What do Skye Jewels and Outwest have in common?

I'll tell you what they have in common - two beautiful pieces of art that stand on their own but combine to form a perfect color combination!

I am anxiously awaiting my copy of Cindy Wimmer's new book The Missing Link.  I admire Cindy's mastery of wire, and I have read rave reviews, too! In the meantime, I was playing with a gorgeous tile I have handmade by Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp of Skye Jewels and More Skye Jewels.  It is of a beautiful tree with subtle tones of purple, gorgeous yellows and greens.  I have many of her tiles...some with holes, some without.  I keep them in a pretty little ceramic bowl on my bench, which I bought from Jennifer Jangles...pretty artwork in a pretty bowl.  Anyway, I wrapped the tile in a Vintaj filigree component.  I then went to my enormous bead stash and found a perfect color match of lampwork from Julie of Outwest - and I mean perfect!

I wired up the beads and decided that I needed a new link to incorporate into this necklace.  So, I coiled up some 20 gauge copper, strung it on a length of 16 gauge copper, and wrapped it.  I loved this link!  But, could I duplicate it?  Amazingly, I did...three times!

The necklace terminates with a little bit of handmade chain.

The picture below is of the necklace before I added Marie's focal.

And, after:

The colors are so perfect together!  I wonder, did Julie and Marie collaborate on their color selections?

Newsflash - it is still Summer in Northern Virginia.  I listened to the meteorologist today remind me of that fact.  It has been a glorious 5 days here - no humidity, temperatures in the 70's.  Even the rain yesterday was palatable, as it only hit 70 degrees.  Alas, good times are over as it will be close to 90 degrees for the foreseeable future.  Oh well..

I hope you enjoy your week! Thank you so much stopping by!

Patti

Progress via a Gift

Since my jewelry class debacle (I posted about it here), I have decided to brush off the negativity and put the soldering tips I learned to use.

I have had a friend via "the Internet" for many, many years now.  She is a very special person who has been going through some tough times lately.  She had a stroke last August, actually - two strokes - and she has been progressing wonderfully.  During this terrible time, her father was diagnosed with Cancer.  Having gone through this dreadful disease with my late father 8 years ago, I know all too well what she is going through.

She is one Tough Broad - in a good way (I would love to be called a Tough Broad!)  She is dealing with these emotional and physical hardships in the most beautiful way, and I am awestruck by her strength and beauty.

I wanted to give her something, specifically, I wanted to make her something that would reflect how I feel.  So, I did my best and put what little skills I have to use and I made her this pendant.

It features a cabochon by, quite frankly - yes I am going to say it - my FAVORITE lampwork artist - Sue Kennedy.  I usually say "one of my favorites" - but her work truly speaks to me and if you saw the amount of my purchases of lampwork beads from etsy, the majority are from Sue!  So there...I said it!  Anyway, I stamped the words STRENGTH on the back of the pendant (can you believe I forgot to take pictures of the back! ha!)  I was lucky to find in my stash other GORGEOUS lampwork beads by the ultra talented Donna Millard - a match made in heaven!

Naturally, I completed this necklace with swirled links (again - credit for this design goes to Kerry Bogert!).  This necklace had to be 100% handmade!  I oxidized, buffed, tumbled, buffed again....

My friend has a friend who was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  I am so tired of reading about one more person stricken with this horrible, horrible disease.  My immediate thoughts ran to Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp - a way-too-young mother who was also recently stricken with the Big C.  For those of you who may not know Marie (how can you not know her work??!!), she is an extremely talented jewelry AND component designer who has bravely shared her journey via the WWW.  Marie has exhibited an awesome amount of COURAGE during her ordeal....so I made a "kind of" matching pendant for my friend's friend:

Again - a most lovely cabochon by Sue and I believe these are my favorite color combinations!  And, how befitting to augment this cabochon with yet more gorgeous lovelies in purple by Donna.

I stamped the word COURAGE on the back of this pendant (again...no pictures of the back!  Shame on me!)

I made matching earrings - swirled links for the both of them.

My heart goes to anyone who is struggling with health issues...especially Cancer.  As only an "onlooker", as in I am not there physically, I feel helpless.  But, I say my prayers and hope the Good Lord takes the utmost care for not only those who are going through the actual physical suffering, but also the caretakers - their suffering is just as real.

Thanks for stopping by today...

Thank you Christine Altmiller!

I have met some wonderful beady friends through social networking such as blogging and Facebook.  One of these very special friends is Christine Altmiller of One Kiss Creations.  It is because of Christine's co-sponsorship of a bracelet donation blog hop to the Rare Foundation's 7000 Bracelets of Hope Campaign in 2012 that I have donated many bracelets to this wonderful organization.  Thanks Christine!

 

Christine always writes the sweetest comments on my blog posts.  Recently, she commented that she loved my wire work, especially the swirled link chain that I have been obsessed with lately.  So, I wrote her back, told her to give me her address and I would send her one.  She had an even better idea - let's swap jewelry! 

 

Now, unlike Yours Truly, Christine is an extremely talented bead weaver extraordinaire. In addition to hosting and participating in several blog hops related to this gorgeous art form, she and Therese have a monthly challenge  where they use the same beads to create their own designs.  I cannot even fathom threading a needle and weaving these teeny, weeny, tiny beads to form such beautiful wearable art!  Anyway, this is what Christine made just for me!!!

