Guilty by Association

it's true

It has recently come to my attention that some consumers may be turned off by my jewelry because it is made of hemp, which has a certain stigma to it. I did a quick blog post in my shop hopefully clearing the air for some of those who have no idea what hemp is and that it can save our country...I'd love to do a blog rant on this one day, but not today. In the post, I covered what hemp is and that it is not the same thing as buying a dime bag from your local bodega.  It amazes me the amount of people who think they can smoke hemp and get high. Hemp is versatile...but not that versatile.

bo-de-ga

I was doing a show one time oh about 6 years ago and this family was acting very peculiar around my table; laughing and giggling and what not. They finally approached my table, picked up a bracelet and smelled it! After I realized what was going on they were already two tables down. Funny experience; eye opening scenario.

Read the entire blog post here
http://www.artfire.com/users/hempcraft/blog/is-hemp-the-same-as-marijuana

Two OoAK Pieces, One Show; Inspiration from She Wants Revenge

Ok. Now that I'm not completely buzzing from the show, I can write about it with some kind of literary value; free from blabbering about would have could haves and nonsense like "omg omg omg". For this post I'll cover the jewelry inspired portion first, followed by the show experience.

She Wants Revenge is by far one of my all time favorite bands. Their music inspires me beyond words in many aspects of my life. The beats, the words, the personalities, it all fits with me. They are not for everybody...and I like love that. They just released a couple of videos "Take the World" and "Must Be the One". I designed this necklace inspired by the song, lyrics, and video to "Take the World"  I wore it the night of the show so the original is mine!  I'm considering a reproduction to list in my studio but I really don't like replicating one of a kind pieces. Keeping with my shop theme, the flower's base is made out of black hemp and uses a technique called tatting which is basically handmade lace. The flower was tatted and assembled by my hand. It's adorned with Preciosa crystals.

I also designed this bracelet, which is my impression of the video "Must Be the One". The hematite rondelles represent wheel bearings and the rest of the bracelet pulls colors and image impressions from the video. In an attempt not to bore you here with the details, you can go here where I elaborate on both pieces.




I went to their show at the Soho (Seattle) last June when they toured with the Psychedelic Furs but I was way in the back unable to really see them and I'm not into muscling my way to the stage. The show still rocked and I vowed at that point to always try to be a bit early to get a spot up front. I got Adam's autograph but couldn't stick around for the rest of the show...so no Justin ink that night for me. Fek! Here I go rambling about the could haves...

Adam on bass

So back to the show of topic. I clang dearly to front stage center so I would not miss a beat, word, nor riff. It was amazing to see Adam play his bass so much that night. Semi studying his finger work I noticed he sometimes gets on his toes at the top of a beat...keke..it was cute. My friend snapped this shot for me. At other times I would be lost in the song with my eyes closed only to open them with Justin right there in front of me singing it too...surreal. I listen to these songs on an embarrassing regular basis so to have them in front of me was quite an experience. I'm pretty close to "omg omg omg". Fucking bravo dudes, you rocked my face.

Meeting them was the cherry on top. I managed to navigate this social encounter without saying anything stupid like 'bduhhh' or 'I love you'. I had so much to say and ask but I'm pretty sure I said something cliche like 'you guys are awesome'...cliche or not, it's true. I got their autograph and left completely satisfied. Not only are they great artists but they are very personable as well. May 24. Can't wait! I want to say a public thank you to the girl who gave me her spare ticket to have autographed. All I had was a big piece of paper with an e-tix on it...laaame. I never caught her name but I'm betting she'll be at the next show. 

My friend snapped this shot for me. Thank you to whoever used a flash!

Now that I've listed over 100 items in my shop, I'm hooked on adding more. I'm looking at what lines can be expanded and which designs can be altered to create something different. I've been macrame knotting up a storm getting ready for the hemp fests I plan to sell at. I still have to tat earrings, which by the way tatting hemp really hurts after a while but is so worth it. Mole skin ftw. I also need to spin up a bunch of hemp blend yarns for the other crafties. I'll be busy for sure.

Artisans for Japan

Tears For Japan

Curated By: Swank

ArtFire.com

Handmade Jewelry

Japan Relief Effort Then back to Work

      Last week sometime, I was moved to make a bracelet featuring a Japanese flag to raise money for the relief efforts in Japan. It was a simple pattern with just a few seed beads to depict the flag. Also available in black. I ended up raising $260! Not much looking at it from the big picture but I'm sure that will be stretched to help as much as possible. 100% proceeds went to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund via GlobalGiving.org

     After that bracelet making marathon, my sights have turned back to build inventory to get ready for this year's hemp fests. I have finally reached 100 items in my artfire shop, woot woot! My most recent listing is of my very first hand spun bracelet. It's crazy to think it started out as a bunch of loose fibers and I transformed it into a bracelet, which is why it's the most expensive bracelet I have listed. It's made of a 50% hemp/50% bamboo blend, hand carded and spun on my truly fairytale spinning wheel. Think Rumpelstiltskin. I listed it at half the price my gal pals told me I should, we'll see what happens.

