Thorny Rose

Looking at my blog here, it looks like I haven't been doing much at all! Really though, i've been keeping pretty regular with my jewelry making, just hadn't been taking any pictures. The camera was slowly dying, so we decided to get a new one.





Much better...

I'll be honest... I made this cuff months ago, back in March. However, the pictures have now finally been taken, propperly cropped and photoshopped, and it's time to start showing things here on my blog again!

This piece was made using Stephanie Lee's book, Semiprecious Salvage. This was the first jewelry book i ever made, and i am slowly but surely working my way through every project in the book. I'm about halfway through, as i have a bunch of other books i am interspersing the projects with. This is the project for her wire-wrapped bangle.

The focal here is a paper rose, held in with tabs, discussed in Suzan Lenart Kazmer's Cold Connections book. Techniques from both Kazmer and Lee blended into one piece... wow do they play well together :).

Other things happening: I got my first jewelry saw last week. So far, just practicing how to make straight lines, curved lines, and turn corners. No blades snapped... (yet!). Found an excellent tutorial on the Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist site. I have been enjoying their newsletters so much that i just subscribed to the magazine today... hoping to love it as much as the tutorials on the site! Def worth checking them out, for both the tutorial and the rest of the site as well.

Things I saw today

So, I was surfing my blogs, and Michael DeMeng mentioned that his fab book was being sold with Jenny Doh (previous editor of the Summerset Studios magazines). I thought, 'Hey, i haven't seen anything with her recently', so i went off to check out how her new website of her own, 'Crescendoh' is comming along. I was a bit confused, but generally impressed, with what i saw.

I liked a lot of the little links they had on the front page. It seemed they were putting up daily links to 'things they like on the internet'. Some of the links were to their own stuff in the store, but others were to things outside their site.

I liked the cones that they have happening there. They're pretty materials. While i don't find i need the kit, and would prefer to find my own materials, the inspiration is so lovely! I do so enjoy the idea.... It would be great to have a nice string of these in my 'studio'. They could be neat storage for odd objects. A cone full of all the short dowels i've accumulated (more than you think), a cone for pliars, a cone for.... whatever small, strange objects i have many of that need a home. I could definately go for this.

I also really liked the link they put up to the book, shown on flickr (click picture to see). I love the idea of this. The simple nature appeals to me... it's like an outdoor studio, but you could even work through the rain. Beautiful. As a cold-winter saskatchewan girl, i'm not sure how practical, but they are beautiful.

Still figuring out exactly how the site works, and what their layout is, but i like the inspiration links for sure. I think i'll be comming back time to time to see those.

Saskatchewan Necklace

I've been trying lately to create necklaces that mean something to me, something that tells a store, rather than simply something that is beautiful. While i want it to also be beautiful, i find that the extra thought and the meaning within the necklace only increase it's beauty.

This necklace was created when cutting a piece of metal, and realizing that i'd inadvenrtantly cut it in exactly the shape of my home Canadian province, Saskatchewan. Now, saskatchewan isn't exactly a difficult shape to cut, but still, it was right on the money. I set that piece asside before continuing with my regular cutting.

The necklace has references all over to what Saskatchewan means to me. From the easily recognizeable reference with the canadian flag peeking through (taken from a Canadian stamp) to the less harder reference of 306 (saskatchewan's phone area code) to the color choices of blue, green and golden brown for the beads and fibers, everything was done with a reason.

Basic technique used: I first fired the pieces of metal, till they were nice and patinated. After, i rolled up the longer piece to create a loop and created a window in the top piece with a screwdriver (who'd have thought?). I glued a stamp in the window, and drilled the two pieces together. Underneath I put a tassel made with Saskatchewan grass field colours. Later on the chain are two brass links, one with some grass from my grandparent's backyard in Saskatchewan, and the other with the numbers 306 rubbed on. Last features include a suede neck cord embellished with six green and blue beads.

This piece was created (late) for a challenge to go through Mary Hetmansperger's 'Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet'. This is the 4th project, Layers Necklace, with my own spin to it.

Burried treasure collaboration

*** This post is my submission for the 'Buried Treasure' collaborative project posted by Seth at The Altered Page. I am sorry that it is a day late :s. The object of this is to look back and re:post one of your favourite old entries. I really liked this one because not only did I show pictures of projects i was working on, i discussed two books i had been reading as well. Hope everyone has a fantastic day!***

Books! (the title of the post)

For Christmas, my boyfriend and I each picked out out own presents off amazon. He himself is quite the bibliophile, and I really wanted a couple of books. I got myself Mary Hettmansperger's book 'Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet' and Susan Lenart Kazmer's 'Making Connections: A Handbook of Cold Joins for Jewlers and Mixed-Media Artists'.

I would highly recomend either one of these books, as I am immensely enjoying the both of them. I am loving the ideas and style of Susan's book. It is very found-object focused with STUNNING pictures of projects she has created. Turning bottle caps into bezels, how to create funky trapezes to dangle objects from, pictures of mini-lightbulbs with little paper messages inside... what's not to love? I just wish I had been able to take my 'found object' art supplies with me here to Seoul. I have a whole bunch of stuff sitting in Canada that would be great for this kind of thing but i had to leave my stash behind (but safely tucked away in storage!).

