Seeing Spots

It's hardly surprising if we are all seeing spots now after so many weeks tied mainly to the house and garden - and thank heavens we have one. Anyhow, the high spot of my weekend was a delivery of long awaited African beads that Kimberly Rogers picked up for me at Tucson earlier this year. The plan had been for her husband Dave to bring them over this May, on a trip he had planned to the UK to walk Hadrian's Wall; but like most people's plans, its gone awry. And it was one heavy packet! In the end I just bit the bullet and paid the postage, and boy was it worth it!

One of my favourites was these long hand painted bone beads. I could have gone all out African but wanted to echo those cream spots and I had these fabulous old Victorian glass beads in exactly the same shade, so with the rough shard of tektite between they've ended up sort of post modern!

Hope they cheer you up a little. They're over in my Etsy shop now. And please take care of yourselves, we aren't out of the woods yet.


                                                                  Lindsay xx

                                                               My Etsy shop

                                                            My Facebook page

                                                            My Instagram

Glammed up Eyes

 Hello.  Flowers and sparkly cup chain for eyelashes anyone?! 

They might be a bit heavy to hang on the actual eyelashes (yikes) so I have these for our lobes instead 😆

I've painted the brass 'evil eye' frame in rose gold, pinks and gold.  I wrapped cup chain of various lengths to the bottom...to make them more interesting.  I added the beadwoven section to the top

Yellow crystals to make the eyes sparkle

Hanging view.

So there you have it.  My glammed up eyes - will be available next Saturday (30th) in The Jewellery Show FB group.  

See you soon.

Suhana 💓

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them." ~ A.A. Milne

I love playing around with strong contrast, and this pair of earrings has quite a nice mixture of texture and different types of material.

The beautiful porcelain earring charms are by Terri DelSignore of Artisticaos.  They have all the qualities I love - beautiful color, nice lines, and endless possibilities for designing with.

 I decided to build an abstract sort of flowering weed.  I didn't want to add a lot of color to the top of this pair, keeping the focus on the colorful stems. I used dyed lucite berries and added some sweet vintage glass pearls for a little softness and light.  It's a nice sophisticated and versatile color palette this way.

It popped into my head to use some bold rustic metal bead caps to represent the withering sepal. Also, they complement the outline of the leaves. I think the rustic look of the metal lends a nice little element of surprise, too, and really brings the whole design together.

Thank you, thank you, for stopping by to see what's happening on my worktable today!

See you back here in a couple of weeks!  

Loralee xo

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

Reticulation

Hello!

So, the last few days I've been experimenting with reticulation. This is a process whereby you repeatedly heat silver, cool and clean it until you achieve undulations and waves in the metal which are quite beautiful! It originated in Czarist Russia and was used by jewelers such as Faberge to create interesting textures and finishes. Let me tell you, it's completely addictive, if time consuming.

Now, sterling silver is an alloy  and consists of  92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper. Repeatedly heating, cooling and cleaning the metal separates the silver and the copper, so that the copper settles in the middle, and the pure silver on the edges. This means that when you heat the final time the copper and pure silver melt at different temperatures -creating waves and undulations in the metal.

Here are some pieces I created recently:-

I used liver of sulphur to heavily oxidise each piece, and then rubbed back so that the detail from the reticulation stands out. Each piece is different, nothing is uniform and you never know how it will turn out!
Let me show you how I created those leaf like earrings. First of all, I cut the shapes out of 0.8mm sterling sheet, and then annealed them, and cleaned them to remove the oxidation by popping them in pickle (a special acid solution).

I think I repeated this process maybe 8-10 times (I lost count!) and then the metal was ready to do its ripply thing... This is how they looked after they'd been cleaned up.

Finally, I soldered some jump rings to the back, oxidised them and rubbed them back.

I love the waves and ripples, as well as the slight curling at the edges. Very leaf like, but with a lunar surface! Moon leaves :-)

All of these pretties will be available in my showcase over on The Jewellery Show in Facebook Land on the 29th May. And I'll be making lots more as I am totally hooked!

Stay safe and well, and I'll be back in June

Sue x

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!

Aztecs

Feeling like a complete change from what I've been working on lately - lots of soft blues and greens, pearls, wood, natural colours and seaside designs - I was itching to use some bright colours and geometric shapes.

I came across these lovely hand painted ceramic teardrops with Aztec patterns. The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico from 1300 to 1521. They made use of various designs in their warrior drawings,  paintings and the pictographs that adorned the walls of their temples. But bold and colourful was the name of their game. 

         For my first pair, I went long with bright copper twisted rings and  sunny yellow ceramic beads.

The second, clashing blues, pinks and red! The collars are wood, the beads Czech glass and vintage black ceramics.

Thirdly, moody grey, black and blood red with Czech glass, vintage ceramics and dark silver earwires. 

And lastly, a gorgeous green where the pyramid beads echo the border - those top beads are beautifully faceted vintage onyx. Again, with dark silver earwires. All the heavy duty dark ball end headpins are from Faerystones.

The drops are very versatile, and lend themselves to a variety of designs - you can really have some fun  with these, mixing and matching the block colours and shapes. Clash, contrast, or complement, they are colourful, striking and very cheerful. And boy, do we need cheer at the moment.

They'll be making their way over to my Etsy shop some time today. See you again in two weeks, and please take care everyone.

                                                           Lindsay xx

                                                       My Etsy shop

                                                      My Facebook page

                                              

Cork Fabric And Ceramic

I've been curious about cork fabric ever since Lisa Peters Russ started carrying it on her website and since Heather Powers did a tutorial with it last week. Specifically, I wanted to see how it would look with my ceramic jewelry components.

