beautifully broken me: Jewelry Challenge

3/17/11

Love My Art Jewelry March Call To Create: Spring Has Sprung!

What a fun inspiration picture and color palette for this month's challenge:

It has me hankering for some light Spring jewelry:

I used enameled pieces from my own stash that were kiln fired using colors that coordinate with the inspiration palette: celery, New York pink and white linen.

I combined the enameled pieces with pink jade, coiled copper and leather links.

The necklace hangs about 20", with the focal adding approximately 2 1/2" to the total length. The earrings are approximately 2 1/2" from the top of the ear wire.

Take some time to check out the other terrific entries in the LMAJ flicker group.

If you are interested in purchasing this set, it will be for sale in my etsy shop.

1/21/11

Fusion Beads Blog Hop

It's about time for another blog hop, and this one is a really fun one! On Wednesday I posted a picture of the beads that were on my beading table that day. Well, they were there because I was working on my design for Lorelei Eurto's Fusion Beads Blog Hop. It works this way: Lorelei posted a list of items for participants to order from Fusionbeads.com, and we were to make a piece of jewelry from them and post them on our blog today. Here is another picture of the beads:

I just love the earthy tones and especially love the owl toggle clasp. I always think of the word "wisdom" when I think of owls, so that is the theme I went with for my piece:

“The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I added some of my own beads from my stash, as well as a gorgeous"wisdom" ceramic bead by Diane Hawkey, also from Fusionbeads.com.

With a few different gauges of sterling wire I created 'barbells' that I twisted to secure the ends of the olive leather cord, as well as using them sporadically as accents in my links.

I drilled another hole in the bottom of toggle and used it as a part of the focal, along with the olive Lucite leaf and the ceramic wisdom bead.

The overall effect is organic and simple:

Take some time to tour the other participants' blogs:

* If you are interested in purchasing this piece, it is for sale in my etsy shop.

1/20/11

Sneak Peek...

Tomorrow is the reveal for Lorelei Eurto's Fusion Beads Blog Hop, and I wanted to give you a sneak peek of what I made for the hop:

That's it for now - tune in tomorrow!

12/17/10

Let's Hop!

It's that time again! The talented Lorelei Eurto issued a second Michael's Reader's challenge, and today is the reveal!

Here's how it works: Lorelei picks out beads and chain at her local Michael's store, posts pictures of her finds, and whoever wants to participate purchases the same items, adds two additional beads or colors, adds their own focal and clasp and posts pictures of their pieces and links to the other participants' sites.

Here are the items she picked out (aren't they beautiful?):

And here is my finished piece, called "On The Fringe":

I took cues from the beautiful turquoises and blues reflected in the peacock-hued potato pearls and the warm tones of the mother of pearl ovals, adding teal, gunmetal and black seed beads and tawny antiqued copper accents, making up many, many, many, many (you get the idea) charms that dangle like fringe from the gunmetal chain.

For fun, I added some extra 'fringe' coming off of the larger loop, adding more movement to the piece.

Thanks so much for organizing this fun challenge Lorelei! Now take some time and check out the other participants' creations and get ready for some serious eye candy!

12/16/10

Are You Ready To Hop?

Here is a teaser preview of tomorrow's Michael's Blog Hop:

Tune in tomorrow for the finished piece! For more information about this hop, check out Lorelei Eurto's blog: http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com/

11/12/10

"With One Finding" Design Challenge

I certainly didn't mean to wait this long to post about this, but I do want to make sure you all know about the "With One Finding" challenge going on over at this post at one of Diane Cook's blogs, "Brass Bouquet Designs".

If you are a fan of beautiful brass filigree and findings, this challenge is for you! The deadline is the end of this month, so hurry on over to learn more about it!

11/3/10

Five and Dime Style Jewelry Challenge

I wanted to share a fun challenge piece today. Brenda Sue Landsdowne of B'Sue Boutiques challenged her readers and customers to create "Five and Dime Style" inspired jewelry and then to post their creations on her Facebook page. My eye was caught by the fun colors and dime-store "thrifty-ness" of the examples she showed, so I decided to participate.

As there are many pieces and parts available in her store, B'Sue Boutiques, I ventured out there to order a few items to use in my necklace. Well, the result is pretty out of character for me, but was oh-so-fun to create. So without further ado, I present you with "Dime Store Emporium":

I ordered a huge set of vintage assorted hard plastic flower parts and a brass necklace base from the store, and started putting pieces and parts together like a mad woman!

I have been holding on to the turquoise Japanese acrylic links for a long time, and this seemed like the perfect project for them.

I wanted to give the piece a little "edge", so I drilled into the brass neckpiece and used tiny nuts and bolts to create the flowers and then to attach the flowers to the base.

Well...this is DEFINITELY a statement piece, and the challenge most certainly took me out of my comfort zone! But if you take it as a tongue-in-cheek homage to the "Five and Dime" style, I think it fit the bill for the challenge!

If you can, take some time to go out to B'Sue Boutiques' Facebook page and browse around the other entries!

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