Beautifil Skin Oil and FREE Earrings!

Every once in awhile I remember to spread the word “Loud and Proud” about my beauty therapy product called: “Beautiful Skin by Renee”.

For whatever reason, orders have been pouring in this week and I’ve sent bottles to the far corners of the planet…could be north American summer skin needs nourishment or here in the southern hemisphere, the cool/cold winter days have left our skin dry and in need of support.

Beautiful Skin by Renee is Pure, Natural, Clean and Concentrated.

I’ve been using my oil for about a dozen years now every day, morning and night.

Go to my Beautiful Skin by Renee Website and check it out:

http://www.beautifulskinbyrenee.com/

Special Offer for orders before Aug. 7th, 2010.

FREE....Pounded Circle Sterling Silver Earrings...by Renee Blackwell Design

(see photo above)

Tara Reid

OK…I barely know who this particular “celebrity” is…but when I stumbled upon this photo of Tara Reid, I must say, I really, really love the dress…here are my 5 reasons why!

1. Awesome Colour

2. Great Cut and Drape

3. Adorned with colourful beads

4. Could be worn over tights, leggings or jeans

5. Playful and fun…

ps…yes, I know her teeny-tiny butt is sort of showing in the second shot….

We will all just have to live with the pain…lol!

More info. on Tara Reid at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/

Dreams....

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.
-- William James

Guest Artist-Lynne Meade Porcelain Potter

I have a real love of good pottery, potters and ceramic artists. Here is the first of two interview/guest blogspot featuring two different amazing and talented women, both potters. Each with a unique style, personality and gift of beauty to offer the world.

This first one features Lynne Meade from Oakland, California who I chanced to meet while I was in the San Francisco Bay area in June.

Please check out her website at:http://www.lynnemeadeporcelain.com/

The Interview

1.Tell me about your ceramic work.

I make carved porcelain vases, vessels, tiles, and tile murals. They work is fairly intricate and time consuming. But I find it very calming to do.

2.How did you get started and how long have you been working as a potter?

I started working with clay when I was 8 years old. My mother bought me a box of modelling clay with many colors. I started making little animals out of it. Then one day I took a shoe box full of the animals to a local consignment store. I think I sold them for 25 cents each. Pretty soon I got an order for 25 of them that someone wanted to use as party favors. I was hooked. The summer between high school and college I called a pottery studio near my home and asked for a job. I ended up cleaning the studio in exchange for sitting in on classes. When I got to college I knew I wanted to be a ceramics major. Much to my father's dismay. I think he thought it was a joke. It was as if I said I was going to major in under water poetry reading. But I persisted and got a degree in art with a concentration in ceramics.

3.Describe your workspace/studio.
I work in my garage. When I was house hunting I always asked to see the garage first. I knew that was where I would be spending most of my waking hours. My garage has 2 large windows overlooking a beautiful canyon. My work table faces the windows. I think I also have the only garage in the neighborhood with cable TV.

4.What are you most proud of as a potter?

I am proud of the work that I have done, the breadth of knowledge that I have about the material, the rapport I have developed with many of my customers. I love when people come to my booth at a craft fair and tell me that they have a few of my pots in their home and want another one. They tell where the pots are in their house and how much they still enjoy looking at them even after so many years. I strive to make things that will still be interesting to look at even after years of seeing them. I really want to make things that become classics. They don't go in and out of fashion. They stand the test of time.

I am also very proud of my ability to create opportunities for my work. It takes a certain persistence and determination to create a career out of nothing but my imagination and skill.

5.How often do you work?

I work every day.

6.How do you sell/market your work?
Marketing is the constant challenge. It's like a puzzle. You piece things together and just hope they work. I do three - five craft fairs a year. I sell through a couple of web sites and catalogues. I sell through a few stores around the country, mostly west of the Mississippi. I have an esablished group of local customers who just call out of the blue needing things. I do a couple of gallery shows each year. It's just a patchwork of methods.

7.What are you currently working on?
I have started a new line of sushi sets. I have several ideas for new designs, but there is never enough time to get to all of them. There is a constant list of ideas in my head. As soon as I get one idea done, three more come up and I know it will be months before I get to them because there are so many others ahead of them in the line.
8.What is your favorite: Color, food, smell, taste and sound?

I would say that blue is my favorite color. But green is a close second. I love fresh vegetables and salads.

Vanilla oil!!!!!! Chocolate!!!!!!!!!!! Waterfalls and fountains.

9.What other interests and hobbies do you have?

Oddly, I play softball. I'm not sure why I like it so much, but I'll play anywhere, anytime, with anyone. I meet a lot of people playing ball that I would never meet otherwise.

10.What is one thing your friends don't know about you?

I think I'm pretty much an open book.

11.How would you like to be most remembered?
I would like to be remembered as a good mother and for my work. I work incredibly hard for very little financial reward, but I am so happy with what I do. I tried to give it up once and I felt completely lost. I became another person. Very sad and incomplete. Now I wake up with so many ideas and projects in my head that I can't wait to get up and get started. Every day is exciting and gratifying. Even when I over fired the kiln and ruin a weeks work, I'd still rather be doing this than anything else.
12.Add anything else you feel ....

I also love teaching. I teach one day a week at a city run art department. I enjoy my students and love watching their progress. They inspire me as much as I hope I inspire them. Being a potter can be very isolating. Teaching is a very social activity. Most of the time I want to talk about pottery and people aren't really interested. It is wonderful to spend one day a week with people who not only put up with my endless need to talk about pottery, they actually are thrilled to hear it and ask all kinds of questions.

