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Sunday, May 19, 2013

AJE Earring Challenge, Week 19: Denim Glamour

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My design for this week's Earring Challenge from Art Jewelry Elements is a contrast of blingy Swarovski, 10 mm hearts and 4 mm bicones in aquamarine, with "Southwest Discs", handmade etched lampwork beads in khaki and denim from Julie of Outwest (Indian Creek Art Glass).  





Be sure and check the AJE Pinterest board where new designs are being posted on a regular basis. See you next week!


Sunday, May 12, 2013

AJE Earring Challenge, Week 18: Transformation

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I'd like to start by wishing a Happy Mother's Day to all those celebrating today. There are many different dates marking mothering/parents' day around the world, some as early as February 12 in Norway, or as late as December 22 in Indonesia. What is important is taking the occasion to honour and thank the mothers and mothering individuals in our lives, both those who have left us and those we are fortunate to have with us still.


"Transformation" Earrings


I am continuing to look close to home for some of the OOAK elements I feature in earring creations. The large and colourful discs will be familiar to all who viewed the charms I designed for  the 2012 Art Charm Swap. Naturally, I made extras of each component! This time the discs have been paired with handmade wire Adrinka symbols from Ghana. These particular symbols are named "sesa wo suban" which means "transformation". 





I purchased the wires as headpins from Melody of Soul of Somanya, a non-profit organization bringing employment skills to the Ghanian people of Krobo. They also produce beautiful recycled glass beads which are hand-painted with intricate designs (which I hope to share in future designs). Melody also has a second shop on Etsy.

Normally, I would never dream of cutting up an artisan headpin, but I was inspired to use the design portion of one set as charms, with another set which I formed into ear-wires. I love the juxtaposition of ancient with modern, organic against bright and funky, and elements both near and far.

Make sure to drop by the Art Jewelry Elements' Pinterest board for lots of amazing earring designs!




Sunday, May 05, 2013

AJE Earring Challenge Week 17: Playful Polymer

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This will be a quick post. For this week's Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge, I have pair featuring my own polymer clay component formed from a kaleidoscope cane, thinly sliced and stacked for a geometric look. Kaleidoscope canes are formed from various other canes which are combined to form an elaborate picture. These remind me of little quilt squares!

Polymer clay alone makes a very lightweight earring for sensitive ears.



Kaleidoscope Quilt Squares 


Check out the AJE Pinterest earring board anytime. New earrings are posted regularly.


Saturday, April 27, 2013

AJE Earring Challenge: Textured and Amber

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Week 16 (or is it 17?) of the Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge. This week I decided to search among my own polymer clay beads for a source of inspiration. I came across a pair, 35mm/1-3/8" tall, basic black, impressed with a geometric design, and highlighted with mica powders.




Attached to a pair of handmade silver-finished earwires with ivory glass pearl beads, another example of Shelley Graham Turner's  "Dressed-Up Earwires". Glammed up with pairs of amber-coloured Czech glass dangles and some silver petite lilies filigree bead caps from Double Angel Design.

Polymer clay beads are a great earring option as they are relatively light for their size. Visit the AJE Earring Challenge Pinterest board anytime for lots of great designs... see you next week!


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Glass and Silver: AJE Week 15

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Still playing catch-up for Sunday past! Here's a pair for the Art Jewelry Elements weekly Earring Challenge. Back in August I designed a necklace using artisan porcelain and some lovely beads by Perth, Australia glass-maker Faye of feyglass. These earrings, featuring more of Faye's lamp-work are a match to that necklace (which I still have and wear every chance I get!) 




Trinity Embossed Flower Charms and 2/0 Turquoise Picasso Czech Glass finish these nicely. Check the AJE Pinterest board often... new earrings are being added all the time.

See you next week!


Saturday, April 13, 2013

AJE Challenge: All Purple, All the Time

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Hard to believe it's been ten days since my last post! I had applied a while back for the second quarter of Art Jewelry Elements' Earring Challenge. I just got the email early this morning that I was accepted to join their Pinterest group for the weekly show-and-tell. I must get busy and catch up, as I've had some unproductive weeks lately!

Here is a pair I will assign to Week 14, which I believe is April 1-7:


All Purple, All the Time earrings


The starting point of my design is a pair of porcelain links: "Newt Charm Set in Teal & Red" by Nancy Schindler of The Rabbit Muse. These are attached to "Dressed-Up Ear-wires" in "purple-on-purple", handmade by Shelley Graham Turner and available in her Etsy shop Tori Sophia. The dangles consist of Greek ceramic spikes in "purple splash", with tiny light amethyst Czech faceted cathedral beads, attached via dark lavender DMC cotton (#208). As a lifelong lover of fabric and fiber, I am endeavoring to insinuate cotton, linen, and silk as often as possible in my designs. The earrings are an almost-shoulder-duster 85mm/3+3/8" length from the top of the ear-wires.

Please drop by the AJE Pinterest board anytime for the latest designs by lots of talented designers.


Sunday, March 31, 2013

Colourful Crane Mobile

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Here's a fun way to display all those paper cranes. This is in beautiful spring colours but would be stunning in all-white, too.




The full instructions for this mobile are on the Instructables website. Here is the worm's-eye view:





Don't have any paper cranes lying around? Here's a quick video from Youtube. A good craft for some downtime after the chocolate rush wears off tomorrow!


 


 Happy Easter/Spring Day to all you bloggers! 



Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Fresh Baked Jewelry: New on Etsy

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I get excited whenever I notice or hear about a new shop on Etsy. I try to spend a part of each day checking what my favorite artisans are up to (I know, I know, it's hard work but I refuse to back away from a challenge LOL).

