We're All Ears :: May Reveal :: May Day Flowers

Hello everyone!
Happy spring!
The birds are chirping, the sun is shining and today it is a lovely 68 degrees here in the heart of Wisconsin. A perfect spring day!

Our challenge for this month was to do something that was inspired by the tradition of May Day (May 1st) with flowers, and baskets and ribbons on maypoles. I hope that you found something to be inspired by in this challenge!

I decided to keep things simple. I came across a bunch of these dyed howlite flower shaped beads and wanted to do something that would combine that with the ribbons of the maypole. I didn't find any ribbon or cord that would work, but I did find a small stash of colored flexible beading wire from Softflex that worked perfectly with the colors. I simply passed the wire through the little flower beads and shimmied them around so that the flat flower part would show rather than stack and crimped them off. Easy peasy! I think that this would work with other beads, like Czech glass flowers or even little round beads or crystals, as long as you can string four strands of wire through the hole.

I tried to do a little video showing how I made them, but I can't seem to get it to download off my phone and it also shot it in two parts with half of it upside down! Grrr! I guess technology is not my friend at the moment!

So in order not to delay this further, I will just show the pictures (although they are so simple I am sure you can figure it out!). If I can get the video to load, I will try to add that later.

Your turn! Brighten up the world with your happy spring inspired earrings!

We're All Ears :: November Reveal

The description of the taste of this vintage 1800s candy recipe called Nectar sounds so intriguing... "It's very hard to describe. Sometimes it tastes a bit like pound cake. Sometimes it tastes like almonds. Sometimes other flavors. And it seems to change when you suck on it. It's a delicious flavor and one that translates well in the 21st century."

The beautiful amber color of the candies was a perfect choice for November. Topaz is the birthstone for the month and there are plenty of beads and stones that give that same effect.
I used citrine, agate and even millefiori glass beads for my drops.

I love the look of that old hand crank machine that they used to make these candies. I find it so inspiring that something so old can be brought back to such a sweet new life! It has a very steampunk Victorian quality to it and it is fascinating to watch. To bring in the element of the antique candy press I used steel washers, twisted links and even beaded links (I wish I could say who the artist is who made them!).

For my contribution, I made four different pairs of earrings inspired by the candy making video and the fact that the candy changes flavors as you suck on it.

 

So what sweet treats have you cooked up for us this month? I can't wait to see what you did!

[Note: The InLinkz tool is something I love using but they increased their price substantially. So I am trying out a new link-up service. Please be patient as I work through this!] 

We're All Ears :: August Reveal

Sorry for the delay! This show that I am mounting (opening on August 30th!) is busting my behind with all the work that needs to be done! And while I didn't manage to get even one fire pit in over the last two weeks, I did manage to eke out a few pairs of earrings for the challenge (double duty as they will go into my exhibit! Woot!)

When I see flames dancing and chasing the sky, I think of copper. It perfectly embodies the molten core of fire. And I also thought of glass, particularly lampwork, that would be created in a flame. Lucky for me, my hoarding tendencies are well known and I came across this little stash of copper pieces from our friend Kristi Bowman. As luck would have it, they were right next to lampwork glass swirl discs from Melissa Rediger. Sweet serendipity! Since both components are flat, I didn't want to miss out on showing off their incredible detail so I did a little bit of simple wirework to show them off. I call these Flame Dancer. (I think I may be tempted to keep these for myself! So light and glowy!)

I came across some polymer clay headpins that I made at the Inspired by Nature retreat in 2015. They look so much like the lumps of molten heat in the center of the flame. There is always a lot more color in fire than just red and orange and these have a touch of purple shades and tiny white flecks. Wrapped in rings that simulate the tangled branches of the fire pit, I call these little wonders Hot Spots.

At the end of the night, the grey ash mixed with the charred remains and the tiny spots of dying flame are as fascinating to watch as when the flames are shooting sparklers into the night sky. These are another pair of headpins I created last year with a perfectly weathered look. The headpins are on blackened annealed steel wire which I made into a frame. I wrapped a copper colored wire around that ending in random twists of wire. I call these Embers & Ash.

I really need to get my flame on and enjoy that fire pit (maybe as a reward for getting this show, "Beauty in the Broken Places" off the ground!). I think a cold beverage and some s'mores would make a great way to celebrate!

Let's see what you did. Share your blog links below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Get the InLinkz code for your blog: 

get the InLinkz code

We're All Ears :: July Reveal

I didn't make it to the Wausau Balloon Rally last weekend. Drats. But a local radio personality named Dave Kallaway is a mighty fine photographer when he is not on the air and he has taken some awesome shots! Check out this one... and this one... (I truly hope you can view them...) But in case you can't here is one of the inspiration pictures...

