Spring is in the air

One of my favourite things about designing, either components or jewellery is the constant source of inspiration from the seasons. We’ve had it all here in the UK for the last couple of weeks, rain, snow, hail, frost, winds and blazing sunshine. But there is a definite change in the air and Spring is starting to show it’s here as the bulbs start to push up through the frozen soil.

Picture of the day

I love designing for Spring, it’s the start of a new year, the beginning of new life and the early mornings are starting to get lighter. 

This is my latest creation, hand carved earthenware beads with hand drawn images. I like the mixture of colour with the white carving adding in the detail. 

Blueberribeads

Like me, other component makers are busy making up spring designs, and I've gathered up some of my favourites to share with you today, all perfect to create some fresh new designs for the change in seasons.

HiddenRidgeStudio

Already there are more birds in the garden, soon they will be busy nest building and raising chicks.

NadiaTerra

And after the dark of Winter, Spring is a great time for using softer petal colours.

GillianMcMurray

SuburbanGirlStudio

MidgetGemBeads

GlassAddictions

The green shoots are the promise of the first flowers of Spring.

LindaLandigJewellery

SerenaSmithLampwork

THEAElements

TooAquarius

And everywhere the fresh greens of new leaves will brighten up the garden again.

WhoKnowsWhat

SerenaSmithLampwork

It's a wonderful time of year, full of new life and perfect to inspire some fresh and pretty designs.

Rocking The Rustic

I have two tutorials in mind that I'd like to share with you, but the truth is that I'm not quite ready today to invest the time required for writing and photographing the step by step instructions.  Sooo, we'll add them to our "Something To Look Forward To" file. 

Instead I'm going to share some of my favorite rustic components and jewelry with you.  This is such a vast and lively field of design that one could do many blog posts on the same topic.  There's no way I'd be able to include all my favorite work in this category.  But here's a start.

White Copper and Leopardskin Jasper Earrings by Kristi Bowman

 Ceramic Flower Pendant and Beads by THEAElements

Rustic Bird Earrings by Something To Do

So just what is rustic style? I have a feeling that everyone might define it differently.  But here's what the Encyclopedia Britannica has to say:  

rustic style, in decorative arts, is any ruralizing influence; more precisely, a ... (style where) the main components of which are carved and fretted to resemble the branches of trees. Stemming from the idealization of nature and the “simple life” that occurred in the mid-18th century, the vogue for this kind of product persisted well into the 20th century. It was especially popular in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. It naturally endeared itself to the British Victorians, with their passion for the picturesque, and was also generally admired in the United States...

Woodland Cuckoo House by Starry Road 

Striped Chipmunk Beads by Tree Wings Studio

Etched Copper and Chalcedony Earrings by Melismatic Art Jewelry

Some sources that I looked at called it modern-rustic style and tied it in with organic and renewable materials, highlighting an appreciation of nature.  This would include woodland themes, the use of natural materials such a wood, hemp cording and leather.  It is a style that is inherently casual and unfussy.

Owl Bracelet by Button Up Beads 

 Focal Lampwork Bead by Sue Beads

Green Fern Polymer Clay Pendant by Linda Landig Jewelry 

Colors tend to be a soothing combination of warm mid-toned wood, with shades of soft gray, cool clay and greens. Other colors may serve as subtle accents, but don't expect any garish brights in this style.  That seems to hold true for all the items I have collected for this post. Would you add any other colors to the list?

Bare Tree & Crescent Moon Pendant by Jenny Davies-Reazor

Moon Set by BlueBerri Beads

Sometimes rustic gets lumped together with its girlier cousins: "shabby chic" and "country charm".  I've been very conscious of this distinction over the past few years as I've been updating the look of my show booth and my shop.  A paint peeling bird cage or tea stained doilies have a somewhat rustic look, but they speak more toward "country charm" than rustic.  Instead I've used grayed woods with earth-toned and clay colored table coverings. Next on my wish list is linen or burlap covered jewelry displays.  

I make sure that my photography consistently expresses "rustic" as well.  My jewelry is photographed on a rustic slate tile.  Props consist of a piece of wood with rustic bark and lichen.  The woodland theme is emphasized further with the ferns and flowers that I include in nearly all my pictures.

Rustic Stoneware Flower Pendant by Linda Landig Jewelry

 
Rustic Flower Pendant by Suburban Girl

I hope this tour of rustic goodness will inspire some new designs for you.  Look for a tutorial soon - hopefully on Sunday.  Till then-

-Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry

March Component of the Month & Giveaway

We’re not quite in March, but as it’s a Thursday, the day I usually post, I’m going to share my Component of the month for March. 

Please excuse the phone pic… I was battling against the light and my battery died!

You will have probably noticed that much of my work is inspired by nature, especially creatures that fly. Luna moths are my favourite subject at the moment, and these have been hand carved in porcelain, glazed, fired and re-fired with precious metal lustres. 

In real life, they’re beautiful insects, and quite cute looking. We’re not lucky enough to have them in the UK, but they’re common in North America, and can have a wingspan up to 115mm making them one of the largest. Mine aren’t quite that big, their wingspans are roughly 70mm.

This little guy’s wings are still folded as he has just emerged from his chrysalis so you can get a good look at his fuzzy legs and body. Cute!

And here he is with his wings fully spread... beautiful!

The Giveaway…

If you’d like to join in with the AJE team component of the month challenge and receive a (randomly chosen by me) Luna Moth pendant to use in one of your designs, it’s simple, 

Agree to the points below and comment on this post and 2 lucky winners will have moths sent out to them.

