Whimsy Wednesday!

This has been an usual week so far and lo! it is Wednesday!
In light of that, I have something unusual to Sprite Creations to show you!

I've just finished a wedding necklace!
No, no, I'm not opposed to weddings or celebrations of most kinds; it is only that I haven't received many requests or inspirations for wedding necklaces or ensembles.
However, I'm really pleased with this one!


Starting with the Swarovski crystal Wild Heart, which I wire-wrapped in an uncommon, organic fashion, I suspended a key charm and a cultured fresh-water pearl from the embracing sterling silver heart chain and finished with a sweet Swarovski crystal bead dangle and a sterling heart clasp.
While this is all very pretty, where is the whimsy, you might ask?

Let's begin with the Wild Heart pendant, with it's unusual setting, depending from the dainty heart chain that encircles the heart clasp!
Also, I used the inspiration from the old wedding saying, "Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue" to really create something different and more worthy of a Sprite Creation.

The something old is the pearl... pearls are created by an irritant in the shell of a clam. The clam then coats that piece of sand or what-not with a mucous over and over and over until it is smooth and beautiful...and what we know as a pearl. As you might imagine, this can take some time. Pearls have been a traditional sign of luxury over the centuries and are fitting for those who have turned their lives around from undesirable circumstances to a better situation.

The something new is, of course, the necklace creation itself!

The something borrowed is represented by the key. Having a key is having the power to unlock something with (or without!) someone's consent. In this creation, the key could be the key to the ladies' heart, which she is letting (in this case) the gentleman borrow!

The something blue is the vintage blue Swarovski crystal bicone that drapes down just near the clasp.

Here is a close-up of all those lovelies that were just mentioned!


My favorite part, though, has to be the Swarovski Wild Heart!
I love the idea of someone entering their marriage with a Wild Heart, rather than the often-expected behavior of "settling down". Why can't marriage be an union of wild hearts creating unbridled life together?

And with that, I bid you adieu until Friday!

P.S. Check out the Let's (Not) Fool Around Psychic Gallery Event at The Healing Loft!
I'm so pleased and excited to be a part of this event!

Fini Friday!

Hello Again!
Annnndddd here we are at Friday!!
Remember those cat bead caps and beads I showed you Wednesday?


So! Now I am pleased to show you the Carnival Cat necklace creation!


I started with a vintage lariat necklace that reminded me of the long, drapey necklaces that flappers often wore at the turn of the century. I liked the marriage of images and ideas of both the Roaring 20's and Carnival, so I rode the flow of that inspiration! To that end, some original parts were removed to make way for the Carnival charms, beads and cats!
Here is a close-up of the mysterious, glittery, creepy, charming, Carnvial-goodness!


I rather like how this turned out!

Now I wish you all the best that Carnival has to offer as we celebrate the weekend!
Adeus!

Whimsy Wednesday!

Hello Hello!!!
I have another two part entry for you-all this week!!
This might become a theme... just sayin'!
What I have to show you today are some mostly cute, but slightly creepy cat bead caps. I've had these a while with a collection of other beads and charms with the idea of creating "Carnival Cats". This is partially as an homage to Mardi Gras and the concept of Carnival and also to that which is mysterious, cute and sometimes creepy that is the Cat.
But! this entry is all about the whimsy, the bead caps and the earrings!
We'll save the necklace for Fini Friday!
This is what I started with:


You can see that the bead cap starts with the sitting cat bottom and the top is the head of the cat. I found these crazy-coloured imitation cathedral cut Czech glass beads and knew they'd be perfect!! I believe they even have nearly all of the Mardi Gras colors! Certainly they remind one of a circus or carnival!
Onward to the pairing up!


Here, you can see the cats from the front and also notice the tail forming a frame that tucks into a rounded spot in the top of the bead cap. Pretty cool! In keeping with the anything-goes attitude of Carnival, I added accents of silver in seed beads and earwires to mix up the metal tones a bit. After all, why have everything match?

So there you are! The whimsy that is the cat bead cats and Carnival cats!

Stay tuned for Fini Friday and the I'll show you what the Carnival Cats necklace grew into!
Ciao!

