April is for amulets... the component of the month.

I am excited to share these new pieces with you, our readers and my team mates here at AJE. This month I wanted to break out of the "clay cave" as I call it - and offer something different! I am busy glazing and firing pieces for the last Bead Fest Spring event - and taking a day to work in polymer feels like a welcome break. 

So - without further ado... my polymer amulet beads. 

Fresh from the oven, painted and ready

I love a wearable piece that has a message, or a meaning. And these take that to a new level. The core of the amulet is a piece of aluminum tubing and the beads are open at the top. I imagine them with a miniature scroll of paper, an image, a message... 

Amulet bead in hand - shown for scale. 

The facts: 

• These focal beads are approximately 1.5" long. 
• Some have corks, others do not. 
• They are drilled through - so they can be strung easily or have wire wrapped loops added on...

You could win ONE of these - but let me surprise you... 

Want to play along? Here are the rules…

• I will give away 2 amulet tube beads (chosen at random) to 2 winners selected randomly from those who leave a comment below this post. Your comment MUST include your EMAIL AND BLOG address so we can contact you should you win.
• Please — only leave a comment if you can commit to creating a finished piece and blogging about it on the reveal date.
• The names of the 2 winners will be announced on Saturday - April 2, 2016.
• This giveaway is open to US and international countries, but please be aware that these will be posted from the US and international addresses will have longer postage times… sometimes up to 3 weeks.
• The blog reveal will take place on Saturday - April 30, 2016.

I look forward to hearing your comments and seeing you at the end of the month! 

Charmed, I am sure...

I have a pile of things on my work table to do, fix, alter, repair... One is a charm I made for my sister when my nephew, her firstborn, was ... well, born. It has his name, a star, and his birthstone (aquamarine) as well as a link of 4 stones - he was born on the 4th.

She has taken to wearing multiple charms on the same necklace, creating her own talisman, a power bundle that she can carry with her in the corporate world. I am reworking the original charm that sparked the idea, so it will hang better with others.


This got me thinking about charm holders. I have a "mojo" piece I made for myself - incorporating personal symbols of  my art, materials I use... (sea glass, gems, river stone, Antique doll arm, bone game piece " Happy in her studio", paintbrush. Currently missing - ceramic shard from Marsha )

And I took a browse over at Etsy to see what I could find. I was mainly looking for empty charm holders - thinking the fun is in building your own unique collection. Here is what caught my eye.

Amanda Davie - a FB friend of mine - has a great line of charm holders and charms. She has eclectic taste, a little Romantic, a little Boho, a little quirky. I love it!

Cindy at Hill Country Silver had great pieces in a variety of finishes. 

Beadspoint is a supply shop that I wasnt familiar with before now - but the lotus really caught my eye. 

Janne of Gothic Closet has such cool stuff. I love finding new artists on Etsy!

Leona/Lee's Whimsy has a very diverse shop, but I did like this one - with the Alphonse Mucha image! 




I think I may experiment with some charm holder designs in the future. I love the idea of building a necklace over time with items of meaning and significance. I think I need to make more. I may even feel a tutorial coming on...

Thanks for stopping by...
Jenny
www.jdaviesreazor.com