February AJE Component of the Month...

This month's gorgeous component is by the fabulous jewelry designer, Francesca Watson!

I received a lovely  pink one!  Being addicted to torch-fired enamelling myself, I really appreciate the work Francesca put into these...those little fine silver pebbles are such a sweet element!

My inspiration was a necklace I made for my sister recently (no photo, of course) that has a front toggle closure with the focal hanging from the loop, and extra chain attached to the toggle to hang down behind the focal with more embellishments.  I had hoped to do something similar, adding additional enameled components...alas, it is still a work in progress.

I created a sterling toggle clasp and attached the component.  I cut some copper discs in 2 different sizes, dapped and curled the edges, then enameled them in pretty pastels to complement the pink...Easter colors!  Using sterling balled headpins, I attached them to copper chain

It looks great lying down for picture taking, but the discs don't hang correctly when on.  I am going to exchange the sterling wrapped link holding the toggle to the chain with a small copper jump ring, so that it will be closer to the chain and not so wiggly, and adjust the discs so they hang better.  I have already started taking it apart and realized it was not going to be done by today, but wanted to show you my concept...which will probably be completely different when it is done!

Go and see what others created out of these lovely enameled discs...

Participating AJE Contributors

Kristi Bowman-Gruel - http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com/2013/02/aje-february-component-of-month-reveal.html

Jenny Cameron - http://glassaddictions.com

Jenny Davies-Reazor - http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Susan Kennedy - www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Linda Landig -  www.LindasBeadBlog.com

Melissa Meman - http://melissameman.blogspot.com

Kristen Stevens - http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/

Francesca Watson - http://www.francescawatson.com

Guest Designers

Dawn Horner - http://www.northernadornments.com/

Kym Hunter - http://kymhunterdesigns.blogspot.com/

Kay Thomerson - http://kayzkreationz.blogspot.com/

Shelley Graham Turner - http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com/

Sandi Volpe - http://sandivolpe.com/

BTW, June 1 - Or, what I did on my day off :)

So, as I was saying in my last post, I took an extra day off from my 9-5 this past Friday...it was a wonderful break to have an actual 4-day weekend!  Luckily for me, I had a good part of the day to myself, so I put aside my guilt pangs about not cleaning the house or pulling the stupid bermuda grass out of my flower beds and went to my dungeon basement studio and played!

First I enameled...

I have been playing with some pretty color combinations with new transparent enamels I got from Ms. Barbara.  My goal for the little charms will be to fill them with words and/or images and resin...I have some matching pairs (not shown) that will be earrings, other singles will be charms.

After a while, I decided to pull out my solder and practice my Homesteading skills!

These didn't turn out quite as I had hoped...too much solder on the disk before adding the filigree, but they definitely have potential...will be making some more.

These were experiments with using dapped copper washers as a flared bezel...it worked!  They will be getting an image/resin treatment!

And, last, but definitely not least, my favorites...

These have been in my head for a while, just had to find the gumption to sit down and try!  They aren't perfect, but I don't care.  I am going to dangle some pretty briolettes off the ends, I think.  I will absolutely be making more of these!

So, I have my work cut out for me!  Now, to just quit my day job so I can concentrate :)

What's on your bead table today?

Bead Soup Update...Addendum :)

I forgot in my last post to show you what I sent to my partner...I neglected to photo my stuff before I sent it out, but Cassie took a  pic and posted it on her blog over at Glassbeadle.com.  Go on over and take a gander.  She sweetly and graciously assured me that they were great choices (I was feeling a bit inadequate).  You can see all the photos for the Party on Flickr, and the big reveal will be on February 10!

Bead Soup Update....Spring has Sprung!

I received an amazing batch of beads from Cassie Donlen!  I love everything she sent...one of her beautiful big lampwork flower focal beads, some very sweet coordinating lampwork beads, a mix of colorful glass beads, and a gorgeous silver toggle clasp!  Just look!

I have a design in my head and a couple of options sketched out on paper...the kicker is the fabulous flower focal...I have to do it justice!  A spring garden is starting to grow in my mind!

Anticipation...

Continuing from my last post, one of my goals for 2010 is to take my jewelry art to a new level. I have jumped in with both feet!

I mentioned signing up for Bead Soup Party. Particpants have been paired up to "swap" a focal, a few coordinating spacers or beads, and a special clasp with another jewelry artist. Each person then creates something with those items, then posts a photo of their creation on their blog on February 10th. Then the "party" begins as we go from blog to blog to see what was made. I am paired with lampwork artist and jewelry designer Cassie Donlen...how fun! I can't wait to see what she sends. I have my little bag of treasures all ready to ship to her, although I am feeling a tad intimidated, since I don't make my own beads.

