My Last Creations....for a while

It is a very sad day for me today...I am beginning to pack up my jewelry "studio" ...well the huge mess in the unfinished basement that I lovingly call my studio.  I begin moving into my new home late next month, and it's time to pack it up.

I want to pack the correct way - I don't want to shove things in a box where they will sit for the next 2-3 months.  I want to separate and label accordingly.  Let's see if I can do that!  I figure I need at least a week to accomplish this task...maybe more.  Beads are small! :) Ugh...

I will be excited about having room to call my own.   A room with overhead lights, a painted concrete floor, an exhaust fan to help with soldering fumes....but most importantly, it will have HEAT! But, until I am there, my excitement wanes... 

So, these are the last of the items that I have posted to my Etsy this morning until I am able to resume creating in 2-3 months (sob...)

First up are these earrings.  I played with my oval disc cutter again and made oval "washers"!  Not an easy task, but it worked!  I put some texture on the rings with my rivet hammer, and wire wrapped these gorgeous, sunshine orange lampwork headpins by Sue Kennedy (Sue Beads).  These weigh next to nothing and are so comfortable!  I hope I remember to make more when my new studio is up and running!

Next up is this sterling silver  bracelet - gorgeous frosted glass from Lyndas Lampwork - I am totally in love with these colors! I added a bit of texture to the clasp with my hammer.

I just had to add that teeny tiny spacer bead by Pinocean as it perfectly matches the blue swirl in Lynda's frosted glass beads.

I pulled out these beads I purchased from Donna Millard - 10 months ago!  I am a hoarder, what can I say!  While they looked perfectly lovely sitting in my ceramic bowl on my jewelry bench, they needed to be made into a necklace.

All the colors of the rainbow here, embedded into her perfectly formed, transparent glass discs.

At my craft shows last year, longer necklaces were desired.  So this one is 33" round with no clasp - easy peasy - just slip it over your head.

Every other bead in this necklace features a double wrapped, sterling link, with large loops.

In my last post, I mentioned that I purchased a pound of 18 gauge square wire, when what I needed was 16 gauge.  So, I played around with this square wire yesterday and ended up creating twisted wire with my drill and vice. Oh my....now this is texture!  And strong wire to boot!

I actually used 16 gauge square copper wire for the jump rings and the clasp, and 18 gauge to swirl around these lovely beads by Spawn of Flame.  These beads are awesome by the way - small, but that webbed silvered ivory packs quite the punch!

Because I am moving (my last move EVER, before I hit the grave), I am having a huge sale in my Etsy shop, beginning at 12:00 today (January 22nd).  All items will be automatically marked down 30% - 30%!!!  I don't want to have to move it to the new house, and risk losing track of where it is!

During this sale, 100% of all proceeds will be donated to Miracle Horse Rescue!  I appreciate any "shares" you may do for  me on social media when I start photo-bombing my ads on Facebook.  :)

Hope everyone survived the winter storm - we have about 4 inches of snow that has decided to permanently affix itself in the form of ice around here - wicked cold!  Sarge DOES NOT like it! :)  Stay safe and warm!

Thanks for stopping by!

xo

Patti

Cabochons

I LOVE cabochons - gemstone, lampwork, polymer - all of the them.  In my attempts to practice my bezel soldering, I acquired some beautiful lampwork cabs from Sue Kennedy at Sue Beads.  Two of the classes at ArtBliss this year focused on soldering, one of them included cabs. It is so much easier to do with a teacher there!

This lampwork cab below- made by Sue - features a beautiful, transparent green glass with swirls.  In our class last year, we added silver embellishments to the design.  While I kinda like how this turned out, I see so many flaws.  I sawed around the back plate free form - intentionally. It's not perfect...I will freely admit that sawing is also something I need to work on!  I kept wishing I had a Beth or Evie McCord (EB Bead and Metalworks) as my neighbor, as I am convinced that either one of them can expertly saw anything in their sleep!

I also wanted to experiment with solder paste.  I will not be using that again too soon! LOL!  I made the silver balls from scrap fine silver and added what I thought was the tiniest amount of solder paste to the balls....there is excess solder on this backplate near those decorative balls that I just cannot remove - and I have tools for this! :)  

I am pleased with the bail, though!  Dear sweet Mom loved it - so I had some jade beads in my stash that matched this cab perfectly. So, Mom got a new necklace and earrings.

