Blue Skies

The sun is streaming through my studio window, and the cloudless blue sky lifts my spirits. Even though it is bitterly cold outside, it is heavenly in here. 

After a brisk walk on the beach, I settle down to play with stones and metal, hoping to create something reflective of this beautiful day.

The divine blue of these chalcedony stones captures this "blue sky" day perfectly, with the addition of some whimsical blue lace agate. I still have thousands of copper washers to use!

Aging:It Can Happen Overnight!

Waking up in the morning can sometimes be a grim reminder of the harsh reality of aging, but this post is not about that. It's about one of my passions: metal. I've long been a fan of beautifully patinated copper, that gorgeous rich green. My shopping sprees always begin with Greek Mykonos findings and sometimes end right there. Well, now that I have time on my hands, why not experiment with some patina methods?

Last night I tried aging copper using Vintaj alcohol inks. It's easy and instant, that for sure. I discovered that a light hand with these is best and that using a subtle blend of several colors looks more appealing. 

I also had a chance to play with some new purchases - aged picasso Czech glass seed beads and tubes with Indonesian glass beads.

 Next, I textured some copper washers with my chasing hammer, applied patina, and used the reliefing block to highlight the raised areas of the washers to create a distressed look.

Now that I am looking at these photos, I think I need to use some LOS to patina the copper earwires and brio wrapping. Back into the studio . . . 

*** ALCOHOL INKS ***

Next experiment . . . alcohol inks. 

Unlike Vintaj patinas, which are like paint and provide an opaque cover, alcohol inks are transparent. I applied these inks on some textured copper washers to see what kind of effect they create. Then I sealed them with Vintaj glaze.

Resin teardrop, coral, and copper beads

Glass, blue lace agate, and copper beads

We're All Ears :: November Reveal

Our monthly challenges at Earrings Everyday have all been inspired by an image. As jewelry designers, we interpret some aspect of the image - color, texture, theme - create earrings, photograph them, and blog about the process. This month Erin changed it up by inspiring us with an sweet animated video. Though a collage of images from the film appears below, I highly recommend watching this short video. (I can't figure out how to imbed a video directly into blogger. Grrrrr... so, please click on the link below to watch it.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eS3UjGLtLXk


 

In this wonderous exotic land 

With its amber orange landscape 

A brown-haired girl in a rust-colored tunic

Draws a bucket of water from a pristine well.

Hazy grey tendrils of fog and mist herald a new arrival 

An ethereal and magical creature,

Given the gift of flight and freedom

From pure water and a kind heart,

Unfolds soft but powerful wings

And soars into milky white clouds

I was entranced by this lovely film and knew instantly the effect I wanted to achieve. Those graceful yet powerful white wings! I had to capture those somehow.

Plan A: The bag of Tierracast copper wings have been languishing in my stash for years. I wanted to wash them with white or periwinkle alcohol ink or patina. Failing to find ink or patina at local craft supply stores, I ordered on-line and anxiously awaited their arrival. Then the bad news arrived: my order would be delayed; the item was on back order. WINGS! What to do?

Plan B: Skip the literal interpretation? No, I wanted wings! Wandering around my studio, I discovered this jewelry tin. Wings . . . the soft white and blue color palette . . . the rusty copper of the girl's tunic and landscape . . . perfect. I have been saving this tin forever.

Carefully, I used my metal shears to cut out two wing sections and filed them smooth.

Wanting to bring in the copper color of the tunic and landscape, I decided to cut some copper sheet to back the tin wings and glued them together. They looked a little rustic around the edges, but I kept telling myself that handmade doesn't have to be perfect.

That night while I waited for the glue to dry, I was mesmerized by the glow of the full moon streaming into my studio window. That made think of the multicolored moonstone beads I bought years ago and never used. (Oh, the brain birdtracks were in full bloom.) Opalite seemed appropriate, too.

I rarely allow bare copper to escape a bath in LOS and some sort of bashing with my hammer. This time, however, the freshness of untreated, smooth metal seemed to fit the mood of the video. After a scrub with steel wool and a massage with polish pads, the copper sparkled. There they were: WINGS!

Sitting on my work table was a bag of seaglass a friend brought to me from her recent trip to Glass Beach in California, a destination that has long tempted me. I wrapped two almost identical frosty white pieces of seaglass with 26 gauge copper and cut and domed some copper sheet that I dimpled with my chasing hammer and polished. (The poor hammer was sitting there so forlornly; I just had to use it.) Again, the frosty white looked so cool with the copper.

My drawers of white beads stared at me. Use us, too, said the pearls, shells, and bone beads. Okay. So I thought I could escape the LOS. Nope.

Thank you, Erin, for a magical experience in the jewelry studio inspired by a beautiful video. I truly enjoyed this project.  Check out all of the creative interpretations by other jewelry artists by visiting Earrings Everyday.

http://earrings-everyday.blogspot.com/2014/11/were-all-ears-november-reveal.html

Button Shopping

Yesterday, I stopped by a local fabric store, found these cute buttons, and had to make another bracelet using another shade of deerskin for the button loop. 

