Friday, October 19, 2012

The Do Over Challenge Blog Hop

Jeannie Dukic is hosting this fun challenge - she sends what she describes as "an old, tired, boring piece of her jewelry " with instructions to  "work  your magic and turn it into something beautiful and amazing".  The only requirement is to use at least 50% of the beads - and we are allowed to add beads from our own stash.

I must digress for just a moment to mention that Jeannie is truly one of the most creative and talented designers that I have come across.  She creates beautiful art beads from polymer clay, and her jewelry designs are sophisticated and down right gorgeous!  She is also a mixed-media artist...SO.MUCH.TALENT.
This is a picture from Jeannie's blog  - which features her handmade pendants and beads - a GORGEOUS braclet, indeed!!
Okay, back to the deal at hand.  Jeannie sent me a 49" (THAT'S FORTY-NINE INCHES!) strand of beautiful carnelian and golden jade beads, which she had strung into a lariat:
This is really a beautiful mix of colors and the lariat included two very nice drops that terminate the necklace.  Now, my first thought was to take the carnelian drops and make very simple earrings.  But, since attending ArtBliss last month and having a wonderful heart-to-heart conversation with the inspirational Stacie Florer - I really wanted to "step outside of my comfort zone", "follow my instincts", and do something different.

So, I punched out some copper discs, which I then textured with one of my hammers, and soldered tiny silver bezels onto the discs.  I set two tiny amber cabachons into the bezels, and then I strung some of the carnelian and golden jade to the discs.  The earrings hang from handmade, sterling earwires.
I still had 48 1/2" of beads to use up!  So, I wanted to make a multi-strand bracelet - but again - I wanted it to be a little different from what I would normally do.  I headed to my disgustingly huge stash of art beads and found two copper paisly cone endcaps handmade by the talented Kristi Bowman (her work is AMAZING!).  I also recently purchased the most awesome handmade twisted copper clasps by Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp.  Both of these woman are so multi-talented in both their jewelry and component designs, and I am so happy that I found their shops! These two handmade copper elements were meant for each other!
The bracelet was "okay" - I mean all the elements were there, but it was missing something.  So, I got out my sheet metal and chased, and folded, and formed, etc....until I came up with this nifty little piece that works amazingly well as a focal.
The bracelet spent an inordinate amount of time in my tumbler to work harden the focal - and believe me - it is work hardened!  I added a a coat of Permalac and Renaissance Wax to protect the finish.

This is truly the most comfortable multi-strand bracelet to wear!  I like it! :)
Thank you so much Jeannie for aiding me in pushing my self out of my doldrum, every-day designs!  I HAD A BLAST!

Please be sure to visit all the participans in this fun challenge!  And, I thank you for stopping by and taking the time to leave comments!


Miranda Ackerley http://mirandack.com/
Patti Vanderbloemen http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com/ - That's Me!

27 comments:

  1. Patti, I have no words. You are brilliant! Those little bezels in the earrings are sweetly nestled in the copper disks you made. So Cool! I love the added components from the other talented ladies. Your focal is genius and perfectly compliments Kristi's end caps and Marie's clasp. You rocked it Gurl!

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  2. Absolutely gorgeous Patti. Love those copper and bezel earrings and the focal and all the wonderful copper on the bracelet. What an incredible makeover!!

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  3. You got a great piece to work with and you did a beautiful job. I love that copper focal and my end caps are perfection in your design. I don't see them used very often and I love what you did!!

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  4. Wow, you really stepped out of the box with this challange! I love the earrings, and the bracelet is just gorgeous! Your fold formed addition was just perfect.

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  5. That is just lovely! your new love of metal work is inspiring. You are truly the QUEEN of bracelets Patti, keep up the great work!

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  6. I am totally impressed - beautiful pieces & mad skills!

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  7. Gosh, Patti...you embraced this challenge and created such beautiful pieces! Truly inspiring.

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  8. You did an amazing job. I just love the earrings. I would love to make metal components like that one day.You were sent such a nice piece to begin with. The carnelian and copper look great together.

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  9. Gorgeous! Carnelian is one of my favorite stones - so lush - and your designs are beautiful.

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  10. I totally LOVE it!! The earrings are amazing and that bracelet is delish!! I love that you used one of my hooks, it really does look like it belongs there :)

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  11. Patti - you did an amazing job. Love, love the earrings with those disks. The focal on the bracelet - just beautiful!!

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  12. Wow, love what you did with the copper. I would have made earrings as well, but I only had one bead left.

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  13. That bracelet is just gorgeous. Those colors are so very Autumn. Great job on the focal. Earrings are sooo cute too. Copper anything seems to be my favorite.

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  14. Yummy!! I love the fold formed copper focal and the end pieces, it works so great with the carnelian and golden jade beads.

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  15. Such LOVELY's Cant decide which I like more. Those earring are enough for me to get my ears pierced!

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  16. Look at you, getting all fancy with the bezel cups and foldforming! These pieces rock, Ms. Patti!

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  17. Wow I want to grow up and do jewelry just like you!

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  18. What an incredible job you did. Seriously, I don't even care for orangey shades usually and I absolutely love what you made! Super impressed

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  19. I love your folding work. I am getting out my snips as we speak! Beautiful piece.

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  20. Both the earrings and the bracelet are works of art. The focal is stunning. You did an amazing job!

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  21. I just adore your Do Over pieces, they are fabulous, such warm inviting autumn colours...my kinda style!

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  22. Patti, you were one lucky lady - that carnelian is awesome. And you did it justice: both pieces are beautifully designed and look absolutely stunning! They are warm, unique, perfect - love your work! As I said to Rita: you, ladies, are an inspiration.

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  23. The bracelet and earrings are fantastic! I love the copper piece on the bracelet. Stepping outside my comfort zone is something I need to do more often. As your pieces show, it really is amazing what you can create when you do!

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  24. Patti, omg you did an amazing job!!! The beads you had to work with were awesome!!! I just LOVE those earrings! Those copper disks you did are gorgeous!!! And I LOVE that bracelet! The focal is amazing! You truly added a bit of yourself in the new pieces! Fantastic job!!! =)

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  25. Wow, so gorgeous and I love the focal piece you created for your muli-strand bracelet. Beautiful work!

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  26. Patti, love what you did with Jeanne's Do-Over piece. I happen to love Carnelian so it was nice to see the different ways you incorporated them in to your designs. And way to go - using some of the techniques you learned at artBLISS - it is so cool to see them in your designs. One of these days I'd love to give fold forming a try myself!

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  27. Wow Patti! What a fun challenge. I especially like the bracelet. The focal piece makes me want to try fold forming. The way all of the copper components work together with the carnelian is stunning!

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