Tin Moon Madness

Hello, my Beady Friends!

Happy September!  My workshop is in full Halloween mode now!

    I happened to find this Chocolate tin from at least 20 years ago in one of my nightstand drawers.  It was given to me long before I started making jewelry, so until a few days ago, it was just a cute tin box.  But now, I'm looking at through new eyes!

 

I put my disc cutter to work and began to punch out as many discs as possible, not wasting one bit of this adorable tin.  For this design, I'll just be using the large stripe discs and will save the spooky eyes for another day.

The lovely enameled bats are by Israeli bead artist, Pearly Karpel. 

Thanks for stopping by to see what's happing on my worktable today!  I'm excited about Autumn and looking forward to digging deep into all kinds of Halloween designs for the next couple of months!

 Loralee xo

www.loraleekolton.etsy.com

Green Eyes and a Heart Of Gold

Hello, beady peeps!  Loralee here, so nice to be back!

One of the coolest discoveries I made at The Bead & Button Show this year was that Golem Design Studio  came out with a smaller size lentil bead, and it's perfect for earrings!  

Below is one of the sets that I purchased.  The folk art pattern is just so warm and friendly.  

I played around with a few ideas but that green looked so amazing with brass that I knew in an instant I didn't need to look further.  I then layered some decorative wire on top of the hammered discs. Since the wire was also shiny brass, I decided to add some patina paint to make them stand out a bit. 

Here are some small round Golem beads that paired wonderfully with  drops from Josephine Beads!   Don't they look like gourds?  The colors and pattern of the charms are like tribal, meets autumn, meets a 1970's kitchen!!  They just make you feel good.

While looking through photos I ran across this pair I did a couple of years ago. The colors just had to be included in this blog post, right?!  Rich green and the warmth of brass again...perfect. These etched and extra crusty glass beads are the creation of Kay Mallery.  So much texture like Roman glass.  Kay's beads are ones that I reach for time and time again.

I wanted each piece to stand out on their own so I made extra large hoops in the center.  I think it makes an interesting look.

I'm am so happy it's autumn, I feel totally alive!  I'm crazy in love with this season.

I'll be back in a couple of weeks!  See you then!

Loralee xo

Loralee Kolton Jewerly - artful in beads

Nautical, Dude

If my feet were put to the fire and you forced me to choose the most popular colors when it comes to my jewelry, I'd have to say blues and greens. Perhaps I'm biased (ok, I am) - I tend to design more with these colors, so I suppose it's natural that they sell more. But in general, the cool organic lushness of these hues tends to attract very devoted followers. 

A couple weeks ago I was scrolling through my shop and realized it was really starting to lack in the blue/green department. Blasphemy! I started to paw through my (ever growing) stone cabochon hoard, looking for inspiration. I tend to design in series, and this was the perfect opportunity to do an earrings series featuring blue/green stones set in sterling silver. 

Originally I was planning on creating three pairs...that soon grew to five...and ultimately ballooned to a total of eight pairs (clockwise from top left): blue opal, Sonora sunrise, chrysocolla, Royston ribbon turquoise, natural turquoise, chrysoprase, imperial jasper, and plasma agate. I mean, how can you stop yourself when you're surrounded by such pretty rocks?! 

One of my favorites of the series is a pair of minty green chrysocolla stones, nestled in a symmetrical setting that reminds me of a compass or some type of nautical instrument. The dark negative "splatter" space at the center of each stone really sets them off, while thin webby veins of blue azurite add extra visual appeal.

 
So now that I've exhausted my supply of blue green stones, that can only mean one thing: it's time to go rock shopping. Eh? EH???!!

Happy Wednesday!
 
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

A Healthy Dose of Inner Peace and Sunshine

In an (ongoing) effort to combat my "jeweler's ass", I bought a bike last week. Because let's admit it, sitting for extended periods of time at my jeweler's bench isn't the best form of exercise. 

As a kid, we practically grew up outside---sloshing through creeks, trekking through woods, catching butterflies in fields---exploring, experiencing, growing. A big part of this involved riding our bikes. At a time when we were still too young to drive cars and unable to own horses, having a bike was a great alternative. You could just hop on and pedal away---leaving your worries behind, if only temporarily---powered by just YOU and your sense of direction. It's an empowering thing, when you think about it. 

Flash forward 15 or so years. My parents had recently been cleaning out their garage and doling out childhood items back to my brother and I. It had been years since I had ridden a bike - this was going to be great! The initial excitement about having my old Huffy soon faded when I realized the tires were both flat, the gears rusted, and the brakes dried out and cracked. Old friend, you gave me much happiness, but that chapter has ended. 

So I stewed. And stewed. And then decided to get a new bike.  Not a cheap Walmart bike, but a real grown-up bike that will last me for years. It's sleek, efficient, and just what I need to explore trails. 

I knew that I had missed biking, but I didn't realize HOW much I had missed it until I hit that first downhill coast. You know that feeling you get at the top of a roller coaster when you crest and know that you're about to head down? That delicious anticipation and excitement? And then you're speeding downhill and the wind is whipping your hair and the scenery is blurring past and you're grinning like the biggest idiot alive. THAT. I've missed that.

So instead of slaving away at the stinky claustrophobic gym like a robot this past week, I've been enjoying a healthy dose of inner peace and sunshine. Hell, I even have a little bit of a tan on my lily-white arms. Now this changes everything...

These earrings feature two incredible slabs of chrysocolla stone---the marriage of warm sandy brown to the deep teal veins struck me immediately. I like to let stones like this speak for themselves, so I very simply capped them off using silver solder, oxidized, and left it at that. Long, slender, and serene.

Wising you much peace and much sunshine this week!

Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

More Precious Than Gold

Think, for a moment, about how many beads, stones, and findings there are out there. Go ahead, I can wait...







...








OK, since this could take a spell, let's just summarize by saying that there are a TON of beads, stones, and findings out there. If you've ever been to any kind of bead show, you'll know what I mean. Now take those hundreds of tables filled with strands and baskets and multiply that by hundreds of thousands. Similarly, one of the beauties of the internet is that each of us in our own little corners of the world can shop for beads and stones from all over the globe. Our taste for supplies is limited only by the girth of our wallet.

All this to say: it can get overwhelming. So many good beads, cool beads, rare beads, stimulating exciting never-before-been-seen beads - how to focus?!

I experienced this shellshocked feeling the first time I went to the Tucson Gem & Mineral show with my dear friend Kimberly Rogers of NuminosityBeads fame. The sheer quantity of product, the teeming masses of people, the sky-high tents, the dollars changing hands hot and fast. Mercy.

That was two years ago. This year I didn't get quite so overwhelmed. I was a highly attuned hunter, knowing the type of thing I wanted and drilling down on it. I purchased with abandon, letting my creative "what if" juices flow. I walked up to booths and already had finished pieces designed in my head before even paying the vendor. 

The very best example of this involves a treasure trove of petrified wood slabs that I found. They were matched pairs, about 1" across, had a polished face yet a natural grained edge, and came in all the earth-toned colors of the rainbow: rust, salmon, fawn, cocoa, sable, charcoal, dove, ivory, and cream. I saw them and immediately melted. The crunchy semi-feral wicked earth goddess in me envisioned an edgy metalworked bracelet featuring a handful of these slabs. I knew in my head that it would be a lot of work. But if executed right, it would be worth it. So I bought 15 or so pairs.

Flash forward about four months and the idea had finally marinated enough - it was time for fruition. I sat down a couple weeks ago and created a whole line of petrified wood pieces, all set in gnarly sterling silver pronged open-back bezels. That includes this pair of earrings. Deceptively simple, humble, yet soulful. These slices use to be alive - think about that! I've been smitten and fighting the urge to jealously hoard the rest of them to myself.

