Who
knew Michaels A&C would carry a stylish finding? Their
bronze color wire mesh bow
was irrresistible. So I paired it with a faux ivory pendant
and beaded chain I made.
Don't expect to find this finding. I think I bought them
all!
I
got a copy of "Wrap, Stitch Fold & Rivet". I
really liked Mary's "bead shelf" idea, so here's
my first bead shelf.
Her name is "Calliope".
"The
Copper & Brass Mining Company of 1917."
If you don't ask me to explain the title, I'll be happy.
I'd have to ask my muse since she titled it and she's grumpy
when questioned. ;-)
I'd like to say this project was inspired by Keith
LoBue's found object work, but since I made most of the parts in
this necklace instead of finding them, it's not too related
to his awesome art.
"Chained
Swirl Love".
Copper chain, copper heart, copper toggle clasp and a swirly
lentil polymer clay bead. The chain is approximately 25 inches.
The chainmaille pattern name escapes me at the moment. I
made up the pattern. But since chainmaille has such an extensive
history, this simple pattern has got to have a name.
"Crazy
Patch Pod" as a necklace; inspired by a recent
Donna Kato workshop. It's strung on decoy cording. You
can click the image to see front and back view and how
I attached the cording.
"Asai"
- my lapis lazuli necklace.
Well, faux lapis. ;-) I've always wanted a classic strand
of blue lapis. Do you want to learn How-to
make faux lapis?
This project is another tribute to the chameleon aspects
of polymer clay - an imitation of the 'Stone
of Lazvard'
Mirage because they take on different visual properties
depending on how you look at them.
When
beads like this are strung like they are... they
can look like two different colored beads when viewed from
certain angles.
Even more unexpected, when viewed from afar, they look
like basic black to cream color gradient beads. But after
getting a closer look, many have said,"Ooooh, there are lots
of colors in those beads. Cool!"
Introducing
"Jade & Copper Dreams". And
yes, there's some brass is in there, too.There's something
about combining the jade green and coppery red that I love.
The faux jade 'pillows' are linked together with my favorite
finding - brass swivels.
Introducing
"Ivory & Brass Dreams". The
faux ivory pieces are framed by 12 ga wire, have various
inlays and are linked together with brass swivels.
I'm
calling this articulated pendant "Berber
Dreams".
Channeling
a carousel horse or some Moroccan tribal artist, am I? That's
the only explanation I have for this. I can't honestly say
if I like it yet, but it's still captivating me when I look
at it. I'm still pondering, "Where did that come from",
"Did I make that?"
You might assume I first looked at either a bunch carousels
or northern African jewelry, etc., then made
"Berber Dreams ". But sorry, in this case, it was
the reverse, or at least I think it was! :D
What's
curious is I can now see some distant similarities between
the two seemingly separate style worlds - carousels and
Mediterranean art. Maybe it's just me?
I'm gonna study northern African tribal
jewelry some more. I really like Tuareg and Berber styles.
I gotta see what else my muse might make me do.
Check out these for some amazing Berber, Tuareg, Algerian
jewelry:
"Silver Seabreeze"
necklace. Polymer clay cane pieces wrapped and linked with
sterling silver wire.
My latest and thus my favorite necklace. I guess that makes
me a fair-weather necklace fan! :)
"Flowers
Cha Cha" pendant & bracelet set. The first real
bracelet/pendant set I've ever made. I used one of my PhotoEZ
stencils to apply the flowers, then added a few little embellishments.
Named 'Cha Cha' because I made this set as demo samples
for Donna Kato's clay at the CHA 2007 show.