"Early Summer" Pendant with Summers Studio Lentil Focal

Inspiration FINALLY struck for one of Leann Weih's gorgeous porcelain lentil beads. I've been hoarding this, and another similar one, since last September. (You can visit Leann's Etsy shop HERE). I had some ideas knocking around in my head, but none of them felt right. I was absently pawing through my pendant collection again on Saturday, and opened Leann's package again. I had an idea, grabbed some aqua terra jasper beads, and decided that's what I would combine it with. I started on it this morning, and I had already wrapped one jasper bead when I thought it was missing something. I wanted to include some blue in the piece, to bring out the subtle washed denim hue in the focal. But gee, what did I have in that color? Gosh, how about that big fat ziplock bag of denim blue coral roundels? Oh yeah, those! Well, I laid those out together and I liked it. And then the aqua terra jasper didn't work anymore, but it still needed a little green. So I grabbed a couple of the matte finish Chinese jade I picked up locally--the color matched the green glaze exactly, and I threw in some green button pearls I tarted up with tiny antiqued copper bead caps. I had a couple of these floral copper toggle clasps I bought ages ago because they were on sale, never really thinking I would use them, but they were perfect for this piece--the flower is even kind of similar to the flower on the lentil focal. A teensy bit of antiqued copper rolo from Ornamentea, and it was done.



The bead caps on the blue coral and Chinese jade are more of mine (looks like I'll be spending another lunch hour at the office with my metal punch). The necklace measures a little shy of 18" long, but because the wonderful rolo chain from Ornamentea has open links, it's easy to change the length of it without having to cut any links. Oh, and by the way, fired up the propane torch--the little button-like thing at the base of Leann's bead is a hammered ball of copper I made myself with my torch!! I can't believe I waited so long to fire it up. It was easier than opening a bag of chips. Unscrew the top, pop on the head, turn up the dial, click the starter. Voila. Fire. The copper melted beautifully. I'm looking forward to melting all of the copper I have.

Signs of Spring

I was determined this weekend to use some more of Kelley Wenzel's beads. I had bought some of her "raku egg" beads earlier this year, and had been incubating ideas in my head. I wanted to draw out the lilac in them, so that was my starting point. It actually came together rather quickly, for a change. One of the gratifying things about Kelley's beads is you don't have to work very hard to make them look spectacular in a piece of jewelry! Less is more, and keeping it simple is best so they can really have the spotlight.



I love the colors in these beads--lots of soft amber, a little pale green, and surprising swirls of lilac. The larger bead was actually among the set that Kelley initially surprised me with, and I was thrilled to see how perfectly it complemented the raku beads. The little egg beads are mostly transparent, with the swirls of color in them, and the larger bead is opaque. It reminds me of Jupiter in its Easter bonnet. They are perfect together. I combined them with some simple Czech druk rounds in lilac, a couple of rustic Chinese jade rounds (I felt it needed a little bit of matte finish in there somewhere to turn down the frou-frou factor a notch), and a couple lilac pearls just for fun. I had done the brass spirals several months ago, without any idea what I would do with them, and I liked how they echoed the shape of the beads. The bead caps are my own.



The egg beads are, as their name implies, egg shaped, and the holes are nearer the "top" of each egg, so that if strung, there would be a "dancing" effect, like top drilled pearls. When I wired them onto the bead caps, it created this (in my opinion) utterly charming crocus effect. They look to me like crocus just starting to open. Perfect for an Easter necklace!



I'm really pleased with how this turned out. I think it's my new favorite thing I ever did. Thanks for making it easy, Kelley! Can't wait to do more!

P.S. I think I finally have some inspiration for one of Leann Weih's (Summers Studio) blue-green lentil focals that might almost be worthy of it. Hope to do that tomorrow, along with a little more PURPLE!

From the Ruins of an Opulent Jungle Kingdom

This bracelet makes me think of ancient and grand civilizations, their splendor long passed away, secreted beneath a millenium's worth of lush vines and foliage in the heart of an impenetrable Mayan jungle. Only this small relic survived, a faint echo of their culture's high art.



(Angling for a job writing for Sundance catalog so I'm working on my pretentiousness. How'd I do? Should I add something about fierce jungle goddesses or something? "Unleash your fierce inner jungle leopard goddess with this opulent and rough-hewn wristpiece." Or maybe "I was captivated by the rough, atavistic opulence of this breathtaking piece; under its spell I began a voyage into my past lives and discovered I had once been--yes--the fierce and revered empress of a vast and lavish Mayan kingdom." Still seems a little wishy washy to me. How about "This stunning and opulent royal wristpiece, refulgent with luminous copper pearls and burnished copper, was wrought in the blazing forge of GOD HIMSELF who personally delivered it to me and commanded that I list it on Etsy." Did I nail it? I'm SO into the word opulent today. And atavistic. I love that word. Hard to find opportunities to use it in daily life. Although I have found it on occasion to be a less offensive alternative to the terms "goddamn Neanderthal" and "effing caveman." Mostly because nobody knows what it means. I'm not even entirely sure I know what it means.)



Copper green opal with hammered bead caps, freshwater pearls, moss agate, hand-forged toggle clasp, and fabulous "borneo" rollo chain from Ornamentea. A necklace in the same design is forthcoming soon. As soon as God finishes it.

Pimped More Earrings

Check these out. Riffed off the silver ones I did, these are with lilac bronze pearls and pale amethyst rounds. Started kind of from scratch with the color, never made mauve earrings before. I'm going to do a bunch of earrings with the same design, but different metals and colors. Next up: copper.

Keep Doing the Same Thing Until It Isn't Cute Anymore

I made a bracelet a few months ago with bronze and steel lock washers from the hardware store, coin pearls and steel wire. People really seemed to like it. I eventually sold it to my boyfriend's sister who now wears it proudly in North Carolina. I've been meaning to make another one, along with a pendant and earrings, but have been putting it off. Wrapping the washers and polishing the steel was a bit of a chore. But I did it this weekend and it wasn't so bad. After I finished the pieces, I took a tiny paint brush and painted the steel wire with acrylic floor wax (formerly known as Future here in the US) to protect it from moisture. Read this tip on the Internet--can't say how protective it is, but it does go on nicely and once dry gives a nice shiny finish that doesn't rub off.

Here is the pendant:




And the bracelet:


And the earrings:

I really like how these turned out.

If somebody buys these I'll make them again. And again. Until nobody likes them anymore. Actually I'll probably keep making them beyond that, because you don't know that nobody likes them anymore until you make the last one that doesn't get any love. And then I'll wear that one myself. Or send it to one of you guys.