Art Headpins Challenge Inspiration...Are You Up For It?

In case you missed it or it's slipped your mind our design challenge for this month is all about Art Headpins and we'd love you to join in. You can find full details here but all you need to do is design something using art headpins (or make the headpins themselves) and be able to join in out blog hop on August 30th.

Art headpins have been around for a good while now but they seem to be gaining in popularity which is not really surprising considering their versatility and the wide variety of mediums they are now made in. I started working on my challenge pieces this week but before I did I decided to do a little review of some of my past pieces to see if they provided inspiration.

For me earrings are usually the first things that come to mind, partly because they're often sold in pairs but I also think ear (or eye) level can be the best place to show off these pretty pieces.

The design can be very simple but still very striking like this pair which matches head pins by Suebeads with beaded beads by Kristen Stevens.

With this pair the headpins are by Humblebeads with beaded beads by Suebeads and here I use the wire of the headpins to create loops and then passed them back down through the bead and formed little tendrils as an added embellishment. If the wire of your pins is particularly long its worth considering working them into your design.

Here I used headpins by Jen Cameron purely as embellishment, wrapping them around a copper hoop and adding my own ceramic drops to finish the look.

But Art Headpins are not just for earrings and I've used them in a number of necklace designs. Here I've used one of my own fine silver headpins to create a pin bail for a gorgeous lampwork tube bead by Magdalena Ruiz...

And again, this time with one of my bronze clay headpins.

Another design with a bronze headpin using one of Caroline's cute little bird beads sitting on a lovely Mookite bead...again, simple but effective.

  

This last necklace was made for a design challenge several years ago and was probably the first time I'd worked with Art Headpins (unfortunately I can't remember who made these). I called this necklace Shiraz and the idea was to give the impression of vineyards with the deep purples, buds and curling tendrils of the headpins. A tiny bronze headpin also features in the capped bead dangle.

Looking back over these pieces had the desired effect and I've already managed to make a few pieces for the challenge...very organised for me I can tell you! I hope you're feeling inspired too but just in case you still need an extra nudge then how about doing a little window or hard cash shopping..? There is an abundance of headpins out there in all sorts of materials just waiting for someone to show them some love and here are just a few of my favourites...

Glass by Thornburg Bead Studio

Ceramic from Latirus

Mixed media from Pip n Molly  

Glass by Anneli Beads

Ceramic by Marsha Neal Studio (available at Bead Fest Philadelphia this week).

Glass by Beads of Passion

Polymer clay by Studio St James

Glass by Beadfairy

Silver by Atlantis Glass and Bead

Glass by Sabrina Koebel

If you would like to be included in the challenge please refer to the original post which you can find via the link at the top of this page and then e mail Jennifer Stout Cameron.

Be creative and enjoy yourselves!