To make this quartet of earrings it was easy to find the beads. Most of my beads look like they would make great hot air balloons! But the ones that stood out to me where the ones with fun simple patterns. To make the baskets I used some beads and decorative headpins. The key is to have a little bit of space between the bottom of the bead and the top of the basket shape. I didn't want these to be too referential so that if someone is just attracted to the bright colors and patterns they don't need to know that they were created with balloons on the brain.

Golem Beads are perfect for this project. The bright colors and graphic patterns really do look like the balloons at a rally. I am always cheered when I look at Vlad's beautiful ceramic beads. How can you not smile when you see these beads or these balloons? They exude happiness.

And then I spotted some polymer clay beads from a seller who no longer makes them (Honey from the Bijoux). The stripes are really playful!

Finally, I decided to go a bit more sophisticated with the lampwork glass from Jenni Connolly. They remind me of Monet's water lilies and were a gift from the Australian artist in a Bead Soup long ago. Pairing them with a wee bit of bling peeking out with the rhinestone rondelle spacers gives them a little added sass. Just a touch.

So there you have my own little beady balloon rally. I can't wait to see what you made!

An InLinkz Link-up

Get the InLinkz code for your blog! get the InLinkz code

We're All Ears :: March Reveal

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." ~ Robert Burns

I had the best intentions with this month's challenge. I love the mandala shapes, the bright color palette, the intricate patterns. I actually wanted to do something with wire and beads and a frame (of course, seed beads terrify me as anything other than a mere spacer bead, but I foolishly thought that maybe I could teach myself a little bead weaving or something....clearly, I am delusional). I might still revisit the ideas that I had, but with the time dwindling down to nothing, I knew I had to enact a plan B.

I am working on putting together an art exhibit for this fall so I have been amassing all manner of stuff for all my lofty mixed media ideas. Maybe it is just an excuse to splurge on tools and materials, I don't know. Anyway, as I stood in the middle of my studio around 9:00pm (I spent all day trying to get my receipts wrangled for tax time - I'm up to September. Woohoo!), dumbfounded as to what I could do with the few remaining hours I had left, I spotted a set of specialty paints that I bought for my show. I needed to find a time to play with them and determine what use they would be to me, so why not kill two birds with that proverbial stone?

These paints are called Pebeo Prisme paints. Tiny little pots of liquid metallic colors that yield the most fantastic results. They had settled quite a bit and needed a lot of stirring, but the colors were rich and shimmery and the effect might just work to give a mosaic feel to the little charms I found in my stash.

I layered the colors by dripping them on top of each other using a toothpick. Then I just sat back and watched the magic happen.

You see these paints react to the air and each other by making natural honeycomb shapes. As they dry, the effect changes minute by minute. What I didn't realize is that these paints need a minimum of 6 hours to dry to the touch (72 hours to be fully cured!). Ah, well.... I couldn't very well disturb these little charms working their miracles.

Morphing Mandala {temporary} earrings

But I did ever-so-gently pick up the first pair I made, using a color palette straight from the inspiration, and quickly made them into some very simple earrings, before dismantling them to rest for the full cure time. Aren't they fab?

Pairs, anyone?

I quite like the effect of these paints. They have a wonderful morphing nature that is unpredictable. That is why I like them so much! So now I know how they react and I am excited to make them the stars of some of my art pieces that I am planning, plus I think a little line of these funky earrings (made to look a lot better than these temporary ones up above!) might just be the thing to fill up my case at the gallery for spring and summer!

I might even decide to make some pairs available in my shop in case others want to use them as well, in case anyone is interested... I will see how this batch turns out, because where you see them now is not likely how they will end up, and then I might want to add some resin over the top to make them really POP. It will be quite exciting to see them in the morning! [UPDATE: see the new picture above to see some of the changes that happened overnight.]

I can't wait to see what you created using this inspiration!

An InLinkz Link-up

Add the InLinkz code to your blog! get the InLinkz code

We're All Ears :: November Reveal

Gah! I have pods on the brain!

I so enjoyed making the polymer clay pods at Heather Powers' Inspired by Nature retreat this year in October. There is an endless variation of seed pods in nature and just about anything looks like it is alien, but still plausible, so you can really go wild with seed pods. I got so intrigued that I came up with some more inspiration photos. I think that I will be paying closer attention to the plants in the world around me from now on!

Sorry for the hideous image quality... I forgot that I saved this on my work computer and I didn't send it home so this is a picture of a printout. Doh!

In addition to making earrings for this challenge, I am currently working on making a multitude of pods, in at least five different varieties. I have shot them in black and white to showcase the forms, as they will be colored eventually (when I figure out what colors they need to be!). I also quite like them in white, and might consider that for a future batch. Can you pick out the images in my inspiration photos that inspired each pod?