I have more cabs in my stash and I WILL GET BETTER! :) 

The next one I made is a very simple design. The colors in this glass just POP!

This was a gift for another person I know who was very recently struck with Cancer.  Have I mentioned how much I HATE the "C" word?   In November, she had a bad cough..thought it was a cold.  It was not a cold.... Prayers to her please!

This necklace had to be 100% handmade...so the link is another one of Cindy Wimmer's designs from her new book, The Missing Link.  I have made this necklace design before...for another woman struck with Cancer, and her friend whose father also suffers from this horrid disease.

I added a heart to remind her that she is loved by many.

Life is good...life is short...hug your loved ones!

Thanks for stopping by!

xo

Patti

A Little Bit of Progress

I have been diligently working on creating jewelry with the lovely beads so generously donated to me by Maryse Fritzsch-Thillens of GlassBeadArt on Etsy.  Here is what I have made so far.

I began with this pair of earrings.  LOVE the sunny colors in these beads!  They matched perfectly with a pair of lampwork headpins I recently acquired from Sue Kennedy at Sue Beads.  So, I soldered a copper jump ring, added some texture and wired these babies for earrings.

I absolutely love this next pair - I soldered more rings - this time in silver.  I am so drawn to the color blue...

The next pair are my mother's favorites - it is not often I see pure white as a base in lampwork, and I am not sure why.  But, the colors added to the beads really pop with this gorgeous background.

Peachy orange rounds - so pretty when wired in copper, don't you agree?  Lately, my earrings have been wrapped with large loops - I have been having some fun with adding texture to these loops.

More gorgeous blue - I used my texturing hammer on these - I hardly ever use this hammer and I do not know why!  Each blow of the hammer brings such nice faceting to the silver.

Pretty, deep burgundy color on these beads.  This is my first toggle soldered in this fashion - I like it!

This focal bead from Maryse matched PERFECTLY with these lovely artisan lampwork beads by Spawn of Flame (I LOVE her shop name!!!) The silver in that focal has such a cool flash of iridescent purple.

Last up is this bracelet - which gave me absolute fits!  I started this bracelet design in early December, but could not get a focal to work with the bars of silver I had formed.  Well, then I received Maryse's beads - and this one was a match made in heaven!

I twisted that 10 gauge wire at the tips - I am into texture lately, and this little twist at the ends provided just the touch I was looking for!

I have listed everything in my shop - 100% of the proceeds to be donated to Miracle Horse Rescue.

On another note, my blogging is going to be here and there for the next couple of months.  I am in the process of moving.  It's a local move, but a move none the less.  It's new construction, so I am at the mercy of Mother Nature (weather) and the Contractor.  But, we are shooting for early February.  I've done pretty well on my packing so far (Purple Heart, Good Will, and Salvation Army LOVE me).  But, I figure I need a solid week just to tackle my jewelry supplies.  I am saving that for last, as I need that creative outlet available to me when I need to de-stress.  Best part of this move is I get to relocate to an actual studio space, instead of my freezing cold, unfinished basement.  Very exciting for me!

So, if don't hear from me, it's because I am knee-deep in boxes!

Hope everyone is staying safe and warm in this deep-freeze of a Country.  Hoping all pets are warm, too!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

xo

Patti

Focus on Life - 4/52

This week's prompt from Sally Russick's "Focus on Life Challenge" is to Create Art.  While I do consider my self somewhat creative, the mediums in which I dabble are limited.  I do not draw - I do sketch jewelry designs occasionally, but they tend to fall in to the category of doodles.  I do not own paints - though many years ago, I painted bisque ceramics (this art form came from my mother).  I do not own a journal - correction - I own several journals filled with completely blank pages.  I have not picked up a crochet hook in MONTHS ... and I miss it.  But at this point in my life, my jewelry is my way expressing my art.

 

I did not want to bore you with tons of pics, so here is a collage of just a portion of what I have created this week.  

In addition to my newest love - Jasper - there are lots of artbeads above, including lampwork from Kerry Bogert, Outwest, Unicorne, JavaBead, and SueBeads.  Have I mentioned I love lampwork beads???

I am still very much involved in Kerry Bogert's Aspire to Wire e-class - a new wire project every day for 30 days.  I open my emails at 5:30 am and BAM - a new project that I cannot wait to try!

Head on over to The Studio Sublime to follow the links of this week's Challenge participants.

Thanks so much for stopping by - I love to read your comments!

