the shipping costs and just come pick it up in person (and pay cash, so no PayPal or Etsy percentage cut). Would that work for you?

[sihaya09.livejournal.com]

Yes, I can totally free an afternoon/evening in May to hang out. Lemme know as you firm up your dates. :P

[wanderlamb.livejournal.com]

Mucho Kudos for your well-earned press! I take it you've had some new orders/ commisions? Would love to see the new designs.

You can never have too much LOLCat action.

I read the 'Game of Thrones' series and enjoyed it consdering I am no a Fantasy genre fan, not too much. I would love to see it, but the whole lack of TV ( ditto friends) kinda gets in the way.

Take care of yourself, okay.

[roxyoi301.livejournal.com]

Thanks for visiting! Sorry he got really fussy at the end :( Turned out to be a gas bubble that he belched a minute after you all left, hehe.