Elephant Sunset

Hey guys!  Not only have I been craving warmth these days but I've also been working on some animal themes for an upcoming charity event.  Mix the two together and voila!

The lovely drenched pewter elephants are by Kelly Luttrell of Soul Relica.

The accent beads are by polymer great, Jon Burgess.

I used blackened annealed steel, heavily oxidized vintage spacers and topped them off with a coiled wire bead cap. 

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

Loralee xo

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

By The Light Of The Halloween Moon

Chandelier connectors by Inviciti handmade of pewter in a dark finish to set the mood!

Blackened rustic stars dangling next to the most glimmering golden druzy. 

Mysteriously masked, ceramic, man in the moon charms by Nadia Terra in a charcoal grey.

This is a photo of one of my most fondest Halloweens.  My boys were at that age where they lived for trick or treating and couldn't wait to get into their costumes.  That year the weather was absolutely perfect and the autumn colors were amazing - it was pure magic!  I will never forget it.

I love this poem by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater:

Wishing all the magic of Halloween!

Loralee xox

loraleekolton.etsy.com

And now for something completely different...

After making so many ruffly, floral, super-girly earrings for my last post a couple of weeks ago, I was ready for something different:  (1) tribal style and (2) crows. 💗

Thanks to the dynamic duo of Vincent and Nooma Cav of Inviciti, I was able to combine these two favorite things in one pair of earrings.

Why crows/corvids?  They're extraordinary birds.  Crows remember faces; they remember the people who feed them and who are kind to them--and they remember the people who hurt them too.  They tell each other who to watch out for and whom to look after.  They have a kind of magic. 

I love Inviciti's rustic bird charms, and they called out to be made into a pair of simple tribal earrings.  I'd had the carved-wood African beads and the beautiful dark red lampwork spacers by Julie Wong Sontag in my bead collection for a while, and I didn't need much else, just a couple of gunmetal spacers and some black niobium ear wires.  They came together easily...and I so enjoyed making them!

   
The earrings, called "Tribe of Crow," can be found in my shop, here. 

Thanks so much for reading--I'll see you all in a couple of weeks!  💗

xoxo
Meridy

My shop

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Twisted and Turquoise

Ingredients:
African Turquoise nuggets
Pewter oval links (taken from a chain)
Pewter knot beads
Oxidized copper wire (messy wrapped)
Handmade oxidized brass earwires

All my best,
Malin
www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com

Throwback... Monday

I know, I know.... it's not Thursday, but I'm still in "website reno" mode, and there's so much to do... 

I figured I'd show off a pair of earrings that I made a little while ago.

It may not seem like much at first glance, but there's a lot of significance in this design:

A mixture of geometry in jewelry... circle, square, triangle

Sparkling Farah Earrings by Nathalie Lesage

Think of the 3D shape of the Swarovski Cubes - Dimensions, the past, the present, the future..

 all belong in the collective energy of the cube.

The circle, representation of the Circle of Life. Never-ending, everlasting.

The triangles, found in the Triquetra charms: I have a Triquetra tattoo, and although it has many meanings throughout various cultures, for me, it stands for the Holy Trinity.

Protection, divinity, clarity.

There's usually more than meets the eyes ;)

Have a wonderful day!

Nathalie

http://www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com

http://www.TheCraftyTribe.com

True Confessions of a Jewelry Artist

I think I have a confession to make: I have artistic ADD. 

This is not something I'm particularly proud of, especially in this world of now-now-now, more-more-more, new-new-new. I try to cultivate mindfulness in other areas of my life, but when it comes to creating, I consistently like to learn new techniques. At my own pace, of course. Now, learning new techniques doesn't mean that I have to abandon current techniques. It all just goes into my arsenal - pieces of the puzzle that can be fit together in any beautifully random way that appeals to me.

I have another confession to make: I'm stubborn. 

I like to do things my own way. I'm not really one to take a class or follow a tutorial. I'd rather fumble around and teach myself until I come up with a method that works for me. I also think this helps me avoid that pesky "copy bug" that sometimes pops up.

However, I have to sing the highest praises for the tutorial I purchased a couple weeks ago. If you're not already familiar with Tracy DiPiazza (pipnmolly on Etsy and DiPiazzaMetalworks on Etsy), please do yourself the favor of clicking and drooling over her amazing works of art. She's been one of my heroes since I first joined Etsy. She has an aesthetic all her own, and her pieces are singular.

Tracy's tutorial gives step-by-step instructions on how to create her signature soft-soldered hollow tin baubles. I've been wanting to learn how to achieve that "blobby solder" look for a while now, and who better to learn from than the master? I used scrap pieces of vintage tin to create the grungy bauble beads you see here. Two old German wood beads plus wee tin bead caps complete the dangly (and surprisingly lightweight) look.

Thank you Tracy for generously sharing your gift!

Happy Wednesday :)

Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Festive Sparkles

Over the years, I've accumulated a large inventory of high-quality jewelry components, and as I learned new metal working techniques, I sort of moved away from using ready-to-use parts and favored doing my own. But, these components are so pretty, I decided to bring them out to play, and make a good number of earrings for the Christmas Craft Show last month.

It was really nice to offer them as well as my more time-consuming/higher priced designs. 