So what is cork fabric? Cork fabric, often referred to as an ethical alternative to leather, is made with a thin layer of cork that is permanently bonded to fabric. No trees are cut down or harmed, so it is a sustainable product. It is strong, durable and flexible. You can even sew purses out of it! It is easier to cut than leather and it comes in many colors and designs. There are tons of beautiful patterns, but I wanted to start with solid color sheets as a background layer for my ceramic pieces.

I thought these rounded teardrop shapes would pair well with my yellow and blue ceramic earring charms and some silver spacer accents. What do you think? I have lots of ideas percolating in my head now, for more cork fabric jewelry. It's a welcome emotional boost to have something new to create with while we all shelter in place. I think I'm onto something fun!

Linda Landig Jewelry

Rainbows!

I made several pairs of wooden rainbow components for a recent show and thought it would be a good idea to make some earrings out of one of the pairs.

A rainbow is such a cheerful image and has recently become a symbol to support key workers in the current pandemic.

I matched them up with hollow lampwork beads by Alisha White, lampwork discs,Czech glass drop beads and acrylic striped spacer beads. The result is very light fun earrings.

Thank you for taking the time to read, they will be available in my FB group later today - 

Nicola Morse - Jewellery & components.

Hello?

I am 'sort of' back.  I'm going to try and post more regularly 🤞. 

I took up beadweaving last year, and I am hooked!  I'm a novice but I am loving using the teeny bit of skill I've acquired.  Today's earrings feature a pair of beautiful porcelain wings by Terri DelSignore.

Here I have added red delicas to the rectangle frame.  I know there isn't any red on the main components (wings) but I think the pop of red makes these look more interesting. 

I do love using rhinestones on everything and these didn't get spared either.  I matched them up with the purple on the wings so they don't take away from the red. 

Here's another view on my 'earringquin' 😆 

I hope you like them. These are available, not sure where I will list them yet as my Etsy shop is closed.  Feel free to contact me via Facebook or my group if you're interested.  See you in a couple of weeks time.  Stay safe and well ❤🤗❤

Suhana xx

My FB group: Suhana Hart Jewellery

Mod Squad

Is 'Tribal Mid-century' even a thing?  Well, that's what I'm calling this pair!

Fabulous French artisan lampwork beads by Un Vent de Liberte.

Very cool asymmetrical charms by Yvonne Irvin-Faus which are made of painted plexiglass.

Thanks for stopping by my bead table today!

I know my taste can be eclectic and sometimes I get questions or comments about my stash of supplies. Well, I simply buy what catches my eye or what moves me emotionally. Normally when I make a purchase it will sit in the drawer a long while - even years.  Last week, for example, I bought a tiny vintage glass pickle button, circa 1930.  I have no clue how that will be used in the future, but I know it will be waiting for me when the time is right! 

Loralee xo

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

Silver tassels

Hello Earring People!

Here we are in May already and despite the strange times we are living in, nature carries on doing her thing. My garden is awash with flowers and blossom at the moment (I don't really garden, so this is always a source of amazement to me).

I've been enjoying taking some time to create some jewellery this past week. This particular design has been fun to make! The first pair feature aragonite -a pretty pale yellow stone which is an earth healer, apparently and symbolises truth and understanding.

I set these in little squares of silver, which I also stamped with some simple pretty lines and added the silver tassels to finish them off.

This next pair feature turquoise cabochons, and honestly -who doesn't love turquoise and silver? Such a pretty combination. And it is supposed to bring calmness and serenity, so what's not to love? I kept the setting simple for these and kept the focus on the stones, with tassels for extra prettiness.  

These will both be in my nextshowcase over on The Jewellery Show at the end of May. I'll be back in a couple of weeks.

Stay safe and well

Sue x

We're All Ears :: May Inspiration :: May Day

Sorry for the delay in posting. Typically I don't work on Fridays. But we have been going crazy at work. That is a good thing. But that meant that I ended up working [from home] ALL DAY LONG. So now that it is almost 3pm I am finally able to shut off and tackle tasks that I was supposed to be doing all along. Not complaining, because I do have a job and we are doing well, but it is tough that my computer and the phone line that rings is in the same room as my bead cave, so I sit inches from all my beads all day long. And today was supposed to be my day to play with beads and make art. Oh well.

{Sigh.}

So taking a few moments to breathe deep {in. out. repeat}, stretch, and know that I needed to find something uplifting to focus on. Then I realize that today is May 1st, May Day.

I remember as a kid making paper flowers and weaving a paper basket in a heart shape and then dropping that off on some neighbor's front porch, ringing the doorbell and running away to peer from the bushes to see their face light up. I think that is a sweet idea. But I don't know much about why we did this. So I found out from the Farmer's Almanac that there is a lot of tradition and folklore with this celebration.

What I didn't know was that May Day is rooted in astronomy. On this day, we are about halfway between the spring equinox [March 19, 2020] and the summer solstice [June 20, 2020]. Apparently there are Celtic cross-quarter days that measure the time between the solstices and equinoxes each year. Among the other cross-quarter days are February 2 [Candlemas or Groundhog Day], May 1 [May Day], August 1[Lammas Day], October 31 [Samhain "summer's end"]. Read more here.

May Day is part of larger festivals and celebrations that are about dancing and songs all focused on the fields beginning to sprout. Dancing around a Maypole holding colorful ribbons woven in and out is a joyful celebration of fertility of crops and also signals the flirtatious courtship of young people (which explains why there are a lot of June weddings!). Crowning a May Queen, or in the Catholic tradition crowing Mary statues, are also part of these festivities.

So our inspiration for the We're All Ears challenge is the tradition of May Day: flowers in cones or baskets, dancing around a Maypole with ribbons.... or other signs of spring!

Make your spring May Day earrings [bonus: they will be perfect for Mother's Day gifting as well!] and come back here on Friday, May 15th to share!