Friday is my Fun Day BONUS: Butterfly Crystals And Sunset over Snow

No, it's not Friday, but I got a chance to blog about these two pieces over at my own blog: http://godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com/ and ran out of time to share here. 
I definitely wanted to go ahead and share these pieces before moving on to other projects.  I completed these two projects the week before last, and finally got a lovely sunny day to photograph them.


Butterfly Crystals

My butterfly piece is wire work wrapped with freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals and Quartz.

I love the sparkle and elegance, and wish that my photos could give a clear picture of just how dazzling the piece is to the naked eye.

I think what pleases me the most about this piece is the asymmetry.  I enjoy working both symmetrically and asymmetrically, but I definitely like this best. I feel like this piece has stretched me creatively, and I love that!  I rarely use large crystals like the three in this piece.  I tend toward tiny work, but tiny beads wouldn't have been bold enough for what I was thinking. 

Sunset Over Snow

My snow piece is wire-wrapped seed beads and Swarovski crystals.  7 Strands of aurora borealis, clear, white, and silver seed beads have been wrapped together to create the snow, then a strand of crystals has been wrapped around the rest.

My favorite part of this piece is that I had the idea, and then I did it...  Kind of rare, really.  Most of the time I have the idea then run into some road-blocks and make changes.  Sometimes those changes make the piece way better, and sometimes they don't.  However, this time, it worked!

I saw the vision of a necklace depicting an Alaskan sunset on snow, and then I found the beads and put them together.  I wish it looked exactly like I imagined it...  It's still not exactly what I was thinking.  So I may not be completely done.  However, at this point I am satisfied.

 
Again, I wish my photos could show the true dazzle and sparkle of the piece.

Friday is My Fun Day- Bead Soup Party

I have had a marvelous week participating in Lori's Bead Soup Party!
http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/


I hope you have had an opportunity to check in with her blog and see all the amazing completed projects. I am pleased to be part of something so cool.
Here's the wonderful collection of beads my partner Lyn Foley sent me. http://www.lynfoley.com/

Look at the amazing green beads she made! Aren't they great? She made the nine beads across the center.
The small green beads are chalk turquoise and the white strand is made up of lovely freshwater pearls.
I fell in love with the little bird clasp.

I am very pleased with my completed project, but let me tell you- It took a LOT to get there.

I originally had an entirely different concept, and was working with a very specific idea of what I wanted. I rarely work toward a goal like this, but I also rarely work with large glass beads such as Lyn's so I wanted a goal.

My concept drawing reflects a delicate and graceful vine with the focus entirely on Lyn's bead.

But here is where my lack of experience with large glass focal beads torpedoes my design.... Her bead was MUCH too heavy for the delicate vine. It literally pulled the vine right off my neck.... So I fought with that for a bit, and tried a couple of other ideas... Tried to rig a chain across the front, tried a different bead, tried finding beads for the vine end that would balance with her bead...

And got frustrated.
Very frustrated.
I didn't like any of the other ideas as much as my original vision...

And then it happened!
 

I had a new vision. A good one... Maybe not as unique as my original concept, but I'm pleased with the final project. I still have other beads from Lyn's goodie bag to use, and I am looking forward to the challenge. =)


*Update*
I was able to finish the bracelet tonight!  I spent so much time fighting with myself over the necklace that I wasn't sure if I would get it done in time.  But I did, and I wanted to share it. 

Still beading-

Becca

Bead Soup Party- Coming Soon!!!

Pretty soon I'll be sharing the addresses for all the other participants in the Bead Soup Party.

Right now I just want to let you know when the unveiling will be- June 19th through June 26th.

Stay Tuned!!! (As you can tell, I'm a little excited to be part of this!)

For all the latest info, check out Lori Anderson's blog:  http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/2010/06/bead-soup-blog-party-sneak-peek.html

Still Beading- Rebecca

Friday is My Fun Day! - ???

What to do???

The weather has been horrible this entire week, so I haven't been able to take pics outside of any of my jewelry! I don't have any creative new pieces to share!
I've been creating lovely jewelry, I just don't have any good photos!

Our sweet lovely wonderful friend Valette left us with a stupendous light box and we've been using it inside during the winter, but it is a process to set up... Maybe I can do all that tomorrow, but I was just not up to the task today.

I have a solution!

Instead of sharing MY work, I am going to share some of the pieces that have truly inspired me lately.
These two pieces by Sylvia Jewelry at Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/Sylviajewelry ) have absolutely blown me away.. The first is called "Bloom Necklace in gold", and the second is called "Harvest Necklace".

I am in love with her style! I love the delicate vine nature of her work, and I enjoy the bold color choices.

She has caused me to look at my own wire-work in a different way. I'm mulling it over and dreaming, but soon I expect to have my work go in a slightly different way. I'm looking forward to the changes ahead!

Sylvia has MANY other lovely jewelry pieces at her website, some like these, and some completely different.

Go enjoy!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Sylviajewelry

Fun Earrings- Pearl flowers

The sweetest lady called me last night. She had gone to Pioneer Park, found my jewelry and purchased several pieces.

She hoped I could make earrings to match the necklace she had bought so that she could wear them to her son's wedding. I had never made any like it, but I gave it a try... I was nervous about the ends of the wires and where I'd hide them.  I was also nervous about them definitely hanging the right way.  But both of my concerns worked out!  I was able to tuck the wires away, and make the loop at the top at the perfect angle to keep the flowers facing the right way.  YAY! =)

I like them. I was very nervous, but they turned out quite cute. Now that I've figured out how to do it I will probably make something like these again.

In the picture, I am showing one of the flowers from the back and one from the front.

Thank you, Nancy! I probably wouldn't have tried if you hadn't requested.
From Rebecca

Friday is My Fun Day!- Leafy Copper Bracelets

I am delighted to show these bracelets off!

They were fun to make...

First and most importantly, I chose metal that had already been worked with and aged. Each of these pieces had been worked with and then discarded. I loved the texture and images already embedded in the metal.

Then I heated the copper to make it malleable. I chose leaves and ran the metal and the leaves through the rolling mill.

(A rolling mill is the tool I covet the most from our shop at school. Yes, I want a torch, but I WANT a rolling mill in a really bad way. The cheapest good one I've found was around $500. It's gonna be a while before I have one...)

Next, I soaked the pieces in liver of sulphur to age and darken the leaf impressions.
After the liver of sulphur bath, I sanded the surface to lighten the raised metal.

Then I drilled holes on the sides. After speaking to an artist on Etsy I used clear finger-nail polish to coat the backs of the bracelets. Copper has a tendency to turn skin green when worn repeatedly, but the clear nail polish will prevent the copper from touching skin.

Finally, I took them home and beaded them, which was a blast! I wanted a heavy, rich appearance so I mixed chain in with vibrant glass beads and luscious stones.

I created the green bracelet specifically for me, but the red and blue one are both for sale!

Take a peak down at Farmer's Market on College Rd. in Fairbanks or on Etsy.
Also, for more shots of these bracelets look over here: http://godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com/2010/06/friday-is-my-fun-day-leafy-bronze.html