Chrysanthemum Earrings

One of my Pandemic Projects has been cleaning and organizing my studio. It had gotten so bad that I had no space in which to work. Oh look! I've organized one corner!

I won't share any other studio pictures, as the rest is still a disaster zone. I'm taking it step by step, otherwise the task is too overwhelming. Anyway, while I was cleaning, I found a pair of earrings that I had started, but never finished. So I finished them up in time for today's post.

The copper shards are the work of Kristi Bowman Designs. They remind me of the rays of petals that circle the center of chrysanthemum blooms. I used enameled headpins by Sue Beads to wire on a pair of carved fluorite flowers. The fancy copper ear wires are by wire wizard, Joan Langmo. 

The Chrysanthemum Earrings are available on my website.
Do you have any Pandemic Projects you're working on? Let us know in the comments. Stay home and stay safe friends!

Linda Landig Jewelry

Brights With Dots and Stripes

I had a very different birthday yesterday because of the times we live in but I enjoyed it and managed to make three new pairs of earrings. I've been preparing for my next components show so decided to pick out some of my favourite designs for these earrings.

I make the components by hand painting the design onto wooden shapes and then use pyrography for the line work (for those who do not know this technique it is created by using a machine that heats a wire which is used to burn into wood.) The backs are painted black.

I have used a bold design for each pair of earrings. Recently I purchased fabulous lampwork beads by Magdalena Ruiz and some small striped acrylic spacer beads. For the first design I came up with this silhouette of a whimsical bird which has been matched up with the lampwork beads by Magdalena Ruiz, lampwork cups by Alisha White, acrylic and Czech glass spacers with metal bead caps.

For this next design I created a cute pig with a heart. I have used similar beads with the addition of headpins by Alisha White, Czech glass flower bead caps, lampwork spacers and acrylic striped spacers.

Finally, these cute sleeping cats that I  designed have also been matched up with lampwork by  Magdalena Ruiz and headpins by Alisha White, acrylic striped spacer beads, lampwork spacers and Czech glass flower bead caps.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, the earrings will be available in my FB group later today - Nicola Morse Jewellery & components.

Starlink

Mooching around on my bead table this week, not knowing what to make for the blog. Needing the boost of something new when I hear our lovely postman coming up the path and whoa! My headpin order has arrived from Kim Rogers. And just look at those colours and textures! The swirls of acid green were crying out for the green Basha Beads.

I wanted to represent the Starlink satellites that are orbiting close to earth at the moment - my smaller grandson is sitting outside scanning the sky for them as I write.
The pale blue I picked out with roman glass; the larger, 'orbiting' black discs are coco shell and the smaller obsidian.

I hope Oscar got to spot the satellite; small boys' memories are made of moments like this. Hope to see you again  in two weeks - stay safe, everyone.

                                                                              Lindsay x

                                                                        My Etsy shop
                                                                       My facebook page
                                                                        My Instagram

Hoops again!

Hello! Hope you're all keeping safe and well.

Well, in these strange times I found myself reading too much news and getting rather overwhelmed with the state of things. So, I consciously took a step back, reduced my time checking the news and spent some time at my little workbench. The result? Feeling much better.

Now, I've mentioned in my  last contribution to the blog that my silver stash is dwindling, as my main supplier has shut their doors for a little while to keep their staff safe. And rightly so. So I have been looking at every little tiny bit of silver i have with new eyes! How can I turn this into something pretty? Will I have enough to make a pair of these? I have very little sheet left, and a little more wire -so, I thought I'd make some pretty hoops.

I love hoops. They feature in oh so many of my designs -old and new. Love their versatility -how they can be the main feature of a design, or simply an accompaniment to a striking component -be that an art bead or a gemstone.

Now, this pair are a gift for a fabulous friend who has cheered me on in my silver jewellery endeavours! They started out as a simple bit of wire, soldered at the top and shaped on a mandrel, with a little light hammering to harden their shape. I had some leftover semi-circles of silver from an earlier design, which just needed to be filed to to same shape and size, and then hammered to give them that pretty texture. Finally, soldered onto the hoops, oxidised and buffed to a shine -for a contemporary, but edgy look. Hope she likes them!

These others are made from slightly thicker pieces of sterling silver wire. I found a piece of beaded wire in my stash that I'd completely forgotten about, so once the hoops had been soldered and shaped. I cut the beaded wire in two, and wrapped it along the bottom half of each hoop. I made some earwires for this pair, and had a little of the beaded wire left, so added them around the join, just to embelish them and echo the main design.

So there we are! And if you don't have a torch for soldering, hoops are still so easy to make -you just need to know how to wrap wire, and have something to wrap the wire around! 

Hope you are finding something creative to do to keep you calm in these difficult times. Keep safe and well, and I'll be back in a couple of weeks

Sue

We're All Ears :: April Reveal :: Safer At Home

Hello bead peeps!

I am sorry to be a little late to my own party. And I am not prepared (!). I clearly have not been very good at mastering time management of late. I am ashamed that I have no earrings to show for this post, but I do have something creative to share. And as they say on Broadway...the Show Must Go On!

