Hello Hello!Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!I hope the weather where you are is as beautiful as it is here!I've two creations to show you that were inspired by the Fusion Beads March Blog Challenge and also enabled me to play-yet again- with wire!I am proud to show you this creation that was inspired by the Fusion Beads Blog Challenge to create a ring! I've a good bit of experience with wire-wrapped rings and so I wanted to challenge myself by using something that had no holes or obvious means of securing it to the wire-wrapping of the ring. I found a lovely glass cameo in my studio stock and decided to play with it and the wire! I'm so pleased with how it grew into completion! Have a look!Title: Lady in WhiteIngredients: Glass cameo, antiqued copper wire.
And a view of the right side...
I love the contrast of colours and styles. Some of the wire-wrapping pulls this a bit towards the Steampunk style, which is fabulous! This ring and it's colours are reminiscent of the in-between time of warm sky and rich earth-tones, just before the little shoots of green peek through the ground!And speaking of green peeking through...I created this pair of earrings on the same day as the Faerie Lanterns. To me, these earrings celebrate both Saint Patrick's Day and Spring!Title: Forest JewelsIngredients: Czech glass, glass, Artistic wire, gold-plated surgical steel earwires.
I love the mixtures and textures in these earrings! The mixture of greens, the texture of translucent, faceted glass with opaque and variegated textures, and the geometry of the faceted beads with the organic loops and tendrils shaped in the wire. With all the hues of green in these, I'd say they are bursting forth into Spring (rather than a more modest peeking through!) Even better is that these are now in my Etsy shoppe!Well, I hope this encourages a Spring (HA!) in your step, a sunnier outlook to your life and I'll see you on Friday!Ciao!
Hello Everyone!I hope your weekend was wonderful!I've three bits of inspiration for you today, centering around conquering your fears! Let's start with the photos first!The image below is courtesy of Your Soulful Nature. This scene reminds me of where we all start with goals we want to achieve. We often sit and contemplate them from a safe, sometimes beautiful, quiet place. From that vantage point, all looks to be possible, or at least more secure that what we see we are about to risk in hopes of achieving our goals and conquering our fears.
I can't seem to find the photographer to credit for this spectacular photo, but I do know it is of a bridge in Budapest.
We see where we are clearly enough, in this photograph, but our fears can cloud our resolve and vision what is on the other side or what we want to achieve. The bridge is our hope, courage and determination... and the action that we must take that proves our fears wrong. The young lady in the video below takes us through all of these steps and the elation that follows when we realize we can break through our limitations! Click here for video!
Hello Everyone!Welcome to Fini Friday and the day before Saint Patrick's Day!
However you celebrate this holiday, be safe! I'm so pleased that this blog post is again in perfect step with the Fusion Beads March Blog Challenge! The challenge a few days back was to make a multi-strand necklace and this fit perfectly into my Fini Friday goal of finishing existing creations!
I've had the idea to use a small herd of non-matching Squinkie animals in some way and I call the finished creation a success! I wanted to approach the idea of a multi-strand necklace in a little different way and so I used fiber rather than chain or cable for the multiple strands! The result is something very soft, very colourful and very playful! Take a look!
Title: As Yet Unknown
Ingredients: Squinkies, fiber, Bali silver, aluminum, lead-free pewter, metal.
The Squinkie animals are, in order from left to right: Squirrel, Mouse, Giraffe, Frog, Puppy. Isn't this just fun!?! Look for this in my Etsy shoppe as soon as I discover it's title!The earring creation I have to show you next follows the Blog Challenge for today, which also celebrates Saint Patrick's day... by creating something with green!Title: Faerie LanternsIngredients: Czech glass, vintage acrylic, brass beadcaps, Artistic wire, surgical steel earwires.
I love taking the opportunity to play with wire and I think you can really see it in these earrings! I've wanted to create something with these crackle-finished round beads for quite some time and here they are! FYI:These are in my Etsy shoppe now!And with that, I wish you all a Happy Saint Patrick's Day and lovely weekend!
Be smart and safe about this holiday and I'll see you on Monday!Slan! (That's goodbye in Gaelic... if I could find the accent key!)
Hello Hello!
Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!
