Guess what I bought this week.......... a Dremel! - I realised that there was no way I was going to realise my ambition to get bigger and better with my ideas for precious metal clay and polymer clay unless I conquered my irrational, rather girly fear of power tools. Also, one of the ladies from the Polydays 2012 group had a lovely power tool with a cute silver carry case and she made light work of the drilling part of making the hinged bangle - I wanted one immediately (mainly for the cute case though). Alas, the one I bought has a boring case - it is cordless, and can do hands free operations though, which will be ideal for coiling wire - which is another thing I have always wanted to do - yippee! Since I posted last, my fingers have been flying - why, I'm surprised that I have any left at all and they haven't been worn down into stumps, like an old pencil! I was on a roll, and all the components in my stash were fighting to come out of the cupboard and join the melee'. I used up components I have been hoarding for over a year - who knows what I was saving them for. I figured that instead of buying more, I ought to make an effort to put what I have into my designs. Endless Love This one was made with a Chinese jade carved Endless Knot, strung with rice pearls, emerald chips and other tiny beads. The Endless Knot symbolises Eternal Love and friendship - it has been integrated into many cultures, and has mystical connotations - the Celtic knot is one example. Cleo Some beautiful Turquoise spike beads arrived in the post that morning - and I could not resist them - just had to make them up to see what they looked like in a necklace. One of my favourite ways is to add an asymmetrical focal element, but this time, the spikes themselves needed to be the focus of attention, so I chose to use dull gold pyrite chunks instead, to break up the line of spikes. I thought Cleopatra might have fancied this one - but she apparently didn't pay for her jewellery - and cut the fingers off her favourite jewellery makers for the privilege of creating her bijoux, just so they wouldn't replicate the necklace - so, thanks, but, no thanks Cleo, someone else can have it instead - but only if they promise to leave me my fingers. Ode to the LBD I love pearls, but I prefer the modern way of wearing them - in multiple strings, and ropes, swaying in gay abandon - I am not a fan of the single string. However, there are times that one requires a bit of simple sophistication, when 'swaying in gay abandon' may be inappropriate, but something makes you want to step out of the Doris Day mould - this next one is for those times. Black onyx squares in two strands interspersed with silver tone spacers in different shapes, suit this requirement. This is surely a lyrical verse inspired by the little black dress. Forever in Blue Jeans
I remade the necklace thrice before I was satisfied with the elements - it seemed best with shimmering Swarovski crystals in different colours and shapes between the flat cream and blue of the agate. A twisted lapis and pyrite rectangle, a jade flower and a butterfly were added to the mix, and my work here was done. The necklace, when finished looked like something I would wear with blue jeans and a casual jacket - hence the title.
Unconditional Love This piece is named for the focal piece - a black onyx pendant carved with the face of Kwan Yin. She is the Buddhist goddess of mercy and unconditional love. I love the statues and sculptures they have of her in Thailand and Indonesia - she has such a beautiful compassionate, serene face, and a curvaceous feminine body. I wrapped the graceful face in square wire, and attached it to a wire collar - I thought I'd go with a monochrome pallete this time, and used white howlite beads to contrast with the pendant. Fronds A copper wire branch with little leaves, on a sweet little necklace of coral spikes, pearls and crystals. Enter the Dragon A carved turquoise pendant with a dragon motif was hung on a necklace made of such diverse elements as Rowan branches cut into beads, yellow agate, coral, turquoise and even a freshwater pearl. It is a very 'on trend' Tribal Chic piece and very comfortable to wear. In between making all of these, I played with enamels in my kiln. When I went on the enamelling course, a lady dropped by - she was selling her mother's collection of enamel colours and other paraphernelia - I picked up whatever I could lay my hands on - as always the start up costs are expensive - especially as the first pieces are usually rubbish - but I surprised myself, and Mike, and made a couple of nice pendants. I also made a little dog, a butterfly and a heavily pregnant teddy bear - but the pendant holes got blocked up by the glass - I probably overloaded them with the enamel powder - I shall keep them as souvenirs of my journey into new horizons - and to remind me not to do that again. That's all for this week folks, I'm off to play with my Dremel, finally finish off the lentil beads I made in Polydays 2012, buff up some pendants, redo the enamel on the one pendant..... a woman's work is never done.