Fini Friday and An Announcement!

Hello!!!

It is Friday and time to show you what the creation you saw on Whimsy Wednesday grew into!
A fabulous clasp, some jumprings and drilling into the popcap pendant we saw before and voila!

Title: Treasures, Rediscovered
Ingredients: hand-made popcap pendat (non-toxic hand-colored resin, czech glass, shell, metal), hand-finished brass filigree and findings, silver, lead free pewter, plastic cord.




I'm so pleased with how the colored resin is reminiscent of the ocean swirling around and unearthing treasures that might just be a bit of ocean glass and a few shells, here and there...
Do you see the swirls echoed in the pattern of the clasp up at the top? Isn't that awesome?!
And I just *love* that spiral link and the mixture of metals on those jumprings, don't you?

One more thing before I bid you adieu for the weekend!
Rings & Things is having a Brushed Copper Beads Design Challenge! You can find details here!
This looks like a lot of fun, so click on over if you're intrigued.

See you next week!

Winter Enchantment Necklace Featured on ArtBeads Gallery!!!

I'm so pleased to share this news with you!!!
You may recall this faerie...

I recently finished the necklace creation Winter Enchantment as an ArtBeads Blog Parter. I'm happy to announce that this beautiful necklace is one of the featured creations for the second Winter Enchantment Gallery both on ArtBeads' Facebook Gallery Page and on ArtBeads' Last Blast of Winter Website Gallery Page.
I'm the first photo to the left on the Facebook page and the third photo from the top on ArtBeads' Website Gallery page!
Thank you so much to ArtBeads for giving me the opportunity to participate in such a fun project!

YAY!!!
See you tomorrow!

Whimsy Wednesday!!

Hello!
Today's Whimsy Wednesday is going to be a little different! It is going to be a two-part blog post, with the second entry capturing the finished creation for Fini Friday!

Today I was playing with cord and beads that I purchased some time ago with a particular idea in mind and find that all is now in order to finish the design! I am still enchanted with the idea that these particular materials sparked. Let me show you:


The glass beads are very organic, hand-made beads from India and I loved the raw textures, including the speck of material that mixed in with the glass while it was fired in the bead to the right. See it?
They reminded me of ocean glass. Paired with the copper rubber cord, which reminded me of well-worn drift wood, or perhaps the wood of an antique treasure chest.... However, and here is where the whimsy comes in, the two things I delighted me the most is that because the beads are both translucent and fit over the cord, they can slide freely AND that beautiful copper colour is visible through those ethereal beads!
See? Here is a photo with more cord showing between the beads...


And so both to wrap this up and set a little intrigue for the next post, I'll give you a sneak peek at the next step towards the finished creation...


You've seen that popcap pendant before in my previous Whimsy Wednesday post experimenting with colored resin.
The popcap is a perfect match for the peach glass beads and the green glass brings out the sparkling green and blue resin! I can't wait to show you what it has grown into on Friday!
See you then!

Fini Friday!

Here we are again at Friday!
I'm squeezing this in-between a bit of work on several different projects and today's post is a glimpse into my creative process. This created started with the hand-stamped lucite pendant with the image of the fabulous woman with the wild hair! I *knew* I had to create something with her.. not the least of which is that she reminds me just a bit of Cyndi Lauper, whom I adore and admire!
At the same time, I picked up the Swarovski crystal pendants that you see hanging off the lucite floral link. They reminded me of jewels of the old Wild, Wild West and were a perfect accent for this deliciously modern, yet art noveau or old west saucy lady! Just recently, I snapped up the lucite floral link, as it is wonderfully detailed and vibrant by itself and I knew it would be a perfect compliment to our heroine. The very interesting and detailed chain you see was also a recent acquisition and I love it when all the materials come together!!!
However, here are the two options I am currently debating...
You see.. the red of the two lucite pieces is really quite an unusual color and so I am debating whether or not the "Light Siam" Swarovski crystal yarn is really a good enough match for it...as you see here


The other alternative is the chain that you see below.. though I would probably add Jet Swarovski bicone beads to give some flash, interest and detail.


So, though this is not a finished piece, there is much progress!!!
I'd love to hear your opinion(s) about which to use - the fiber or the chain and other ideas that you have!

