Music Leaves Necklace

I was playing with resin while creating this one. I resinated some musical score paper... lots of fun. I would highly reccomend to anyone trying putting resin on paper. It gives it such a glassy sheen on top. It also gives the leaves almost a seethrough quality. This necklace is inspired by the pretty, pretty leaves i often see popping up in Deryn Mentock's work. She truly has a lovely website, which you should definatly go check out
here

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.

Pleated Petal Tank ANTHROPOLIFICATION GIVEAWAY!!!!

Pleated Petal Tank ANTHROPOLIFICATION GIVEAWAY!!!!

Such a beautiful tank top... it gets me excited as i am hoping to see the cherry blossoms myself on saturday.

Teal Night

Here's a new necklace I'd made a bit ago. I was inspired while poking around the Art Bead Scene blog about a month ago... they showed a necklace where they took a bird and wrapped it around flat bead, like a hug. I loved the idea of it and had these pretty flat pieces i'd picked up earlier. After experimenting wrapping a pretty blue bead in a flat copper piece, i was delighted with the results. The necklace simply took off from there.

I created many of the parts of this myself. The star was a simple woodcut from michaels, which i painted blue and wrapped in wire. The circles i put star beads within and filled partly with clear resin. I also used a couple blue stone beads, a strange structural piece i picked up earlier, some shell buttons, and a moon pendant. I was trying to keep with an 'ocean at night' theme... i am so happy with how it all came together.

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.

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

Wow. I've discovered this fabulous blog. I just love the beautiful clothing she is creating! Who wouldn't love a beautiful dress like this :). I'd highly recomend giving this site a good perusing.


Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!