Inspired Adornments

Friday, August 31, 2012

Playing with Tutorials

I've only taken a few actual jewelry-making workshops. Most of those have involved elements of fire that I don't feel comfortable just experimenting without the watchful eye of someone who knows what they are doing. When I started making jewelry, I relied on books and on-line tutorials to learn new skills and techniques. Of course, being one that doesn't follow directions very well, I'd often end up learning something totally new along with the skill I had set out to learn. (This is why I don't bake, folks.)

I ran across two great tutorials recently and thought I'd try them out. Both tutorials are fantastic and I highly recommend them to anyone looking to expand their skill set.

The first one is from The Gossiping Goddess. It is for a Double Strand Seed Bead and Jump Ring Bracelet. It is an easy technique and an incredibly BRILLIANT idea. I absolutely LOVE the way the double strand of beads interlock and look almost woven - but there's no bead weaving involved here (or else I wouldn't be doing it - I also have no patience).

I took the concept and did a partial strand using small Czech glass Picasso beads (a favorite of mine), added a few vintage lucide beads and some czech glass, a pretty focal by Round Rabbit Extra, then finished off with the same bead series on the other end. I love it and I can't wait to play with this concept even more.

I also watched a couple of video tutorials from Lorelei Eurto. Lorelei make fun video tutes and I suggest you take a look on her blog for more of her fun tutes. There's lots to learn here and her blog is inspiring as well. (And, OH, the eye candy!!!)

Lorelei did 3 tutes - 2 on basic knotting of linen cord and one on stringing and knotting lampwork disks. I just happened to buy some lovely lampwork disks from Veda's Beads and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them yet. I watched the tute and, voila, I had my answer. I ended up making 2 very different pieces. This technique is so versatile that I'll be using it quite a bit in my future, I'm sure.

The blue disks are from Veda's Beads as it the glass bead on top of the focal, the pendant is from Jade Scott and the adorable lampwork owl is something I got at the Pasadena Bead Show and (I'll be damned if I can find the name of the artist. I used a deep red linen cord and included some indonesian glass beads and some lucite flowers.

The second piece I made is completely different and I totally love it. The beautiful glass poppy is from Tanya McGuire, a lovely bunch of Orange Chalcodony gemstones and some Lumpy Bumpy beads from Tanya. I used the same red waxed linen and strung the whole thing on a soft suede cord.

And, just for kicks, here's another little piece I made the other day with a lovely little house from Elukka who makes the most charming ceramic houses, owls and other adorable goodness. That lovely red matt glass bead is from Veda's Beads and there's lot of other goodies involved including My Elements Pixies, some Indonesian Glass, some dyed coral (I think) and red leather. After I made this piece, I decided this was a little boat house on the ocean and I wanted to go there immediately.

That's all for now! But, look for the Challenge of Travel tomorrow. There are 3 pieces that are COMPLETELY different from these.

Lisa

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Jewelry Designs from Nature Challenge

A month or so ago, I was lucky enough to be chosen to an Art Bead Scene blog challenge. The reveal date is today and I have my pretty necklace to share with you. But first, a bit about this challenge and my inspiration.

The concept of the challenge was inspired by Heather Powers' awesome book Jewelry Designs from Nature and to celebrate now that it's out making its way into the big craft stores like Hobby Lobby and Michaels. . (You can buy the book from one of my favorite stores - Ornamentea.)

I have spent literally HOURS thumbing through this book resulting in loads of inspiration for jewelry projects. Heather uses some of her own amazing Humblebeads as well as lots of art beads from other artists. It is a book that is right up my own alley.

10 winners were sent a packet and had a few weeks to create a piece of jewelry inspired by their packets. There will also be a voting for your favorite challenge piece during the blog hop with a giveaway of beads from the book!

The Challenge Packet Contents:

1. A few Humblebeads featured in the book
2. A nature-inspired poem
3. A photo for color and design inspiration

The packets will be themed and I could have gotten a garden, woodlands or sea set! I ended up with a woodlands packet. Whoo hoo!!!

It included a lovely photo, a woodlands-themed Humblebead pendant and a poem by Robert Frost. Here's the poem:

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Robert Frost

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold,

Her earl leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

Next to the crepuscular blue of twilight, the golden light of morning is my favorite (even though I don't see it very often - I'm NOT a morning person).

But, I am all to familiar to that fleeting sense of light that goes quickly from a soft glow to a the bright blue and orange of morning. I DO see a lot of this harsher, but still invigorating light.

My piece was meant to invoke the feeling of waking up at the crack of dawn and seeing nature unfold before my eyes. The pale blues of the sky only serve to contrast with the golden light (and the golden buds on the tree branches in the picture.

