Owls & Wine

I recently made this necklace with one of my etched copper pieces, and I just love how it turned out! I love the dark navy blue stones I used mixed with the goldstone. With the dark patina on the metal, it just was meant to be.

I am happy to report this necklace found a home today on Etsy. When I saw the address, it intrigued me so I did a little research. It is on it's way to a lady at Owl Creek Vineyard in Cobden, Illinois. I really enjoyed looking around on their website, and finding out more about their wines. The owl artwork that goes on the bottle labels would certainly make the empty bottle a collectible item for me! Next time I am going through Illinois, I might just have to make a stop at the vineyard - or at least go to one of the retailers that carries their wine!

About Dad

I took a quick trip to my home town last weekend, and while there I got to admire some new garden art my Dad made. He made these modern looking trees by upcycling copper trays he found at work which I am assuming were destined for the garbage. He said he has since made one for me and I am thrilled - I really like them!

I also had the honor of taking a family heirloom home with me. My Dad is a tool & die maker and he bought this wood toolbox for himself when I was 2. He wanted me to have it for my jewelry business. He refinished and cleaned it up - here is the leather handle with his name on it.

Here is a view of the box from the front.

Once the top comes down, it reveals lots of drawers!

The felt in the bottom of the drawers is original and I plan to keep it that way. Not only can I store my tools/beads in here, I immediately knew I was also going to use it as a display at shows!

Eventually, when a baby comes our way, I plan to move my studio to the sunroom right off our living room. But for now, I didn't want to hide this pretty box in my spare bedroom studio upstairs, so it has earned a spot in our living room.

I know my Dad reads my blog...... thanks Dad!!!! Love you!

Wood Beads in Action!

One of my morning rituals includes searching Etsy for peacock items. It was so great this morning to discover one of my peacock feather wood burned components made into a bracelet! I asked Brittany of Bella Beach Jewelry if I could brag up her design on my blog and she agreed! I love that she used peacock colors (blues and greens) with the wood.

Take a minute to look at her Etsy shop - she has lots of pretty things!

Stuck in the Horizon

Lately, I have been stuck on creating focal pieces that are horizontal. I'm not complaining - it's just how ideas are coming to me. First, the felted beads on the wood - then the Peacock Fairy dream necklace in my last post - and now this cute little forest inspired necklace.
Here, I used an actual twig that I drilled holes into. I wired Humblebeads cute gnome and mushroom beads onto it (the mushroom came only as a top so I made a stem for it out of polymer clay). The chain has simple Czech glass beads wired into it in even intervals.

I think I might submit this for the ABS challenge too - I am sure I see some gnomes (or little people) in the one corner of Richard Dadd's painting. Also, I think the colors here go perfectly with the painting - the dark grey of the twig, the touch of red, the muted olive green........

November ABS Challenge Entry

It has been awhile since I have entered one of the Art Bead Scene's monthly challenges, but I am so excited with the necklace design I was able to come up with today to submit! This month's painting is The Fairy Fellers' Master-Stroke by Richard Dadd.

I guess I will start at the beginning of my design process. The first piece I picked up was a ceramic pendant from Lisa Peters ART. As soon as I saw it on Etsy last week, I snapped it right up! Isn't it funny how a particular component becomes your favorite for a while and you end up coming up with so many design ideas for it? Well, that is what has been happening with these 10 hole wood bars I recently got at Hobby Lobby. At first, I thought I would hang the pendant from the wood bar all centered and perfect. But after I looked at it awhile, I decided to do it asymmetrical with the addition of a peacock feather on one side.

Okay, so I had my focal ready to go, now I had to decide what to use for stringing it. I started to search though my beads. Nothing was really grabbing my attention. I happen to look over to my shelf of jewelry and saw a choker I had made years ago with fancy jasper and a Green Girl Studios clasp. It was a really simple design that I loved, but the more I thought about it I couldn't remember the last time I wore it. I started to wonder why I didn't wear it - did I not like chokers? Did I think my long hair hid most of the pretty beads? Hmmmmm. In the end, I decided to use it in this necklace. My original thought was to start stringing the jasper up each side of the pendant and then putting the fairy clasp off to one side. But the more I looked at it, I discovered how cool it looked to separate the fairies so that they looked like they were holding each end of the pendant! Of course, the one that has the hook does still serve as the closure. The best part about it though: I didn't have to take the necklace apart at all!
I am absolutely in love with this necklace now! It embraces everything about me and my business name: peacocks and fairies!

Oh, if you'd like to see the choker in it's before state, I blogged about it here in my very early blogging days!

Warm & Fuzzy

I've had these little felted balls from Hobby Lobby for quite some time now. I love the color combo, and especially the fact that they also have tiny seed beads sew onto them. I knew I wanted to use all four colors together and finally, this design came to me. It is quite modern and funky! I made 3 necklaces, but strung them with different colored seed beads in coordinating hues. This way, I can put one of each of these at all 3 outlets I sell at: Etsy, the Art Center, and another local store. It will be a competition of sorts, to see where one sells first!

One Component, Two Ways

I must have been in a really pink, feminine mood when I made these! I was playing around with some filigree plates that I had gotten at Hobby Lobby a while back. They feature a butterfly and some flowers. Just goes to show how versatile these pieces can be! In this first necklace, I mimicked the shapes in the metal by wiring the same shapes onto it - a porcelain butterfly from Round Rabbit Extras and some lucite flowers. The colors seemed to work out in my most favorite combo - pink and green - to use these pretty dyed jade rounds I recently got at Michael's. They are some of my most favorite new beads - I have almost bought out my local Michael's!
For this bracelet, I bent the filigree a bit to fit the curve of a wrist. Then I went back to the first beading technique I learned (peyote stitch) to make the strap of this cuff out of pink hex beads. I also wanted to use the end findings I've had for years, specifically made for ending flat bead work (I think they are from Designer Findings). A pink ribbon allows the closure to fit any size wrist.

These are both listed on Etsy.

Sorry, I didn't put any links to the supplies in this post - I am too tired since I also listed 2 other necklaces and 3 pairs of earrings on Etsy. Go check 'em out!