Bursts of Spring

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Hooray! I think it’s Spring and time to use all those pastel beads that have been patiently waiting through the winter months.  The first photo shows shell coin beads that I’ve enjoyed working with. In other pieces, I’ve strung them with wire links, made a four strand necklace of many colors and used them on silver chain. Putting them against garments, they seem to work with most of the summery things, even those that don’t contain these specific colors.

Dyed magnesite is vivid this year and I must silence my mother’s words when she asks “isn’t that pretty heavy?” Using chain with these colorful nuggets helps to lighten them and they are fun to wear. In addition to the necklace shown, I strung these with wire connectors and leather and also wired individual colors to go singly on neck wires. I’ve also made both short and longer versions of the one pictured. It’s been fun to make my own chain out of 18 gauge wire.

While it seems I should go to the bead store to find the “hot” colors for summer, I go to the boutiques. It doesn’t really matter to my customers if the bead is “hot” it really matters whether or not it compliments their new outfits. Looking at clothes and THEN going to the bead outlet makes much more sense. There is, however, a catch to this process. How do I go to the boutiques without wanting to buy the clothes? I guess I’ll just have to work on that one until my ship comes in.

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Just Like Mike Mulligan

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Do you remember the story of Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel? This old children’s book has many important messages, not the least of which is about when the old (steam shovels) begin to be replaced by the new (those run by diesel, etc.) In this book, Mike bids on the digging of the basement for the new city hall and says that if he is unable to do it in just one day, he won’t need to be paid. Of course, he gets the job done, but then realizes that he and steam shovel, Mary Anne, can’t get out. As best I recall, Mary Anne stays in the basement and takes on a new steam task for the building which Mike manages.

Today, I pulled a Mike Mulligan. My six week old puppies have figured out how to escape from their temporary outdoor fence. Disgustedly, since I couldn’t get anything done due to chasing puppies, I got in the fence and put up quite a formidable barricade so those little darlings would stay put. As I eyed my work, I suddenly realized that I had no way to get out. There is no gate and I had just sealed the only opening. Eventually, I stood precariously on a rubber tub, grabbed the porch railing and hoisted myself out. It was NOT a graceful happening.

I’ve had some Mike Mulligans with my new bracelet designs. While starting with great enthusiasm, after adorning the armature with the first beads, I’ve sometimes realized that I didn’t leave myself a pleasing way to finish the piece. The goal with these bracelets has been to create depth in the design without sacrificing comfort, Often when I achieve a large focal point on the top of the bracelet, it flips much too easily when being worn, but this style has done great – no flipping! The first picture, taken from the side of the bracelet, shows the dimension. You can see how the wire form layers to which small beads may be attached. The beads help hold the distance between the layers. The Mulligan happens when I get “stuck” on one layer and can’t figure out where to go next. This bracelet with red magnesite, lapis and amethyst is still in progress. The one below is finished and wears nicely.

In the end, Mike Mulligan and and steam shovel did not grow obsolete but rather found themselves in a new line of work – all because they got “stuck” Let’s just hope that as I get stuck on layers of these bracelets, I’ll find a new creative and attractive way to finish things off.

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Bowling

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How many pieces of jewelry can you make while “watching” the Super Bowl? Today was Super Bowl Sunday and the game watching from my favorite chair presented a good opportunity to get some stringing completed. I shouldn’t actually say I watched the game. It’s more that I listened to the game and looked up at the appropriate times. I must say this provided quite an earful stemming from the television noise and the cheers or the opposite thereof from my spouse. Included in the sounds were the three adult dogs who chorused the announcement of a skunk in the yard and the little yelps of the seven puppies who heard their mom barking outdoors. Need I say that focusing on the jewelry was a challenge?

Thankfully, several things did come together as shown in the photos herein. All the necklaces have earrings, but the pictures of a couple didn’t work out. I believe that all the major bead components for these pieces were purchased from Turquoise Magpie.

The stones/colors for all these necklaces were selected with Spring in mind. The boutiques are already filling with fashions for warmer weather and the clothes beg for these lighter colored accessories.

Seeing a warmer than Texas setting on television for the Super Bowl helped me think about Spring and realize there is hope for brighter, more pleasant weather ahead. I’m thinking that designers need some special video, lighting or music to jump ahead to the next season while still physically stuck in the current one. I guess the Super Bowl “watching” helped me get there.

I hope your team won and that even if you are not a Saints fan, you will cheer with me for the city that came back. Having lived in Louisiana for nine years and hearing first hand from those who survived Katrina, I can only find joy in this win for the city of New Orleans and the whole Gulf region.

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Going in Circles

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Some say if you keep going in circles, you’ll never get anywhere. But just think of all those times that going in circles pays off. I watched the national women’s ice skating competition the other evening. The circles they went in were pretty impressive. I made a pecan pie for my mother’s 89th birthday yesterday. She thought that was a delicious circle. AND, if we didn’t go in circles, albeit loops, we’d never find our way back home and I rather like it here at Dreamcatcher.