• I will give away 1 component to each of 2 winners selected randomly from those who leave comments below this post. The design sent will be a surprise for the winners.
• Please include your EMAIL address in your comment so that I can contact you ASAP should you win.
• Please - only leave a comment if you can commit to creating a finished piece and blogging about it within the time given.
• The names of the two winners will be announced on Sunday March 2nd 2014
• This giveaway is open to US, Canadian, UK and European countries, but please be aware, US, Canadian & European addresses will have longer postage times (sometimes up to 3 weeks) 
• The blog reveal will take place on Monday 31st March 2014

Good luck!

Caroline

http://www.blueberribeads.co.uk 

Inspired by Ceramics; the Exploration of "Organically Grown" Metal

I have admired Keirsten Giles' work for a long time, her sense of wonder, and the desire to explore and play. So I was super excited when she agreed to occasionally guest blog for you, our wonderful AJE readers. Enjoy! -Jen

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Every few months I get kind of bored with the jewelry I’m doing and so I change it up a little. I often will be inspired by another artist’s work that has a slightly different vibe than mine, and I’ll start heading a little in that direction to see what happens. 

Lately I’ve been wowed by really archeological and natural-looking pieces with a wild, primitive feeling, and dark, moody metals. I started collecting beads and focals with more of this primitive, rustic feel, preparing myself to take a little side-turn when inspiration struck. Robyn and Rey of Ragged Robyn and Grey Bird Studio, respectively, have really knocked my socks off with both their imagination and their uncanny ability to create objects that feel authentically ancient or natural. I picked up a couple little things from their shops:

Porcelain pods from Grey Bird Studio (mine!)

Tapered pod relics by Ragged Robyn (mine!)

Absolutely fabulous—it isn’t easy to mimic nature, or true agedness, like this. My hat is off to these hypertalented women! I could sit for hours just looking through their Etsy shops.

I don’t work in ceramics but rather metal, so I have been mentally exploring ways to make a piece of metal seem organically grown, or naturally aged/distressed. Lately I have been looking at pictures of ancient pottery shards on the Internet, and thought, “Why not try to fake up my own broken pottery shards, but with metal? It’ll be fun!!” And off I went.

I thought I’d make different sizes I could use for pendants, bracelet clasps, necklace connectors, etc. I had too much trouble trying to draw faux-broken edges, so I just sketched the basic shape and then let my saw wander where it might.

My freshly cut metal “shards”

It was way harder than I expected to create random edges! But I will say I overcame my loathing of the saw—it was actually kind of relaxing. Especially once I was using the right gauge saw for my metal. And nothing beats a fresh blade and some beeswax!

My plan was to etch them, so after filing and sanding the edges, I applied my designs using digital files printed onto PressnPeel sheets, using a household iron.

Shards ready to etch

Freshly etched shards

After etching them, I tube riveted most of the holes (I have an aversion to plain holes in metal components, and I also feel a little more secure using them with linen cording if there’s a tube rivet—fewer sharp edges to cut through the cording during the normal wear and tear.)

Tube-riveted shards

Then I blackened them to have a nice dark base to apply my patina over:

Shards nice and black from the LOS bath

I thought for this first batch, I would try to suggest the idea of old glazed pottery, so I used dye oxide patinas on them rather than leaving them as bare metal. I wasn’t totally thrilled with the results—I have a hard time getting a pattern to stand out using these patinas—so I applied a whisper of gilder’s paste over the top of the finished patinas to highlight the patterns a bit:

Finished shards ready for sealant

I couldn’t help leaving a couple of them bare metal (I love the color of copper! In retrospect, I think I would have preferred to leave them all bare copper, just adding other small patinaed elements to them.)

Bare copper necklace connectors

I just got a pile of really rustic recycled glass beads from Happy Mango Beads, which I think will work nicely with my “shards,” and I still have my hoard of Petra Carpreau treasures, plus my new earth relics from Rey and Robyn—I’m all set, so stay tuned. I should have some new jewelry to show in about six months, haha!

Keirsten’s Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/lunedesigns

Keirsten’s blog: www.cerebraldilettante.blogspot.com

Keirsten’s Flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunestudio/

A Little Birdie Told Me

Those of you who know me personally or follow my blog know I have quite an obsession with birds,
 it rivals my obsession with making jewelry.
I thought it would be fun to make a treasury full of wonderful handmade birds!

'A Little Birdie Told me

' by KristiBowmanDesign

Beautiful Handmade Bird components in all shapes and sizes!

Artisan made glass bead.. ... DeborahLambson $20	0wl pendant, bronze owl pend... THEAtoo $11	Lampwork Glass Female Cardin... CrowbirdieBead... $25	1/2 Off Sale - Black Bird Pe... humblebeads $12.5
Oxidised Copper Lovebird Cha... daisychainextr... $5.5	Robin Handmade Lampwork Bead... LoriBergmann $13	Bronze connector, bracelet b... THEAtoo $10	Wise owl farseeing totem scu... jdaviesreazor $20
Handmade Lampwork Etched Bea... SilverReflecti... $9.99	NEW Lampwork Ivory Bird Foca... kerribeads $125	Lampwork Chicken Hen Glass B... 2CoolBeads $15	Bird Lampwork Earrings, Glas... JadjusJewelry $38
Handmade Lampwork Etched Pur... SilverReflecti... $9.99	Creamwash Blue Polymer Clay ... AngelaPykeOfBM... $2	Green Bird Bracelet Ceramic ... LindaLandigJew... $36	Handmade Copper Owl Crescent... KristiBowmanDe... $18

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Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy