Winter Blues

Got our first snow of 2015 here in Maryland yesterday, and I immediately thought of big bulky sweaters, jeans and boots!  These cuties would be the perfect accessory all the way into Spring!

Cool speckled blue stoneware drops from Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio, LLC dangle beneath copper washers that have been hammered, then wrapped with copper wire and colorful Czech glass beads.

I added a couple more glass beads in between, and finished with some my favorite lever-back ear wires...these are the only mass-produced ones I use!

Happy Winter!

Melissa Meman
Melismatic Art Jewelry

Primitive Patinas

Blue Peacock Patina Copper Earrings

Over the past couple of years, I have taken a break occasionally to create rustic hammered copper pieces. I play with joining different shapes and textures, using different weights of copper sheet, and of course there are the patinas. My goal is to develop my own style of applying colored patinas that is unique and appealing, so I play a lot. In the top pair of earrings, I use blue and green patinas over a darkening patina for a peacock effect. The colored patinas were purchased from Shannon German of Missficklemedia, who also sells tutorials on the subject.

Ruddy Red Patina Copper Earrings

On this pair of hinged copper earrings, I have combined red and yellow patinas over a darkening layer. The colored patinas go on one over another while they are still wet, so that the colors will run together a little. After the colors are dry, I applied a thin layer of Permalac to seal them.

Working with metal can be a welcome change from my usual direction with earrings. I like to mix it up, and I think it's important to maintain variety in my jewelry. Each pair of earrings should all be easily identifiable as mine, but I want each design to have its own character as well.

Gloria Ewing

Chrysalis Tribal Jewelry
Chrysalis Too on Etsy

We're All Ears :: January Inspiration

I am not really one to follow trends too much, but I do find it fascinating to watch the Pantone Color of the Year predictions.
Mostly, I think they get it wrong. 

Do you remember last year's Radiant Orchid? The orchid purple-pink showed up on all sorts of things in 2014, and will likely continue its dominance into 2015 (since most of us are much more glacial in changing despite what the color trend 'Influencers' would like), but I am not so sure that it is a color that I could live with long term. It seems something that might be fine in small doses, like on fingernails, not walls. So I never fully embraced the Radiant Orchid color for the year.

When they announced the 2015 Spring Color palette, I have to say that I was a bit underwhelmed. Sure, sherbet tones are somewhat expected for the spring, but what I didn't like was how greyed out and muted they were. Even in its truest form, Marsala, the 2015 Pantone Color of the Year, described on their site as

A naturally robust and earthy wine red,
Marsala enriches our minds, bodies and souls

is a lovely color. I confess that it is always my go-to for lipsticks and pedicures. I even have a pair of suede boots in this shade (I must be ahead of the times!). But when paired with all the other tones, it really reads a bit sad to me. 

I want bright tones that slap me in the face and wake me up from my winter slumber! When spring rolls around I am ready to dump the grey and washed out tones of winter. These are a bit ho-hum to me.

Still, there are some gems in here...Like the fresh Lucite Green, the strong Classic Blue, and the quiet Glacier Gray. So maybe I will be able to find something in there that I like.

What colors do YOU like from the 2015 Pantone Spring color forecast?
What will you be wearing - or creating with - in the coming year?

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To participate in the We're All Ears creative challenge:

Make earrings inspired by this inspiration.

Write a post on your blog.

Add your exact blog post URL link to the
InLinkz code right here on 

Friday, January 16th.

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Here's to 2015

So, it's fallen to me to wish you a happy new year and share the first pair of earrings of 2015!  How I wish I had a new pair to share with you! I've not made many earrings for a few weeks now and those I have made are for magazine submissions so they're under wraps.  Lacking new earrings, I thought I'd look back, on my blog, to see what earrings I'd made this time last year and share those. To my amazement, I found that the earrings I made a year ago are the first pairs I shared on this blog, which means I've been a contributor for a whole year! I can't believe it!  Since that approach didn't work either, I thought I'd share one of the most - what's the word? - significant(?) pairs of earrings, personally speaking, that I made in the last year.

These earrings were the first thing that I made with my new ceramic beads when I started making them last summer. (The lampwork drops were made by Anne Gardanne.)  Starting to make ceramic beads and getting a kiln were certainly the most significant jewellery-related events of 2014 for me. Perhaps the most significant thing full stop! I love it and I'm looking forward to doing much more of it in 2015.  What have you lined up for 2015? Whatever the year brings you, may it include many, many earrings!

Anyway, once again, let me wish you all a Happy 2015!

Bye for now, Claire

www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com

2014 Has Left the Building

As we bid farewell to 2014 today, I'm reminded of the importance of making a memorable exit. Preferably a graceful one, although we all know that sometimes that isn't the case ;)

Creatively, this year has been my most thrilling yet. I've been humbled time and time again by the kindness and friendship I've encountered from souls all across the globe. The sharing of personal journeys, compassion during painful times, and inappropriate hilarity over silly stupid stuff. And all from just jewelry! I'm not talking about tackling world hunger or making peace between warring nations - simply putting beauty into the hands of individuals, one by one, piece by piece. 



So while I sometimes feel petty and materialistic for being so obsessive over jewelry, I quickly remind myself that it's about so much more than bead hoarding or shnazzy techniques or the biggest bling. The happiness you bring to others' lives is immeasurably priceless. Because in the end, this life is all we have, and love is the only thing that matters.

Well now that I've gotten all philosophical and misty-eyed, let me get back to my original thought about leaving with a bang. 

This pair of earrings is 100% party and will have people remembering you for all the right reasons. I dare anyone to make yummier lampwork glass headpins than my dear, dear friend Kim of NuminosityBeads. This sleek drippy slate gray pair has been dotted with gemmy confetti, crowned with a stack of crusty Roman glass discs, and wire wrapped for a slinky yet playful silhouette. 

So on that note, Happy Wednesday and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Winter White Frost

Hoarfrost in Northern Canada by Nathalie Lesage

A couple of weeks ago, as my husband and I ventured out to Alberta to run errands in a larger city center before Christmas, I was delighted to see Hoarfrost or White Frost in the trees lining the road.

It was a little bit eery and magical at the same time, and I took lots of pictures for inspiration :)

And these are the Winter White Frost Earrings I've designed...

White Frost has such a cool look, with its white needles and lines, I wanted to recreate that texture and feel in the Sterling Silver sheet metal that I've cut and used in this design.

Using a couple of different hammers, I've manually created this texture which reminds me of the frost, and I've used an antique finish to bring out the details.

These earrings feature a gorgeous chunky pair  of faceted "blue flash" Rainbow Moonstones, which capture the eery bluish light of the frost in the early morning light... it's a bit difficult to capture on camera, but you can see some of that blue flash in this image:

These are a really gorgeous pair of Moonstones, loaded with beautiful feminine positive energy...

I have not yet listed these on my website, as I'm taking a bit of time off for the holidays, but you will soon be able to purchase them on my website: Nathalie Lesage Jewelry.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year... 

May all your wishes come true in 2015!!

Nathalie

The Raven

I made these earrings for our Art Jewelry Elements Gift Exchange this year for Jenny Davies-Reazor.

She is a love of Ravens and when I found these gorgeous Carved Ravens I knew they were perfect for her!

I got the Raven's HERE, they have amazing carved pieces and Semi-Precious Stone.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.com

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy