"What's Old is New Again" With Artbeads.com!

You see, it's projects like these that make me think Artbeads.com and I share a brain.  Our latest assignment is to transform vintage jewelry and components into modern works of wearable art - that's one of my favouritest things to do!  I love to visit local thrift stores and pick up jewelry with interesting character and butcher it apart when I get home, transforming something someone got tired of into a new favourite.  Not everything I end up snagging at these stores are 'vintage' and 'antique' by definition, but they tend to carry a worldly or rustic attribute that attracts me.  Not only are you being 'thrifty' in fashion, you're buying something with a history, as supposed to just getting onto the racks from the factories.  It was owned and loved by someone who had great memories attached to this piece, whose family photo albums probably have a few images of that particular piece you just bought at your local thrift store.  Now, you'll carry on those happy memories into your own, however you reshape them.  Why not reshape the piece?

So, I went rummaging through a few places to come up with everything that I had 'antique'.  Even after taking these photos I managed to find even more stashes of vintage and repurposed components that were making me giddy.  It was getting to a point of madness where I couldn't focus - and decided on a select few that I would focus on.  I even tried to map them together in a way, and I was pretty close to sticking to it ... well, kind of.  I really enjoy the eclectic madness of steampunk fashion, blending industrial and organic elements together with a "storybook" mystique.  These pieces are what I'd call "rusted romance", with telling stories unique to each wearer.  Here's a list of repurposed and vintage components you'll see in these pieces:

• Mixed metal links in gold-, silver- and red copper-plated finishes with riveted detail from a thrifted pair of earrings.
• Vintage beads with a iridescent gold finish, thrifted from a gifted necklace, circa 1970s.
• Vintage gold Love pendant, gifted by a family member, circa 1980s.
• Components from a vintage bracelet (of the costume jewelry variety), featuring a blue and white striped glass cabochon set in a silver-plated pewter frame.
• Repurposed sew-on appliques of 'metal' plates from a vintage tunic blouse, circa 1980s.
• Gold-plated authentic vintage Chanel charm, the last of the 'garage sale stash'.
• A few vintage and antique earrings that had lost their mates (some only had components 'borrowed' from them).
• A few of my favourite vintage charms and pendants from my personal collection.

Let's take a look!

click photos to enlarge

Here's an idea ...

'Sketching' some ideas for my upcoming Artbeads.com project with vintage elements. 

No. 1 - pin/brooch with ribbon detail and charms, reclaimed bracelet component

No. 2 - two-tone metal (gold, brass) gears and charms, vintage Chanel charm and gold-plated rope chain

Bead Table Wednesday, Issue #3: Vintage Possibilities

I'm getting ready for my next Artbeads.com Design Partner Portfolio project, which will require me to incorporate a vintage item into my jewelry design.  I went rooting through my stash and came up with a few things ... now I just can't make up my mind!

The vintage fabric is courtesy of a few dresses that were given to me by a family friend, handsewn in the 1960s with these incredibly psychedelic patterns.  I've already started using the fabrics in other projects, experimenting with sewing and shaping techniques.  The porcelain pendant, rose brooch and copper-tone brooch (that one's bottom left) were all picked up from a local thrift store.  The striped blue-and-white glass cabochon in oxidized copper setting were previously part of a bracelet; in fact, you've already seen its part of the bracelet's "repurposement" in the Winter Enchantment project!  I have a few more pieces left over that are in need of a home.  The antiqued silver owl pendant with lucite setting - owls are always on trend, it seems - are vintage from the '70s, if I remember my mother telling me correctly.  (The pendant belonged to my grandmother.)  The gold-plated Chanel charm - an authentic! - was part of an awesome find Nick happened upon at a garage sale; the thoughtful man he is, he bought them for me and surprised me with them.  I've this one left, and I'll need to make it special.  The gold-plated piece with filigree detail was part of a necklace I had picked up at an antiques store in Sherkston Shores whilst on vacation with Nick and his family.  The gold-plated rope chain originally held the asymmetrical heart-shaped pendant that found its setting in the Desert Heart necklace, part of the Bead Soup Collection.  Maybe it'll find it's way into something here?