See you next week, xx
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Cold and frosted over with icing sugar, the garden looked so pretty and magical, bringing fanciful thoughts to mind - and a degree of yearning for spring and the promise of summer and warmth. I thought I'd make a dragonfly - my first attempt at it, and once I'd shaped the wire and made the dragonfly, had to decide what to do with it. There was no particular design in mind - just the dragonfly that I had and a few lengths of wire woven leaves. Just at this point, I stumbled across a poem written by a woman who calls herself Susie - published in www.fairiesworld.com - this is how it goes The Dell Down past my garden, underneath the trees, There is a place of magic that no-one ever sees, A little grassy clearing, plain at ones first sight; But if you take the time to see, you shall find delight. If you come to see this place, take heed: you've found the Dell. And so was born the idea of the Dragonfly's Dell. I know that dragonfly's are attracted to water, so there had to be an element of blue in the necklace, and I found some beautiful cobalt blue Cat's eye beads in my stash that I had forgotten about. I spent a restless night trying to imagine the necklace, but gave up in the end - the old brain was freezing over! I looked at an article about jewellery trends - and it would appear that my love for the statement collar necklace has been borne out - it is and has been a lasting trend since autumn of last year - I must have had a premonition when I started to make them the year before - how smart is that! It seems that collar necklaces can never truly go out of fashion. Their simple design makes them such a perfect statement piece, one that completes the whole look just by itself. The best thing about these necklaces is that they come in so many different styles which make them perfect for every occasion. And the latest is the detachable collar in a Peter Pan or Tuxedo style, to be worn over a T shirt or an outfit with a high neckline to glitz it up. People think that collars are night time wear and showy - but if you look at the latest trend, ladies are wearing it as just the one piece of jewellery with a white shirt and denims, and it looks fabulous. I certainly wear my necklaces to my day job - apart from anything else it gives my patients something to focus on rather than the anxiety of what they think I am about to inflict on them! So out of a fanciful idea and the following of a growing trend, came the idea for the Dragon's Dell Collar, made of a heavy duty silver plated copper wire frame, with its lapels at the front, and open at the front so as to be fully adjustable. Took it for a test drive, and it sits beautifully at the base of the neck. My anxiety with all wire jewellery is the spiky ends that can make life hell for the wearer - I certainly wouldn't wear a piece of jewellery if it was uncomfortable - it would remind me of my first pair of scratchy/ itchy Tweed trousers - I actually took said trousers off in the car during one very long and memorable journey! -I certainly wouldn't want to put anyone else through that- belated apologies to the very shocked Japanese people in the tourist bus who watched me do it - there are a few photographs floating around in Japan, I dare say! The Daisies' Dance - from Daisy Time by Marjorie Picthall Buttercups have honeyed hearts, Bees they love the clover, But I love the daisies' dance All the meadow over. Daisies are the sweetest flowers, reminding one that summer is here - daisy chains are meant to represent the sun, the earth and the never ending circle of life and this is probably the reason why they are joined up into garlands. To me they represent the sheer joy of the warmth of the sun after months and months of cold frost and bone chilling wind. I grow loads of them in my garden - these are Shasta daisies - they have such a pretty ruffled edge, and the best thing about them is that all we do is cut them back in the autumn, and they grow back in summer - free from the stress of covering them up from the frost and having an empty spot to replant each year. I thought it might be fun to try and recreate them - but that was easier said than done. My polymer clay efforts weren't up to scratch, so I chucked them, and started again with my favourite medium - wire. Although my daisies dont look like the ones above, they are pretty, and there are so many different types of daisy, so, if you look at them at a certain angle in a certain light, with a slight squint, they are pretty authentic, I'd say! The leaves of the real daisy aren't so pretty though, so I have used artistic licence and added colour with Czech 'Jablonex' crystal leaves as well as a few of wire. So I have Daisies and leaves dancing across my necklace - The Daisies' Dance. Finally gave up on the postal system - between Royal Mail and the Postal system in the USA, the armband I posted out over two weeks ago has got completely lost - it certainly doesn't take two weeks for mail to get from here to there - just hope it's not lying in some dusty dead letter office and that the postman's wife likes it. Made a copper wire choker as a replacement ( in case the armband does turn up, didn't want her to have two of the same) and will try posting it out again - I hope I have better luck this time round. Have a fabulous week, and I will catch up with you soon.
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