So, all of this extended rambling to say, every now and then while swimming through the vast sea of components out there, you will find a special something that speaks volumes. It may only speak to you; it may speak to many. But when you find those special somethings, they can be more precious than gold. 

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

The Anti-Trend

There are some designs and motifs in jewelry making (and art, in general) that keep coming around time and time again. We may be tempted to roll our eyes and groan if we see YET ANOTHER person doing YET ANOTHER version of XYZ. 

Now, sure, there are definitely trends out there -- always have been and always will be. But I think some designs transcend the trendy. Some designs are so elemental and so universal that they we'll always identify with them. Some designs can be dressed and polished and sparkled up just as easily as they can be beaten and dirtied and rusted down. I'm going to venture that the humble leaf is one of those eternal designs. 
 
Everyone has their own version of the leaf -- they're like fingerprints. Some artists celebrate the unbridled budding potential of the new spring leaf. Others rejoice in the resplendently lush summer leaf. There are those of us who prefer the mysterious crash-and-burn of the autumn leaf. And some are drawn to the dormancy and negative space of the winter leaf. 

So at the risk of being that chick who's posting YET ANOTHER pair of leaf earrings, here I go...

I was in Tucson at the huge gem and mineral show a couple weeks ago with my dear friend Kimberly of NuminosityBeads (mwahh!). We came, we saw, we bought, we gorged, we emerged exhausted yet triumphant -- beads and stones in-hand. When I got back home to Ohio, I couldn't wait to get back into the studio and do some creating. And wouldn't you know it, one of the first designs I created didn't use any of my new haul. 

 
Instead, I created a simple pair of fold formed copper leaves. Distressed, punched, fire-scaled, beaten, oxidized, licked with verdigris, and sealed. Simple. Timeless. And so ME.

What motifs do you keep coming back to in your designs and in your life? And what does that say about you? Food for thought :) 

Happy Wednesday!

Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Buttoned Up

Very deconstructed Sari Silk in vivid Turquoise blue,

 pulled through one of the holes in this Copper Flower Button.

I added a touch of Red Coral on the earwires.

Handmade Earrings to go with this beautiful Hand Crocheted Sari Silk Purse!!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/63131608/crocheted-silk-sari-ribbon-purse

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.com

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

Feeling down? Say this one word...

...limpet.

No, I'm serious, go ahead and give it a try. Just one little time. Go on...while no one is listening.

See? You feel a little better, don't you? Maybe a teensy smile just crept across your face? A little levity to your soggy gray winter Wednesday? Perhaps even a smidge of impish delight when you imagine the cute cup-shaped domed shell of a LIMPET? 

You think I'm mad, but if you haven't picked it up already from reading my blog posts and jewelry listings, words really do hold that much power in my life. There are some really fun words, like limpet, bauble, and mallard. And then there are some really horrible nasty evil words, like moist. *shudder*

 
All this to say, I found some limpets last week! My day job shipped me off to the Pacific coast of California for a week and our hotel was right on the beach. As in, I could hear the waves crashing from my room. It was like every insanely picturesque post-card you've ever seen, and it was ALL RIGHT THERE. I couldn't help myself but to kick off my heels, sneak away, and do some beachcombing and toe-wiggling in the sand. 

I haven't been to a beach in probably 15 years. As a child, the few times we went I almost lost my head over all the cool little shells, pebbles, and scraps of sea life that would wash onto shore and get trapped in tide pools. I've always been fascinated by it, and nothing has changed as an adult. Every day last week I would sneak furtively back up to my hotel room with handfuls of sandy briny shells.

Now that I'm back home in landlocked Ohio, I've been sifting through my finds and picking out a few shells to incorporate into jewelry, since you know how much I like weaving organic found objects into my pieces.  

These earrings are quite special, as they feature some really sweet little purple banded limpets that I collected. They swing lightly under stacks of ancient Roman glass, wood bodhi beads, pyrite nuggets, and some antique opalescent Venetian glass "moon" trade beads (100-200 years old). Purples and teals and indigoes, all wire wrapped up together and ready to whisper songs of the sea into your ears.

