A Touch of Fall

Trying something new with some of my Polymer Headpins.

 I wanted to add a splash of fall color to them and these little Peanut beads were perfect for the job!

Touch of Fall

I love this scarf, full of fall color!

If there's one thing I like about fall and winter it's boots, sweaters and scarves!!

Source

These Earrings are available HERE in my Etsy Shop.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

Little Green Things

Little Green Things

These earrings remind me powerfully of some green vegetable plucked from a garden--look at their little roots hanging down! Even the poppy-style caps remind me of cabbage leaves. I designed these earrings using all fabulous Indonesian glass beads from Happy Mango Beads--from the large lampwork discs to the sweet little seed beads.

(For a free tutorial on how to make the little "poppy" caps, click HERE.)

What better to wear with these than a pair of ruffled green pants?

I WANT THESE

I really need those pants.

To see more, visit my Etsy shop!

Fire Dance Earrings

We used our fire pit for the first time this weekend , having friends and family over for cocktails and good conversation .
 I love these chilly nights sitting around the fire pit and drinking red wine.
With the leaves changing into their beautiful fall wardrobe, I am finally in the mood to design for the season.
I love Blue Jeans , I have always been a blue jeans , big thick over sized chunky sweater and boots kind of  gal.
I designed these earrings with gorgeous 10 mm AA + Carnelian, Autumn Jasper , dark African wood beads, textured copper rings and of course copper leaves . I like the long , lean , shoulder dusters.

So Welcome Fall !

 



 

Mojowoman Jewelry

 

Autumn's Splendor

Today the weather has turned. It is 25 degrees for a high. But the sun is shining and there are still a lot of party-colored leaves on the trees. Paired with the gentle rolling ripples on the water of the Wisconsin River, the gold and chartreuse leaves on the trees on the banks just a few yards away are very inviting.

Fall in Wisconsin is glorious. I found out this past weekend that fall in Western Michigan is much the same. I was attending the 3rd annual Inspired by Nature retreat. Heather Powers is a marvel at making you feel welcome and loved. The venue is so peaceful and beautiful and spacious. The food was excellent (thanks for the French Toast bake, Miss Terri - I need that recipe!). And the projects were so great, open to so many creative interpretations, which is a plus in my book. If you ever have the chance to take a class or a weekend art retreat, do it. I drive 6 hours one way just to get there and I wouldn't miss it. The new friends that I have made, the ones I have re-connected with, the techniques learned, the laughs shared, the fun had... simply cannot be experienced any other way. But I digress...

These are not earrings that I made this weekend, but I shared them with the group on Saturday night. Heather asked me to teach a little mini-workshop on nifty tips for jewelry designers. I did a little thing I called Tricks & Treats: Nifty Tips to Make Your Jewelry Designs Sweet. Since I struggle with thinking that what I do is 'nifty', it was hard to come up with some ideas until she reminded me that it is the little details that she loves about what I make. So I made these earrings as an example using one of my favorite tricks to embellish ear wires that are pre-made. While I would love to make my own ear wires, I just don't have the time, but I still want to make them special.

Basically, I like to embellish the ear wires in different ways, and my favorite way is to use seed beads on kidney shaped earrings wrapped with wire. A simple touch that makes all the difference.

I call these 'Autumn's Splendor' for way they look like the tree that is bursting with life right outside my window.

And I would wear them with a cozy sweater like this one from the Sundance catalog, coincidentally called 'Autumn's Splendor.'

Makes me want to go shopping for cozy sweaters right now!

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her popular line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.

Amethyst & Turquoise

One of my favorite gemstone combinations to work with is Amethyst and Turquoise. I just love the colors together and the texture. They would pair nicely with this pretty floral scarf I found on Etsy.

Scarf by BessiesCreations

 

While looking at my Pinterest boards, I noticed that I pin quite a lot of the aqua and purple color combos. This is one of my favorites. It is by Dapper Images.

 You can find me on Pinterest  or visit my website to see more of my work or to contact me.

Thanks for looking and have a fabulous weekend,

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations

Water Lilies by Lorelei

Inspired by a trip to the botanical gardens in Maine with my husband! I just loved the water lilies in each pond, buzzing with little dragonflies and overflowing with all types of gorgeous wild life.

 

The ceramic discs from Round Rabbit are perfect with this enameled flower headpins from C Koop beads, and to make each a little more interesting, I added a Vintaj Brass component behind each disc. The faceted Jade rondelles play off the flowers. These were so fun to make.  You can call them your own, they are for sale here in my Etsy shop.

October Maize

The colors in this gorgeous Purple Artistic Stone remind me of Indian corn, sun dried to warm rich gold, red and purple. This is my new favorite stone, similar to Red Creek Jasper and mined in the same area of China; I can't get enough of it! The colors are even more saturated than Creek Jasper making the patterns more dramatic. I have echoed the rectangular shape of the stones with these tribal copper charms from Kristi Bowman, that are the perfect complement to the stones.