I'm back in sync with the Fusion Beads March Blog Challenge of the Day! The challenge for today is to take apart existing jewelry and create something new with it! I picked up this damaged bracelet a while back because the raised hearts caught my eye and I wanted to see what I could do with it and some resin!
The bracelet is originally a gold-toned, soft metal.
Here is what it looks like with the resin hand-painted on!
Once the resin part was complete, I disassembled a few links from the bracelet and created earrings with them!
See?
Title: Brilliant Hearts
Ingredients: Upcycled heart links, painted with hand-coloured, non-toxic resin, Czech glass, metal, gold-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).
I love the flash of luminescence, texture and motion the faceted Czech glass beads lend to these earrings!
I have a second pair of earring creations to show you! These are part of a donation for a friend who is a breast-cancer survivor and is raising funds to further breast cancer research! Many of the folks in her family are or have served in the U.S. Armed Forces and so one of the fundraising events is at a V.F.W. Post. Why is this relevant? The night of the event just happens to coincide with NASCAR night at this particular V.F.W, and so naturally, wrenches have to be involved with at least one of the donated creations!
Title: Heart-Wrenching II
Ingredients: Swarovski crystal hearts (Rose), metal, lead-free pewter, sterling silver earwires.
Aren't these just fun? It always amuses me to combine Swarovski crystal in traditionally feminine colours with unusual and unexpected materials!So there you have it! A heart-felt post! (ha!)I hope the rest of your week is filled with joy and I'll see you on Friday!Ciao!
Hello Everyone!!!Welcome to Magical Monday!My weekend was fabulous and I hope yours was as well!I have all sorts of nifty to show you today and I think I'll start with the beautiful and ethereal and end with the awesomely surreal!So! For the beautiful and ethereal...
This image courtesy of Your Soulful Nature on Facebook! I have no idea if it is altered in any way but it looks so inviting, relaxing and nourishing all at once!On to the still ethereal and shifting to nifty, I present 
Cloud Lights by Wedding High! This includes a DIY tutorial so you can make it yourself (which I might just do...hrmmm...!)And lastly, to the awesomely surreal!Darth Vader in a traditionally-inspired kilt, playing the bagpipes on a UNICYCLE!!!! Clicky!And yes, yes that *is* the Star Wars theme he is playing on the bagpipes while riding the Unicycle down the street! For the Win!!!So, I hope this helps infuse some Magic into your Monday and I'll see you on Wednesday!Ciao!
Hello Everyone!
Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!
Whew!! This has been a busy, busy week so far!!
As I mentioned earlier, I've been participating in Fusion Beads March Blog Challenge and have a few creations inspired by that to show you today! Both of these creations incorporate chain in what I feel are innovative ways and I'm pleased to show them to you!
Let's get started!
Title: Fairy's Secret Garden
Ingredients: Artisan Furnace Glass, Mood Bead(Secret Garden design), upcycled chain, lead-free pewter, aluminum.
That wonderful chain is diminutive enough that the artisan-made furnace beads, Mood and lead-free pewter beads slide freely along it! Instant fidget toy!!! Isn't that awesome? Also! The centre bead is a Mood Bead in the Secret Garden design! I finished the bracelet with vivid violet-coloured rings and a beautifully detailed toggle clasp that has a star-shaped opening with Dream imprinted on it as the toggle and a wonderfully-detailed Faerie (in flight!) as the bar. There is so much I love about this magical creation!I love the play of colours and textures in this next creation!Title: Dragonfly At PlayIngredients: Aluminum, metal, lead-free pewter.
Upcycled chain in silver, gold and copper tones are playfully weave through a recently-created electric blue aluminum chain in this eco-friendly creation, reminding us of the path a dragonfly might take as it weaves through the currents of air and stalks of grass! And speaking of dragonflies... all of this fabulous chain culminates in an enchanting dragonfly clasp! I love that this necklace is so sleek and modern, yet has a whimsical and fairy-tale feel to it!Both of these creations are available for adoption in my Etsy shoppe now! So, there you have it! A Wednesday full of wings and whimsy! I hope the rest of your week is fabulous and I'll see you on Friday!!!Ciao!
And a view of the right side...