Sometimes I luck in and notice a brand new shop... 




My personal pick: Teal Leaf Bracelet featuring artisan ceramics



Other times I hear about it from the source! Allow me to ring the bell and sound the trumpet! The lovely Lynda Carson has been selling her hand-crafted jewellery for several years in boutiques near her California home. As of three days ago, lovers of handmade can now find Lynda's creations at her very own Etsy shop!

I have been following Lynda's story as she stretches her creative muscles on her blog Fresh Baked Designs. Lynda is also an avid traveler who lends her talents to fundraising for a community in the far-off African country of Ghana. Many of her designs have featured the amazing hand-painted glass beads of that region.




I hope you will all join me in welcoming Lynda to the Etsy community. Lynda invites everyone to check out her shop and her blog (*read this post for a special bonus*).


Monday, March 25, 2013

Ecological Tagua Beads Giveaway

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If, like me, you have wondered about using tagua beads in your designs, Pearl Blay has the perfect opportunity. Go to her blog for a giveaway worth $40. from Ecuadorian hands, who create and supply these eco-friendly beads as a humane alternative to elephant ivory. 


A selection of beautiful dyed and carved tagua beads.


For everything you need to know about this giveaway, head over to Pearl's blog post and get in on the action!  

**This draw ends at 6 pm EST Monday,  April 1 , 2013 and is INTERNATIONAL**

Thanks for another exciting giveaway, Pearl!

March ABS Challenge Design

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So I haven't been in the Zone much this year. 2013 has been flying along... how many times have I read that very sentiment on the blogs I've visited? You all seem to agree: this first quarter of the year has been conspicuous for its desire to hurry on out the door!

While I loved the Art Bead Scene's inspiration art for January and February, various factors seemed to conspire to prevent my participating. So it was with gratitude that I found the time and motivation to make this simple bracelet:




I had these wonderful little lampwork beads in various earthy colours that I had purchased awhile back from Julie of Indian Creek Art Glass. She calls them "Random Minis" and they are a delightful size for earrings at only 10 mm x 6 mm... and perfect for the understated bracelet style I had in mind. This is the beautiful range of colours I received on just one strand:




Here is the cheerful abstract painting offered for this month's inspiration:



Deer In the Forest, 1911 by Marc Franz(This art is copyrighted and is to be used only as inspiration.)

Upon studying the work, the element that first caught my eye was the infinity symbol just to the right of center. I looked at different ways to express this, and coincidentally came across these simple charm/connectors that were just what I had in mind:




I wanted a bit of organic in my design to balance the glass and metal, so I made a clasp to represent antler bone using polymer clay:




You can see a couple of brightly coloured niobium jumprings for a playful touch. These elements are woven together with a natural colour waxed linen:




It was a relief to finally get a chance to join in another ABS Challenge. This ongoing monthly event was the motivation for me to finally start my blog last July, so it holds a special place in my heart. Do check the ABS flickr group for lots more art-inspired design.


The Deer Sleeps




Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Sprechen Sie Deutsch, Miezekätzchen?

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I already knew I should have been born a cat. Now come to find out I would want to be a GERMAN cat! Then I could live in this:



Seen on Hauspanther.com today. The sweet and cozy abode is by Dornroeschen Filzunikate creator Susanne Karg, who makes kitty's dreams come true in her studio near Heidelberg, Germany. The last link is to her Dawanda shop... lots of beautiful cat caves and other goodies.

Susanne also has a blog if you fancy more felted art and wearables.


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Almost Wordless (Cute Ideas for Cat Lovers)

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Lots more sayings and colours on the listing.
Nina, you are a girl after my own heart!

Adopt Orphans (Bead Orphans)

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Now, I had planned on waiting until I had created something amazing with these beads I bought recently from Happyskull Lampwork:




 And another view of the beady goodness:



Purty, huh?

I am recently on a PURPLE slant (more about that in a future post), so I have settled for admiring my BLUES where they sit beside my computer/work area. They are polite and well-behaved companions. However, since bead creator extraordinaire Cherie Ranfranz happens to be on my radar, I noticed she just listed more wonderful orphan bead sets in a gorgeous array of colours. 

I have found orphans give my creativity a boost. Each individual bead tells its own story. If you haven't worked with orphans, give them a try. And Cherie, keep those wonderful beads coming!




Monday, March 18, 2013

The Bead Shop $75.00 Giveaway

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Pearl is at it again! She is sponsoring yet another draw over at The Beading Gem's Journal. This is for a $75 (or £50) gift certificate from The Bead Shop of Manchester, UK. Here are some of the unusual beads I found:


Hand-painted glass



Laser-cut wooden heart


Ball-chain beads



So head over to Pearl's post and get all the details. This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL and ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST MONDAY, MARCH 25 , 2013.


♥ Good luck everyone!

UPDATE: WINNER  is Patricia Schwab. Congratulations!





Sunday, March 17, 2013

Incredible Glass Art from Germany (Giveaway)

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So y'all know I can never resist an artist who wants to give someone their handmade pretties, right? The text on the photo below explains it quite well, but I've included a few more links for your drooling pleasure:


Click here to go to FB giveaway!



Karolin Wagner of Bermbach, Germany sells her amazing miniature creations through her Etsy shop. I love them all but this little guy taking shelter from the raindrops stole my heart:


Click here to go to this fella's Etsy listing!


**In case you missed it: THIS GIVEAWAY WILL TAKE PLACE ON MARCH 31st, 2013** and you must enter on Karo's Glasmagie FB page. Good luck to everyone!  

Thank you so much for offering 
your adorable horse sculpture, Karolin.


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