I’ve been going in circles with the metal work this week. It all started with a single left over circle from a pair of earrings gone awry and things mushroomed from there. Using the torch I had added color to some copper sheet metal and several natural circles appeared. The left over earring became a pattern and the medium circle necklace on the right developed. You can see a bit of the color created from the heat of the torch. Perhaps I went a bit overboard as I created a hand made chain out of wire circles. These circles are graduated becoming smaller toward the back. 

Since there was more of this copper, I cut some smaller circles and made a second necklace.

Undaunted by strange looks from across the living room, I made one more set of circles. Surely someone might want a bit more bling! The larger circles came from a piece of metal I got at the recycle establishment. They already had an interesting patina.

It’s quite a wonder this latter piece ever came together since I worked on it between trips to the lease pasture to help round up and haul the cattle several times today. I even took the components with me when I served a picnic lunch to the men and they laughed at me for working on the necklace instead of eating. Some days, it’s a real struggle to finish anything and I wasn’t giving up. The glare on this picture gives the copper a strange hue that is not really present.

The final photo shows the back of one of the necklaces which is the same for all three.

I’m thinking this journey in circles should continue into bracelets and belts now. It seems that I’m enjoying going in circles. Could it be I’ve been on the straight and narrow for too long?

Who knows? Next I may decide to try rectangles . . . , but somehow I don’t think it will be the same.

Metal Work, Necklaces, Wire Work 6 comments

Celtic Design

Filed under: Balance, Earrings, Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work | Back to: Homepage

Most of my designs are composed of freeform, asymmetrical or random patterns. I’ve favored this style for so long that I wondered if I could actually follow a pattern. Even though randomness is not always a bad thing, I still remember what happened when I let the children in my elementary classes “do their own thing”. It was very difficult to get them back to the routine. Therefore, I usually saved this freedom for the end of the day and then quickly sent them home to their mothers. By the next morning, they were usually ready to get back to the routine.

I observed this same phenomenon with the graduate students that I taught. One evening, in an early childhood class, I let them experiment with drops of colored water on waxed paper. Each student had a straw and they were to observe the movement of the drops blown across the paper as well as the manner in which they combined. The drops move like liquid mercury. I thought we had put everything away and started my lecture only to glance up and note two women in the back of the room racing their water drops across the waxed paper as they blew through the straws. I bent down and met them at eye level just as the first water drop crossed the finish line. I was laughing so hard inside that it was hard to be stern. We never did quite return to full intellectual seriousness during that class.

With the knowledge of how freedom can trump rigor, I was concerned about following the Celtic knot pattern. Thankfully, I don’t have to go somewhere to get straightened out. I can still create a balanced pattern. The necklace shown here, composed of Celtic knots IS balanced. I have several acquaintances who really like Celtic knots, but I’ve wondered about their meaning. I retrieved the following information from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_knot

“Celtic knots are a variety of (mostly endless) knots and stylized graphical representations of knots used for decoration, adopted by the ancient Celts. These knots are most known for their adaptation for use in the ornamentation of Christian monuments and manuscripts . . . “

This didn’t tell me much more than I knew, but the Christian connection is interesting. I like these knots because they are seeming endlessness. I had a great deal of trouble figuring out the pendant knot. The others on the necklace chain are not endless. Each is made of two separate figure eights that are brought together with jump rings on each end. This is more easily observed on the earrings.

This set has found a temporary home at Dovetails of Wimberley and if folks like it, the store owner suggested we make it in silver. We shall see whether or not I can replicate that knot.

You know, following a pattern wasn’t too bad. It was actually quite calming to know exactly what should come next in the design. (But I wouldn’t want to do this all the time!)

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New Pieces

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I’m short on time and short on words today, but wanted to put up some pictures of completed necklaces. The copper pendant with the sterling silver cross was born of my efforts to put more movement into pieces. The cross hangs from a hammered figure 8 piece of wire that allows it to swing inside the copper piece. The bumps on the outer edge of the copper were made with my doming set.

The butterfly pendant is atop a domed and stamped piece of copper. I used the torch on the butterfly to give it a bit of color.

This piece is made of ruby zoisite (large chips) and kiwi. I used plated silver beads and added some blue rounds to the necklace. I regret the color doesn’t show very well in the photo

This piece took several days because I didn’t know what I was doing. I wanted to do a layered pendant and use rivets, but in the end I just have layers and fake rivets. The oval is copper and the diamond shape is brass that I stamped with Ranger brand alcohol ink to add a bit of color.

The seed bead pendant has been close to completion for quite a while. Now I can check it off the list of UFOs (unfinished objects. . . check . . . Hurray!)

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Still Swinging

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More earrings swung into place after yesterday’s post. These are largely composed of small pieces I had played with for several days. I lay all the pieces out and was then able to see what should come together.

Does this mean that I should never throw any doodles away?