 

I plan to magically whip them into a pod-ilicious jewelry set for a gallery exhibit I have always longed to be in at a Central Wisconsin art gallery called the Center for Visual Arts. This annual exhibit is called 'Midwest Seasons' and is interpreted in a variety of mediums. I have tried {unsuccessfully} to get in previous years. I am hoping that this will be my year! (And if it doesn't work out, there is always the 'Winter Garden' exhibit at the same time in our local Riverfront Art Gallery.) Keep your fingers crossed....that I can complete the pods, make the necklace, get it entered in time for the deadline...by Saturday... and that it makes it in! It really would be a feather in my cap to be juried into this exhibit.

So many different shapes to choose from in the world of pods! I have been down a rabbit hole by typing in 'seedpods' in Google and perusing he images. I had some pods from Heather's retreat that I had made in matched sets and I made one more as an experiment shape. I like the earthy colors and the odd organic shapes. I don't mind that they are not exact, in fact, I celebrate that!

Peaseblossom Pod
Hand made pod headpins, hand-patinaed leaf beads, copper leaves, embellished ear wires

Amber Lotus Pod
Handmade pod headpins, amber carved leaf beads, copper leaves and wired ear wires.

Passiflora Pod
Handmade pod headpins embellished with wire, handmade copper ear wires.

So which pod shape is your favorite?

An InLinkz Link-up

Grab the InLinkz code for your blog!

get the InLinkz code

We're All Ears :: September Reveal

It was all about line and movement for me this month.

 

 

The challenge of translating a fast-paced music video like "Torque Starter" for me lies in picking something to focus on. I chose to focus on the section near the end when the glowing ball was making spirals that overlapped on themselves.

It took me a fair bit of trial and error, but I finally made something that felt right. Just a few feet of wire wrapped around two different size Sharpie markers made the base of the spirals, wired them totether and added a little glowing crystal rondelle for the flash.

I wanted the ear wires to be integrated into the design, so I came up with a spring that sort of unravels. And yes, I purposely made them asymmetrical! Nothing groundbreaking in this design, but it did open my eyes to new forms (I could see flowers like these) and how to manipulate the wire to suit my vision.

There was so very much in this interactive performance art that you could use to inspire your designs. I can hardly wait to see what you did!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's see what you created!
Please take the time to hop around to the participants.
Leave kind, encouraging comments. Visit their shops. Make new friends!    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An InLinkz Link-up

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Get the InLinkz code for your blog!

  get the InLinkz code

We're All Ears :: March Reveal

When I first spotted these pictures I was captivated by the bubbles of dew. So mesmerizing how they magnify everything. And I love the way they cling to these minute insects looking like they are adorned with crystal jewels! Do you think that the insects are bothered by this? I wonder if it affects their vision. I think it makes them look even more fascinating!

Beads from Kristen Stevens, Marsha Neal, Marcie Abney, Meital Plotnik and mystery glass

I just knew that glass beads would be the way to go for this challenge. So I sorted through my stash and came up with these lovelies. But I also found some beaded beads that really captured my imagination as they reminded me of the eyes filled with dew.

I wanted to not only use the colors and the dew drops as my inspiration but also the beauty of the dragonfly. To mimic the segmented body, I used these ceramic spike head pins by Marsha Neal in a soft lavender color. I quite like that each one is a little bit different, hand of the maker and all. I tried putting other art beads with them, but they competed too much. So I went with a funky spiky spacer and some bling-y rhinestone rondelle beads, topped off with a shimmering crystal. I call these "Graceful Flight" for the beautiful movements of dragonflies.

Did you know that a dragonfly's eyes have over 30,000 faceted lenses in them? Each one of those units or facets is called Ommatidium. Each facet forms a picture, sort of like a giant jigsaw puzzle, that allows the dragonfly to process the scene in front of it. I thought that these beaded beads from Kristen Stevens was like those 30,000 facets. They are reading very brown in this photo, but they have this beautiful purpley iridescent shimmer. I paired them with some Swarovski crystals in an opal star shine shade. Did you notice the cutest little headpins I found in my stash? Teeny, tiny sterling silver dragonflies! What luck! I call these "Ommatidia" to honor the incredible vision of these insects.

That dew! They are what drew me to those pictures. The dew drops covering their iridescent orbs looked like crystal encrusted chandeliers. I have a LOT of lampwork glass beads, but I really couldn't find what I was looking for in my stash (how can that be!?). And then I remembered that not long ago I bid on some pretty lampwork glass on a Facebook page that posts auctions (Lampwork Beads for Sale?! I can't recall!). I thought the beads were so pretty and I may have been the only one that bid on them. Meital Plotnik is the artist and she is from Israel. They took a little bit to get here, but they were worth it! There is a soft swirling green and blue underlying all the raised dots in peach, tangerine, rose and mint. I paired them with some crystals and bead caps and these pretty pearl head pins from my stash (I really have more than I know what to do with!). I call these "A Drop of Dew" as those beads remind me of the image of the dew on the eyes of the dragonflies.