And I'll be certain to show you the finished creation when it is complete!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Winter Enchantment!

That's the title of ArtBeads Blog Partners Design Theme and the title of the creation I'm about to unveil!
I've been blessed to have some absolutely gorgeous days (and nights) abounding with winter splendor and I've been storing up that inspiration. I knew I wanted an asymmetrical design, focused on this Antique Brass Fairy Link Charm and offset by the stunning Antique Brass Filigree Snowflake and the beautifully mysterious Antique Brass Vined Heart Link. The Antique Brass tones are reminiscent of the dormant trees and vegetation that peeks out from underneath the glitter of the snow. My color scheme was born! I knew there was no better representation of that incomparable sparkle than Swarovski crystal and so chose Swarovski Margarita and Teardrop Crystal beads. Just to add a little whimsy, I included Leaf Chain in Silver and 4-Leaf Clover Chain in Silver!

As you might recall, I experimented with coloring resin last week and was thrilled that the hand-painting on the Fairy Wings and Clasp turned out so beautifully!
Take a look!



See the icy blue-green on the Fairy's wings? And the flowers sparkling on the clasp? That's the hand-painting I mentioned!

This creation took longer than I anticipated as the design changed and grew while it was coming to life!
For instance, see the chain from which the Faerie hovers in the photo above? As you may notice, those are not the original links that the Silver Leaf Chain hung from. I restrung the leaves onto antique brass jumprings. This solved several problems neatly, but took some time!
Another bunch of details that bear drawing attention to - the wire wrapping!!!
As I was creating the accents and dangles with the Filigree Snowflake, the wrapped loops all end flush with the beads and wire. This is in perfect keeping with the precision of a snowflake crystal. Oooo!! And doesn't that Swarovski Marguerita bead remind of a shiny snowflake falling through the air? Yup! HAD to center that in the middle of the Filigree Snowflake - it was a moral imperative!


However... when it came to the Vined Heart Link, I noticed all the wire-wrapping on the dangles developed tendrils.. that matched the wire-work securing the Swarovski White Opal Heart and that flipped over to holdthe leaf charm. See that, there?


It is always fun to see what develops even with a design that is nearly completely planned out!
So, below you'll find a photo of the complete necklace
Titled: Winter Enchantment
Ingredients: Brass links and Filigree (USA), Swarovski crystal, antique-brass copper wire(USA), Swarovski crystal (White Opal, Crystal AB), non-toxic resin, Czech glass, metal.


I hope you find this creation as Enchanting as I do!

Feel free to browse the other beautiful creations at the ArtBeads Blog Partner Winter Enchantment Gallery here

See you soon!

Legalese: I have received the following products free of charge from ArtBeads.com and I am honestly reviewing them. I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received: Swarovski Crystal Margarita and Teardrop Beads in Crystal AB, Antique Brass Fairy Link Charm, Antique Brass Snowflake Filigree, Antique Brass Vined Heart Link, Silver-Plated Four-Leaf Clover and Leaf Chain.

Whimsy Wednesday-Part Deux

Hello Hello!!
And here, as promised, are the pictures of this week's Whimsy Wednesday creations!
Four-leaf clovers have been on my mind lately and when I saw Swarovski's lucky charms, I knew I had to play with some!

Here they are:
Ingredients: Emerald (of course!) Swarovski Crystal Four-Leaf Clovers, metal, plated silver surgical steel earwires.


I loved this design so much, I opted for the same thing, just a size bigger on the sparkly crystal clover!


I found that I really liked the clean lines of both the crystals and the metal drops, so I continued with 'the riff'.
Ingredients: Peridot Swarovski Crystal Four-Leaf Clovers, metal, plated silver surgical steel earwires


And finally, a bracelet!!!
Title: Heart's Luck
Ingredients: Emerald (of course!), Fern Green and Peridot Swarovski Crystal Four-Leaf Clovers, sterling silver, metal.

These will be up in my Etsy Shoppe by the end of the weekend, in time for Saint Patrick's Day!

Whimsy Wednesday!

