I Heart Macro

I am a bird lover, for sure.  I have 9 bird feeders in my backyard and nothing gives me more joy than to see the feeders FULL of beautiful birds, feasting on a snack while on their way to their next destination.

But let's face it....it's January and the colorful gold finches are not rushing to my feeders lately.  So, my macro came from this cute little hand painted (not by me!) bird house that sits in my kitchen, next to my windows where the real birds are flying free.

Thanks for stopping by!

Art Bead Scene Challenge - January 2012

Trellis by William Morris, 1862

This is my first attempt at creating a piece of jewelry based on artwork selected by the Art Bead Scene.  It is a beautiful wallpaper design entitled Trellis and designed by William Morris.  I LOVE these colors together!  The beautiful moss green with pops of orange and yellow....well, just lovely!

The first thing I did was look at my ever-growing bead stash - I was searching for a bead with a bird, or an enameled bird.  The only birds I had on hand were dragonflies.  But then.... I found one of my lamp work eggs that I have been hoarding, made by the talented Kelley Wenzel. It is the PERFECT shade of green and it had flecks of yellow!!  How awesome for me! It was close enough because really, what DID come first, the egg or the bird????

As it so happens, I also found some additional lamp work beads in the same shade of green also made by Kelley. As my search for additional components continued, I happened upon the gorgeous clasp you see in the picture above, made by Cassie Donlen.  I have been waiting for just the right piece to use this clasp.  Personally, I could just keep it on my bead table and stare at it all day long.  I mean, she etched the copper, hand cut the form, added the awesome patina, and she even added riveted elements!  Such talent!  Here is a another picture of the toggle clasp:

I knew the piece still needed some sort of focal and I wanted to capture the leaves.  So, I wire-wrapped a few enameled pieces together, starting with the gorgeous brown enameled maple leaf, made by Anne Gardanne, an enameled flower charm by Sue Kennedy (more pops of yellow!) and an enameled headpin made by the Enameling Queen herself, Barbara Lewis.   I was a winner in one of her blogging book tours this fall and I was excited to use that head pin!

Additionally, since I did not have a bird bead or charm, I made the wired bead components in a "messy wrap style" to loosely resemble a bird's nest.  I DID say loosely resemble, as I realize that they are not truly a bird's nest shape! 

Finally, I HAD to use this awesome copper leaf chain by Ad Adornments.  I do love this fringe chain! Leaves!! Here is my finished piece:

I had so much fun with this challenge.  I hope to keep it up throughout the rest of the year!

Thank you so much for stopping by my little world!