Belly dance

I recently started taking belly dancing classes at Arabesque Dance & Fitness in Chicago.  After a long, cold winter, I wanted to start moving again.  After seeing a friend perform at one of their haflas, I decided to sign up.

I absolutely love the classes so far, so much so that I decided to design a chainmail belly dance belt.  I had disks, rings, and chain, and when I got an idea, I quickly doodled it on a scrap of paper.

I started working obsessively on it immediately.  I finished it last night, and I'm so thrilled with how it turned out.

Now that it's done, I guess I'll go back to knitting that sweater I started a couple weeks ago.  If I finish it soon, I might be able to wear it once before it gets too warm.

Vanessa
Aluminum chainmail jewelry
Handmade jewelry

Make Something Beautiful, Day 1

I'm one of those people who wants a lot from life. Of course, when I'm thinking about all the neat things that I want (and what I have to do to get them), I can get overwhelmed and just end up checking my email since that's a concrete thing I *can* do.

I've come up with a project for myself in order to keep on track. My new motto and approach to every day is, "Facere Pulchrum." For those of you who aren't Latin nerds, "facere" means to do or make (it's one of those verbs that means pretty much anything in various idioms). The adjective pulcher means beautiful, or lovely, but can also convey a sense of being excellent or admirable. The quick translation is, "to make something beautiful." Every day, I have to make something with significance, or something that I just find striking. Schiller stated that, "All art is devoted to joy, and there is no higher, no more serious endeavor than making human beings happy." Why not create beauty every day if you can?



The first thing I've made is a bracelet for the silent auction for the Chicago Tap Theatre. One of my co-workers at Blue Buddha Boutique, Jenna, is a tap dancer with the Chicago Tap Theatre, and they are having what will be an awesome fundraiser, the Shim Sham Shindig on March 6th. (Who doesn't love a good shindig?) Arts organizations are struggling in this tough economy. I hope they raise a lot of money so that can keep dancing. Those of you in the Chicago area should check it out.

Vanessa Walilko
Kali Butterfly - Eclectic Chainmaille Jewelry, Fashion, and Art