Kiersten Giles Cone Challenge Reveal!

A few weeks ago I was selected to participate in a little blog challenge...and today's the big reveal day!  The centerpieces for the adventure are these handmade copper cones from Kiersten Giles of The Cerebral Dilettante blog fame.

Prolific inspirer and fellow blogger, Lorelei, picked five of us, plus herself, to push the limits of cone creativity.  They're a pretty standard component in jewelry, especially in multi-strand pieces.  So, it was time to think about cones differently...the gauntlet she threw at us was all about unique!!!!

Well...here's my take...

I immediately noticed the gently folded edge along the top of the etched copper and thought of rolled paper.  That led me to a cone reversal so that instead of something flowing out of the cone, I'd have something flow up...

ooooohhhh....like a farmer's market bouquet!  You can see some of my sketches at an earlier post here.

This first piece isn't so much jewelry as it is a little decorative ornament that could hang somewhere to liven up a space with sweet little copper and brass flowers and tendrils in a perfect copper "vase."

I have somehow managed to accumulate a massive stash of tiny flower pieces so I went to town with them and a variety of brass and copper headpins and created a bunch of different flowers by layering the little components along with some metal spacers.  I didn't want to create massive wire-wrapped stems, so I opted for some heavy duty glue to keep the flowers together at the ends of the headpins.  Just in case you try this...open some windows when you work with glue or you'll have a mysterious headache for two days...haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I was digging through my "scrap" wire container looking for small pieces to make spirals and happened upon a bunch of copper and brass that I had used to practice "balling" with my microtorch.  Because I was going for a rustic mix of metals, the odd fired finish at the ends was perfect for more tendril-looking spirals.

My second cone was destined for a similar treatment but with a little bit of a different finish....it became a pendant:

I used a silver pendant "blank" and glued the cone in place.  I used some clear glue (less fumes, since I figured that drama out) to fill in and create a kind of resin background.

Then, I added the flower bouquet!  A few sets of leaves from my "metal component" stash drawer rounded out the little nosegay. 

With a simple little copper ball chain, it's a really pretty accent to a plain white t-shirt!  The flower stems are all attached to a base wrapped loop, so they can actually be rearranged within the cone/vase.

Here's a shot of the working stems as I tried to decide how many to use and create the varied heights that would make the bouquet look balanced and unique.

And, there you have it!  Cones on the up instead of the down!!!  

I was thinking as I made this that I should do a tutorial...if you think that's a good idea, let me know in the comments and I'll work on some pictures of the in-construction piece so you can see how it all came together.  :)

And, now to point you in the direction of my fellow cone-ites for today's challenge reveal:

The host:

Lorelei Eurto at her Blog

The Crazier Sister at Crazy Creative Corner

BeadBug at Copper Glass and Recycled Trash

Yay!Jewelry at the YaY! Jewelry blog

Lori Michaud at the Artfully Ornamental blog

Thanks for stopping by!  

Sketch Peek: Inspired by Cones!

My lovely friend, Elisabeth, sent me a birthday present a few weeks ago to help get the inspirational mojo back.  There was a book called The Crafter's Devotional and a big, spiral-bound black journal.  The Devotional is another blog party story that I'm sharing with lots of other creative minds out there who are looking for some more mojo.  But, that's another story for another day.

I decided to start in on the journal with a few ROE (rules of engagement):

- there's no pressure to fill the book

- start in the middle...so it doesn't look like the whole thing's empty when I stop in two weeks

- if something looks ugly or uninspiring or irritating, the page can come out

- only write on one side of each page...that's how I work my "to do" list at work because I hate it when the pen bleeds through to the other side

- try to use the book once a week, but don't stress if you don't

- use it for arts and crafts ideas AND whatever else I want like cool vocabulary words (yesterday I had to look up solipsism and profligacy while reading Newsweek)

- keep a black sharpie in the spine since that's my favorite writing utensil

My first project page....

I had some major brainstorming/idea generation the other day right after I heard from Lorelei with an invitation to be part of her latest blog challenge.  You can see the details at Lorelei's blog, but the basics:  There are six designers tasked to come up with something cool with gorgeous handmade copper cones from Keirsten of Cerebral Dilettante:

It felt great to sketch out a few ideas and then just randomly push out and record the ideas as they occurred.  I actually used the ideas to generate the final pieces...well, almost final.  There's still a few things to work on.  Lorelei asked us to really push the limits of our imagination and try something unexpected...and I did!  I can't wait to share the results during the reveal on 1 August, so be on the lookout!!!

Spring and Pink...A Good Combo

It's a weekend full of cherry blossoms, scads of pollen, cute bunnies (or fat one-eyed kitties), and fun Spring jewelry!!  I'm celebrating with some pretty pink help from Artbeads.com.