I already have about three or four ideas cookin', but I gotta focus and pick one.  Which ones are your favourites?

Costume Jewelry to SHOUT About!

The costume jewelry for SHOUT! is just about done!  We have a meet n' greet at Zehrs Grocery in Orangeville tomorrow - in costume! - and I wanted to finish as much as I could so I can give the ladies some options on accessories.  I would like to make a few more than what I have here for each character, but funds are tight nowadays and so is time - curtain's in under a month!  We're still in the process of dealing with the finer details in the costumes themselves, which will be showstopping!  A few details have changed in the accessories, as well - instead of clip-on earrings, they'll have earwires; I couldn't find silver clip-ons for the life of me, and was concerned about their hold during our dance numbers.  I won't be putting magnet clasps on the necklaces, either - again, funds are tight nowadays!  A lobster clasp will be used for the necklaces; still has that same security when dancing around.  Let's check out what we have!

The Green Girl (that's me!)  Matching lampwork glass in coin and tube beads made a great chunky bracelet, strung on stretch wire, with a pair of earrings to match! I had made a second pair with faceted acrylic beads for a costume change.

Design by Cassandra Does "Assassin's Creed"!

I was rather impatient on finishing the ideas I had mapped out from this week's BTW influenced by the video game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood since they were rather fresh in my brain.  Fingers get so itchy, but they were rather relieved by Thursday's end.  I'm rather happy with they way they came together!

Amongst the historical figures in the video game, focusing on the corrupt power and influence of the House of Borgia, is Renaissance inventor and artist Leonardo da Vinci.  Nick has a beautiful coffee table book full of da Vinci's illustrations, from his spiritual sketches to the war machines designed for the Borgia's troops, all replicated in the game itself!  (There's a level where you use Leonardo's 'tank' design to destroy Borgia cannons!  It's awesome!)  I had used pages from the book as a background to photograph the pieces, a great addition to detail for these geek-inspired pieces!

This is also me fully admitting that I'm a bit of a geek-girl.  Yup, my best friend says I should carve a niche for it.  Let see how these fare.

Bead Table Wednesday, Issue #2: DBC Does 'Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood'

Y'all folks are so kind with the previous - and my first! - BTW post, thank you so much for your comments!  If you enjoy my posts, you ought to check out the Flickr page featuring beaders and jewelry makers from across the world, sharing what's on their bead table every week!

Last week, you loved the Rockslide necklace, which will be available for sale in my Etsy shop very soon with other new designs.  This week is a very unique design concept and thrifted repurposed piece I picked up during a shopping spree at Value Village.  (Oh my, I will have to brag about that stuff in a later post.  Incredible finds!)  Nick has been playing quite a bit of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, an XBOX video game with its setting in 16th century Rome/'present day' 2012, with an epic yet complicated story about an ancient brotherhood called the Assassins and their lineage as they try to protect mankind from the Templars and protect an ancient 'biblical' artifact with the potential of great power to whoever possesses it.  It's a pretty damn cool game.  Eighty-five percent of the game's characters and events are historically accurate accounts of the House of  Borgia's power and influence through 15th and 16th centuries in Italy.  It's a pretty cool game, and he plays it a lot.  He's playing it right now.  (Not just as I type this, but probably as you're reading this a few days from now, too!)

You play as Ezio Auditore, a trained Assassino like his father, hailing proudly from city of Firenze, Italy.  The traditional Assassin costume is white and red, his traditional armour is patterned much like feathers of birds wings.  Nick had been bugging me for a while to make something inspired from the game, and I just happened across the coolest find at Value Village.  This'll be perfect for an Assassin's Creed-inspired piece.

Bead Table Wednesday, Issue #1

Welcome to what's-on-my-table-this-week!  I had discovered Bead Table Wednesday, or also affectionately known as 'BTW' (ha!), through Sue at Hello Gorgeous Design.  I found a nifty button on her blog that lead me to a Flickr group of international beaders sharing the mess on their own bead tables!

I'm a little too embarrassed to show you my actual workspace right now, I really let myself go.  I'm in the middle of a mass exodus of bead-sorting and material-purging, some may find itself for sale on my Etsy shop.  I'm also happy for the opportunity to review what I have in my own stash and focus on what materials I've been using the most lately.  You know what they say, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."  This stuff certainly isn't trash, it just got lost in the mix and, consequently, I lost interest.  There are a few that, with fresh eyes, I find new ideas and stash it away for later, like these ones here!

