02 March 2012

Inspired & Lifted by Your Music

Music cleanses the understanding; inspires it, and lifts it into a realm which it would not reach if it were left to itself.
~Henry Ward Beecher



Thank you ever so much for all the fun that was had this week for the first ever Challenge of Music!

Whew! It took me a few days to get through it all. I wanted to be sure to listen, really listen to the music that you selected so that I could leave a comment that is worthy of your creations. I heard music that I may have forgotten, discovered new music and artists along the way, experienced world cultures and had a fabulous time getting to know all of you a bit better through your unique musical fingerprints! I have a better understanding of who you are, where you come from, what is important to you. Someone commented to me that it was like getting to know all these fabulous people on a deeper level so that we can appreciate one another in our little community so much more. I couldn't agree more!

I knew that I would get a lot of great musical inspirations, but I really wasn't prepared for how deep your interpretations were. I am truly humbled by all of your words and beautiful interpretations. These inspirations really brought out the best in all of the participants. There are some really thoughtful insights on these blog posts.

By the way, if you missed going to Molly Alexander's blog Beautifully Broken Me, please go back and check out her post. Somehow she was inadvertently missing from the list and I added her in later in the day. You won't want to miss her interpretation of her favorite song, a song that I identify with Miss Molly everytime I hear it!

I know that it was a challenge for some because they could not narrow it down to one song or genre, or because they wanted to try something new and it just couldn't come out of their head and into their hands as easily as they thought. I know that some of this music stirred up passionate and powerful personal stories. I guess that is why it is called a Challenge (I never said it would be easy!). I loved hearing that this will inspire some of you to continue creating based off the music that is the soundtrack of your life. That makes me happier than you can ever know. Your outpouring of love for this event, and also hearing from some who couldn't take part or learned about it too late, has inspired me to make the Challenge of Music an annual event. I am not sure if it will be in February next year, but I have decided that this is the type of challenge that would be great to look forward to as well as providing a very large range to choose from every year. I hope you agree!

The next quarterly challenges will be in May, August and the return of the 3rd annual Challenge of Color in November. Mark your calendars! You will have to sign up using the form on my site and I email the participants about three times over the course of the month so we can all be on the same page. Watch for information on signing up the first week of those months!

I promised some giveaways for those who commented on my post and for the hoppers themselves.

To these commenters on my post I will make a special 'simple truth' pendant with a musical message that I am working on:
Lola Surwilla
Erin Fickert-Rowland
Brandi Hussey

And to these three faithful hoppers, I will give them each a choice: one of my new Story Beads created just for them or an iTunes gift card to explore more music!
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Malin de Koning
Sarah Sequins ;-)

Winners, please email me your mailing address to me at enjoytheday{at}tesoritrovati{dot}com and I will get started on your prizes.


And just a heads up that the lovely Miss Lori Anderson of Pretty Things will be hosting the 5th Bead Soup blog hop tomorrow, Saturday, March 3rd. It promises to be another exciting journey around the world, they each keep getting better and better. Unfortunately, I was not able to commit to participating this time around, but I know from experience that it is one amazing hop with some incredible designs from around the world. I can't help but be inspired by the Bead Soup and it is always fun to make new friends around the world. I understand that there are participants from 16 countries. So cool! Please go and check out Lori's blog tomorrow!


Your turn...
What themes would you like me to consider for the upcoming quarterly Challenge hops in May and August? Give me some suggestions of what you would like to see, what you like about my Challenges, or even things that could be improved on with my hop. I am open to suggestions!

P.S. Of course since I had nothing better to do this week (;-) I accepted the request of a local group to set up a mini one person show at an event with loads of ladies on Saturday. I am hoping they are in the mood to buy. So of course I created more jewelry into the wee hours late last night, and will do so again tonight. However, that means that I will put my shop on vacation mode tonight to pull all the stock in preparation. If there is something you have had your eye on you best snatch it up! I am hoping that it will all sell out tomorrow and I won't have a thing in my Etsy store... that just means I will have to get off my butt and make more! FLASH SALE! If you use the code: MUSIC you can get 15% off but only until 6:00 PM tonight! Go to the shop now!








10 comments:

Laura S Reading said...

I am going to have to dedicate a large amount of time to catching up here. I am missed so much wonderful stuff!

Malin de Koning said...

Oh my, a story bead just for me! What a treat. Thank you so much Erin. Looking so much forward :-)

Sarah Sequins said...

Thanks, Erin! I'd love to have one of your story beads.

Ideas for the next Challenge... let's see... Challenge of Sweets, where we make something based on our favorite dessert? Challenge of Memory, where we make something based on a powerful memory? Challenge of Animals?

Christine Altmiller said...

Erin,
Thank you so much for this Hop! It was such a wonderful one to be a part of and I now have some great new music to look into. Looking forward to another one!

Jenny said...

I win a prize?! Sweet! I agree with Malin - I want to see what story bead you would create for me. Hmm the mystery, the anticipation! Thanks Erin!

Therese's Treasures said...

Erin,
I had a blast participating in and hopping around on the 29th with the Challenge of Music challenge.
Congratulations to the winners of your prizes.
Humm What about a challenge on places that one has visited, wants to visit, or is going to visit in the world.
Have fun at your sale and best wishes to your selling everything.
Therese

Cece Cormier said...

Glad to read that you will do this challenge again next year. I'm sure there will be many great pieces of jewelry and music. la la la...

Maneki said...

Congrats to all the winners!

I really enjoyed the music theme and would love to do it again. Both because I really liked using music as inspiration and because it was so interesting not just seeing what others had done, but what songs they had chosen and why.

Other ideas for hops... Things I thought about when first reading this post was a certain material (e.g. silk, paper, pewter or something), places -- which I believe Therese also mentioned above. I'm thinking places we dream about visiting, places we tresure because of a special memory, places we come from etc. Like music it'd be a theme that said something about the participant. I like that. Books or poems/quotes would be another idea along the same line.

Will be looking forward to seeing what you'll come up with for the next challenge!

[And now back to bead soup blog hopping -- I've got a lot of soup left to taste.]

Amy F said...

Thanks again for hosting such a fun hop - I love the ideas you come up with!

KJ said...

With spring around the corner, how about garden inspirations? This could include flowers, mounds of dirt, Japanese rock gardens (love these,) bonsi trees, forest settings, English cottage gardens... whatever captures your fancy.

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