Artistic Stone Earrings
Chrysalis Too on Etsy
Chrysalis Jewelry on Artfire

Fulcrum Goddess

Kind of a crazy name I know but both names sort of fit and I couldn't choose one over the other. But I hope you think they are beautiful even though they have an identity crisis.

Beautiful Lampwork headpins from Lori Bergmann Design that I snatched up so fast at the NW Society Bead show last weekend. Go HERE to read more about it.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

Last Look Back

Fall is here on Long Island. The leaves are falling and the nip in the air is feeling more like
winter is at the back door. Our neighborhood is coming alive with bright mums and pumpkins
everywhere.

I drove down to the beach yesterday to take in the beauty of the ocean. I go down there as much as I can.
It is beautiful at anytime of the year . It was very windy yesterday as I walked along the shore.

I will make a few more trips down before it gets too cold, to take one last look back at the summer that is now the past.

I love designing with nature in mind. So much inspiration. And for me the ocean is my place to refresh and relax, and let my creative juices flow.

These earrings are earthy, primitive and rustic. I found the shells on one of my treasure hunts.

I wrapped the simple copper hoops in sand colored sari silk and added rustic African turquoise,  copper paddle charms and  gorgeous apatite gemstones.

When you take your last look back at summer, what inspired you?
Find me here at Mojowoman Jewelry

Industrial Chic

 

I can't believe that it has been 10 days since I was in Washington, D.C. for the ArtBliss workshops. While I was there, I got to meet all sorts of people that I had only known online. I got to meet and connect with teachers that have been my idols, my mentors and are now my friends. And I got to learn some really cool techniques that I suspect will be showing up in my work.

One such idol-mentor-friend is Stacie Florer of Soul to Substance. She is truly a delight to be around. Her cheery personality just bubbles with enthusiasm. She is a gifted teacher with an easy-going style that is encouraging and generous. I spent all day on Saturday, September 28th in her Thin Gauge Metals workshop. 

Usually, when I have worked with metal, we are using a much more stiff gauge that necessitates using heavy equipment, jeweler's saws and the like to work with it. But the metal that I used in these earrings was 30 gauge, so flimsy that you could wave it in front of you like a piece of cardstock. However, when you are done with the manipulation to achieve these interesting textures, that look to me much like folds in fabric, then layering and even riveting, you get something so much stronger yet completely lightweight.

I created these steampunk-style earrings using copper, brass and perforated aluminum (?) along with a rivet just for fun. While these are very cool and edgy, they are not quite my style. However, I have bought the tools and more materials so that I can do something that feels a lot more like me. I already have one pair that I have made in a completely different shape and everyone who sees it says that it looks more like me. I am sure that more metal earrings will be coming from my hands soon!

So, that makes me think... is there a shape that is most like you?
Do tell!

Blackbird Earrings

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting 

for this moment to arrive

You have to love a good Beatles song on a rainy Monday!

I created these blackbird earrings for my fall collection - they fit so many themes during this time of year.  I  see them as playful crows on an autumn day or the blackest of ravens in a haunting forest or as blackbirds offering hope to those who need to remember to lift their wings and soar.  

Read more about these Raven Forest Earrings.

Revamped Glam

A few weeks ago, I was browsing through a local antique store and found some really cool necklaces (see pic below) along with some other treasures like...plates...can't get enough plates on the wall, much to my husband's chagrin. I took two rhinestone pieces off of one of the necklaces and just knew that they needed to be earrings. I wanted to do something fun and kind of funky with them so I added chain, wire, a copper fleur de lis and two Magnesite stones. I just love the way they turned out and they are surprisingly lightweight!

Some of the treasures that I bought at "Look What I Found Antiques"

 

These are available for sale on my website .

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations

Last Minute Lady Bugz

The Sheer Fabulousness of Golem Studios beads inspired these simple wire-wrapped earrings! They are the most gorgeous beads, hand-painted and so detailed! I dangled some TheaToo hoops below each square pillow bead, and wire wrapped them on brass wire.
Extremely simple but so beautiful and versatile for any season! I can imagine wearing these on the coldest most blustery day in the dead of winter, just to lift my mood!

These are available for sale in my Etsy shop!

Oh yea the earring giveaway from 2 weeks ago!! The winner of the Tin Shabby Chic earrings is:
Saraccino
 Please contact me with your mailing address at my email LJEurto@gmail.com!

 

Bordering Punk

My experiments with cold connection sometimes lead to unexpected results. I was rummaging through old components that never seem to be quite appropriate and found these perforated discs. Maybe they could finally find a practical use? It is always a challenge for me to find the right eyelets or rivets for the limited size holes I can punch, so when I found some components that would work together I was relieved. With me, earrings always starts out with a rustic or tribal character using hammered copper diamond shaped connectors and patinated jump rings. These still have that rustic feel, but with a little bit of industrial and almost punk style.

Back to School by bohobeader featuring a brown leather jacket

Gloria Ewing
Chrysalis Too on Etsy
Chrysalis Jewelry on Artfire