Winter Enchantment with Artbeads.com!

Welcome to another Artbeads.com creation!

Our latest project is called "Winter Enchantment", to design a piece inspired by what we love about winter.  I have to be honest and say that the only reason I like snow and winter are for sentimental reasons; around Christmas and New Years, the snow makes those lights outside glow at night.  Other than that, it's cold, wet and gets in your boots and makes you uncomfortable the rest of the day.  There is one inspiration I did turn to, however, to feel the 'enchantment' of the winter season, and that was to The Group of Seven, a famous group of painters who pioneered Canadian landscape art when many artists thought at the time it to be "unpaintable or unworthy of painting."  Their works of art are now part of a rich, artistic culture and these images serve as iconography to our picturesque beauty of Canadian wilderness.
  
I remember a field trip in grade school to the McMichael Art Gallery in Kleinburg, ON, where nearly 6000 pieces of art by the Group of Seven are housed and displayed.  I loved these paintings, and seeing the beauty of my country through the eyes of artists such as these men and women make me proud to be a Canadian ... thus, by default, enjoying the 'enchantment of winter'.  No?  My choice inspiration for this project is one of my favourites, Mount Lefroy by Lawren Harris.  I had also found a lovely pendant that I thought echoed the styles of many of the Group's works.

 

Bead Soup Blog Party: THE BIG REVEAL SEQUEL!

Hello!  I'm so glad you could make it back!

Well, the laptop's still an expensive paperweight, so here I am on hubby's computer once more.  I took advantage of the beautiful sunny weather we had yesterday and put together a new photo shoot of my Bead Soup pieces, made with the beads lovingly chosen by Sue at Hello Gorgeous Design, my Bead Soup Partner for this round.  Y'know, I really like how these photos turned out - so much, that I had already replaced the photos on the 'prequel' post.  Check out this post to see what Sue had sent me and previously revealed pieces, and let's get to these beauties!

Desert Heart necklace.  This one was just waiting to happen, because I had this gold heart pendant for so long, waiting for the right inspiration.  I had purchased it as a necklace in a department clearance section a few months ago, and there was something about the odd symmetry of the heart shape itself.  The pendant was strung through a simple gold rope chain without any other embellishments; I would imagine it being worn in a 'multistrand' look with a few other pieces.  Well, the chain's still around here somewhere, and I'm sure I'll use that for something else, but I immediately saw everything come together as soon as these lemon honey jade nuggets and polished flourite in burnt orange were unwrapped from the tissue paper.  The clasp is left at the side of the necklace for easy access, the loop handmade from a brass headpin.  The gold tone bead holding the clasp is repurposed from a vintage necklace I bought at a thrift store.  The small fire agate bead that hangs inside the heart and faceted carnelian nugget are both from my own stash; gemstones bought from Earthworks, one of my favourite local bead stores.  Antiqued brass findings are used in the whole piece, adding to the aura of warmth the stones give in energy and colour.  Warm earth tones have always been a favourite of mine to use, and I was very lucky to have such a generous partner to spoil me with these delightful gems.  I'm going through a severe separation anxiety with this one, I love how this turned out so much.

Groovy Mood Board!

Some groovy inspirations for jewelry to make for Shout! The Mod Musical!

The "Swear On Chanel" Collection

Those little words uttered by Carrie Bradshaw to Aiden when dishing on Steve and Miranda's breakup seemed to stick to me as a fashion appreciator.  If the art of fashion had a religious following, the House of Chanel would be the most appropriate to lay your hand upon and swear the truth.

I was very lucky to be one of five winners of the book Coco Chanel: The Legend and The Life by Justine Picardie from HarperCollins Canada, and it's a mesmerizing read.  Behind such an iconic figure and empire, one wouldn't expect such sorrow and sadness to help propel it to such heights.  I'm not quite done the book yet, and I suspect at the rate I'm reading I'll have it done before the month ends.  Yet so far, from what I have read about this astonishing woman, she was a force to be reckoned with.  Born in a poor house in Saunur, France in 1883, her childhood in an orphanage run by nuns, to her bourgeois lifestyle scorn with heartache, loss and death in her early adult years - and I'm only halfway through!  You can have a read of an except of the book here!

