I am so excited to share this hop with you all! If you recall, I was one of the lucky ones chosen to participate in Jo Tinley of Daisychain Designs' Poppy challenge. Each participant was sent two of Jo's sweet sterling silver Poppy Headpins to incorporate into a design:
How cute are these?
Well, my first thought was that these would make lovely earrings, and I almost went that direction. Then I remembered that this was a 'challenge', and that I really needed to push myself to think outside of the earring box.
Well...here is the result of that thinking:
 |
| "Poppy Garden" |
I have to admit that I completely psyched myself out on this piece. Jo is an unbelievable metal worker, and her soldering is impeccable. What if I couldn't make a copper poppy that would work with hers? What if I totally ruined her headpins by melting them?
A confession: I was able to make a poppy out of copper that coordinates, if not compares, to Jo's, but I did completely melt the wire off of one of her poppies -- but was able to fix it - whew!
I cut and polished a piece of copper pipe and drilled 3 holes into the top of it. Then I inserted the poppy headpins into the outer holes and drew a bead on the end of each, making sure to stagger the lengths. Then I created a hook for my copper poppy to hang from that also makes the bail for the necklace.
Deciding what to do for a chain took a while. The pendant is actually quite small (for me) - about 1" x 1" - and I didn't want to overwhelm it, so I made just one link to incorporate into the simple copper chain. The link has three oxidized tiny silver beads to pull in the color of Jo's poppies. I finished the chain with a small handmade copper clasp.
And there you go: "Poppy Garden".
Thank you so much, Jo, for the opportunity to work with your beautiful poppy headpins.
Take some time to check out the other participants' designs:
Jo Tinley: Daisychain Designs
Marissa: Sea Flowers Studios
Kristi: Curiosities by K
Fiona: Tizduster
Jennifer Cameron: Glass Addictions
Happy Hopping!
