And the winner is....

Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment/share my post! :)

The winner of these awesome earrings - inspired by Artist/Teacher Stacie Florer is....

Susan Marling!

Susan - please contact me via email (pattivan@comcast.net) with your snail mail address and I will get these out to you right away!

Even though it is Monday ... have a great day!

Patti

New stuff....and a Giveaway!

I have been trying new things lately...and I am LOVING it!  Like this toggle clasp..

Stone Rust Charcoal 

The gorgeous beads above are made by Jody Brimhall (Inspire Glass Studio on Etsy) . I am going to make more of these toggles...in copper and silver.  They have more punch than a wire clasp - which I still love to make!

I made a necklace this week and posted progress photos on Facebook.  I bought a set of "orphan lampwork beads" from Jody as well - each bead was different from the next - but each was a piece of art in my mind's eye so I could not justify breaking up the set.  I envisioned a double strand necklace, but I only had 20 lampwork beads.  I also did not want an extremely heavy necklace.  I had recently finished a DVD from Cassie Donlen - "Metal Jewelry Making with a Micro Torch".  Now, I have taken a soldering class (bad teacher...remember? I won't even link to that blog post because memories of the teacher give me a headache)!  I also have a few other DVD's...I watch these videos for the TIPS!  Each artist has different tips on doing this...or doing that.  And that's what makes the video worth the money to me!  Cassie did an excellent job!

Anyway, one of her projects was a toggle clasp made from fused silver - I digressed a bit and instead made these connectors for my double strand necklace:

I soldered some links from 14 gauge wire.  Now, I have copper solder, but I don't like the color I achieve.  So, I used silver solder and in an effort to cover up the silver, I simply coiled some copper wire on top- I love how these turned out!  It gave the piece incredible texture...which I cannot get enough of!

I made a smaller version of the connectors for the clasp.  And there is that "ladder chain" again!!

Can you see why I did not want to separate these beads?  So pretty!  

I love how this turned out - and it sold already....always a plus!

I loved these connectors so much, that I ventured into making some bangles.  So, I got out my 10 gauge copper (thick!!) and made a set of three bangles.

I will be making more of these - so much fun!

So, Stacie Florer had a tutorial in Bel Armoire Jewelry using thin gauge sheet metal to make earrings.  Stacie is an awesome teacher and I cannot wait until September, as I will be taking another class from her at artBLISS.  Anyway, these are the earrings I made from her tutorial:

SO LIGHTWEIGHT!!  The bottom disc is sterling silver - the top disc is copper, which has been fold-formed.  There is incredible texture on these earrings!  I placed an eyelet at the top, and two rivets on each earring.

Thanks for the tut Stacie!  

Would you like to win these earrings?  Very simple - 

Just do one (or all) of the following and LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT ON MY BLOG for each:

1) Leave a comment

2) Become a follower of my blog - or leave a separate comment telling me you are already a follower

3) Post a link to my blog to Face Book about the giveaway.

I will pick a winner on Monday - July 1st.

Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!

Patti

Echo Creative Club - July 2013

I am so very excited!  Jeannie asked me to be a participant in her July hop for the Echo Creative Club!  Jeannie sends the participant one of her art beads, hopefully a beautiful design will be made, and the participants post the design to their blog on July 25th.

I asked Jeannie to send me some of her Fractured Art Beads - any color, because quite frankly, each color is fabulous!  

Now, if you have never received beads from Jeannie - you are in for a treat...because her packaging is art within art!  This is what was inside the envelope...

Jeannie is not only a polymer clay bead artist and fabulous jewelry designer - but she also a Mixed Media Artist.  I am NOT Mixed Media artist, so my terminology is limited, but, she "made" that box above!

My beads were wrapped in this most awesome tissue paper, I mean, it says CHOCOLAT people!!!   How appropriate!  My two favorite things...beads and chocolate!

These are the beads Jeannie sent me and they are so beautiful!  I already have an idea  in mind...

I am not a stranger to Jeannie's art beads....I have made several pieces of jewelry in the past,  some off which I remembered to take a picture!