Nick had found a collection of vintage Chanel charms at a garage sale and brought them home for me a few months ago, because he's a good boyfriend. *sigh*  I had also received a $25 gift card from the good people of Artbeads.com, and spent it wisely on the beautiful beads used in these pieces.  I had been waiting for the right setting for these charms, and the images in Justine's book have started to craft colours and silhouettes that I could shape around them.  Chanel believed in simplicity in design and well-cut garments.  "Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury," Coco had once said.  These pieces pay tribute to the classic style of Coco Chanel and her contribution to timeless luxury fashion. 

Diamond-shaped white howlite with black veins dangle on gunmetal headpins from a silver-plated square-link chain, and a smokey grey acrylic bead dangles from the end.  The Chanel cut-out tag and Eiffel Tower stamp are both vintage pieces, repurposed from previous lives as souveniers of la vie en rose, n'est pas?  This is all secured around your wrist with a gunmetal lobster clasp.

Design by Cassandra's Hitting the Stage!

Not only am I part of the cast of this swingin' number, I'll also be designing some groovy accessories for Shout! The Mod Musical!

The script has a specific costume and accessory list for each character, which is very handy.  While cast and crew have haunted local thrift stores for '60's and '70's fashions, I've started designing some "smashing" pieces for the cast!

Liz's character, the Orange Girl, has a little infusion of purple in her costume.  One piece of jewelry called for a string of purple pearls, and struck some luck with these glass beads with a pearl-like glow.  I've still yet to size the necklace for Liz, and then will be attaching a magnet clasp for easy costume changes - no one wants to mess with a lobster clasp in the dark, nor have your necklace fall into your costume, especially during choreography!

Colour Inspirations For The SHOUT! Girls!

I have a rather large collection of beads that I've been amassing over the years.

"Oh, look!  These are sooo pretty!" is no longer an excuse to buy beads.  It's getting outta hand!  I do stand by a credo of 'finishing everything on your plate', and I'll use them somehow.  Maybe not directly in jewelry projects - my consideration for the Bead Soup Blog Party will be from this vast selection.  I also thought I'd put together a collection of beads for my Shout! girls for colour inspiration during the 'great costume hunt'.  The beads I had selected out of my stash had a vintage vibe to them, either being vintage themselves or having a 'mod' style.  Take a look at what goodies I pulled together for the lovely ladies!

"Beatles For Sale" Guitar Pick Jewelry

Who doesn't love The Beatles?

Colourful images - lots of possibilities!

Those yellow crackle lucite beads are fantastic!

A thrift store find for a charm bracelet idea!

I'm very excited to have picked up these Beatles guitar picks from work to have some fun with, featuring some classic memorabilia and album art images.  Also in the mix, we've got a strand necklace of vintage lucite beads, a few thrift-find link chain necklaces and bracelets, and some random charms and and trinkets given to me by some friends.  Check out some of the results!

Artbeads.com: The Pantone Colours of Fall 2010

Another Artbeads.com project is here!  If you've read previous posts about Pantone Inc. on this blog, you'll be familiar with their importance in the fashion industry in the definition and language of colour.  The tools available from Pantone are a wealth of resources for fashion designers, interior decorators, paint manufacturers and many other facets of art and design.  Pantone Inc. releases a palpable colour palate every season, coinciding with fashion collections, interior design trends and visual art applications and receive feedback "on prominent collection colors, color inspiration, color philosophy" and signature shades of featured designers.  Take a look at this season's colour palate, featuring a great mix of warm, cool, earth and jewel tones!

So many possibilities when I looked at these colours!  My mind had went wild with the matches and combinations that I could use in these projects.  I had purchased a couple of bronze and gold-plated chain necklaces from Value Village, a local thrift department store, to repurposed into these pieces.  I had also purchased these ball headpins from snapcrafty on Etsy for this project to add some special detail.  There's also a pair of earrings and a few that had lost their mates, a store-bought necklace, fabric appliques from an old shirt and a few other little surprises!