 

Do you Take Stress Seriously? You Should!

Just thought I'd share my latest mini-paper. It's on stress and how it effects us even down to a cellular level. Please I implore you to get your coffee and read this. If not, at least watch the national Geographic special entitled, Stress: Portrait of a Killer.

In every facet of our lives, we will encounter stress. It can be good stress such as a wedding or birth and it can be bad stress such as being late for an interview or financial turmoil. One thing we know for certain is that as long as we are living we will encounter stress. The idea we have to grasp now is how to manage and cope with the emotions and responses that arise as a result of the stress. There is new and alarming research and findings that suggests if we don’t learn to manage our stress, we are setting ourselves up for an early death.
There are some people who naturally cope with stressors well. They respond with cool headedness and logic. Generally, it takes a significant issue or problem to register with them as a legitimate stressor, and for them to respond with the same level of urgency and anxiety that we see in chronically stressed people. People who are chronically stressed are bothered by the littlest things in life and it all has a direct effect on their bodies. People who are constantly triggering their stress response are facing life altering health risks including high blood pressure, increased risk of heart attack, aneurysm, and stroke. Poor lifestyle choices associated with chronically stressed people, such as unhealthy diet and exercise, can have a major impact on the person’s health in the long run. For the purpose of this paper the word stress will be referring to the negative type of stress. The Japanese have a word for this type of stress, “Karoshi”, meaning “death by overwork”.


Some well known symptoms of stress and perhaps the most talked about and researched are: physical symptoms; including headache, back pain, decreased immunity, chest pain, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, digestive issues, and sleep disturbance. Psychological symptoms include anxiety, irritability, restlessness, depression, sadness, anger, forgetfulness, and negative feelings of self. Behavioral symptoms include over or under eating, emotional outbursts, alcohol or drug abuse, and interpersonal conflict (MayoClinic, 2009; WebMD, 2010). In this paper I will highlight some of the more debilitating and life threatening aspects of stress; high blood pressure, depression and tension, obesity, libido, what happens to our bodies on a cellular level due to stress, and finally treatment options for chronic stress.

High Blood Pressure
This is particularly important to pay attention to because anyone who is chronically stressed is probably experiencing this and needs to tend to it sooner rather than later. The constant flow of the stress hormones like adrenaline (epinephrine) and glucocorticoids running through the blood in addition to high blood pressure does damage to the arterial walls, causing plaque to build up in these areas. The plaque buildup restricts blood flow to the heart making the heart work harder and could result in a heart attack. Secondly, the plaque build-up may burst causing a blood clot, ultimately resulting in a stroke.

Depression and Tension
People who suffer from chronic stress have higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that is released into their brain (Bruno, 2009). This, along with lowered levels of dopamine and serotonin causes a disruption in the brain’s central functioning unit, the hippocampus. When the neurotransmitters aren’t working properly in this region of the brain, there is a direct affect on mood, appetite, sexual drive, etc. resulting in depression. Depression opens the door to a plethora of conditions and disorders such as obsessive compulsive tendencies, alcohol and drug abuse, impulse control issues, and more dangerous situations like cutting and suicide. Indeed a portion of depression is caused by environmental and social influences but a portion can also be contributed to chemistry within the brain.


When we worry or stress, we tend to end up with our shoulders at our ears and jaws clenched. The reason is that when the body is under stress, breathing becomes irregular, labored, and sometimes we may even find ourselves holding our breath. This causes tension in the thorax and shoulders, which is the pain and stiffness we can feel in our muscles. This is a problem because it debilitates movement which can cause injury with too much activity or stress. Tension in the neck and shoulders was thought to lead to tension headaches but recent research is pointing toward chemicals in the brain as the culprit (Mayo Clinic1, 2009).

Obesity
Whether seen in the movies or in real life, we have experienced over eating a lot of bad food because of stress. There are times that stress brings about a need to eat lots of sugary high fat foods like cookies and pastries. This increased desire to eat high caloric foods is due to an increased amount of cortisol being released. In fact, excess cortisol is linked to visceral fat, or the fat around the abdomen (Adam & Epel, 2007).

In other words, higher stress equals more fat concentration around the abdomen. The risk with this is that visceral fat, unlike other fat, secretes hormones which affect the way the bodies metabolize sugar along with other health risks (Park, 2009).

Libido
Again, cortisol is our suspect here because it reduces testosterone, a hormone believed to increase libido (Mintz, 2010). “When a woman is stressed, the hormonal changes in her body trigger a chemical reaction causing sex hormone–binding globulin to bind with testosterone cells, so they’re unavailable for libido and sexual response.” (Laura Berman as cited by Frankel, 2008). While stress may be lowering libido, sex may be exactly what we need to help relieve stress (Frankel, 2008). Having sex releases hormones such as oxytocin and endorphins, hormones that make us feel good and happy.

