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

Tribal Fringe

Helloooo Bead Peeps!  This is a short but sweet posting today as I'm off to Bead & Button in Milwaukee, WI this morning!

True confession:  I have forgotten who made these lovely tribal ceramic connectors so If anyone can identify them, please let me know!  I've paired them with some wonderful African glass, wrapped sari silk and some vintage golden beads.

I made the fringe by recycling some scrap gold plated parts.  Originally, I was going to hang them from jump-rings but, I really wanted them splayed apart so I messy wrapped them directly to the wire connector to achieve that effect.  

Thank you for stopping by today!  Hoping to find some unusual goodies at B&B this week!  I'm also on the hunt for new tools.  Most importantly, I'm looking forward to seeing my beady tribe!

Loralee xo

wwwloraleekolton.etsy.com

Re-Cycle, Up-Cycle....It's all Good!!!

I must say that creating jewelry is a lot more fun when you can add interesting elements to the mix. Up-cycling, re-cycling, re-vamping....what ever you want to call it, I love doing it!! Like putting a puzzle together; mixing the old with the new to create quite the attraction. I have my favorite local consignment stores I hit about every week or so and always find something with potential.

These little pretties show off Austrian crystal flower sections from a retired Sorrelli necklace with stunning Artisan lamp-work by the extremely talented Terry Turner of Silverfish Designs.  I love her beads!!!

I think they're pretty drop dead gorgeous and even though they've already sold, I still have the rest of the necklace to make other pieces with, ☺

So next time your looking through your old jewelry or inherited pieces from family members that you don't wear, give it some new energy, you never know what you might end up with. 









Thanks for stopping by and I hope I did my job and brought your some inspiration ♥

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Hooping It Up!

Copper Hoops surrounding some of my favorite Recycled Glass Headpins by Genea.

I think these were my last pair so I definitely need to get more.

I took a pair of my copper hoops, roughly wrapped some pale Recycled Sari Silk around then roughly wrapped them with copper.

The photos don't do justice to the beauty of the glass, it's really so soft and beautiful.

I think I need to wait for full on daylight to capture them properly.

I'll be at the Whole Bead Show in Lynnwood WA

The Lynnwood Convention Center

May 2-4

You can see these earrings and lots more finished jewelry and components live and in person!

My friend Linda Landig will be there too!!!

We hope to see you there, please say hello!!!!

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

Earth-Friendly Earring Cards

Birch Bark Butterflies - drill tiny holes in the wings.  These would be sweet for a booth display too.

Upcycled Hearts from old maps would add a nice vintage touch to a booth display.  You may want to back these with a heavier recycled cardstock.

Loving these cork tags, perfect for a display. 

Vintage book illustrations are given new life as tags.

Simple and charming kraft paper heart tags.