ART JEWELRY ELEMENTS REVEAL - MARCH HARES !

This is my first time doing a challenge with the AJE which is nice as I had been looking for something interesting to join in on and Hares seemed like the ideal thing, that was until I tried my hand at actually sculpting a tiny one for my necklace! Well I managed a passable one eventually and you can see him below.

I love this template I made it for a different necklace and have used it several times now in varying sizes, I used gold Premo Polymer, the grass and hare are textured ( I really enjoy doing this ) and the little flowers are embellished with Swarovski crystals. I hammered some bronze to make links and also makes the closure added citrine rondelles and gold plated beads.
I did a Kumihimo braid especially in greens and yellow of various hues which sadly the picture doesnt show much of and as I don't like the glue on ends I make my own end caps with Polymer, I chose these sort of heart shape leaves.

I also decided to make just a pendant with a Hare peeking out from behind an old tree, this one is in Polymer too and is touched with gold paint here and there, I just put it on a green silk cord.

These were both such fun to do I have really enjoyed the challenge and am looking forward to see what others have created! 

The rest of the blogs in the challenge are below so please do go to visit them if you can.

 ~Jackie~

 AJE Team

Jenny

Caroline

Lesley

Linda

Niky

Melissa

Rebekah

Lindsay

Guests

Aural - Woodland Bay Native

Heather - Hidden Ridge Studio

Cindy Martin-Shaw

Karen Panthaki

Jackie Ryan

Karin Grosset Grange - Ginko et Coquelicot

Pamela Traub - Klassy Joolz

Paisley Lizard Designs

Karen at Ditsy Blue

Michelle McEnroe ( 4 pieces pinned on  the AJE Pinterest page)

BEAD SOUP BLOG PARTY THE GREAT REVEAL TODAY!

Well here it is at last the day to reveal what we have made with the soup our partner or partners sent us. First I would like to thank Lori Anderson who although she has been so ill made the decision to hold the party again this year, bravo Lori.

Ok here goes my first partner was Hannah Annear her blog is at Wordpress www.quirkyhannah.wordpress.com
You can see in a post below the items both of my partners sent me. I used the piece of Labradorite to make a focal with some lovely bronze wire which I hammered and textured it could actually be used as a focal on a chain or with the addition of a pin a brooch.                                                                                                                                   

My second partner was Sarah Strover of www.beaupepys.blogspot.com 
I had a lovely assortment of items to challenge me from Sarah. First up is a necklace, the focal was most unusual, I used two of the smaller green goldstone beads above it and I really liked how the Moonstone nuggets looked with the white wash that had been used on the carving. I felt the five Ugandan paper beads gave a feeling of spring freshness to enlarge on that I made two leaves of Polymer Clay and used a couple of my round red and green clay beads for a pop of colour I finished off with some of Sarah's silvery feathers and the clasp she sent me. Oh yes I added a bit of chain and some tiny silver beads.

I made a pair of earrings with the rest of the feathers Sarah sent and a second pair with some really cute glass pepper lamp work beads.

Next I made a ribbon necklace with the Kokou seed beads ( not sure if I got the name right) I had some gold ones in my stash so added two of those and threaded them onto hand dyed silk, I could have knotted between the beads but then they couldn't be moved up or down to change the pattern so I left them free for now.

The last piece I made was a composite of Hannah Annears pretty flower Clasp and Sara's beads with the addition of some faceted Aquamarine, silver beads and bead caps and tiny freshwater pearls from my stash. I used Sarah's Kashmiri Lac bead for the focal, more of the lovely green goldstone rounds she sent me and a pair of green tree Agate beads. I put two pictures below so you can see the whole necklace with Hannah's clasp.

Well that's it for this year folks, I will be doing some giveaways, not decided what yet though if you are interested please mention you would like to be included in the draw when you leave a comment.
Thank you so much for visiting my blog, every comment is much appreciated.

Here is a link to the rest of the party, I hope will enjoy visiting some of the other blogs! 
http://www.prettythingsblog.com/2014/05/welcome-to-8th-bead-soup-blog-party.html

~Jackie~  
  

MY BLOG SOUP REVEAL TODAY!

Today is the day I can show you all that I made with the soup I was sent by my partner Jó Giorgia Rossini who comes from Italy.
I decided to see how many pieces of jewellery I could make from this soup useing just a few bits from my own stash, I ended up with eight WOW I just kept seeing more things I could use to make pendants, earrings etc.