I also am loving the project based aproach in Mary's book. There are many techniques discussed at the beginning of the book and then it turns to project creation. I unfortunately lack many of the tools needed for both books. I sadly still don't have an anvil, a dapping block, or a torch :(. Give me time... and a good hardware store... Mary seems to have a strong following for her book, as I have seen many of these projects being discussed on blogs and such. I am looking forward to getting started, but am still in the material and idea gathering phase for her first project of a 'spinner necklace'.

However, I have created a couple necklaces that use ideas discussed in the technique sections. Mary's book discusses how to create these swirls and pound them flat. Lacking an anvil, i am ashamed to admit i have been using a hard ruler and a towel.... sigh. However, the wire was fairly soft and it worked fairly well for this! This necklace was created while practicing how to make these fun swirls discussed in her book.

Fabric Nest, and questions about inspiration.

I have really been enjoying the posts on the blog of Nina Bagley lately, on her blog
Ornamental. In this crazy city i live in, it is nice to see that there is a bit of peace out there in the world. As well, Nina makes some of the most beautiful nature inspired jewelry i've ever seen.

Is it bad that when i saw her lovely lovely nest necklace, and couldn't resist trying to make a fabric nest of my own? I was simply so inspired by her that i couldn't help it... the fingers just started reaching for the lace, needle and thread of their own volition. What is the protocol on this exactly? I will definately list her as the inspiration for the necklace, and let her know. I am slightly torn on this, and am wondering what you think out there. On the one hand, I did not copy the entire necklace, just the general idea and then pieced together something of my own ideas from hers. On the other hand, she is a professional artist who earns her living by these designs. I love how genereous she is sharing her lovely designs on her blog. It would be different if this was published in a book (which she is more than talented enough to write!), or in a magazine where she is putting it out there for public inspiration. On the other hand, a blog can be something like this as well... when we put things out here they are officially out in public and anyone can see them. Hmmm.... it is a question i am mulling over in my mind. Any ideas you guys have about this would be greatly appreciated, pro or con.

To be perfectly clear, this necklace is only for my own personal usage (i love it too much to give it away and i am not at the level where i'm ready to sell on etsy just yet). I'll also be sending her a note letting her know how inspiring her blog really is to me, especially that necklace. If i were selling things, this would be a different story altogether.


Without further ado, this is what i created.





I created this fabric nest by first sewing together a long line of different laces, then wrapping them around the wired beads so the different layers show. This is a necklace that BEGS to be touched... the next is very textural. Some of the lace, and also the lace i tied in a knot on the side, is a beautiful gift from one of the street sellers in Dongdaemun. The store specializes in handmade lace for wedding dresses, and when i tried to buy a half meter of it, she said that was too short and gave it to me for free instead. I loved it, and bought a couple other laces there too. Although they did not fit, I have been thinking of making a lacy Marie Antoinette-style choker with varied laces... could be fun.

The acorn was a gift from my mother when i last saw her in canada, which she'd found on the ground. How special, to have an acorn my mother found me in my grandmother's garden... it just adds to the specialness of the necklace for me. The join is a 'trapeeze join', which i learned in Kazmer's book Making Connections.... (i swear the book is amazing). It allows the acorn to spin around it's wire, and swing freely. The chain is from Dongdaemun, as usual.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.

Green Lightbulbs

I've been reading Suzan Lennart Kazmer's book 'Making Connections' and have just been loving it. I love looking at the pictures of pieces she has created. I was especially fascinated by her use of mini lightbulbs with messages inside. However, i am still not familliar enough with Seoul to find these on my own, as hardware stores are seeming to be especially elusive.







Still, what did i find on my walk to the cab from the flower market, a couple weeks ago, but a discarded strand of beautiful green mini-lights! I was so stoked. I swear, after starting to make art i find that i've been watching the ground as i walk to not miss any 'treasures'. My man just sort of shakes his head, but i get so excited each time i find something interesting. I was so excited about these little green lightbulbs.



I had made a trip to Dongdaemun (the GIGANTIC market here in Seoul where you can buy pretty much anything... if you know where to look ... which i don't). I picked up a lovely varied selection of green beads, chain, and these cool long stick looking beads too. I wrapped the lightbulb bases in the wire and then attached them to the wire and wired on all the beads. The finished result is quite a long necklace... i am really pleased with how it tured out. The lightbulbs are such an interesting touch, i find.

I had initially planned to 'Kazmerize' them (as i believe the phrase has been coined), and give them some rust, or a collaged message, or just a little extra 'something', but then decided i liked them there just the way they were.

