Be glad as children

"My friends, ask gladness from God. Be glad as children, as birds in the sky. And let man's sin not disturb you in your efforts, do not fear that it will dampen your endeavor and keep it from being fulfilled, do not say, 'Sin is strong, impiety is strong, the bad environment is strong, and we are lonely and powerless, the bad environment will dampen us and keep our good endeavor from being fulfilled.' Flee from such despondency, my children! There is only one salvation for you: take yourself up, and make yourself responsible for all the sins of men. For indeed it is so, my friend, and the moment you make yourself sincerely responsible for everything and everyone, you will see at once that it is really so, that it is you who are guilty on behalf of all and for all. Whereas by shifting your own laziness and powerlessness onto others, you will end by sharing in Satan's pride and murmuring against God." (Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, Book VI, Chapter 3)

For this necklace I was inspired by father Zosima the elder's teachings, from the Brothers Karamazov. And today it's also a very happy, glorious, sunny day... Perfect! Have a nice weekend everyone :)

Greek goddess gold owl brass earrings. Bright-eyed Athena.

'Glaukopis' Athena means bright-eyed Athena. Goddess of wisdom - and her symbol is the owl. I was reading the part in Odyssey where she reveals herself to Odysseus in Ithaca and I was struck by the use of this adjective, 'bright-eyed', exactly like the gleaming eyes of an owl in the dark. I couldn't resist making these.

You can find them here.

Women Birds by Elisaveta Sivas

The 29th of February comes only once every four years. This means today is one extra day for us to live life to the fullest. One extra day to prepare for spring. One extra day of winter. One extra day of trial. One extra day for us to learn how to fly. One more chance to make it, and leave the misery behind.

The moment I saw Elisaveta Sivas' theatrical collection, Birds, which she presented at the Habitus Baltija International Exhibition 2010 in Riga, Latvia, the costumes spoke to me. The costumes originally represent oriental women-birds, coming from a fairy tale country, and I particularly loved these two:

 

I would call this costume The Smiling Woman-Bird, because of the model's lovely smile...

And this I would say is The Defiant Woman-Bird, again because of the model's expression. By the way, the photos were taken by Alex Bowcock. If you want to see all the collection, please visit Elisaveta's Etsy shop, here.

Clean Monday Rain

It's raining right now. It has been since last night. Again. Non stop. You can't see the rain in this photo, but you can see the swallows sheltering from the water pouring down. I counted 43 birds, and they didn't move in the slightest even though they saw me. Yep, it's raining that much.

I guess noone flew a kite today. I felt bad for the gypsy boys who were selling them along the road. Hopefully next year.

Two Swallow Birds

I can't imagine anything sweeter, more elegant and more romantic than two swallow birds facing each other!

This recycled necklace features a rare 6 inch piece of black ball chain with two black swallow birds, facing each other, strung on it. I connected the piece to some new brass chain, and I think the result is just fa-bu-lous!!!

Two Swallow Birds, Black and Gold Recycled Necklace

Flock Together