Cellular
While the above mentioned are just a small portion of the havoc chronic stress can wreak on the human body; it appears that the real war stress is waging on our bodies is happening on a cellular level. There is new research suggesting that stress is not just affecting us in the ways mentioned above, but that it is altering our bodies on a cellular level. Thanks to research, we know that ‘telomeres’, the caps on the ends of our chromosomes to keep them from unraveling and clumping together, are directly affected by stress! The length of a telomere is worn away with natural aging and stress over time, but chronic stress accelerates this process. It appears chronic stress shortens immune cell telomeres-DNA-protein complexes at the ends of chromosomes that promote genetic stability-impairing their ability to divide and multiply. This process may hinder the body's ability to fight off infection and cause premature onset of diseases (Epel, 2007). For example, mothers of special needs children (such as autism) have an overwhelming task of taking care of a special needs child in addition to running their household and caring for their other children (Forsloff, 2009). If we were to look at the telomeres of one of these mothers, we would see dramatic aging. For every year of normal aging, they age six! This is profound.

Other cohorts that may be experiencing rapid aging are those who experience crisis on a daily basis like fire and rescue, psychologists and counselors, social workers, and the victims themselves. People with jobs or careers that demand a lot and cause a significant amount of stress may experience rapid aging. Military and police personnel including correctional officers that find themselves in stressful situations may experience rapid aging. People with chronic depression and anxiety may also experience rapid aging. The variety of reasons why rapid aging and chronic stress takes place is endless and is not likely to stop altogether but there are things that can be done to reduce stress and live healthier lives as a direct result.

Treatment
Treatment for the symptoms of stress include relaxation, meditation, sports, art, sleep, physical activity, therapy, journaling including blogging and forum ranting; whatever path we choose to alleviate our stress it is becoming clear that it should be an important part of our daily routine. Already we see that girlfriends get together for spa days, guys get together to shoot a few baskets or play a few rounds, kids get together for play dates, the elderly get together to exchange gossip and pictures of their grandchildren, some people like to “veg” on the couch in front of the television, other people like to sit and read or meditate; these are all ways in which people “wind-down” and de-stress.
While there are relaxation and mediation techniques available, I’d like to highlight the importance of stress reduction and prevention. Eliminating unnecessary stressors, for example, is one way of reducing the amount we have on our proverbial plate. This could be only taking two classes instead of three, or not enrolling your child into multiple extracurricular activities, which puts a strain on the entire family’s schedule. Getting rid of unrealistic goals is probably the best thing someone can do for themselves.

Another way to prevent or reduce stress involves the power of foresight. For example, I hate having to fumble around the kitchen (which is usually full of dirty dishes from the night before) to make coffee in the morning. Instead I make the coffee the night before so all I have to do is push the button. Crisis averted! Its little things like that that can make someone’s day go so much smoother. The best way to deal with stress is to know and understand our coping style (MayoClinic2, 2010). Although stress cannot be avoided totally, there are ways to minimize what we allow to stress us out.


References:
Adam, T. C., & Epel, E. S. (2007). Stress, eating, and the reward system. Physiology & Behavior, 91, 449-458. Retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tension-headache/DS00304
Bruno, K. (2009). Stress and depression. WebMD. Retrieved from: http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/stress-depression
Epel, E. S. (2007). Tackling stress at the cellular level. Monitor, 38(6), 65. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun07/tackling.aspx
Forsloff, C. (2009). Mothers of children with autism have higher stress levels. Digital Journal. Retrieved from: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/275672
Frankel, V. (2008). More sex, less stress. Mental Health on MSNBC.com. Retrieved from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28146086/ns/health-mental_health/
MayoClinic1. (2009). Tension headache: Definition. MayoClinic. Retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tension-headache/DS00304
MayoClinic2. (2010). Stress management: Reexamine your stress reactions. MayoClinic. Retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress-management/SR00032
Mintz, L. (2010). Stress and sex. Psychology Today. Retrieved from: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/stress-and-sex/201006/first-hello-high-strung-low-libido-therapist-who-stays-calm-and-has-great
Park, A. (2009). Fat-bellied monkeys suggest why stress sucks. Time.com. Retrieved from: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1915237,00.html
WebMD. (2010). The effects of stress on your body. WebMD. Retrieved from: http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/effects-of-stress-on-your-body

An Army of Earrings

Check out what's new at HempCraft! These one-of-a-kind warm and lightweight earrings will not leave you out in the cold with an empty wallet. Only $10! 

Made from all natural super soft brown hemp yarn, I needle tatted what would have been this pattern by YarnPlayer but instead decided to drop off the bottom half and keep them shorter and lighter. I used a white lamp work bead with pink and gold floral designs to finish the earrings on a softer, dustier color pallet. I love the way these came out so much that I nearly kept them for myself but I have an army of earrings that is only getting bigger so the last thing I need is another pair. The black pair I made with a cloisonne bead sold before I could even list them.