The secret life of cats

Well the cat was found.
He actually has a second home, another name, and another family just two houses away! What can I say, I never saw that one coming. He lives there for 1,5 years pretty much the same time he lives with us and does exactly the same routine. I am so happy that he is ok but at the same time I am amazed of his "bigamy" :)

Compassion

 compassion [kəmˈpæʃən]n

a feeling of distress and pity for the suffering or misfortune of another, often including the desire to alleviate it

[from Old French, from Late Latin compassiō fellow feeling, from compatī to suffer with, from Latin com- with + patī to bear, suffer]

 

Today I am sad, I lost my cat.  He disappeared a week ago. He was a little kitten when we first moved in to the house about 2 years ago. He was a feral cat and I earned his trust little by little. What a great treat it was the moment when he finally let him pet him for the first time.  From then on he resided on the balcony. He had his cat house filled with blankets to keep him warm. He came inside when he felt like it and in the winter months he stayed in for hours next to the radiator. When summer came he only came inside to eat and if the food wasn't of his liking he sniffed it and went away without a second glance. I chased him with another can of pet food, of a different flavor to satisfy his whim.That was our everyday routine.

Last week I found a poor kitten. It was sick and I felt compelled to bring it in and take care of it. The cat didn't like that. He felt threatened and refused to come in to eat. The last time I saw him he jumped out of the kitchen window just to get away. The days pasted and there was no sign of him. I called and called but he never came. I searched the neighborhood, put up posters and cried my eyes out every night. 

Finally a neighbor who had seen me searching, called and told me that she saw somebody with a pet carrier pick a cat looking like mine and taking it away... at first I thought it wasn't him, he wasn't a cat easily caught. Then I panicked at the thought that someone took him to harm him, or maybe he was injured.

But yesterday it all came to me. The neighbor (who lives on a busy street) must have seen what happened to the cat and so thought it was "compassionate" to let me believe that somebody took him in and that he is still alive.But it actually isn't, it made me think a million negative thoughts, made me feeling sick and made me cry some more. I think compassion should be matched with truth. 

Summer is finally here!

Summer is finally here! It always amazes how quickly time flies.
It has been a difficult year for all Greeks and our lives have all been altered in some way...Still the future seems bleak but one can only hope for better days to come.
As for me I have been so busy lately. Between my full time job, the jewelry making and everyday chores I feel like the past few months flew by me. But at least summer is finally here and with it warm weather, summer weddings and going out with friends!

 Last weekend a good friend of mine got married and we had such a good time.

 I ate a lot :)

 With the bride :)

 

Pretending I caught the bouquet!

The table arrangements were made by the mother of the bride and I loved them!

Etsy Greek Street Team: May Giveaway - Win an outstanding clutch from Mill...

Etsy Greek Street Team: May Giveaway - Win an outstanding clutch from Mill...: Hey you all!!! Hope you are ready for this month's give-away from the Etsy Greek Street Team blog!!! It is an amazing clutch from a great s...

New pieces

Well green has always been my favorite color and I have a lot of gems and beads in various shades of green. Since its spring I decided to start using them. So here are some of my new pieces. I am particularly proud of my uvarovite pendant. The color is so rich and bright!

 Uvarovite pendant

Green Turquoise Heishi Bead Neckace

Spring time in Greece

The most likely time for someone to visit a Greek Island is during summer when the weather is hot and you spend most of the time on a beach. Especially in the Cyclades one might feel that the land is barren and will find the scenery dull and full of rocks and dried weeds. But in spring things are quite different. Green yellow and purple are the colors that cover the hillsides and reach the beaches. Smells from thyme, oregano and wild flowers are overwhelming.  So whenever I get the chance I love to visit an island during spring to enjoy the colors and smells.

The process of a custom order

As I might have mentioned before I really like custom orders! I find them intriguing and challenging and also a way to push me in to the creation of something new.
This time I have an order for a forget me not flower ring. Love it! I have always thought about doing something like that but always other ideas came up and I forgot my little forget me not!
But now there where no more excuses...:)

So first off I made a scetch to make sure we were on the same page with my client. She was very specific and that made it a lot easier for me to picture the ring she wanted. A double band ring with a small forget me not.

After having the OK from the client, I made some wax models of the ring and in particular the flower and send them to her for approval

Then it was time to cast them...to see what they look like in sterling silver, btw I love this process!!

My client choose the flower she liked the best and now all that's left is for me to "assemble" the ring and paint it with enamel in the colors of the actual flower.