Before I started teaching I often felt like a little bit of a freak walking around in overalls, covered in clay. I felt like a stranger in the world. Once I started teaching I felt like I had found my long lost tribe. The people who are actually like me and understand me. I was a revelation.

Vintage German Button "Flower Power" Earrings

Vintage 1940's era German Copper buttons, set in sterling silver. This wonderful pair of earrings works well for those who like to "mix their metals"...in other words, wear gold and silver together. (The copper in the buttons actually looks like Rose Gold).
$75.00 (Australian Dollars)
Interested in buying?
Contact Renee at: hazelwildretreat@yahoo.com.au

What Inspires You? Drum Roll Please......................

Yes, that's right...the Winners!
I could not pick one...so here are the top 3 winners from the "What Inspires You" competition, with an honorable mention.

First Place: Cindy Partlow/Keister
Second Place:Renae Greve
Third Place:Lenore Cannon/Suska
Honorable Mention:Ted Yates

I will post each entry thru' the week....here's the first from Cindy:

Imagine yourself seated in a classroom with 30 of your peers. Passing the state proficiency exam is required for graduation; your grade will affect your hopes for college acceptance. You battle anxiety, straining to listen and understand the differences between meiosis and mitosis…

Typical? No! Your family recently moved to Ethiopia. Your teacher is explaining these processes in Amharic. You don’t speak Amharic!

My students—English language learners struggling to master complex content and a new language simultaneously—inspire me daily. Their efforts are inexhaustible; their attitudes endlessly positive; “Thank you” forever on their lips….Utterly amazing determination and appreciation!

Colour Blast....Bright and Happy Yellow...

I've done the colour yellow as part of my colour blast posting before, but it's just so happy and fun....here it is again. This time I've chosen a bit of a fashion theme. So enjoy, the visual feast of happy, golden, glowing yellow!

By the way...I now have all the entries in my "What Inspires You" competition and will be making my selection within the next few days...stay tuned!



Divine!
Fun, wacky!

Wanna' know more about the colour yellow? Go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow

Color Yellow

The shade of yellow determines the meaning. Pure, bright and sunny yellow is the easiest color to see. People who are blind to other colors can usually see yellow. Yellow is full of creative and intellectual energy. Always use yellow note pads. Yellow symbolizes wisdom. Yellow means joy and happiness. People of high intellect favor yellow. Yellow daffodils are a symbol of unrequited love. Sunday's color is yellow-gold. Yellow Energy Like the energy of a bright sunny day, yellow brings clarity and awareness. The shade of yellow determines its effect: Yellow-green can mean deceit, and creates a disoriented feeling. Orange-yellow imparts a sense of establishment. Clean light yellow clears the mind, making it active and alert. Put some yellow in your life when you want: clarity for decision-making relief from 'burnout', panic, nervousness, exhaustion sharper memory and concentration skills protection from lethargy and depression during dull weather

Images De Plumes....

My wonderful friend Audrey has just posted a great blog regarding her new line of greeting cards. Please check these out here http://imagesdeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-images-de-plumes-greeting-cards.html and trust me when I say, they are divine!
Audrey says:

They are made from photos of my Images de Plumes (feather pictures) and I sell them singly or in a packet of four. The packets come in two groups - Ladies in Red and The Silhouette Collection. The cards sell at Aud$6.00 each with free postage, but a minimum order of six cards. The quality of the printing is excellent on good substantial paper and the images look amazingly three dimensional. The cards are blank inside so can be used for any purpose and are a generous size - 17cms x 12cms.

For further details about ordering these cards, please email me, Audrey Raymond on aor@plumes.info

Also, check out her website at:http://www.plumes.info/

Inspiration-Tell me about yours...

What Inspires You?
Tell me and you could win this wonderful pair of Renee Blackwell Design Earrings...Read on!

Who or what inspires you? I am often asked this question in relation to my jewellery designs. (ReneeBlackwellDesign)

Sometimes my list is endless, while other times I come up blank.

Actually now that I think of it, this is very much like inspiration itself.

Some days my mind is bursting with the whole expanse of life, possibilities, dreams, goals, interests and projects. Other days seem to be more about let’s just get the job at hand done and at the end of it have a good, long hot shower!

I would love to hear from YOU…

In 100 words or less…tell me “What Inspires You?” I will choose the winning entry which will be posted on my blog –the winner will also win a wonderful pair of earrings. (See Above Photo)

This closes one week from today-(Aussie Time) which is July 15^th, 2010.

E-mail your entry to: hazelwildretreat@yahoo.com.au

Becoming Yourself....

“The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”

Anna Quindlen-American Author/Journalist

Beautiful New Pendant Available

I have a new Australian Website: ReneeBlackwellDesign.com

Clarina our wonderful American rep. also has a new website ReneeBlackwellDesignUSA.com for the USA market.

New and interesting pieces will be for sale here on my blog-Here’s the first!

Wonderfully elegant, this piece can be worn totally comfortable and casual or to the most dressy event.

Top to bottom:

Cushion Cut Butterscotch Cubic Zirconia

Vintage 1940's French Button

"V" Goldtone Drop

All hand set in sterling silver.

$330.00 (aussie dollars)

$310.00 (usa dollars)

For USA orders e-mail clarina@reneeblackwelldesignusa.com

OR

For Australian and anywhere else on the planet, e-mail Renee at: hazelwildretreat@yahoo.com.au