After a little fun with Color Scheme Designer 3 for some inspiration on colour combinations (a great tool when you have an inspiration block, or don't know what to pair those fabulous beads you just got with), I had a great time strolling through Artbeads.com with lots of ideas in mind.  With so many choices in beads and components, I had a hard time narrowing down selections. After finally deciding, I had realized most of my choices came from the Limited Edition selections, which will make these pieces all the more enticing and one-of-a-kind!  Most, if not all, of these beads used in these pieces will no longer be available from the site, but I do insist you take a look - you just may find that 'rare gem' your signature piece can't be without!  Beautiful coloured glass, vintage elements, resin rings and detailed pendants all fit into the bill for this colour-inspired collection.

Summer Fashion With Artbeads.com!

Summer is quickly coming - it's time to pull out the sundresses and tanktops!  And what to accessorize with those?  Why not create your own jewels with Artbeads.com!

Finding my niche in repurposing jewelry, I thought I would also give a hand in making this collection about finding new life in these pieces I've had for so long.  I was fortunate to squeeze out nine - yes, nine - pieces to make a few mini-collections for this month's glorious Artbeads.com challenge.  I'm really happy with the results, especially in how the incorporated elements of these beautiful beads worked with the vintage inclusions.  Look out on my Etsy shop - these pieces may be soon available for sale!

Bohemian Nautical necklace

The base of this necklace was originally of a vintage necklace of a long strand of these cream-coloured beads in different shapes and sizes with the silver rings.  I had picked this find up a few years ago in an estate vintage shop in downtown Toronto, and found myself not wearing it recently.  Why not give it a new look?  (So excited about the idea that struck me, I started working on it right away and  didn't think to take a 'before' and 'after' picture for this project.  I should really relax, I get so excited at times!)  These brown resin rings are incredibly lightweight, and strong enough to use as a link for this long necklace, and the limited edition Wasabi Picasso Nautilus Shell Coin Beads (unfortunately, no longer available, but check out the Artbeads.com 'Limited Edition' section for something to make your piece truly unique!) are absolutely stunning with swirls of sea colours and highlights of turquoise in pleasant, unexpected places.  Also in the mix, stamped coins from a vintage souvenier bracelet from the beautiful coasts of San Marino - a purchase from ArtBoxDesigns.etsy.com!

And to complete the set - two pairs of earrings and a bracelet to match!  Check 'em out!

The Beauty of Spring With Artbeads.com!

Ooooh, spring is around the corner!  Can you feel it?

Artbeads.com has presented our most excellent creative blogging team with showcasing the Beauty of Spring with their fantastic array of products!  Spring is a beautiful season, full of rebirth, colour and sunlight, a wonderful and deserving muse for what we're about to produce!

So, it had me thinking - what is my favourite image of spring?  What's the one thing I look forward to when I know spring is about to arrive?  I walk to work almost every day, trying to stick to the scenic route (unless I'm running late, I've got a few shortcuts) along bikepaths and through parks.  Lately with the balmy weather, I've traded in the heavy winter jacket with a lighter cropped cordouroy jacket, perfect for warmer weather.  As I look about the park and through the bare trees, I see them - the small buds along the branches that will erupt into leafy greens and pink blossoms!  That perfect pale green shines much brighter on a sunny day, and it makes me so anxious for picnics and bikerides and long hours outside.  Green has always been a 'power colour' of mine, and I'm really excited to bring a 'green' collection!

The 'Green Awaits' collection focuses on these beautiful limited supply of Lemon Chrysophrase chips in a beautiful pale green.  Their jagged, unique shapes give a beautiful image of how each leaf on a tree is different from the next.   The premature buds, using Czech glass Bellflowers in Lemon Lime and fuschia glass rondelles add a little taste of what we'll expect to blossom and grow as we go deeper and deeper into the season and watch things grow!  Inspirations of vines, trees and blossoms are evokes with the sterling silver and resin Summer Oak pendant in lime green and the curving separator bars.  These pieces will be available for sale on my Etsy shop - well, maybe not everything quite yet.  I think I'll need to show these off first!

Green Awaits earrings