 

Look at this fantastic bezel around a rock that Christine picked up at the shores of Lake Michigan!  In her own words, she "picked the rock for the sneak peak inside the opening."  How many people do you know can pick up a rock and see the gorgeous beauty?  A true artist sees the beauty in nature, as she did here!

The back of the focal is as beautiful as the front! 

The chain is stunning - it is made with garnet and citrine - in my mind, I imagined myself counting beads, dropping beads, stringing the wrong bead, becoming upset, tearing it apart...you get my drift here....

Look at this toggle!!!  In her note, Christine named all the stitches she used to create this beautiful piece and I still have no idea how she made this toggle (or any of it!)  Isn't this amazing?!

This necklace is the perfect length - and I gravitate towards darker colors as well.  It is absolutely beautiful!

Not only did I receive a stunner of a necklace, but she made me these gorgeous matching earrings which she calls "Feather Earrings" - THE PERFECT SIZE EARRINGS FOR MY LITTLE EARS! (I did not mean to shout - but I am excited!)

The best part of this "trade" is the new friendship I have formed - I am so deeply grateful - I have few "live" friends and I cherish the friendship I have formed!  I feel so blessed!

Now - I will repeat that I am not a bead weaver - so I made Christine a necklace with a gorgeous piece of jasper - landscape jasper to be exact.

 

I made the bail with the two-tone coiling technique I learned from Kerry Bogert.

I made some rolled beads (actual name is Cocoon Beads) as Christine commented that she likes those!  Of course I added some swirled links (thank you again Kerry for the tut!)

The coordinating jasper beads have a wonderful, almost tubular shape to them.

 



 

I added an awesome twisted wire copper clasp made by Marie-Noel Voyer- Cramp

I had a hard time picking an earring design...

 

So, I just sent two pair!

I made Christine's set during a very troubling period - my niece had just lost her four and a half year golden retriever Daisy.  Daisy was a very intricate part of my life.  When my first dog, Abby passed away nearly 3 years ago, Rachel had moved close by and I took care of Daisy (with my remaining boy, Sam) during the day Monday-Friday (like a doggy day care!)  Daisy became Sam's rock - as he just was not the same after losing his litter mate sister, Abby.  After Sam passed away last June, Daisy would come to keep me company twice a month - in addition to weekend jaunts with her cousins in my yard.  Her illness was quick - and the 10 days she was sick, which included surgery, was very hard on everyone in my family.  To this day, I still cry for Abby, Sam, and now Daisy.  Daisy was truly an Ambassador of Love.  There is NO LOVE like that of a Dog.  I love you Daisy - and I miss you - and I thank you for being in my life for the short time you were here!

Daisy and Sam

Thank you again Christine, and thank you for stopping by!

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!

Jeannie K Dukic http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog

Miranda Ackerley http://mirandack.com/

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

Marlene Cupo http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com/

Mary Govaars http://mlhjewelrydesigns.com/

Kelli Jacobson http://www.creativemoonjewelryandthings.com/

Dagi http://kokopellidesign.blogspot.com/

Gerry Nickerson http://gersgems1.blogspot.com/

Charlene Jacka http://clay-space.com/blog

Birgit Klughardt http://www.gitesbeads-gite.blogspot.com/

Mowse Doyle http://mowsemadethis.blogspot.com/

Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com/

Debbie Beechy http://beetique56.blogspot.com/

Cilla Watkins http://www.tellyourgirlfriends.com/

Carolyn Lawson http://carolyncreationswa.blogspot.com

Micha Sorensen http://tulipsandpine.blogspot.com

Emma Todd http://www.apolymerpenchant.com

Donetta Farrington http://simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com/

Tracy Stillman http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com/

Rita Avila http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com/

Production Time

I have stowed myself in my basement (that's where I have my studio) and have been banging away day and night.  I have some craft shows coming up in November (3 in a 2 week period!) and I need to make sure I have enough inventory.

This is some of what I have made this week:

I could wrap Donna Millard's lampwork in an old shoe string and they would still shine!  Cool twisted clasp by Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp.

I got these beads from the Art Bliss Bead Swap so I can't give credit - but here is Marie's clasp again!

Okay...so I love Marie's clasp-I admit it!

Heavy Metal Beads-learned this technique from Stacie Florer at Art Bliss - this time in silver with turquoise and wrangled into earrings

Stacie mentioned "air chasing metal" in class - I was not in her class when she demonstrated this technique. But she had a sample and I was intrigued.  So I found an article in Art Jewelry Magazine (July 2012) - I will be exploring this technique more for sure!

More of the same - after creating the earrings, I formed the curve on my ring mandrel - I love these!

 

Heavy Metal beads - in bracelet form and in silver

Stacie's Elemental Bracelet class - I made a few of these bracelets, and here are two examples.  If I could just make these bracelets every day for the rest of my life, I would be happy!  Although they look the same, each link is different: different textures, different techniques...SO.MUCH.FUN!

On Sunday, the temperature is supposed to drop to the mid-50's here in Virginia.  I.LOVE.FALL!!!  I plan on banging on more metal this weekend - I cannot tell you how satisfying this medium has been to me.  Do you have a favorite technique that "calms your nerves"?

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy your weekend!