I am also very excited to have signed up for my 1st actual jewelry class ever! Other than a lampwork workshop I took several years ago, and instructional books, magazines and online tutorials, I am pretty much self-taught. On March 6, I am going to take Barbara Lewis' Painting with Fire workshop, where I will be learning to enamel beads and pendants! You've probably seen Barbara's work in several jewelry publications, such as Belle Armoire Jewelry, or read her blog Jewelry of Distinction. An added bonus is that I will be able to meet in person some new bloggy friends! Yay!

Torch-fired enamel pendant by Barbara Lewis

If this all wasn't enough to get me going, I ordered and received some new fun lampwork beads, a couple of new books, and some other fun (and a bit daunting!) materials to try some new things...watch for blog posts and photos!

'Tis the season...

for holiday craft shows and church bazaars! Big sigh...I am signed up for 3, all falling within 7 days of each other! The last 2 are back to back. I know, I know :)

So, I am trying to get my inventory up and am working a bit every night on something. As per my normal modus operandi, I start a bunch of projects and work on them sort of simultaneously until things get finished...at least with larger projects. I am going to focus on simpler designs, with lower price tags for at least 2 of these events.

My goal is to post something new every day or so over the next couple weeks as motivation to keep plugging away.

Today's finished pieces...2 new bracelets.

Too bad you can't actually tell these gorgeous faceted beads are amethyst...I took these photos indoors and was not able to get the lighting right, even with Picnik.

This one is a tad better, although the long, skinny beads and herringbone wrap made it difficult to layout in a pretty way.

More tomorrow :)

May Flowers...

almost June flowers!  I've had a bunch of Czech glass dagger beads sitting around for a while... I had purchased several colors and was planning to make some spiky bracelets.  That hasn't happened yet, but while working last weekend to get ready for a show, came up with these fun, colorful, wire-woven flower earrings.  I'm really happy with them and will be making more!  Will be listing these on all my sites tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

Coming this Summer...

Amazonite Cross Necklace - Revisited and Finished!

A few weeks back I posted a work in progress of a woven/coiled wire cross  based on Iza's tutorial.  Although I was really proud of myself for taking the leap and doing it, the more I looked at it, the more I wanted to redo it.  I knew if I started taking it apart, I might actually destroy it and there would be no turning back, so I decided to just redo the top and left arms, as these were the 1st ones I completed, so the bottom and right ones were actually okay.  Luckily, this did not destroy the integrity of the piece and actually saved it, in my opinion.  It is still not perfect, but what is? (Don't answer that!)  I decided that it should be a necklace so after a couple of wrong turns design-wise, came up with adding the faceted aquamarines for sparkle, and herringbone-wrapping a couple more amazonite rondells.

The man didn't want me to oxidize - he liked it bright and shiny.  This too spurred an internal struggle, but in the end LOS won!   I tried to keep it light though, and I think it works...what do you think?

 

YOJ 2008, Wk 14...Amazin'(ite) Grace...Work in Progress

I absolutely drool over each new piece created by Iza Malczyk and immediately fell in love with her wire-woven crosses.  I have been wanting to design a wire-wrapped, coiled cross that was beautiful, yet strong enough to possibly include on a rosary.  Most of the other versions I had seen were pretty fragile for that end.  I actually had something similar to Iza's design in my head with a few differences, but just couldn't seem to bring it to fruition.  Imagine my excitement to see Iza's tutorial presenting exactly the concepts and elements I was trying to work out! 

The tutorial was very clear and easy to follow...actually finishing it was more difficult!  If you look closely, the wraps on the top and left arm leave a lot to be desired...you can tell I did those 1st.  My end curls and loops are not exact either.  I need practice working with larger gauge wire.  Also, the back is not as neat as the front.  The necklace part of the design is still in process.  It will include more amazonite rondells, silver and chain...possibly other materials. As soon as that part is completed, I am definitely oxidizing it and will update you on how it turned out.

I can't wait to finish the entire piece so I can start a new one!

This is my 1st entry into the Creative Wire Jewelry Forum's Year of Jewelry 2008 Challenge.  The idea is to create 1 piece per week for a year.  It is divided up into quarters, so you can commit to a little at a time.  This is a good thing for me, as I have attempted to do previous versions, and never was able to keep up!  This go round is all about sticking with the commitment for me; I'm not worried about following themes, and want to try to not get behind by more than 1 week.  My other goal is to get "outside the box" with my techniques...it is "creative wire" after all, so I am attempting to avoid the "bead on a headpin" mentality that I revert to when under pressure to meet a deadline.

I actually had it in my head that next week was the 1st week of 2nd quarter, but I am still within my goal of not being more than a week behind!