A bit of a challenge

So, I have had these incredibly pretty wire wrapped connectors by Suhana Hart for ages! And I have repeatedly taken them out of my stash and gazed at them, sighed, even given them a little stroke. And then put them back in my beady stash. Sometimes, components are so lovely, that it can be really hard to know what to do with them! How to design around them, when they are just fabulous enough to stand alone. I resisted the urge to just pop them on some earwires, and set myself the challenge of doing something with them for this blog post!

I've framed Suhana's wire wrapped connectors with brass hoops. A bit of a cheat, as these are my favourite components; I'm a bit hoop-obsessed!

I added some freshwater pearls, wrapped in wire and silver seed beads and some silver plated spacer beads and twisted jump rings. The second pair even have a few silver leaves peeking through.

A little bit decadent - definitely special occasion earrings. And although the pretty connectors are the stars of the show, I'm pleased didn't just pop them on earwires!

They'll be in my shop soon. See you in a couple of weeks

A little bit of art in your ears

Hello! I have a showcase at the end of this month over on The Earrings Show on Facebook, so have been busy creating some new things for this. I thought I'd share a design I'm enjoying making at the moment, using Petra Carpreau's (of Scorched earth) beautiful art decals. I love these Klimt decal droppers (someone correct me if I'm wrong! I think they are Klimt). They are teamed with beautiful gold nugget beads by Maryse Fritzsch-Thillens and brass hoops to give a layered look. I've added some gold and silvery seed beads to pick up some of the tones in the decal prints. These seed beads are part of a new range at Smitten Beads, and oh they are lovely! They match this design pretty well

Next up, some more of Petra's decals, except this time a bit of Frida Kahlo. I doubled up the brass hoops this time, and kept things simple with freshwater pearls and pretty little blue czech beads to pick up the colours in the decal drops.

So there we are. Little works of art in your earlobes! These will be available at my showcase at the end of the month (details on my Facebook page). In the meantime, get yourself over to Petra's shop. There's a whole range of decals with different artists -bliss!

See you next time

Sue :-)

Facebook page

etsy shop

Spring Flirt

I don't know about what's going on in your neck of the woods, but here, Mother Nature is messing with us these days! We've had warm weather (no snow/green grass) and then 10" of snow overnight that melted within a few days..... back to warm weather, and now we're back to snow!?!

When the weather starts to get warmer, and I start spotting little Spring flowers, I get that twinkle of Spring in my eye! We're a little bit behind this year. These little 'perce neige' (Galanthus nivalis) adorn the flower beds at the front of the house at my inlaws. This picture was taken last year (day for day) and this year, there's maybe around a dozen blooms (far less than last year), so we're running a tad behind.

Nonetheless, seeing just one of these in bloom, flirting with my senses, is enough to give me Spring Flower Fever :-) Enough so that I needed to see flowers RIGHT NOW.... so to satisfy my need (hey, we all got needs, right? LOL) I made a few sets of double-sided little Folk Art Spring Flowers in Polymer Clay, and used one pair (in dusty rose) to make these earrings that I call "Spring Flirt":

These very lightweight earrings are made using a pair of textured Sterling Silver oval hoops, on which I have wrapped a trio of sparkling glass seed beads on each side (yellow/pink/green) using Sterling Silver wire.

In the center at the top, I have some really cute (natural color) pink freshwater pearls dangling on a short piece of Sterling Silver chain, beautiful rose/pink Swarovski Crystals and lavender glass dagger beads.

I like to add an extra touch of color when I can with Anodized Aluminium jumprings - Today I used some "Lavender" colored jump rings (from The Ring Lord). I find their site a tad confusing, but they do carry some really nice colors there. With my daughter-in-law being allergic to metals, I like to offer/use hypoallergenic ear wires, and this time I used a pair of pretty Niobium Ear Wires (with a .999 Fine Silver accent bead) from one of my very favorite suppliers: Royal Metal on Etsy.

I listed these new earrings in my Etsy shop yesterday in getting ready to write this blog post, and they sold out within a few hours... ooops!! But if you'd like to make your own, I have a few pairs of these rustic folk art handmade flower drops (approx 12mm in size) left and I've listed them in My Garden Of Love Etsy shop:

Wishing you an early warm sunny Spring!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheers,
Nathalie Lesage
My Garden Of Love on Etsy
The Crafty Tribe on Etsy

Solstice Star Shining

I am not usually one to make seasonal or holiday themed beads or jewelry but this construction presented itself to me and evokes a star, the Star of Bethehem or the  returning light of the solstice.

It's the colors of my winters past in Alaska, the blues of the sky and the white of the snow with the magical crystallized sparkle of the ice crystals.

I had spotted these wonderfully organic headpins the first time when Russian artist Nadya of Latirus had posted them on Creative Bead Chat. What better way to welcome a new component maker than to buy her pieces.

What I noticed first when I received her headpins in addition to their delicate and organic beauty was that the headpin wire was a finer gauge than I am accustomed to working with. It's strong enough being the nichrome wire that has to hold up to the firing in the kiln with the clay.

But I realized I could use some of my extremely small holed beads that I normally am not able to use.

I rarely design earrings with my freshwater pearls so it was exciting to  put some to use.

I love this abstract star shape and used a few sparkly Swarovski crystals to highlight the design.

I was super pleased with this dainty pair of lightweight earrings that could be worn any time of year  but seem especially fitting for this month of celebrating  the return of the light.