AJE Earring Challenge...and Giveaway Winner!

Today is the first reveal in the Art Jewelry Elements (AJE) Challenge!  We have been challenged to make one pair of earrings per week, and to post these earrings every other Sunday.  The only requirement is to use a handmade art bead....my only problem with this is choosing which art bead to use!

First up is this pair of earrings, featuring handmade lampwork beads by Sue Kennedy of Sue Beads.  If you have read my blog, you already know that I am a HUGE lover of her beads! Not only is she a lampwork artist extraordinaire, but her enameled components are STUNNING.  But the beads I have chosen to illustrate here are so appropriate for this time of year - at least in my neck of the world (Virginia) - because they represent an escape:

Will you look at the detail in these beads!!  Sue calls them Beach Beads - and I am there in my mind right now!  I am not sure which aspect of these beads is my favorite - the sand, the beach ball represented by her murrini or the crystal blue of the water OR sky!  The bit of silver she swirled across the top could represent the stars at night - who does not love the beach at night, where the stars always look brighter than in City lights?!  I kept this design as simple as possible to highlight these gorgeous beads!

 

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I had to whip up a pair of earrings just for the occasion!  And, Unicorne Beads rose to this challenge!

  

Lovely swirls of blues and greens in these boro beads - and they are not large and heavy, as would be expected!  These beads are so lovely to look at - and wear! I have listed these beauties in my Etsy shop.

It was a busy morning for me today - I had to choose the winner of my 100th blog post Giveaway!  This bracelet - made with gorgeous purple boro beads (also from Unicorne) goes to....

Shirley Moore!!  I will be contacting you via email, Shirley, to get your mailing address!  Congratulations!

 

 

Thank you to EVERYONE who left comments for this giveaway - I was only anticipating a few and was astounded at the response!  This was so much fun that I will be having another giveaway soon!

 

Now...hop on over to the AJE Blog for links to all of the other participants in the AJE Earring Challenge!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by - and your comments are always so much appreciated!  Happy Sunday!

 



What I did over the Holiday...and Donation!

I have been trying to write this blog post since yesterday.  Blogger is having problems with Internet Explorer and uploading pictures to your Blog.  The only way I can upload pictures is by switching to HTML MODE to upload, then switching back to COMPOSE MODE to edit.  Ugh...I hope this is fixed soon, as this post took me forever!

Onward....

During the Holidays, I found some time here and there to sneak away and make a few new things.

The necklace and earrings above combine beautiful porcelain jasper, a hand-forged silver back plate, and some hand-rolled silver beads. 

 

I have not worked with gemstones in quite some time and I was excited that I could fit 18 gauge sterling through the holes in the jasper!  I over-purchased (something I need to work on) the strands of beads, so I made a a matching bracelet.  I still have an entire strand of beads left after making the necklace, earrings, and bracelet! By the way, I purchased the jasper from Dakota Stones.

I just love these green lampwork beads by Unicorne - looks just like peridot. I made three tiny dangles with matching Czech glass and wired them to one end of the bracelet.

The bracelet below is inspired by a design from the uber-talented Cindy Wimmer in Wire Style 2 - love the lampwork lentils from Unicorne!
 

The next three pictures are of a necklace I made with beads I bought from Kerry Bogert - I did not buy these at the same time, but while staring at my unending stash of beads, I noticed that they went well together.

The drop contains varying lengths of silver chain and an enameled bead cap by Sue Kennedy (an amazing lampwork artist who also makes amazing enameled components, too!

This is a rather long necklace for me - about 28 inches total - my hands were tired when I was done!

I made the bracelet and earrings below for my sister-in-law (Unicorne beads again!).  She ONLY wears gold jewelry.  I don't use gold very often, and was irritated at myself for purchasing 16 gauge 14K gold wire - I meant to purchase 18 gauge.  She is also the tiniest person I have ever met, so I made it adjustable.  In the end, it worked out....well, she said she liked it...

Yesterday, I FINALLY sat down to package up my latest donation to Ears to You (shout out to Amy Taylor Freeland at Copper Diem for introducing me to this charity-thank you Amy!)  21 pairs of earrings were mailed yesterday to this wonderful organization.  The earrings are given to women who are in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment....hopefully, they will bring a smile to their face, albeit, temporary. 

 

I still cannot believe it 2013....

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a lovely weekend!