My kindergarten are baffled seeing lightbulbs on my necklace, but they are now getting used to seeing so much odd stuff on my necklaces that are not 'korean' that they've chalked it up to me being canadian. I think they think all Canadians wear necklaces like this hahahha.

roses necklace

I've been having so much fun going through Kazmer's book 'Making Connections. One of the techniques discussed is how to make your own prongs for holding objects that don't have a hole in it. I couldn't wait to try it out, and i decided to use it on these pretty paper roses that my mom picked me up from germany. It took me a couple tries, but I eventually figured out the cutting of the tabs and how to correctly bend them to perfectly cradle the roses.

It was also my first time using both ribbon and 'chain' together as the necklace. I am pleased with how this one turned out, with a button added on the bottom to pull it down. Hope you like the little necklace i wanted to show you guys :).

In this lower picture, you can see the backs to the rose-holders.

Books!

For Christmas, my boyfriend and I each picked out out own presents off amazon. He himself is quite the bibliophile, and I really wanted a couple of books. I got myself Mary Hettmansperger's book 'Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet' and Susan Lenart Kazmer's 'Making Connections: A Handbook of Cold Joins for Jewlers and Mixed-Media Artists'.

I would highly recomend either one of these books, as I am immensely enjoying the both of them. I am loving the ideas and style of Susan's book. It is very found-object focused with STUNNING pictures of projects she has created. Turning bottle caps into bezels, how to create funky trapezes to dangle objects from, pictures of mini-lightbulbs with little paper messages inside... what's not to love? I just wish I had been able to take my 'found object' art supplies with me here to Seoul. I have a whole bunch of stuff sitting in Canada that would be great for this kind of thing but i had to leave my stash behind (but safely tucked away in storage!).

I also am loving the project based aproach in Mary's book. There are many techniques discussed at the beginning of the book and then it turns to project creation. I unfortunately lack many of the tools needed for both books. I sadly still don't have an anvil, a dapping block, or a torch :(. Give me time... and a good hardware store... Mary seems to have a strong following for her book, as I have seen many of these projects being discussed on blogs and such. I am looking forward to getting started, but am still in the material and idea gathering phase for her first project of a 'spinner necklace'.

However, I have created a couple necklaces that use ideas discussed in the technique sections. Mary's book discusses how to create these swirls and pound them flat. Lacking an anvil, i am ashamed to admit i have been using a hard ruler and a towel.... sigh. However, the wire was fairly soft and it worked fairly well for this! This necklace was created while practicing how to make these fun swirls discussed in her book.

Music book necklace: project number 5!

I've finished the next post in Stephanie Lee's fabulous book "Semi-precious Salvage". I have been having so much fun with this book. The descriptions are fairly detailed, and i have been learning many techniques through this book.

I made a couple small changes to the bracelet as i went along. While Stephanie discussed and displayed more of a rustic style, i decided to go for a cleaner, more 'sterling silver' type look. As opposed to having burnt edge text, i went with clean edged sheet music. I really had a great time making this project, especially creating the little 'book'. It is such a neat idea to me that the bent metal provides such a perfect spine and binding for the papers. So much fun. As well i like the orriginality of the idea of putting little 'books' onto necklaces... how wonderful!

The white links you can see are posted from a tutorial by the wonderful Deryn Mentock on her blog. I made the links here for this necklace and also for my nest necklace (see previous post). So great.

Speaking of having fun, I have been having so much fun with my OWOH giveaway (see three posts down. I am amazed at all the wonderful people that have been entering the draw. Good luck to everyone!

Nest Necklace: Project number 4!

A couple posts back, i posted a teaser post with a glass jar of beads and wire. At that time, this necklace had been pretty much finished... only lacking a drill. After much searching, i finally found and bought a drill over the weekend. A couple quick holes and jump rings and voila! I really did have quite a productive long weekend, finishing off 3 necklaces! One i showed in the previous post, one is in this post here, and one i will be posting next. This one here is project number 4 from Stephanie Lee's book 'Semiprecious Salvage'. I have really been loving this book, and i am so pleased to have finished this piece. Stephanie's book is lovely, as her her fabulous blog, and you should check her out here.

I did stray somewhat from the design layed out by Stephanie, but my main goal was to learn the skills offered in the creation of the necklace. In her piece in the book, she used one of the fabulous porcelain doll arms. It reminded me so of the porcelain bisque dolls from germany. I would love to have something like this, as they speak to me so strongly, but as of yet it is not in the cards. Instead, i created the bird nest similar to one discussed later in the book (ok... yes... i peeked ahead hahah). I also decided to add the links i created, linked from a tutorial posted by the lovely Derryn Mentock (I had so much fun creating these links... you should go check out her easy to use tutorial on how to creat them :) here.

So, for those of you who have not seen stephanie's book, the square part of this piece was created using a square of copper sheet metal. I then did a simple transfer of a reversed book image, of a bird in a tree. After thus creating a resist, i put the square in Ferric Chloride (an acid) which etched away, creating a nice bird pattern. If you have any questions about this, post me a quick note in teh comments and i will help you out :).

Good luck to all who are entering my 'One World One Heart' draw.