These new Swarovski Crystal Earrings were very well received, and I have decided to also offer them on my website.... These are just a few examples of the earrings styles that I made:

Amber & Montana Blue Copper Chain Earrings (Sold)

All these earrings are set on non-allergenic Titanium ear hooks (from RioGrande), and are created using USA-made Tierra Cast components (lead-free), beautiful chains (from ArtBeads), sparkling colorful Swarovski Crystals and tiny glass beads.

Light Green & Blue Gunmetal and Gold Tone Earrings

  It's fun to play and design earrings using the various textural and visual elements.

You can really come up with new fun and flirty designs :)

Lilac and Clear Silver tone and Gunmetal Earrings

Each pair is unique (one of a kind) in terms of design elements and/or color.

Playing with the vibrant colors and beautiful shapes

of the Swarovski Crystals always makes me happy!

I'm not finished uploading the bulk of these designs on my website (I hope to have this completed within the next couple of days), but if you want to take a look at what I have listed so far,

you can find this new collection in my lead-free pewter section HERE.

Thank you for stopping by & have a wonderful weekend!

Nathalie Lesage at http://www.NatLJ.com

New! Free Shipping to Canada & USA on orders of $50.00 or more... don't miss out!

Layers Upon Layers

 
I've always been fascinated by the layers in things. Nothing is ever black and white, most things are gray...meaning there are nuances, multiple factors, different sides. Maybe that's why I have such a hard time making decisions sometimes! 


Lately I've been on a big layering/stacking kick with my earrings. Taking lots of little bits and stacking them together haphazardly yet melodiously and then using wire to accentuate. 


It's been fun to experiment with stacking things both vertically and flipping them on their sides horizontally. Quite the challenge to dig through +20 bead boxes to find that one PERFECT missing element. But then again, that's the fun of assemblage jewelry. 


One of my latest pairs features several elements that I've really been digging on: muddy ceramic discs from Marsha Neal and blackened pewter charms from Inviciti. Married together with my beloved Roman glass, rustic wood bicones, and some pyrite. I love the browns and robin's egg blues of this pair. Very soothing and natural. And they have such fun swing to em!


Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Something Wicked This Way Comes...

 


We're getting closer and closer to my favorite holiday of the year - Halloween. When else do we get the legal (and sane) opportunity to dress up and assume a different identify? And to celebrate all things dark, taboo, and disturbing? And to eat candy...guilt-free?

I'll admit I've always had a fascination with the darker side of life. As the saying goes, you can't have the light without the dark. I lived through quite a few dark years in my 20s, and I wholly believe that my struggles then have made my happiness now that much more sweet. So it's no coincidence that my designs reflect this fascination and respect for the dark. 

 



This pair of earrings is perfect for any time you're feeling a little brooding, a little mysterious, a little edgy. And the colors are very Halloween-ey without being cheesy: sooty grungy black pewter charms from Inviciti, vintage African bauxite trade beads, and my own mossy green polymer clay nuggets.

So start counting down the days...and make sure you've got your black eyeliner handy ;)

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki


LoveRoot on Etsy

A Gothic Tale

Sheldon: You know, I've always wanted to go to a goth nightclub.
Howard : Really?
Sheldon : Bazinga! You never see any of my practical jokes coming, do you?

I discovered the show "The Big Bang Theory" this spring and our DVR is set to record as many episodes as possible. I know. I am behind the times. And now I have hooked my entire family on the show.

Just this past weekend we caught episode three of the third season "The Gothowitz Deviation" in which Howard and Raj dress in goth outfits, complete with arm tattoo sleeves to go cruise a goth bar and pick up goth chicks.

I am about as goth as they are. While black is undeniably the most prevalent color in my wardrobe, I don't think I could pull off the look. Or the attitude.

I made these earrings called "A Gothic Tale" with some great pewter cast crosses from Lynn Davis Pewter Fauxtiques. I actually made the sterling silver ear wires myself! Pretty proud of that fact.

I think that I could get away with a more refined goth look in this sleek sheath dress by David Meister with an illusion lace sleeve that looks like I might be just a little badder than I really am.

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 popular line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.

Tomato Blossoms

Tomato Blossoms

The color of the red agate beads in these earrings reminds me of tomato soup! I love it with the gunmetal color of the nickel beadcaps and the pewter cubes. Handmade sterling silver earwires.

I'm picturing it with winter white (in case you wanted Cream of Tomato soup instead) and denim, with matching tomato boots! I think it has a Victorian flavor.

Via Polyvore

You can see more in my shop by clicking HERE.

Leaves

Leaves

I was dying to use these wonderful leaf charms from Karen Totten. I had also had these verdigris discs by Shannon LeVart sitting on my work bench for a while, hoping to come up with some inspiration for them. Hey--Why not put them together? I added a splash of periwinkle, and little pewter leaf charms, on hand-forged sterling silver earwires.

My Etsy shop is on vacation today, as part of a protest of sorts, asking Etsy to enforce its own regulations prohibiting sellers from passing off mass-produced, commercial items as "handmade." You can visit www.protesty.com for more information. Tomorrow you can visit my Etsy shop to see more earrings!

Nesting Earrings

Two handmade pewter nests wait expectantly under branch disk beads in a dreamy teal.

I love that you can easily spot nests here in the winter.  Most of the birds have flown south and we await their return with the spring blooms in a few months.  I love the change of seasons and the inspiration they bring.  It's fun to anticipate the arrival of what's next, but it's also nice to enjoy the moment and the season that is in front of us.  Wow, that could be said about all sorts of things in my life - good words to live by.