To start with I took the clasp Jó sent me which has a piece of picture Jasper in a bezel it was a three strand clasp which did not suit what I had intended to make, an asymetrical necklace, useing a strand of Crazy Lace Agate from my stash the colour went so well! I had to use strand reducers again from my stash and blackberry beads ( my name for them ) Jó had sent some light green open work ceramic beads which I felt went just right to add a splash of colour and a sweet little butterfly, the necklace reminds me of the sandy burrows near us which sweep down to the sea it is a nature reserve, full of orchids and other flora in season and many wild creatures live there.

The second thing I made was a bracelet, there were some interesting red beads which I picked out and other smaller beads in more neutral colours also a couple of large gold colour beads and a gold leaf, the lobster clasp I added so that was my bracelet!

A large greenish bead was next I took some silver colour wire and just went a bit loopy I embellished it with some little circles of green Mother of Pearl and a peach colour star, now its all ready for a chain or cord

The open copper heart was next! Among the things Jó sent were a pair of pretty brass hearts I added some chain and a copper freshwater pearl heart from my stash and ended up with this sweet Chained Hearts pendant

Next came a pair of earrings these glass beads reminded me of toffee whirls I used to get given as a child so I had to use them as earrings, I think they are fun!
                                                                     

Another necklace was a must from Jó's pretty green beads, I added the gold spacers and most of a strand of raspberry pearls and the clasp a rope wrapped S hook, the raspberry pearls match the little pink spots/flowers on the three long green beads, I think it turned out rather pretty!
                                                                 

Nearly there now only two more to go, the next thing I used was an unusual filigree Jó had sent me I call it Bambi, looking at the picture you will see why! So I got out my clay and voilá, I think it worked quite well.

                                                                        I thought I was finished until I spied this piece of stripy Agate? Well I had to use it, there was a red glass bead left with a flower on it and one red drop so I reached for the wire and made a little pendant, I think I will just hang it from some lovely silk sari cord doubled up and knotted.

If you like any of these items please get in touch as I will be selling them, there will also be a surprise giveaway or maybe more.  If you would like to follow my blog it will all be revealed on the 25th August....!!!

Please go here to visit all the other participans in the 11th August Blog Soup Reveal

http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/participants-of-6th-bead-soup-blog.html

Featured artist!

I am todays featured artist on Cyndi Lavin's blog Beading Arts http://www.beading-arts.com/ hop on over and take a look! Cyndi has a great blog this month she is featuring Polymer clay artists.

The Ganoksin Exhibition

The Ganoksin Exhibition Beauty Is In The Eye of the Beholder, went online this month it is curated by Beth Wicker. The exhibition showcases 247 images chosen from entries from over 55 artists representing North America, South America, Europe, Australia, Central America, Africa and Eurasia.

 

The drive to adorn the human body is surely as old as human kind. From pre-historic times this drive has led humans to use the materials at hand, combined with the technologies and tools available, to create objects to adorn the human body. The oldest jewelry found to date goes back to at least 75,000 years ago in Africa.

Early jewelry was made of bones, shells, sticks, and whatever other materials the people could find and shape. Over time the ability to mine and shape metal developed, and jewelry was made from bronze, silver, gold, platinum and other metals. Gold has long been thought of as a "precious" metal, and today it is joined by silver and platinum as the three main materials modern jewelry is made from.  While much jewelry today is made from these three main metals, a large body of jewelry world-wide is still made from a much wider range of materials. This exhibition, "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder", focuses on jewelry made primarily of materials other than gold, platinum and silver.

Jewelers today are still using found objects such as shell and bone; they are using "green" materials - upcycled and recycled objects and materials; they are using cutting edge plastics and newly developed technology; and they are using older metals such as copper, brass and bronze.

Some of the more unusual materials include vinyl LP's, velvet, VCR components, rattlesnake vertebrae, corian, canvas, paper, crab claws, magnets, synthetic rubber electrical insulation tubing, and aluminum grounding wire.

More traditional materials used include copper, bronze, brass, glass, various types of wood, gemstones, pearls and seeds.

Techniques range from traditional metalsmithing, through a range of beading techniques, textile techniques, photography techniques and cutting edge industrial fabrication.

Participants range from professional jewelers with international reputations to students just learning their craft.

Hosted on the Ganoksin website, the world's largest internet site devoted to jewelry- related topics, the exhibition is a snapshot of what jewelers around the world are exploring, and an inspiration to all. The exhibition was conceived Beth Wicker, an artist from South Carolina, in the USA, and curated by Beth and Hanuman Aspler, founder of the Ganoksin Project.