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Fossilized

It's me again!

I'm a last minute substitution for today and I'm happy to share these wonderful earrings.

These earrings feature Gorgeous Lampwork Beads by Radiant Mind paired with some Polymer Clay Ammonite Drops I made. Both of these have been hanging out on my table for some time.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.com

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

Persian Empire

Persian Empire Earrings,

 Purple Recycled Sari Silk,

lots of messy copper wire, 

Handmade Original Texture Copper Component

 and Agate Bead drop.

Persian Empire

Available HERE in my Etsy Shop.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

KristiBowmanDesign on Artfire

Fuschia Disc

Mix Polymer Clay Discs, beautiful Lampwork Headpins and a little bit of Sari Silk, wrap them all up in copper wire and this is what you get. 

I'm finding myself using touches of Sari Silk in many of my new designs lately and I really love it. It just adds such a wonderful texture and dimension to all the other handmade bits and pieces.

I made the Polymer Clay Discs and the amazing headpins are by SueBeads.

These earrings are available HERE in my Etsy Shop.

Thanks for stopping by, I'd love to hear what you think of my new earrings!

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

KristiBowmanDesign on Artfire

Fulcrum Goddess

Kind of a crazy name I know but both names sort of fit and I couldn't choose one over the other. But I hope you think they are beautiful even though they have an identity crisis.

Beautiful Lampwork headpins from Lori Bergmann Design that I snatched up so fast at the NW Society Bead show last weekend. Go HERE to read more about it.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

Copper Sea Bells



Copper Sea Bells



Copper End caps with beautiful Turquoise Lampwork Beads dangling from the center.

These were actually some of the very first end caps I made before I started doing spirals,

 I do like them and may make more in the future.

They have a Sea Urchin Texture

 and stunning Lampwork beads by Amber Ballard with enamel Headpins.

Kristi

PS
Don't miss out on the chance to win some of my components and join my Blog Hop!
Drawing winners Friday May 25th!

http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com/2012/05/copper-big-hole-focal-blog-hop.html

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

KristiBowmanDesign.Blog

KristiBowmanDesign.Artfire

Labyrinth

Walk, turn; walk, turn; walk, turn....

So goes the path of a labyrinth, a medieval stone maze often set into the floor of a church and used as a prayerful and contemplative journey inward by penitents for centuries.

The most famous and oldest surviving labyrinth is found in the Cathedral of our Lady of Chartres in France. This 13th century marvel of architectural engineering still has most of its original stained glass windows intact and the facade with the famous flying buttresses is much as it was when it was built over 800 years ago.

{photo courtesy of Wikipedia}

As soon as I saw the pattern on these ceramic tile charms from Marsha Neal Studios I felt that they looked like this ancient labyrinth. The devoted will bow their heads and walk the lines putting themselves in a meditative state. The twists and turns spiral ever closer to the center, closer to God. They make the journey inward rather than outward, and there is much to be discovered within. Finger labyrinths are also popular and can be used in much the same way. Perhaps wearing these earrings, with their little ceramic tiles would remind me that there is much to be discovered within if I am patient and devoted to finding my own truth.

{the journey within - labyrinth - treasures for your ears available on Etsy}

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her new line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.

I Heart You

My original plan was not to post a Valentine inspired post,

but things don't always work out as planned.

I love these earrings so I'm happy to share them in the end.

Copper Hearts and Wonderful Lampwork Beads by SueBeads!

There are also tiny bits of Sari Silk tied below the beads.

While I'm at it I may as well go for it huh?

Here are a couple other Valentine themed items!

Can you tell I'm hungery?!?!?

Source: sixsistersstuff.com via Kristi on Pinterest

Source: afarmgirlsdabbles.com via Kristi on Pinterest

These Heart Earrings and other jewelry and components available in my Etsy Shop.

I'm also Celebrating my 1,000 sale in my Etsy shop
 by having a sale Friday 27th-Saturday 28th
15% off everything using the coupon code CELEBRATE

Kristi