*recycled glass, wood, African sandcast, silver, and crow beads knotted n blue Irish waxed linen with a deerskin button loop.

New Bracelet Design

Lately, I've been making earrings like a madwoman and have completely ignored my first love - bracelets. There's just something so therapeutic about sitting at my work table surrounded by boxes of beads and knotting waxed linen. On a recent spending spree, I added lots of soft, deerskin lace to my stash, which I've been wanting to utilize. 

In my travels through cyberspace, I remember seeing lace used as button loops. I believe it was Lorelei Eurto. That idea has stuck with me for a long time because I wanted an alternative to those waxed linen half-hitched knotted loops that drove me crazy at the end of the bracelet. It never failed that I would run short on cord or it would look twisted. So frustrating! 

I wasn't sure when I bought all of this leather if my rivets would fit the width of the lace, but they ended up fitting perfectly. Love it when that happens. Kismet!

Last night I couldn't sleep and didn't feel too well.  Making jewelry was an excellent distraction and figuring out how to make these lace loops was a satisfying and productive task. I really like how this bracelet turned out.

* Wood, bone, recycled glass, crow, African sandcast, silver, and very old trade beads knotted on brown Irish waxed linen with a deerskin loop and silver buffalo nickel button. 

We're All Ears :: October Reveal

Paper marbling is an art that hooked me instantly. That first swirl of paint was so beautifully intoxicating. I remember holding a marbling "workshop" in my parents' back yard, inviting friends and neighbors to stop by, and watching that same fascination root in each person. I even brought this experience to the middle school where I taught. Who wouldn't be entranced by colors pooling, swirling, and feathering magically on the surface of water? When I saw that this month's inspiration photos were of paper marbling, such fond memories surfaced and made me wonder why I ever stopped stopped dabbling in this art. I wanted to marble more than I wanted to create earrings! 

I wanted to use beads that had a marbled effect, but I didn't have any and wanted to stick to my bead spending freeze. I was inspired by colors, but it was the swirls that really tugged at me. I wanted to capture movement. The first pair of earrings that sprung from this inspiration were just a flirtation with some sheet metal and wire. I did a swirly herringbone wrap on recycled glass beads, textured some copper sheet, and added a swirl of forged wire. I oxidized everything but the wire swirl in order to highlight it. 

Next up, it was time to make use of the 50,000 copper washers I bought at Harbor Freight. (Though that number is hyperbolic, it seems like I oxidized that many in LOS. What was I thinking?) I textured the washers with a swirly design stamp, made a forged spiral, and added another herringbone-wrapped recycled glass bead. Love that blue color!

I was on a roll, and there were more copper washers to use. (I never photograph on black background, but it seemed to best bring out the color of this lavender glass.)  This time I experimented with doming the washers in my dapping block.

 The movement in the earrings I had made so far was only minimal, though. I wanted more. Playing with copper wire in curvy shapes and spirals, these earrings resulted. Indonesian glass, Czech glass, and Baltic amber dance and swing around on three copper dangles. These babies move like crazy!

Now that my earrings are finished, I am tempted to dig out my marbling supplies and play with paper. Now where is that box? Thank you, Erin, for this delightful inspiration, which resurrected the passion I once had for a fascinating art and prompted many hours of creative jewelry-making. 

Be sure to check out the pieces created by other talented artisits at Earrings Everday. http://earrings-everyday.blogspot.com

**During the week that I made these earrings, two serindipitous things happened. 

1) This video showed up in my FB feed. Fascinating paper marbling work!

http://www.littlethings.com/with-only-a-few-drops-of-ink-in-water-this-artist-creates-magic/

(Sorry I can't insert a clickable link on this Blogger app, so you'll have to copy and paste the address. I promise that it is worth the extra step!)

2.) A local artist exhibited these beautiful works. Visit her webpage for more of her marbled art. http://www.lizwalkerart.com/marbled-paintings.html

We're All Ears :: September Reveal

September's inspiration photo is macro photography shots of nature's intricate terrain. The shades of green and the textures fascinate me. 

The picture I was most drawn to was the picture below. I love the details and the colors. I wanted to somehow capture the swirls of the gray on the green. 

After pulling out trays of green and gray beads, I discovered my stash of aqua terra jasper and knew they would be the feature beads. I love the veining in the beads and the way they look almost like wood and mimic the color and texture in the pictures. 

One of the things I like about these earrings is the zen-like feel of them. I didn't expect to be able to create anything after a month-long hiatus from jewelry-making, much less something zen-like. Recovering from major surgery has left me uninspired and physically unable to venture into my studio. (Sadly, I had to forgo last month's colorful project as a result.) Finally, I was able to navigate the stairs and get back into my groove. I'm back! Thank you, Erin, for posting such an inspiring photo. I loved this challenge and feel joyful about getting my creative mojo back.

* I wish I had more time and mobility to get better photos, but these will have to do. 

 

I look forward to seeing everyone else's creations at http://earrings-everyday.blogspot.com.