Hello!!
Whimsy Wednesday will be a little late this week!
I have whimsy-ness to show you!
I have 4 leaf clovers and sparkly-ness abounding!!

However, the Photo-Force is not with me this evening and so I shall have to show you these beauties on the morrow!

See you tomorrow!

Fini Friday!

Hello!
The latter part of this week feels compressed from 2 days into one long ThurFriday! Not certain how that happened but here we are!! Sampler Night at The Healing Loft went well!! We met up with old friends, met new friends and had fun! The next Sampler Night is April 7th and we'll have our creations there again!

I have a beautiful blister pearl necklace to show you today. Because of the sudden flurry of activity in the last 48 hours or so, I did not have a chance to finish it. I have a few ideas on how to finish it, but while I'm disappointed that it is not done, I am somewhat relieved as I'd like more time to research how to end the necklace. I think you'll see what I mean in a moment...



In keeping with the rich simplicity of the pendant, I paired shell and mother-of-pearl with sterling and Bali silver for the dangles. All of these are suspended from individual strands of 3 softly-coloured satin cord. I liked the contrast of the colours as each brought out different hues of the pearl and shell focal. I like the flowing drape of the cords loosely weaving themselves together and so that is the intricacy that I am considering in terms of finishing the necklace as it flows to the clasp.

I'll show you "how it all ends" next week!

I hope this is a fabulous weekend for you-all!

Whimsy Wednesday!

Hello Hello!

I have a charming pair of earrings and an experiment to show you today!
The earrings are a bit more on the dainty and subtle side of whimsical, but I find them endearing and I hope you do, too!!
The star has an almost bubbled-looking copper finish on one side and is white, the base glass colour on the back. (You can juuust see that white peeking through the copper finish and around the sides!) I've been waiting for an excuse and idea to use these unusual Czech-pressed stars and when my eyes fell upon a spool of copper chain in my collection, I knew I'd found it!
It seemed a natural fit to dangle the star inside the hoop and I suspended the star independent of the hoop to maintain the motion of the dangle.
I wanted to do something a little extraordinary with the design, while keeping it classic and dainty and the use of the white wire (also copper-how perfect is that?!) was the perfectly whimsical, funky touch I was looking for.

Title: White Noise
Ingredients: Copper, Czech-pressed glass, silver plated surgical steel earwires



The title for these earrings popped to mind, but I wanted to do a little research as to why that title seemed so perfect to me. Here is the definition of white noise from Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
a : a heterogeneous mixture of sound waves extending over a wide frequency range.
b : a constant background noise; especially : one that drowns out other sounds.
The most obvious inspiration in the title is the white of both wire and glass star. However, given that coils of copper have been used as generators for motors and mechanical things (mechanical things tend to generate vibration and sound in addition to whatever they are created to do) and we have been listening to the stars in Outer Space for some time now, searching for a good alien conversation *grin* (the "white noise of Space"... or perhaps that's what the aliens think of OUR constant questing for them!), I think the title matches the creation quite well!



This is the results of an experiment that I'm happy to say turned out quite well~ I'd been experimenting with resin off and on for a while but stopped in discouragement mid-last year when several experiments, most notably with resin and beads turned out rather poorly. However, I'd been seeing artists around the the 'Net experimenting with combining resin and all sorts of things and was determined to try again! I ordered some colours, pigments and powders, oh my! and locked myself in my lab!!! *insert Mad Scientist/Artist laugh here*
Given that, you may understand how pleased I was that all turned out well!
You'll see the fairy and the clasp right above her in a creation and my blog very soon. But I'm also looking forward to how I can use the vintage brooch you see on the far left, the coin from Aruba that was given to me many eons ago, fancy-ing up the triangle earrings on the right, drilling and finishing the pop-cap pendants and etc. YAY! Fun STUFF!

So, there we have it! A little bit of colour, a little glitter and a successful experiment along with an winsome pair of earrings!

See you on Fini Friday!

P.S. If you happen to be in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area of the Twin Cities, MN, USA do stop by and see us at The Healing Loft tomorrow night for Sampler Night . In addition to all the usual offerings, we'll have a hand-picked menagerie of Creations there looking to find their people! Hope to see you there!