7000 Bracelets for Hope - Blog Hop

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I am having a CYBER SALE in my shop - use code ARTJEWELRY30 to receive a 30% discount!

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This is the perfect time of year for this Blog Hop - and my friend Sue Kennedy of Sue Beads is the hostess! Bracelets are donated to the Global Genes Organization, who, in turn, pass on the bracelets to women whose children/family members are suffering from one of 7000 rare diseases.  The only requirement is that the bracelet be blue.

 

Well....since Sue volunteered to host this event, I just HAD to shop her store to get some beads! Seriously, Sue is one of my FAVORITE lamp work bead artists EVER (visit her shop here).  I recently donated 75 bracelets for the Global Genes annual event in September, and I commissioned Sue to make 50 sets of blue lamp work beads.  Each set was different...and my mailbox overflowed with some of the most beautiful beads - thank again, Sue!

 

I made three bracelets this time around.  I have been on an "entirely handmade kick" lately, so I made the toggles from a design in the book "Handcrafted Wire Findings", by Denise Peck and Jane Dickerson.

 

If I had to name this bracelet, it would be Blue Bird of Happiness.  Ceramic bird by LeAnn Weih of Summer's Studio - flanked by Sue's yummy blue disc beads.

These flower beads of Sue's have so many lovely colors!

I had an orphan Donna Millard black disc that paired well with these beads from Sue - this is my favorite color blue.

It is truly my hope that the recipients of these bracelets will know that "someone out there" is sending healing prayers and hope their way.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I love to read your comments, if you are so inclined to leave one!    In the meantime, please stop by the other participant's page and see their beautiful creations! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
 

 

SueBeads

Jewel School Friends

Silver Rose Designs

Klassy Joolz

A Half-Baked Notion

Songbeads

My Addictions...  -- You are here!

Beads: Rolling Downhill

Copper Diem

R. Baron Designs

Mirandack

Melissa Meman

Hippie Chick Design

KristiBasket - It's a New Day

A Polymer Penchant

First Impression Design

lajewelrydesigns

Becca's Place

Dreamstruck Designs

Whimsey's Wonders

Micheladas Musings

Shirley Moore

Fabric of My Life

Creative Designs by Cheri

Shaktipaj Designs

Terra Beadworks

Silver NikNats

Diane Hawkey

Carefree Jewelry By Lisa

Alankarshilpa

CianciBlue

75 Donated Bracelets - Check!

If you have read any of my past blog posts, you'll remember that I committed to creating 75 bracelets to be donated at the annual Rare Project Organizations Gala, to be held on September 27th.  (If you would like to read my original post, click here).  

I made each bracelet adjustable by attaching a length of chain to one end of the bracelet.  Each bracelet also contains an inspirational charm, ("hope", "faith", or "believe").  It is my hope that the wearer of the bracelet is prompted to remember that they are not alone, and someone out there (me!) is sending prayers to help them get through their roughest days.

 

Picture taking, well, actually, it's the editing, is not my favorite thing to do.  So, I will use this space to show you a few bracelets at a time. 

 

(Click on the images for a larger view)

 

 

Lampwork Beads by Susan Kennedy and Bronze Bracelet Connector by Lesley Watt 

Lampwork nuggets by Maryse Fritzsch-Thillens - the colors of these beads are amazing

 



Lampwork beads by Susan Kennedy I love the veining she created in the beads!

Two sets of lampwork beads (LOVE!) by Susan Kennedy

Turquoise rounds and Inspirational Bronze Bracelet Connector - by Lesley Watt

Gold filled findings, chain, etc. and Peeled Paint Polymer beads by Jeannie Dukic

One of just a few bracelets with Swarovski Crystals

Lampwork Beads by Susan Kennedy (these are gorgeous in person!)

The majority of the artisan beads were made by Sue - 50 sets of lampwork beads!  I HAD A BLAST each time I went to my mail box to find more beads!!  At first I thought I would be limited by the design (adjustable, which meant no toggle clasps or other cool clasps), but I made many of the clasps myself, or used a lobster clasp.  BUT THE BEADS...the gorgeous beads....they kept me going and I was NEVER BORED!  Every time I would finish a bracelet, it would become my new favorite!

 

Donations to the 7000 Bracelets for Hope Campaign are ALWAYS appreciated and welcomed.  If you would like to learn more about the organization, or donate a bracelet of your own, please clink on the link below.

 

 

I will be posting more pictures in the weeks to follow.  Thank you so much for stopping by!