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Swingers

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I’m NOT one, but I do like jewelry in motion. I also like designs that have dimension. Following the post here on January 2, I took the bracelet shown wrapped around the pasta can into one of the stores where I market my designs. (I took it sans pasta can!) Although it didn’t have stones on it yet, the owner especially liked the depth to the bracelet armature.

Since then, I’ve been playing with how depth might be suitably worked into various designs. I made several “something or others” out of wire and they sat on the work table for 10 days. Finally, some of these came together as swingers last night. It’s difficult to see the depth on the necklace pendant, but there is about 3/4 of an inch between the front and the back swirls. The stone dangle wraps around both the pendant swirl and the necklace allowing it to swing.  

It’s a bit easier to see this on the earrings which, by the way, didn’t want to quit swinging long enough to have their picture taken.

Whether these are winners or not, they were certainly perplexing as a design project and will, hopefully, spawn other dimensional ideas.

Now, I wonder about that other kind of SWINGER . . . sorry, I can’t write about a topic that I know nothing about. You’re on your own with that one.

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Curves

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I went out looking for curves yesterday, hoping to cure a case of cabin fever. The local book store seemed the perfect start for the hunt and it didn’t disappoint. First, I grabbed the latest bead and wire magazines, a cup of coffee (yes I donated money for this free cup) and then I headed for the books.

The word curves, of course, has numerous connotations and since this is the famous week of fat following the Christmas gorging, I went straight to the books on exercise. Wow, those before and after pictures were outstanding. I want to see that in my mirror! Then I read what a few of the exercise programs entailed. hmm . . . There must be some other meaning for curves.

Moving on, I unashamedly sat at a table with a stack of magazines and didn’t worry as store employees walked by. They know that I will probably end up purchasing one of those magazines as I did yesterday. Unfortunately for my cash reserve, it was the most expensive, $14.95 magazine. But I REALLY needed it!

Thankfully, the bead and wire magazines, unlike those books containing before and after curve pictures, brought me back to reality. With pen in hand, I captured several curves to try in new jewelry designs. While I usually solely examine the illustrations found in the magazines, I did read an intriguing tip for shaping wire bracelets. The author suggested freezing a small juice can and then forming and hammering the bracelet on the can.

Last night, I made a couple of wire bracelet armatures and this morning I hunted a juice can. While there were none in my pantry, the tomato paste can appeared to be an appropriate size and I hammered my bracelet on it. The can approach didn’t help much with front of the bracelet since it was too rounded, yet, it was somewhat useful in forming the back of bracelets. You may note from the second photo that the can is dented. This occurred easily since the tomato paste was not frozen. I will try it another time with a different, frozen can.

Until I decide to purchase a suitable bracelet mandrel, the frozen can initially appears to be a viable option for curving the back of the bracelets.

The last picture shown here is of a curvy armature conjured as a result of yesterday’s hunt. While I didn’t see this design in anything yesterday, it spawned as a result of actively looking for cures. This bracelet is interesting looking on the wrist and I’m debating about embellishment for the piece. At any rate, these “curves” were much more easily accomplished than the curves found in that before and after exercise book. Perhaps I’ll just write a before and after jewelry design book called “No Sweat Curves.”

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Little Things . . .

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. . . Mean A Lot . . . or so the song goes. I had forgotten some of the words to this piece and looked them up on the internet. That’s where I found a vocal rendition by Kitty Kallen which you can hear at the following address:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=501bwTRmkYY     Some days I might think the song a bit sappy, but today it’s a reminder to quit rushing around and try to be nice.

This song has been tuning its way around my head for about a week. I first thought of it when someone asked me to make some necklaces for little girls – little things. I enjoyed making those and then I realized that most of the jewelry pieces I’ve made lately are fairly large. Where are the little things?

With that in mind, I dove right in and designed some different pieces. First, I tried to picture the women I know who wear smaller or lighter weight necklaces. I thought about the particular style of each and went from there. I was pleased to find a heart in my drawer of turquoise and accented the necklace for it with black onyx and sterling silver. It was looking awfully traditional until I added the donut achieving an asymmetrical look.

The fossil in the next piece is an unusual gray color; therefore I used hematite and pearls with it.

In the brown necklace, I tried to get a semi-chunky look in a small, short necklace. I wanted it to be completely eclectic and that proved to be quite a chore. I didn’t have quite enough beads of any one kind and must have restrung this one five or six times.  

The fourth piece  is my favorite. Again, I wanted something that was a mixture of beads and this one also was restrung numerous times. I particularly like this little pendant and the Celtic bead that adorns it. I’ve just started trying to work with sterling silver wire and think I’m going to like it.

There’s a line in the song that says  . . .”never cared much for diamonds and pearls” . . . “little things mean a lot”. . . While the connotation has to do with sentimental demonstrations of caring such as “touch(ing) my hair as you pass my chair” and “say(ing) I look nice when I’m not” . . . , let’s hope someone likes my “little” things. In the mean time, I’m going to try to remember the small gestures I can make that will be meaningful to others.

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