Please visit Jeannie's website to view her most awesome jewelry designs, words of wisdom from her blog, and her of course, her glorious beads!  I will post my final design on July 25th!

Thanks for stopping by...have a great day!

Patti

What's New?

In my last post, I showed pics of a new handmade chain I made in copper. I must stress that this is only new to me!  I have since made the chain in silver, too.  It starts with "links" that look just like cotter pins....

You can see my measurement markings on these cotter pins....

The pins are then shaped into links like these...

I really love this look!

This chain technique was taxing!  I used 16 gauge wire again and trying to wrap the two loops together in one fell swoop to create a "perfect loop" was not as easy as I thought it would be!  But it is fun!

The chain above was used in a completed project for an upcoming blog hop (the Black and White Hop hosted by Sally Russick...I love her!)  Anyway, I can't show you the entire project just yet.  

But, I have also mentioned that I felt I was in a rut, so I have been playing around with sheet metal and different wiring techniques (only different to me of course!)  I came up with these earrings.

First off are the gorgeous lampwork beads by LazyCatBeads - so pretty!  It is not just the colors she used - but the hand faceting into a nugget shapes creates so much dimension! What I like about these earrings is that there are no unfinished "ends" to the wire.  I really like these and must make more!

I made the copper toggle clasp above from copper sheet and played around with my tools, too!  I finally used my dapping punch to create this really cool texture on the clasp!

These beautiful beads are also from LazyCatBeads.

I really love how this turned out!  I have made a few other toggle clasps and bracelets, but they are patiently awaiting their oxidation bath, buff and tumble.

I had some really pretty square lampwork disc beads - which I lucky enough to win from Alice a while back (thank you Alice!).  I was stumped on how to use them - other than my usual just "simply wire them and dangle from an ear wire".  So, I did this instead...

I was not exactly smitten with this design at first - no particular reason.  But then I oxidized, buffed, and tumbled and I do like them now!  They are so lightweight!

I have so much stock in my Etsy store - I was prepping for Spring shows and went way overboard.  So, I listed, and listed, and listed - and there is still more to list!  So, I am having a 20% off sale for a week or two to hopefully move some items out to make room for more.

This weekend I am attending the baby shower for my niece (I still cannot believe she is having TWINS!)  These are the first "Grand Nieces" to enter the Vanderbloemen family - we are excited to say the least!  

Hope you all enjoy your weekend - thanks so much for stopping by!

Patti

Java Bead

Java Bead - Two of my favorite things combined into one name! :) Russ Powers - husband to fabulous jewelry designer Dhea Powers - combines some of the most beautiful colors and makes fabulous lampwork beads - FABULOUS!  I have made quite a few bracelets from their beads and over the course of the past two days ( half an hour here, an hour there...) I made necklace from their beads.  I posted a few "in process" photos to Face Book.

Russ' beads are made from borosilicate glass rods and the detail is simply amazing!  See the "webbing" in those beads?!  I love this!

I wanted so very much to do something different.  I oftentimes feel like my jewelry "all looks the same" except for the fabulous beads, of course!  So I was on a mission to find a new chain or link to create.  I saw a picture of some Vintaj ladder chain and thought, there has to be a tutorial out there for this chain!  I could not find one so I just played around a bit with some copper wire until I arrived at the best length and gauge to work with.  18 gauge proved too thin for me, so I used 16 gauge wire.

What I like most about the chain is that it is truly sturdy - each link is connected to the next link - not just attached via a jump ring.  And the 16 gauge wire really makes it feel substantial, too.

I added two hand rolled cocoon beads for a little more interest.  Quite frankly, the liver of sulfur bath and the subsequent buffing -- plus a couple of hours in the tumbler -- is what really made this necklace shine for me!

I have already started a second chain in silver and feel like I actually accomplished something new (new to me, that is)!

Hope everyone is hunkered down away from the nasty weather that appears to be plaguing most of the Country these days (fires, tornadoes, excessive rainfall)...ugh.. Please stay safe!

Thanks for stopping by!