September Theme Challenge - A Round Up

Last month I hosted the AJE Autumn Theme challenge with a Tree theme. I was thrilled to have so many people join us with a love of our trees & forests, it was a great subject which inspired some beautiful creations.

For those who didn't make it for the blog hop, I thought I'd post a round up of what everyone made. Some participants made more than one design, so click on the images to go though to the individual blogs to see more.

Allison L Norfleet Bruenger 

Brooke Bock

Caroline Dewison 

Cathy Spivey Mendola

Cindy Martin Shaw

Cooky Schock

Gloria Allen

Jennifer Stout Cameron

Jenny Davies Reazor

Karin Grosset Grange

Kathy Lindemer

Laney Mead

Lesley Watt

Melissa Trudinger 

Merja Sundström

Mona Arnott

Niky Sayers

Shai Williams

Tammy Adams

Terri Del Signore

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I'm sure you'll agree, each design is fabulous!I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who took part and made it an amazing challenge!

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!

The Jackalope: Creative collaboration.

Creative Collaboration
Or an idea shared: different artists, different mediums

The plan was hatched after a festival, to create and collaborate all new work for an upcoming show. The players? Jane Star Weils - fantasy and mythic painter and Jenny Davies-Reazor - fantasy and mythic sculptor/jeweler. Two friends, two artists, two redheads. What could go wrong?

I suggested a jackalope. While most commonly associated with folklore of the Wild West, there are horned hares that appear in illuminated manuscripts as far back as Ancient Persia and Medieval Europe. (Further reading on the jackalope here)

Jane sent me this - and it is awesome:

original drawing by Jane Star Weils 

So I headed to the studio and started to sculpt... Originally I planned to do 2 one-of-a-kind tiles... but the Facebook response was so popular that I cast the tile. I can now press jackalope tiles to my heart's content.

Sculpting from my reference photo

SO many glaze possibilities!

Jane and I decided to do this collaboration because we were sharing a space and vending together at the uniquely magical New York Faerie Festival in Ouaquagua, NY. We had special approval from the organizers as sharing usually is discouraged. Our themes of mythic inspiration, gods and goddesses, totem animals and symbolic icons are shared from paint to clay, from colored pencil to polymer. Here we are set up overlooking a babbling brook - I kid you not! 

Our home away from home - Jane on the left and yours truly on the right. 

Our side "yard" and natural installation/altar

 While we did not sell out of jackalope items - it was great fun! I adore Jane's work and was thrilled to have permission to do this - use her images, etc. I think she also enjoyed seeing her creation come to life in beads, and 3d.  I have to state here that I used her image with her express permission - and thats the only way I could have done this. Sure, there are other jackalope images I could have referenced... but that wasn't the point here. It was a motivating, inspiring challenge, shared marketing and the like. (Other artists friends had their jackalopes represented as well - in leather masks... sorry no pictures though...)

Jackalope in situ

The photocopied images transferred to the polymer with a greenish cast that I thought was perfect. I did 2 pieces but tried to kept the colors a bit more neutral to appeal to a wider audience.

Image transfer on polymer with beaded bezel

I would love to hear what you think! What is your favorite mythical animal? Have you ever collaborated with another artist? 

For me - home from FaerieLand- its back to the glaze cave... 

Until next time! 

April is for Amulets! The COM reveal...

The COM this month - these mixed media amulet beads - went out to team members and guests! A huge thank you to all who participated; I look forward to seeing your creations! 

Here are the participating blogs: 

Guests: 

Marsha of Marsha Neal Studio

Alison of Alison Adorns

Jess of The Copper Cat

Brooke from Artistic Endeavors

AJE Team: 

Lesley 

Caroline 

Niky 

Jennifer

Diana

Lindsay

Susan

Jenny