Thanks for looking at my NuminosityBeads Creations!

Kimberly Rogers

e t s y   www.numinositybeads.etsy.com

f a c e b o o k  www.facebook.com/numinositybeads

i n s t a g r a m    www.instagram.com/numinosity/

p i n t e r e s t  /www.pinterest.com/numinosity/

and my f a c e b o o k auction and sale group 

www.facebook.com/groups/967164829979604/

Not your grandma's pearls

I've accumulated an extensive stash of fresh water pearls over the years. I hoard them. 

I really think I need an intervention group or something for my bead-hoarding...

(but I'm guessing that we'd all end up participating in the group lol)

The other day, when Miss Erin showcased the new 2015 Pantone colors, I started looking through my stash and pulled out a couple of strands of pearls that caught my eye with their soft cool hues.
They seemed to match really well with this year's palette.

When I use pearls in my designs, I aim to set them up in a non-traditional way, so that we don't end up thinking that we're wearing our grandma's pearls ;)

So this is what I've come up with for this design:

Designer Pearl Earrings by Nathalie Lesage at NatLJ.com

The fresh water pearls featured at the top are a soft cool blue, almost a dusk blue (Pantone 16-4120). Although the color is soft, I think these two pearls at the top really 'pop' and add a touch of brightness and spunk to the design. They seem almost luminescent :)

The set of pearls at the bottom is a Titanium grey (Pantone 17-4014) that picks up

the same metalic hues as the Hill Tribe Fine Silver Squares.

Soft cool grey hues inspired by the Pantone 2015 colors

These hollow HT square were very plain originally, but a few years ago, I had heavily distressed them to use them in a project, and I ended up using something else instead. I kept wanting to do something with these, and it seems that today was the right moment.

I hope that you'll agree that these are not your grandma's pearls :D

You can find these earrings HERE on my website.

Have a fabulous day!

Nathalie

Metalsmith & Jewelry Artist

www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com

Eclipse of the Sun

Since my father passed away a couple of weeks ago, my head has been in a meditative state, and I have not been able to muster up the energy to create anything new...

So, yesterday, I sat down with my stash of Artisan Lampwork Glass Beads to see if anything would catch my eyes, and all of a sudden, these caught my gaze and I knew I had to do a pair of earrings with them:

I just loved that hint of Sun Gold mixed with the Eclipse Blue... my dad was color-blind and could only see 'yellow/gold' in terms of colors. I know that these would have caught his eye :)

Blue Tourmaline in a fancy cut, lovely Artisan Glass Beads from a Canadian Artist, and pretty Freshwater Pearls... These earrings are listed HERE on my website.

My apologies for not writing a longer, more inspirational post. I'm just trying to heal from this devastating loss in my life, and not back in my 'groove' yet with my mind :(

 Have a blessed day, and thank you for stopping by...

Nathalie Lesage

Metalsmith, Jewelry Artist

http://www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com

Stormy Skies

We're having a bit of a strange Summer so far... 

It's our first time spending any length of time in Northern Alberta, 

so we're not sure if this is the norm, 

but someone told us that they see snow once a month here.

So far, June has been snow-less (but it came close a few times). Pretty much every evening, 

we end the day with a storm. I see so many clouds, and they really fascinate me.

So in keeping with our stormy skies of late, I've designed this pair of earrings, which

features various shades of grey, and lines representing clouds and lightning:

This design features a pair of gorgeous Artisan Lampwork Beads (I've lost the seller's info, I bought these a long time ago), a couple of chunky nuggets of Labradorite, and natural grey freshwater pearls.

Coupled with Sterling Silver, and these earrings have all the shapes of a cool storm, if you ask me :)

You can find these earrings HERE on my website!

Happy stormy days...

With love and inspiration,

Nathalie Lesage, Metalsmith/Jewelry Artist

http://www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com

Athena Earrings

I have an extensive collection of pearls, including some beauties from the Sea of Cortez, some salt water pearls and large cultured freshwater pearls (as shown here). I've been hoarding them for some time, and I do make the occasional special jewelry with them, but other than that, I keep my stash close to my heart.

I've decided that they really need to come out and play. It's not fair to keep them stored away. They are meant to be enjoyed and worn. It's just hard to let go sometimes...

So today, I introduce you to my Athena pearl earrings, featuring a pair of large (~10mm) natural cultured freshwater pearls, wire wrapped in 14kt gold-filed wire and surrounded by an eclectic cluster of sparkling Labradorite gemstones that seem to 'dance' around the pearls.

These sassy earrings would go great with this adorable little quilted Jeans dress, don't you think?

Athena Summer Outfit by nathalie-lesage featuring a flower arrangement

You can find these modern flirty pearl earrings HERE on my website.

I will be making more in various colors of pearls/gemstones combinations... they make me happy :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Don't forget to participate in our We're All Ears May Challenge! (details HERE)

Nathalie Lesage

Metalsmith, Jewelry Artist

www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com

Moon Glow

These were so much fun to make! I tend to hold onto my sterling silver wire like it's gold (it's almost as expensive as gold these days!) but I decided to go ahead and try out this design using silver. I did something similar in copper a few months ago called Harmony. It's fun hammering and even using liver of sulphur can be exciting...just wish it wasn't so stinky. I added freshwater pearls and luckily remembered to dip some smaller gauge wire and ear wires in the smelly solution while I had it mixed.

 

Pic from favim.com

 

You can find these earrings on my website HERE. 

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Thanks!

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations