Fini Friday! Circles and Symbols!

Hello Hello!

Welcome to Fini Friday!

I hope your weekend has been as full of sunshine and warmth as ours has!

In true Fini Friday tradition, I've a creation that's grown into completion to show you today!

This post is similar to last Friday's post, as the finished creation is part of the Popcap Pendant series first introduced in this Fini Friday post.

Let me show you!

Title: As Yet Unknown

Ingredients: Popcap Pendant(hand-coloured non-toxic resin, stickers, old watch gear, popcap), black onyx scarab beetle, lead-free pewter(USA), Czech glass, anodized aluminum, metal.

I love introducing flashes of colour to an otherwise monochromatic palette and so it is with this creation!

The brilliant blue and vibrant violet rings are woven in a mobius-strip (or infinity) chain maille pattern. Infinity is the first of the symbols I'll introduce you to, in this creation. 

 Other symbols are the black onyx scarab beetle; sacred in Egyptian mythology for its connection to the sun god Ra. Black stones are generally thought to give protection and grounding. Did you spy the four-leaf clover charm dangling in front of the pendant? Yup! It is there! And is another symbol of good luck and prosperity! The circles are most obvious in the shape of the Popcap, the clasp, the jumprings and the design inside the Popcap Pendant. 

Did you note the old watch gear in the center of the pendant? Hee hee!! I love creating little details such as these! There is even a bit of faceting on the inter-connecting bead-links of that intriguing chain! I've included a photo of how the necklace looks clasped around the neck!  

I really enjoy working clasps into more unusual locations and having it in the front makes it easier to put on and take off! 

So! That's it for this Fini Friday! 

Have a fantabulous weekend and I'll see you on Magical Monday! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Skating Through the Week!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!

This is the day that I showcase whimsical and fun creations!

I've two to introduce today! They are a 'riff' on the older-style roller skates as well as mixing old and new colours, textures and ideas!

Here we go!

Working Title: At the Rink

Ingredients: Czech glass, Artistic wire, metal charms, silver-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).

The juxtaposition of older roller skate charms in an antiqued brass finish paired with the ultra-modern faceted, rainbow-hued Czech glass reminiscent of furnace glass is something I love! This creation reminds me of evenings at the roller skate rink, with the lights turned down and coloured spot-lights bouncing off the disco ball and all around the building in sync with the music of the day!

Whee!!!

Working Title: Skate and Key

Ingredients: Czech glass, coated copper wire, lead-free pewter charm(USA), metal charm, silver-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).

Once upon a time, roller skates had keys. These keys were slung around the necks of kids, usually on a cord or ribbon, so that the skates could be taken on or off of the shoes at any time. More information about it is here! Again, I had so much fun mixing the modern colours (red and clear) within the cathedral-cut Czech glass beads with the skate and skate key charms (which are many, many years old now). Roller skates gave such a feeling of speed and freedom and it is my hope that both of these creations embody this! 

So! That's it for today's zoooooming post! 

I'll see you on Friday! 

Ciao!

Magical Monday! Unexpected and Unusual Art!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Magical Monday! 

I hope your weekend was fabulous! 

I love finding art in everyday life and have marvelous examples to show you today! 

First up, a portrait in syrup!

Details and credits are here. 

I find this amazing! I'm also glad I don't have to clean it up! That would be a little heart-breaking, but (hopefully!) yummy! 

 

Next on deck is a very unusual and beautiful sand castle! Details and credits are here. I adore the mix of curves and geometric shapes, the swirls and symbols that look like half-forgotten symbols! YAY! 

Let's wrap this up with a bit of "street art". 

I don't really care for graffitti, yet this is brings joy and laughter. Take a look! 

Details and credits are here. 

And that's a wrap! 

Thanks for visiting and I'll see you on Whimsy Wednesday! 

Ciao!

Fini Friday! Cycles!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

The last few days have been filled with sunshine and I'm pleased to note patches of bare ground here and there! 

Yay! 

This post is all about cycles...the cycling of Winter into Spring, bi-cycles, cycles of creation and so forth! 

In keeping with the Fini Friday tradition (and illustrating the completion of the creation cycle!), I've a new creation to show today! 

You might remember this Fini Friday post with the newly-minted Popcap pendants. Another creation has grown up! 

Title: Cycles 

Ingredients: Popcap Pendant(hand-coloured non-toxic resin, stickers, popcap), lead-free pewter(USA), anodized aluminum. 

Isn't that chain gorgeous? It reminds me of a bicycle or mechanical (Steampunk?) chain! 

The bottle cap that was used in this particular pendant is from a bottle of New Belgium Brewing's Fat Tire Ale. The logo on the back is a picture of a vintage bicycle. This played a huge part in the design and title. The colours on the back are gold and an almost cinnabar red, which are echoed in the bi-coloured jumprings. The gears in the Popcap pendant echo the image of bicycle or mechanical gears. 

Of course, the raw materials of ales and beers go through several cycles to become the beverages that many of us enjoy. 

Here is a close-up of that pendant... 

The red and orange rings are woven in a mobius-strip (or infinity) chain maille pattern. Infinity could be considered another cycle! 

So there you have it, a relatively simple design inbued with many, many details! 

I hope you have a lovely weekend! 

I'll see you on Magical Monday! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Natural Good Luck!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday and Spring! 

Today is the day of the Spring Equinox and many people are chomping at the bit for warmer weather! 

In celebration of the new season, I have wonderfully whimsical new earring creations to show you! 

Take a look! 

Title: Natural Good Luck 

Ingredients: Czech glass, Artistic wire, silver-plated surgical steel earwires(hypo-allergenic). 

These are a "riff" along the same design idea of ladybugs perched on leaves. I decided not to decide on only one design and create both! 

I find these both incredibly cheerful!!

Title: Nature's Tableau 

Ingredients: Czech glass, Artistic wire, silver-plated surgical steel earwires(hypo-allergenic). 

I love the idea of asymmetrical earrings and the expansion on the bright and sunny colours of the initial design! 

Did you know that ladybugs are thought to be a symbol of good luck? 

They are! 

And so I'll wrap up this post by wishing you-all a huge bit of good luck! 

I'll see you on Friday! 

Ciao!

Magical Monday! Space and Time!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Magical Monday! 

I'll start with a big Thank-You! to everyone who stopping by our booth at the Burst Into Spring event on Saturday! This was our first time at this mini-convention and we had a fabulous time! Everything was infused with cheerfulness and joy in all things growing! YAY!! 

This post features amazing art, an excellent way to enjoy the Winter Season and a heart-warming story. 

Let me show you! 

This is an absolutely amazing bit of papercraft by David Canavese!!! 

Details and credits are here.

I can only imagine how much intricate work and skill this took to create! 

Bravo! 

Still following the Star Wars and Millenium Falcon theme, we have an awesome Dad helping his child enjoy the fun of Winter!

Details and credits are here! That looks like a lot of fun!!! 

 Let's finish up with heart-warming news about Japan and saving the one remaining tree after the tsunami.... Click here for photos and details! 

I love seeing the natural world valued and nurtured! YAY!! 

I hope you are able to take those bits of joy out into your world! 

Before we part ways, I've a BlogTalk Radio Interview to mention! 

Yes! 

It is the Message From the Faeries for March, 2013! Tomorrow, March 19th, from 3-3:30pm (CST,USA)! Click here for the link and more details! 

I hope you can listen in and that I'll see you back here for Whimsy Wednesday! 

Ciao!

Fini Friday! Sweetness and Passion!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Fini Friday!

I hope your week has been grand so far!

This post will be a bit shorter than usual as I'm making the final preparations for my first show of 2013!  Yes! In spite of the snow, we intend to be at the 10th Annual Burst Into Spring event in Cambridge, MN (USA)!

I had so much fun creating earrings with the Honey Bee Mood beads you saw on Wednesday, I decided to create one more pair!  Here they are!

Title: The Sweetness of Life

Ingredients: Honey Bee Mood beads, Czech glass, lead-free pewter(USA), metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires.

I'm so pleased with what these grew into! I love the bit of sunny yellow that shines through those gorgeous dark teal flowers! And it's neat that the illusion of the Bee drinking from the flower is made! YAY!

This second creation is an earring and necklace ensemble. The ceramic links and pendant are hand-crafted by Melanie of Earthenwood Studio. They've been languishing around the studio for quite a while and I'm thrilled that they've grown into completion!

I adopted the two round links and Passion pendant together because they evoked a sense of weaving Passion into life in the style an Old World (or perhaps Fairy World!) tapestry. I also love the idea of Passion growing!

Let's start with the entire ensemble: Title: Passion Grows Ingredients: Earthenwood Studio ceramic links and pendant, artisan glass, lead-free pewter(USA and other), metal, surgical steel (silver-plated) earwires (earrings), steel cable neckwire (necklace).

And the focal of the necklace!  I adore the accent of matte black leaves that form a sensuous fringe around the generous slices of fiery artisan glass! What a luxurious feel!

Our last photo is of those fabulous earrings!  I've always found keys mysterious and intriguing and love the idea of giving people the key to their own locks.  I thought it was fitting to use a heart-shaped lock, since what is Passion without Heart?  More of those matte black leaves add an organic flow!

These creations (and more!) will be available for adoption at my first show of 2013!

Burst Into Spring!

It is in Cambridge, MN, USA and details are here! 

It would be grand to see you there! 

In the meantime, I'll see you tomorrow or Monday! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Winging Towards Spring!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

This post is chock-full of whimsy and winged-things! 

The perfect thing to help celebrate many of us as we look forward to Spring! Whee!! 

Both winged creations are earrings and we'll start with a bit of buzz! 

Title: Abuzz 

Ingredients: Honey Bee Mood beads, Czech glass, lead-free pewter(USA), metal, surgical steel earwires. 

The Honey Bee beads are Mood beads, which means they change colour according to the temperature around them! Isn't that nifty? They are accented with honey-coloured beads and dangle from hypo-allergenic surgical steel earwires! Honey was considered to be the food of the Gods in Mayan and Greek cultures. Bees have long been associated with kings and gods and even the birth of the human race! Little wonder given the yummy richness of the honey they produce! 

 

Let us turn to another winged creature - the dragonfly! 

Title: Dragonfly Alights 

Ingredients: hand-made metal dragonflies, Czech glass, Artistic wire, Sterling Silver. 

I found the hand-made, metal dragonflies on Walkabout and knew they were destined to grow into some much more! Don't they have such a wonderful, architectural feel to them? 

I suspended them from a lush green vine from sterling silver ear hoops, wrapping in a vibrant leaf the colour of new growth. The idea was to capture the vision of a dragonfly pausing to rest on a stalk of grass. Dragonflies have long been associated with the ability to see through the illusions of life and that which holds a person back from their dreams and goals. 

Both of these creations will be available for adoption at my first show of 2013!

Burst Into Spring!

It is in Cambridge, MN, USA and details are here! 

It would be grand to see you there! 

In the meantime, I'll see you Friday! 

Ciao!

Magical Monday! Old, New and Many Kindnesses!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Magical Monday!!! 

I hope your weekend was filled with fun and frolic! 

I've a post full of cheer for you-all today! 

Let's start with an awe-some sand sculpture celebrating Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Middle Earth! Details and credits are here! 

I can't imagine how many hours that took! Look at all the details!! WOW!!!! I wonder if there the White Tree of Gondor is up there? Hmmmm....... 

Onward to the new! If you remember the game Operation, you'll be amused by this! A robot used in the operating theatre at a Medical facility, playing the child's game of Operation! 

Hee hee!!! Credits and details are here! 

And now... the many kindnesses previously mentioned.....Click here for the list!!! 

So, that's a wrap for this Magical Monday! Before I go, I'll mention my first show of 2013!

Burst Into Spring!

It is in Cambridge, MN, USA and details are here! 

It would be grand to see you there! 

In the meantime, I'll see you Wednesday! 

Ciao!

Magical Monday!

Fini Friday! A Rosy Life!

Hello Hello!

Welcome to Fini Friday!

I hope this week (so far) has not been too arduous and that you have many fun things planned for your weekend!

I'm pleased to have two new creations to show you today that grew out of materials that have been languishing far too long (in true Fini Friday fashion!)!

Let's start with the earring creation first!

Working Title: Tree of Life

Ingredients: Bone and wood, Czech glass, lead-free pewter (USA), metal, surgical steel earwires.

The focal pieces of these earrings are bone and wood cunningly fashioned into a tree of life design! I love mixing metals and had fun mixing the shiny silver with a bit of warm copper, mirroring the contrast of bone white (HA!) and dark wood! The Czech glass accent bead is a beautiful combination of shimmering metallic-matte and clear copper! I also love throwing in many different textures into what seems, at first glance, to be a clean and uncomplicated palette! WHEE!!!! The Tree of Life focals have been with me since last Fall and this is the first creation that's grown out of them! 

This next creation grew out of materials that have been lounging about for more than a few years now! 

Let me show you! 

Working Title: The Rose Garden 

Ingredients: hand-carved Jasper rose, Rose Gold-plated brass chain, hand-made brass clasp (Thailand), wood, metal, Jeweler's Bronze.

 

I brought the hand-carved Jasper rose home many years ago.  I selected it because of it's beautiful shape as well as the small streak of yellow at the bottom of the rose!  The chain is has a hefty elegance to it.  It is brass over-layed with Rose Gold.  If you look closely, you can see that there are vines in raised relief twining all along the links of the chain!  I adore creating with fabulous little details such as that!

 

Here is a view of that same necklace on dress-maker's dummy!

 

So that's it for this Fini Friday!

Before I go, I'll mention my first show of 2013!

Burst Into Spring!

It is in Cambridge, MN, USA and details are here! 

It would be grand to see you there! 

In the meantime, I'll see you Monday! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Out of the Cocoon!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

I hope your week has been full of good cheer so far! 

Like many people, I'm turning my thoughts towards Spring and my first show of this year! 

The title of the show is Burst Into Spring, organized by Master Gardeners, and I'm taking that as inspiration for a new batch of creations! 

