Starting my crochet adventure

My birthday was last Friday and since my husband "planned" a spontaneous day for me, I didn't do everything I planned on doing, which is fine by me. All I have to say is The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a great movie . . . The Cheesecake Factory has awesome cheesecake . . . outside malls are not as bad as I expected . . . it's always hard to decide which book to get from the bookstore. As you can see I was quite busy. So now that I am a little bit older and a little bit wiser, I am going to challenge myself to learn a new craft . . . crocheting. I'm a little apprehensive about trying a new craft. I tried to learn how to crochet years ago, but soon got bored with it and I let it go. Like I said earlier, I am a little bit wiser and I figure that if I can teach myself how to make beaded flowers, I can learn how to crochet. So stay tuned . . .

"I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something.

But I can't accept not trying."
- Michael Jordan

15 Facts About Me

1) I look like this . . .




2) I was born in Spokane, Washington and raised in Hampton, VA.

3) I have never been outside of the United States.

4) I love cornbread stuffing.

5) At one time in my life I wanted to be a pediatrician.

6) I had an internship as a probation officer for adults and loved it.

7) I can not stand it when people bite their nails/cuticles.

8) I watch anime . . . in Japanese . . . with English subtitles (My husband and I are addicted to Naruto and Bleach).

9) I used to watch Passions until they moved to Direct TV...sigh

10) I want to throw down in the kitchen like my mom someday.

11) I have a gap between my two front teeth and love when I meet other people who have one also.

12) My maiden name is Awkward . . . no this is not a joke . . . yes that is what it says on my birth certificate

13) When I was born I weighed less than 3 pounds.

14) I have natural hair and have been thinking about getting locs for a long time.

15) I was on the flag line in high school.

What's in a name?

During my senior year in college, I took time to learn about myself and what I wanted out of life. During this period of self-discovery I learned more about my heritage, African American history, the African Diaspora, Black hair, etc. While learning about Adinkra symbols (West African symbols that are used on cloth, pottery, jewelry, etc), I decided to informally rename myself Nsoromma (pronounced: N-soar-row-mah) as a way to connect with my African heritage. Nsoromma is a star and means "child of the heavens (stars)". It is the symbol of guardianship and is a reminder that God is the father and watches over all people.

My real name is Crystal, which means pure and clear. I am by no means ashamed of my real name. I only use Nsoromma as my poetic name.

The DIVA Behind the Beads

I've decided to talk more about me this year so that my customers and potential customers can get to know me better, besides the fact that this is my blog and I can write about what I want to. So....Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Crystal and I'm the DIVA behind Ayana Creations. Ayana means "beautiful flower" in Ethiopian and so I sculpt beautiful flower creations. :-D My gift is making beaded flowers using the vintage art of French beading. Just to clarify...I do not use any vintage supplies, I use a vintage technique.

I also make jewelry and accessories. I began making beaded flowers when I was trying to decide on a stress relief outlet during my internship as a domestic violence/sexual assault counselor in addition to graduate studies, family and other responsibilities. I am a self-taught artist and I’m passionate about making flowers come to life with my seed beads. :D

I am also the wife of an amazing husband and mother to an energetic son.

I am currently a full-time social work graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University and I'll be graduating in May...on my birthday. Isn't that exciting?! Well it is for me.

In the little spare time that I do have, I write poetry. Check out my poetry blog The Seeds of Life. One day I plan on being a slam poet...of course that will only happen when I have more free time. *sigh*

So in a nutshell . . . that's me, the Diva behind the beads.