First, a texture-rich necklace.  I've always wanted one of these pretty borosilicate glass toggles, so I went for pink.  Then, I finished off some dark pink satin out of my stash and some light pink organza ribbon  with silver ends.  Along with the cool clasp in the front, I decided to use one of my own polymer clay pendants and some bright green coordinating beads...a disc from HMB Studios and a big faux chalcedony nugget.  I guess this is as close to an Easter egg as I'll get this year.  :)

Another view...

While enjoying the scent of glue from the crimp ends, I decided to work with some copper and satin to see what I could come up with.  This big pink tube of satin silk wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it turned out to be very fun!  It's called "fancy satin silk string" so I figured it'd be like string.  But, it was about the size around of my pinky finger.  Uh, what can I do with this?  Well, it turned into a great layer on wire and the ends sort of flared out into what reminds me of a tissue-paper flower.  So, here's a necklace with a pendant...

and some matching earrings....

Artbeads.com was the first website I tried years ago for my first on-line bead fixes and I've continued to use them for both basic components and fun, unique pieces.  So, I'm thrilled to be a part of their blogging community.  More ideas and links to other blogs can be found at the Artbeads Blog for Beaders. 

I'm going to go get myself a Cadbury creme egg (or six) and get my chocolate shock on!  haaaaaaaaa

On that note, hope you enjoy a lovely and blessed Easter weekend.  :)

The glass toggle and satin string used in the previous post, specifically referenced as from ArtBeads.com were provided as promotional gifts by for review or design partnership purposes.

Bangles! Mini Art Bead Collections!

My latest projects...

Inspiration?  Can you see the Totally Twisted in these?  haaaaaaa  My take on Kerry's projects from the book...It’s not just a bangle, it’s a mini art bead collection!

I used tons of great art beads from lots of different sources (all listed below with their Etsy seller IDs)...

For this one...

- Big enameled metal by Barbara Lewis at PaintingwithFire

- Lampwork glass by Cherie Ranfranz at Happyskull

- Polymer by Heather Powers at Humblebeads

- Lampwork glass by Karen Richards at LibelulaDesigns

- Lampwork disk by Heather Boardman at HMBStudios

For this bracelet, I used:

- Polymer clay from Doreen at Doreensbackyardbeads

- Lampwork disks from Heather at HMBstudios

And, then I couldn't resist mixing up the metals along with some more of those great round beads and some faceted lemony quartz.

And, some of my Air Force Blue beads from HMB studios for this pretty blue and silver number.

All of these are available for your shopping pleasure in my Etsy shop!

The Big Reveal!!!! It's Party Time!

I can't believe this Big Bead Soup Party started with just one post from Lori Anderson way back in December! She took on the coordination for over 80 artists (click to go to yesterday's post that has the whole list, with links!) who signed on, swapped favorite beads, and then created something new to reveal today--so, it's a big day!

First off, I have to say whooo hooooooo about my partner, Julie Nordine from Credit River Art Glass. We hit it off from the very beginning...even though she lives far from Alabama up in Minnesota and we actually haven't met in person. :) So, as much as I looooooove the pieces she sent me to work with and my final result, the coolest part of the party was meeting someone who shares the same enthusiasm and passion about life! So, thanks, Julie for being such a generous new friend!! As a reminder, here's the stash she sent me that includes tons of goodies that she had her hands on making or modifying:

Click on the pic to go to her blog post that describes each piece in more detail.

I couldn't stop fondling the copper washers! I studied them and finally figured out that they were etched. Well, I'm not really into acid or electro-whatevering to try that myself, but I can sure wield a mean chasing hammer!!! haaaaaaaaaaa So, I took out a few plain old washers and pounded to my heart's content...I even bought a new hammer with texture just to change things up! I just loved all the circles and the rings and while playing around with them on my work table, I ended up here....

It's a Free Fall of etched copper, textured copper, and textured silver all linked together with copper jump rings that highlight the gorgeous Credit River Art Glass focal bead and smaller coordinating round beads. There are even lovely etched copper bead caps on each of these glass beauties that tie them into the piece perfectly! It's all finished off in the back with an etched copper toggle.

Another cool tip I learned from Julie was this trick for photography with the "spotlit" background...makes it look like a really professional feature! haaaaaaaaaaaaaa

In case you're wondering how it hangs, it's asymmetrical, as most of my pieces tend to be, because I wanted the falling "bib" portion of rings to balance the focal and I'm totally satisfied with the way it flows. I even did a wear-test out with some friends last week and made a few tweaks as soon as I got home (even with Buffalo wing sauce in my cuticles!)
This "Soup" created some great inspiration:
- I've come to love working with copper...it's been in most of my pieces in the last two weeks.
- I'm not afraid to deal with jump rings to hold things together
- I'm now willing to spend hours reworking designs, even if that means taking most of it apart!
- I dig blogging and all those folks out there who are doing the same thing!!

So, many thanks again to Lori and Julie and to all the other designers, artists, crafters out there who were part of the party!!

Jen