Let me show you the start of it! 

Title: The Joys of Flight Ingredients: hand-carved and painted wood dragonflies, anodized aluminum, repurposed acrylic butterflies, sterling silver. The hand-painted wooden pieces in these and the necklace I'll show you in a moment are repurposed. I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them and knew I had to play with them! I love the colours, the textures, everything!! The idea was to update them with punches of colour. The green jumprings are woven in a mobius-strip pattern and bring out the verdant shades of the leaves behind the dragonfly. The lilac-coloured butterfly softens the colour palette and adds interest and becomes a companion to our dragonfly! These are so lively!!! 

Title: As Yet Unknown 

Ingredients: hand-carved and painted wood dragonflies, hand-dyed fibers (USA), anodized aluminum, Swarovski crystals, sterling silver, lead-free pewter clasp.

Everything that was mentioned above for those fabulous dragonflies holds for this beautiful wooden Monarch butterfly! 

The anodized aluminum is woven in the same chain maille style and the colour themes are along the same lines. The gorgeous fibers that comprise most of the necklace are hand-dyed from an artist in Idaho. 

The tiny butterflies seen here are Swarovski crystals to give a bit of sparkle and additional texture! Also! It is rare to see just one butterfly and so our Monarch gets companions, too! 

This necklace is especially long, roughly 32 inches, as I wanted to give the option of draping and tying it as a scarf. The pretty and petite clasp (with another sparkly butterfly!) will weight the ends and hang beautifully down the back! I've included a view of that lovely, lovely clasp!  

All in all, a post filled with whimsy, wings and definitely a coming out of Winter cocoon! 

My first show of this year, as I previously mentioned, is Burst Into Spring! 

It is in Cambridge, MN, USA and details are here! 

It would be grand to see you there! 

In the meantime, I'll see you Friday! 

Ciao!

Magical Monday! Colour and Cats!

Hello Everyone!
Welcome to Magical Monday!
I hope your weekend was fantastic!
This post is all about colourful art, whimsical art and interactive art!
Let's start with the colours, shall we?
This stairway is reputed to be in Valparaiso, Chile. Details and credits are here. As many of you know, I have a penchant for art in the mundane, and these certainly astound me!
I would smile as I walked up them! I hope they bring a smile to you as well!

On to the whimsy (yet still colourful)!! This is an "Pantone Pairings" art installation by David Schwen. I found details about it here. The idea is to display condiments that are often combined as if they are Pantone colours! I think this is amazing and amusing!

And we'll wrap this up with the interactive art!
The Zoological Society of London has launched an interactive Cat Map so as to raise awareness of their soon-to-open Tiger area!
 Map, Details and Credits are here! This is a global, searchable map and people can add their own cats, including names and fur colours!!!
Very intriguing!
I hope your week is full of magic!
I'll see you on Wednesday!
Ciao!

Fini Friday! Elephants, Springs and Gears, Oh My!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Fini Friday!

I hope your week has been filled with magic so far!

In true Fini Friday fashion, I've two necklace creations that have grown into completion to show you today!

This first creation was a slight modification to restringing an already existing necklace.

Title: An Elephant and It's Parade

Ingredients: carved bone elephant, wood, copper, cable, sterling silver, metal. The only addition were the copper beads near the clasp. This is at the request of the necklace's person, who loved the necklace as it was originally designed and wanted very little deviation from it. I love the elephant! He is quite detailed for such a petite pachyderm!

Onward to our second and final finished creation!

Working Title: Spare Parts

Ingredients: Popcap Pendant (hand-coloured non-toxic resin, stickers, popcap) glass, springs, bearings, metal, aluminum.

 You might remember the Popcap Pendant from this Fini Friday post at the beginning of February.  I created the pendant-focal from hand-coloured non-toxic resin that I poured over the scrapbooking stickers placed in the pendant.  After the resin cured, I drilled out the popcap on my drill press (!) and attached the jumprings!  The clasp is to the left, near the pendant, and is at one end of this necklace.  This means that the necklace is adjustable as the wearer can choose the size of the loop around the neck!  The first big blue link from which the Popcap Pendant is suspended has actual springs threaded onto each side of the link!  Other real spare parts are bearings, which you can see on the side of the third big blue link from both the Pendant and clasp!  So many beautiful details make up this creation, including the stunning, handsomely-crafted glass beads whose colours range from sea blue to spring green to sunny yellow!  The fascinating colour variety echoes the sparkling reflectiveness of the blue gear stickers in the Pendant!  All in all, quite stunning and a simple, yet complex creation!

This necklace creation will be in my Etsy shoppe by Monday! 

I'll wrap up this post by wishing you an absolutely wonderful weekend and I'll see you on Monday!
Ciao!