Beauty Is In the Eye of the Beholderhttp://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/beb

I had three necklaces accepted Lily Pads, Princess and Plum Blossom; they are below if you would like to see them.

 

  

 

Coping with the high cost of silver and gold

Reading my friend Lori's blog sparked my idea to write some musing on this subject from my perspective. I used to make art jewellery pieces up until a couple of years ago with sterling silver armatures wrapped with very fine silver wire, I developed my own style and things went well, but with the constantly rising cost of silver I began to question where I was going, add the gemstones etc, etc and expenses rose, yes it was fun to create, especially as I enjoy making as many parts of a design as I can apart from the gemstones obviously I leave that to mother nature.

Then a few years back I was introduced to Premo Polymer clay, its a bit like paint in solid form I thought so I was hooked. I took a few tutorials to begin with, then as usual I meandered off on my own. Many years ago I worked with clay but this was different I had colour now and many more colours could be mixed from the basics! So I made many different items from small sculptures to jewellery, which is now my preference.

Polymer clay it would seem has come into its own and is no longer considered the outsider but is sold in prestigious galleries, there are museum collections and displays of jewellery it has finally made it!

Last year I got to thinking how wonderful it would be to work with gold clay that I could shape into my own designs for necklaces and pendants, a lovely setting for beautiful Jaspers, Agates and Gemstones etc so working from my original sketches; I spent the next six months building a collection of art necklaces and pendants based in the gold polymer clay.

The Inspiration; water plays a large part in my life as I live close to the ocean, enjoy lakes and streams, with reeds and swans, the ponds in our garden. Trees are important to me, also mosses and ferns, each piece of jewellery I sketch has an inspiration in nature and the natural world around me. Sometimes it is a shape I want to capture or maybe a beautiful Jasper cab inspires a picture.

So my problem seems to be solved, I no longer need large quantities of silver or gold metal and I am excited with all the new possibilities this new direction has given me.

This collection will be available when we have finished updating the web site.

Opal necklaces

It seems ages since I have been able to write anything on the blog, or even go to peek at what everyone is doing at the moment. The web site is still unfinished, but we now have a nice new panelled front door frame and the door has been repainted. Lara and I have been working hard in the garden clearing brambles that have come in from next door, ready for the fencing. This holiday weekend all three of us have been working hard cutting back and clearing, clearing, clearing, getting ready for the new fences to go up hopefully in two to three weeks time


I have completed two necklaces both with opals set in gold polymer clay they are in an antique style. I start with sketches, then make templates, I really enjoyed making these just not quite as much as creating the Pandora's lol.

The double strand necklace has a piece of boulder opal set in the focal which has sculpted ends the fantastic iridescent enameled effect was achieved with mica powders, I love using these! The beads are Amazonite and a beautiful Brazilian Amazonite it is such a wonderful colour very soft teal/aqua, almost the last of my white baroque pearls and glass beads that were just a perfect colour, it drapes well and looks lovely on.


The second necklace is quite unusual as it is in three pieces not quite as I envisaged it in the beginning though! Two lovely pieces of boulder opal grace the side panels and an opal triplet the central panel, you can't really see the colours opal is so difficult to photograph, but they are beautiful. I used the mica powders again on the sculpted pieces to give an iridescent enamel effect. The gemstones for the necklace are Apatite bricks with yellow Fluorite rounds and Apatite chips with glass beads to link the pieces together.


I adore the colours in these two necklaces as I live by the sea it just reflects the wonderful tones and shades of the ocean seen from my window on any day. These are not on the web site as yet I thought I would preview them here first, what do you think I would love to hear from you?

Pandora

Lara and I went to see the film Avatar in 3D earlier this year, I loved the concept of an unspoiled planet full of natural wonders, we bought the hardback book Avatar to share between us a few weeks later and although not a thick book it was interesting and gave some insight into the design and making of the film. The use of colours intrigued me as did the idea of floating mountains in fact I found it all quite enchanting.

Since then I have been working on my Pandora collection of pendants and necklaces inspired by the strangely beautiful alien world of Pandora. Sculpted in Polymer clay, the photos don't really show them to best effect as they are dusted with interference and mica powders to add that special iridescence the pendants and necklaces were exciting and intricate to design I really enjoyed making them, so I thought I would share some of them with you, I hope you like them to!