I didn't make any earrings, but I am very proud to say that my creative constipation has finally busted through! LOL! I did manage to make the first in what will become a series of mixed media mosaic assemblages, so that is what I am sharing with you today. And there is a little bit of earring tucked into it....

I have had these little house shapes for some time and more that are larger and smaller, as I really resonate with a house shape. I have wanted to make these into something for a long time but just couldn't figure out what.

Then I stumbled on the "leaning tower of discarded jewelry" which is really leaning and it is so large it is a tower in my studio that I literally stumbled into! I found a necklace that I had made back in 2014 as a sample for a video series that I did with Interweave called "Shimmering Garden" (that I see is still offered for download!). It was in the discard pile because it had been strung incorrectly and the flowers didn't hang right. But all good pieces, and nothing ever gets thrown away in my world! So I just took a scissors to it and started cutting. Those three large flowers were what I made in the video and were the perfect focals for this new project. From there it was just fun to find all the bits I had lying around to make this mosaic assemblage. Included in here are actual earrings that were in my mother's jewelry box. There was a whole bag of these unfortunate costume jewelry pieces from decades past (nothing valuable or sentimental), things I can't even fathom my mother would have worn, still I couldn't get rid of them. So even though I didn't make earrings, there are still earrings represented here!

These will become a series that I will debut at the Gallery Q when we do actually reopen. And now that I have made one, the flood gates of creativity are opening. Huzzah!

A picture of my home before when we bought it in late 2009.

When this home isolation mandate came down I embraced the change, even though it was hard. I thought that maybe I would tackle some creative projects I had been putting off. But no, that sadly hasn't happened. Yes, it has been a shock to the system, but it is clearly NOT the worst thing. Despite the negative connotations, the actual hardships that people are facing, and let's face it, the inconveniences that are seemingly the main thing that I see people griping about, this time on pause has made me appreciate more than ever all the blessings that I have in my life: my family, my friends, having a job, the food on my table, the health that we have, the beauty of nature all around us, the rising of community spirit, the undeniable worth of a positive outlook, scientific facts and discoveries that will carry us though, the value of seeking to learn something new every day.

My friend Shannon has been doing a Facebook live "Stories with Shannon" each week for little ones, complete with a story she reads, plus coloring and even yoga bits. It is simply delightful. She read a book about mindfulness called A World of Pausabilities this week and it really resonated with me. Pushing pause on our lives as we knew them is not the same as pushing stop. There are many opportunities to be had if we only take the time to look up and out and see how we are all tightly woven in our communities, local, state, country and world - dependent on each other for health and happiness. This mindfulness is what I hope to carry through to the other side, wherever and whenever that may be. So I ask you...

What do you hope to carry with you to the other side of this pause? 

If you were able to play along in this challenge, now is the time to share!


P.S. Today, April 17th at 2:00pm I will be doing my very first Facebook live with a little art project that anyone, anywhere can join in on. We will be doing Greeting Card Mosaics with paper. Would love to have you join me! It will be hosted on the CREATE Portage County Facebook page.

Statement Headpins

Some of my favorite pet projects are working on these asymmetrical headpin designs.  It gets my juices flowing - it's all freeform and sort of like a  game of word association (sort of..lol) well, you know what I mean, right?  

These stunning vibrant lampwork headpins are by Kimberly Rogers of Numinosity Beads.  

This color combination is by far one of my favorites!

I decided to let the beads move freely on this particular design.  I made large loops at the top leaving space on the wire for movement.

I softened some of the bold colors by adding lovely vintage Miriam Haskell pink glass pearls and balanced the look by adding some spacers with bling.

Here is another example but in earth tones.

I think I'll call these "Twist and Shout"  lol

These organic, etched headpins are also by Kimberly Rogers.  I used recycled African glass with beautiful daisies, one big lustrous Miriam Haskell glass pearl, heavily oxidized spacers, and tiny AB crystals. 

Thank you for stopping by my worktable today!  See you back here in a couple of weeks!

Loralee xo

https://www.facebook.com/loraleekolton.jewelry/

Beyond the Fringe

Strange times continue. One of the few times I feel really at peace these days is sitting at my bead table, no news on, just listening to the birds outside for whom life is unchanged. So it's very good timing for this years #the100dayproject2020.  Post a piece of work each day on your Instagram  account and hashtag #the100dayproject2020. It'll be the third year running I've participated - can't promise that I'll do it every day, but it offers structure and motivation in a chaotic period.

Today was Day 1 and I chose to make something bright and cheerful. We all need it.

These gorgeous enamels are by Candan Imrak. I wired a fringe of rainbow haematite beads along the bottom edge together with a czech glass drop which perfectly matches the green in the enamels, as do the enamelled copper earwires by Lucy Haslam. Very flirty!

                             Please, all of you, stay safe till we meet again. And do think about joining in.

                                                                          Lindsay x

                                                                     My Instagram