I feel really bad that I don't know the name of the artist who created these glass beauties. They look like tiny galaxies swirling inside! I pulled out the jade green color with some palace green opal Swarovski crystals. I happened to have these tiny brass open links sitting there. I thought they reminded me of the translucent wings of the dragonflies. These wings are filled with a polymer substance called chitin (KY-tin) and veins. They are incredibly strong and if the species lacks any color in them, they appear to be glassy, as if they are invisible windows. Did you know that the dragonfly's wings can work independently of one another? They look so fragile but yet are so very strong and versatile despite being "Invisible Wings."

So, that is it for me. Whew! That was a lot for me! You may have noticed that there was one bead (the beaded links from Marcie Abney) that I failed to use. I simply ran out of time. So I will tuck these away for another day...

I am looking forward to seeing what you will share with this inspiration!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let's see what you created!
Please take the time to hop around to the participants.  

Leave kind, encouraging comments.
Visit their shops. Make new friends! 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An InLinkz Link-up
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Get the InLinkz code for your blog!

get the InLinkz code

We're All Ears :: November Reveal

So what did you think about that sweet little short animation?
 
I was completely enthralled by it. I watched it over and over and paused and pressed rewind so many times. I just wanted to zoom in and see it even closer! What I took away from that film were three things: the leaves and foliage on the mountainside and in the woods; the details on the outfit of the little girl; and the diaphanous wings of the creature. I sought to do something inspired by all three of these inspirations.

I loved this recent post that Miss Gloria just shared with us on how she approaches her task of making earrings for her reveal days. Since I really only get one reveal day a month, I like to make sure that I have more than one pair of earrings created for the challenge, and the way that Miss Gloria approaches her creative sessions is one that I quite like and decided to put into action: creating in your comfort zone and taking a risk. So for this first set of earrings, I focused on a tried and true design of mine: falling articulated color-filled leaves. Leaves are everywhere in this short...from the misty treetops on the hillside to the cool green vines snaking their way around the massive boulders. There seemed to be three different colors of the leaves: white and misty, rust and copper and fresh and green. I made a pair of earrings in all three colorways using at least 4 different metal patinas to hand paint each leaf before assembling.

Clearly, I love making these, as I have made them before in all the colors of the rainbow. I love that they are lightweight and dangly. I always sell out of them at $22 and my own personal favorite pair is periwinkle blue leaves. I must have eleventy-billion of these sweet little leaves, so I am sure that I could make you a pair if you like! ;-) Just ask!

 

The outfit of the little girl is intriguing... does it hint at a rustic peasant lifestyle? a bygone era? a faraway land? It has a decidedly ethnic quality to it, from the fur trim to the brocade to the beaded tassel (did you catch that?). I wanted to make something inspired by the beaded tassel, but found myself drawn to the ornate trim on the edge of her coat. I spied a little bag of some of my favorite Vintaj components in these sweet little flower designs and kept is quite simple. Long again, as that is how I like my earrings (could easily go shorter), with a faceted merlot pearl dangling. I employed a new-to-me trick I learned of making knotted head pins. I learned it in a little online tutorial and thought I would give it a shot. Pearls always have such small holes, and this solves my dilemma of how to string them in an elegant way.

And following along with Miss Gloria, I had to take a risk. The feathers of the mystical creature seemed like the perfect way to test that out. In my printer's cabinet pearl drawer I found a small compartment of small top-drilled stick pearls. I thought they looked a lot like feathers, so I set about trying to come up with a design that would mimic the look of the wings.

I played around with a little dark annealed steel wire to make a crescent shaped form. Then using a contrasting bronze colored wire (more out of necessity than esthetic), I wire wrapped the stick pearls to the form. At the bottom I dangled a crystal briolette, reminding me of the flash that the water made as it coursed through the creature. I even made my own ear wires, something I would like to do more, but rarely have the time. These were a risk for me in the unexpected shape and the complete handcraftiness.  I quite like the way they hang and hug the curves of my jaw line. I think I will explore this shape some more!

If you were inspired to create something based on the inspiration animation, please add your link below. And be sure to come back on Friday, December 5th for our next We're All Ears inspiration!

What inspired you about the animation Nebula? Do share!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let's see what you created!
Please take the time to hop around to the participants.
Leave kind, encouraging comments.
Visit their shops. Make new friends!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An InLinkz Link-up

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get the InLinkz code for your blog!
You will need to sign up for a FREE account at InLinkz in order to grab the code to place on your blog. This is a new protection against spam usage of the InLinkz code. It will only take a minute the first time and then you can add it whenever we have the hop.

Get the InLinkz code