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Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Jana + Wire = Fun!

Hello! And depending on where you live, Happy Summer! And Happy close to the end of June, if it's not summer for you. ;)

Copper wire is one of my favorite things to work with; ceramics made by Jana Bliznakova of HappyFishThings are another favorite.

These beautifully painted ceramic bars were resting in an open box with many other wonderful pieces I'd just received from Jana. 

I sat down to play with wire. A little soldering fun sounded like a very good idea that day. A bit of fire play is invigorating! I played with spirals and hoops, triangles and ovals, teardrops and a shape trying to be squares, hearts and birds, but nothing was catching my attention. It's been a bit of a down time for me creatively after having to let go of our almost 13-year-old Lab; she was a beautiful girl, Angel, and a constant, loving companion throughout those years. The muse doesn't seem to be able to break through the emptiness just yet.

As I was wrapping the wire 'round and 'round a pair of step pliers, these pieces caught my eye and I thought, hmmm, I can offset the open end of the pattern on these, which felt right to me.


Jana + Wire = Fun
Halfway through the first earring, I noticed the pattern on the second piece was identical, not a mirror image. Oh No!!!! my symmetrical leaning brain alarm sounded. How do I do this then? Do I wire the second one on the same side as the first, balancing the open side of the design. . . . . which absolutely felt wrong to me. So no, of course I was going to wire the second one on the opposite side. 

Either way, I was going to end up with an alarm going off. :) But I have slowly learned to ignore that alarm, firmly burying it and its silly notions, feeling totally comfortable that the two pieces aren't identical. Thanks to many of the Oh-So-Talented Jewelry Designers here on EE, as well as others, I now am okay with it, and may even prefer them that way! That was not the case a few years ago. I suspect I would have scrapped the idea altogether and moved on. The one thing we know about life on this planet is that things will always change. That's a good thing. ;)


Jana + Wire = Fun
The red beads I paired with the ceramics are natural Red Sandalwood Seeds. They grow this vibrant shade of red. I had never seen them before, and purchased these at the very cool TheFickleBead shop on Etsy. Debbie is the shop owner, a wonderful lady to work with; customer service is at the top!

The earrings below weren't made for today's post, but I wanted to show you another Jana/Wire pair. I melt looking at the primitive, soft blue sun design. 


Soft Blue Primitive Suns

I hope you have a happy week, filled with love, laughter and peace of mind.

Thank you for stopping by! I will be back on the 5th of July. 


Angel Baby













14 comments:

  1. So cool! I love wire wrapping and the amazing beads.

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    1. Thanks so much, Alice! And thank you for taking the time to stop by, and leave a comment too. I appreciate it! :)

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  2. these are perfect, quirky and fun Norbel!!!

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  3. I'm sorry about your baby too :(, time heals ♥

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    1. And a sincerely heartfelt thank you. I do miss her. The pic was on her last day. Sweet baby she was. I'm grateful to have had almost 13 years with her. A treasure. :)

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  4. Hi Norbel, I'm so sorry to hear about your lovely baby. I can relate, as we have lost our puppy 2 years ago. Time heals, the pain of losing her will fade. It will, although you might not think that right now. And she left beautiful paw prints on your heart, so you will never forget her.
    Love the earrings, so much fun indeed. And I never saw these seeds before, thank you so much for introducing.

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    1. Thanks so much for your kind words, Janine. I do appreciate it!! She was such a perfect girl. :) Re the seeds, I was shocked, to be honest, when I first saw them, thinking no way these are natural. Somehow that makes them all the cooler to me. lol TheFickleBead carries two different styles; the rondelles are my fave but the other drill is great for necklaces. Thanks, Janine!

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  5. My condolences, Norbel, losing our fur babies never gets easier. :(

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    1. Thanks, Robin. I really do appreciate it!! I hope this finds you well.

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  6. These earrings are fabulous! (Both pairs.)

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  7. Both pair are brilliant and perfectly executed! I especially love your "barbed wire" style rings in the second pair, and the way you've both attached the seed beads at the bottom and stacked the beads at the top. Perfect for those ceramic charms. (I love me some Happy Fish too.)

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