Seasonal "Twigz"

Hello!  I have something totally new to share with you tonight!

We all have our favorite beadmakers and one at the top of my list is Kimberly Rogers of Numinosity Beads.  I can always count on her to challenge me as a designer which I thrive on.  

One of her latest creations is called "Twigz", they are made of glass on a zigzag of steel wire.

Shown above, are a pair in blood-red garnet glass. I have added lovely mismatched, mellow, Miriam Haskell glass pearls, heavily oxidized caps, spacers, and vintage accent beads. I kept this pair elongated, slim, and elegant.  I purposely left a bend of steel wire exposed as a design element. I think it lends a bit of delicacy and grace if you will.   They have a very gothic vibe.

And moving on into winter ~ Icy Twigz

Here are a pair in etched black glass with hints of blues and greens.  I have wire wrapped some dark grey silk to the top with the tiniest clear AB Swarovski crystals I could find.  

It's hard to photograph just how spectacular the large antique tin-cut crystals are at the top.  They just dazzle in the light.  I used handcrafted ear-wires by Lucy Haslam with that lovely dark twisted effect.

Well, thank you so much for taking a look at what's happening currently on my work table!

Until next time!  Much love from me and the studio cats.

Loralee xo

www.loraleekolton.etsy.com

The Unknown

“I will not let you go into the unknown alone.”
― Bram Stoker

October Greetings, My Friends!

Today I have some lovely antiqued collage earring charms by Jill Stoffregen of Foxpaws to show you.  

The charms are made of thin porcelain ceramic and are quite delicate. I used a 4 ply wax linen cord to attach them to the rest of the components so there wouldn't be any metal rubbing against them.  In this particular pair, I frayed the ends of the cord to create a tattered look which also went perfectly with the slashes you see in the sleeves.  

I created a sort of gobbet using vintage bead-caps and amber-colored faceted beads.  Well, of course, we all know vampires don't drink....wine...However, they may offer you some to be hospitable. 

I hope you enjoyed your stay at my little bead table today!  It was wonderful to see you again!

Be well,

Loralee xo

www.loraleekolton.etsy.com 

 

Rustic reds

Last weekend I had the good fortune to meet up with some of my very favourite jewellery people Petra Carpreau, Kimberly Rogers and Claire Lockwood. Well, now a fine time was had by all! And I was showered with beady goodness too (thanks guys!)

Had a tough time choosing what to make from my stash of goodies for this blog, but I finally settled on using a pair of Claire's beautiful ceramic headpins. Something about the colour -a gorgeous deep red which seems appropriate for the season -all the reds and oranges that are around as Autumn approaches.

So I had some rustic oxidised copper hoops by French artist,  Carole Pons Torres  and as I love a hoop, these had to be incorporated! I like the way they frame the headpins. Something a little bit gothic about them. Just right, in the run up to Halloween

Finally, some deep red picasso seed beads, combined with some African silver coloured spacers.

I'm listing them here  Hope you like them! See you in a couple of weeks x

Shady Sinner

I seem to be in the minority when I say that I really don't prefer jewelry/beads/components that include words. Which is an odd thing for me to say, being a self avowed word nerd, bookaholic, and walking dictionary. There's something about the bluntness (?) of it that doesn't appeal to me. It's hard to describe, other than you will 99.9% of the time never see these in my work. The same goes for beads and charms that feature humans or body parts. But that's another story.


HOWEVER. 

 
When my latest order of ceramic beads from the insanely talented and lovely Claire of somethingtodobeads arrived, she included a generous pair of freebies: grungy twirled smooshed ceramic beads stamped with two simple, devious, wicked words---SHADY and SINNER. 

Now, when I laid eyes on this pair, my first thought was oh, now that's cheeky. And my next thought was wait, those actually kinda go together. Followed quickly by a grin and an oh yes, challenge accepted. 

 
And, thusly, today's pair of earrings was born. I torched my own fat-bottomed copper headpins, strung each ceramic bead on, and then topped them with graduated stacks of rusty, crusty, patina-riddled bead caps---no two the same. I dotted the top loop of each with some silver solder, gave each earring a good oxidation bath, and then hung each from one of my long curvy copper ear wires. Swingy, potbellied little devils.

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

My Favorite Things

Favorites---we all have them. 

Whether it's your favorite color (olive green), favorite food (garden-fresh tomatoes), season (autumn), author (Cormac McCarthy), shoes (black biker boots)...the list goes on. We can learn so much about a person by looking at their favorite things. See, look how much you just learned about me? Of course, we as humans are much more nuanced than a condensed list of favorites, but these are great starting points. 



One of my most favorite stones---and honey, I've worked with a LOT of stones---is chiastolite. A form of rosy brown andalusite and otherwise known as "cross stone", this wicked material features completely naturally occurring black graphite crosses or Xs at its center. The iconography of the cross goes back thousands of years across untold cultures. I love the provenance and fluidity of such a symbol.

So any time I see a nice piece of chiastolite, I tend to snap it up like a hamster---hoarding it away for future use. These little teardrop pieces weren't in my hands very long before they spoke to me. I gave them wee soldered caps and dangled them simply beneath vintage wood beads and ratty pronged black metal bead caps. Ever so slightly industrial and gothic (see aforementioned proclivity for black biker boots) with a crunchy earth goddess vibe thrown in for good measure. Hey, that pretty much sums me up.

OK, now tell me some of YOUR favorites!

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

A Gothic Tale

Sheldon: You know, I've always wanted to go to a goth nightclub.
Howard : Really?
Sheldon : Bazinga! You never see any of my practical jokes coming, do you?

I discovered the show "The Big Bang Theory" this spring and our DVR is set to record as many episodes as possible. I know. I am behind the times. And now I have hooked my entire family on the show.

Just this past weekend we caught episode three of the third season "The Gothowitz Deviation" in which Howard and Raj dress in goth outfits, complete with arm tattoo sleeves to go cruise a goth bar and pick up goth chicks.

I am about as goth as they are. While black is undeniably the most prevalent color in my wardrobe, I don't think I could pull off the look. Or the attitude.

I made these earrings called "A Gothic Tale" with some great pewter cast crosses from Lynn Davis Pewter Fauxtiques. I actually made the sterling silver ear wires myself! Pretty proud of that fact.

I think that I could get away with a more refined goth look in this sleek sheath dress by David Meister with an illusion lace sleeve that looks like I might be just a little badder than I really am.

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.