I used a lot of czech glass, some vintage chain, a few lucite flowers and a patina butterfly that I created. I love the way it turned out! It's a piece that is much "prettier" than the pieces I've made lately.

I'll have to come back tomorrow and add in a list of other blogs where artists are going to be showing off their creations. Or you can visit the ABS blog and see if the links are up there. Meanwhile, enjoy the fleeting bits of gold - because it cannot stay for very long.

Enjoy this blog hop. I'm sure looking forward to it!

Lisa

Here are the participants!

Lisa Cone
Cece Comier
Amy Severino
Shelby Foxwell
Alicia Marinache
Keirsten Giles
Marlene Brady
Marlene Cupo
Sharon Palac - coming soon

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Silk Color Palette - Marsha Neal Challenge

I should be dealing with the piles of papers I have just sorted, however seeing that Marsha Neal has this silk color challenge going on, I thought that would be MUCH more fun to do tonight than sort.

I've been obsessed with landscaping. We've just ripped out our yucky front and side yard and will be installing a California Native (and water-wise) garden over the next few months. My landscape color palette is Orange, Purple and Chartreuse with bits of grays and greens thrown in. So, of COURSE that inspired my color palette for this challenge.

I LOVE this combination and it works so well with the style of my 1927 Spanish Revival Bungalow. Now I want to hang long strands of these silk colors from the front porch to act as outdoor curtains! What a wild idea (and not in any way practical).

Oh, look at all those papers strewn over my bed. I'd better get back to work!

Giveaway Alert

Giveaway alert!

Three, yes THREE beautiful sets of art beads are being given away over on Lorelei's Blog.

I've thrown my name in the hat to win. You should too!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

New Blog Challenge - Jewelry Designs from Nature

Just when I needed a reason to get back to my bead table, I get chosen for a fantastic challenge!

One of my (almost) daily blog reads is the fantastic Art Bead Scene blog. Heather Powers of Humblebeads has based this challenge he beautiful book Jewelry Designs from Nature.

Here's what the 10 participants will be doing (and YAY, I'm one of them!)

This is a creative blog challenge. 10 winners will be sent a packet and have a few weeks to create a piece of jewelry inspired by their packets. On July 6th we'll have a blog hop featuring the results. We'll also have voting for your favorite challenge piece during the blog hop and giveaway beads from the book!
The Challenge:
I'm going to pick 10 participants randomly from the comments below. Each participant will receive a packet that contains:
1. A few Humblebeads featured in the book2. A nature-inspired poem3. A photo for color and design inspiration
The packets will be themed and you could get a garden, woodlands or sea set!

I'll take some photos of whatever I get in my packet. I'm excited to see where this will take me!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Spring Shows Galore

I've been a little crazy prepping for 4 upcoming shows I have on my schedule.

First up THIS SUNDAY is the wonderful Patchwork Indie Arts and Craft Festival.

This is followed a week later by the Patchwork Santa Ana in their NEW location is a really cool area of Santa Ana.

Then on June 1st and 2nd is the Uptown Village Market.

This is a show I am Presenting and Coordinating with the Expo Arts Center and Bella Cosa Boutique. We did our first show in December and it was jam packed! We've got a LOT of really great vendors this year and we've already got some wonderful press rolling in.

I just hope I have enough jewelry and accessories to last through 4 shows! Finding studio time has been a challenge lately. PreFurred Pet Care (my other company) is doing quite well, but that means it is taking up a great deal of time. I can't complain about success, though.

So, if you're local to Southern California, come out and see me at one of these shows! I've got a whole new bunch of lovelies that are just waiting to find homes with people who appreciate one-of-a-kind art jewelry.

See you soon!

Lisa

Monday, April 23, 2012

Bracelet Challenge

Tracy over at Making Bracelets Blog put together an idea for a great blog hop. Bracelet stacks are super trendy at the moment and it's a trend that keeps going. We were challenged to create a bracelet stack using bracelets we made combined with bracelets we already had (not necessarily our own designs).

There are 80 participants in this hop! This time I'm presenting it to you semi low tech. I'm out in Joshua Tree (again) and am almost completely off the grid. I have no wifi but a few bars of coverage on my phone, so please pardon the iPhone photos and short descriptions (and the photos that I can't place in the appropriate location). [Edit - I'm back home so I fixed things.]

My starting point for the challenge was 3 fabulous bakelite bracelets my wonderful husband got me for my birthday. Scrumptious colors, aren't they?

From there it was just pilfering my stash for beads and components to modernize the look. There are several styles here and I've been quite bracelet addicted recently, so I keep coming up with new styles to make.