New Arabesque Hamsa Earrings

I needed a break from all the clocks and signs I've been making for the 2013 Arab Festival (to be held a the Seattle Center on October 12th & 14th).  So today I took some time off and designed these earrings.  And with a bit of Seattle sun coming through my studio window, I was able to capture the sunshine from outside.

After I finished all four pairs, I also designed another set with a different hamsa hand.  But the bead isn't looking like how I want it to look, so I put it aside to work on it a different day.

I'm not sure if I'll be bringing to the Festival yet, as there appears to be another jeweler selling, so I thought I would try them out on my Zibbet site first.

Children's Arabic Clocks Sneak Peek

On October 12th & 13th, at the Seattle Center, the 2013 Arab Festival will occur.  This event is every other year and one of the biggest gatherings of the Arab community in the Northwest. 

This will be my third time with a booth, so I've been having fun in my studio coming up with new products for my clients to come find.

For the last few days, I've been making these Arabic clocks for kids.  I'm still in the middle of the process of creating them (in fact they are drying from their third coat of sealant as I type), but I wanted to give you a sneak peek.

I will not be posting these to my shop until after the Festival, as I want to first see how they do in person.  If you'd like to see some of my other clocks, please visit my Clock section of my shop.  Of course you can always email me directly if you'd like a custom clock.

I can't wait for you to come see them in person!

The Muslims are Coming...and Coming...and Coming....

This last weekend, I had the privilege of seeing a sneak peak of the comedy documentary, The Muslims are Coming, directed by Negin Farsad and Dean Obeidallah.  I am huge fans of these two, especially on twitter, where their daily dealings with bigotry are an amusing, yet horrifying, peek into America's vastly emerging intolerance for the freedom of religion.



The Muslims Are Coming Theater lobby before both sold out shows.

A short synopsis from the official website:
THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING! follows a band of Muslim-American comedians as they visit big cities, small towns, rural villages, and everything in between to combat Islamophobia! These Muzzies not only perform standup at each tour stop but create ridiculous interventions in unsuspecting town squares, like the ol’ classic, “Ask a Muslim Booth.” Rest assured, you’ve never laughed this hard at a Muslim!

So I gathered my friends and family (most of whole I had taken to see Dean last time he was here) and we headed down to sharia law a theater...oops, I mean sit with our neighbors and share some popcorn.  Stopping before hand at Shawarma King for some eats, of course.

The documentary was hilarious, and often times painful, to watch as a Muslim.  Because I have been where these comedians stopped.  As a map of their mid American was reveled, I sat in horror as I realized that I have set foot in every single city.  And now, for the next 128 minutes, I would have to relive it again.

A few years after we came to the US, my parents took us on a RV trip from Michigan to California and I fell in love with America.  When I was older, I made it my mission to finish this trip and visit the rest of the United States.  I wanted to learn all I could about this country that my parents uprooted me to.  At last count, I have seen about 45 states, including Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico.

But this time, on the screen, I was traveling as a bystander, and with me in the car are famous people like the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, David Cross, Janeane Garofalo, Colin Quinn, Lewis Black, Rachel Maddow, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, Ali Velshi and the Young Turk’s Cenk Uygur as well as business tycoon Russell Simmons and even US Representative Keith Ellison, all telling me that you know what? It's a-okay to be a Muslim.

It shouldn't be a crime. 

What would be a crime?  For you to miss this movie.

If I did have to pick one thing that I didn't like about the documentary, I would say the title is misleading in that it implies the Muslims are currently arriving.  In fact, we've been a part of the American quilt since the earliest Muslim immigrants came as slaves from Africa beginning in 1501.  But I can't really complain about it that much.  The title also makes for a off the charts funny theme song that I had stuck in my head the entire evening.