Whimsy Wednesday! Fairy Berries and Flowers!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!

I hope your week is full of laughter and warmth so far! I've been involved with a good bit of learning new things this week! I've also come off of a small streak of BlogTalk Radio interviews, both of which I really enjoy!

I'm beginning to look ahead to March, the start of Shows and the first peeps of Spring! I've new ideas that will grow into completion between now and the first show, so stay tuned!

The creations I have for you today are in perfect keeping with what was just described above and life at this moment!

Title: Fairy Berries: Blooming in Winter

Ingredients: Swarovski crystals (Purple Velvet), Czech glass, acrylic, metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires.

I love the luscious bits of dusky colour that surround the snowy bead-cap on each of these earrings. These are reminiscent of winterberries, fairy-style! (Hmmm... perhaps that would be a better title!....I'll think on it!)  I'm getting hungry from all of this thinking about berries!  Yum!

Working Title: A Fairy Flower, for Luck 

Ingredients: Vintage brass, Czech glass, metal(vintage and new). 

The golden-toned metal flowers are vintage, as is the silver chain from which they are suspended! These are cast brass and so the edges in the back were a bit sharp. I filed them down to a more comfortable texture. This design began with the vintage flower castings, especially when I noticed the center holes might be large enough to thread a chain through. I knew it was to be a silvery-toned chain because I love to mix metals! Not only is the contrast of colour and texture intriguing, but it means that this jewelry can be worn with a large variety of other accessories and clothing ensembles! Rarely can I create something monochromatic and so the burst of colour with a fairy flower was in order! Other little details include a four-leaf clover and leaf charm, all in that shiny, shiny silver! 

It just occurred to me that these could be wedding earrings! Something old (the vintage brass flowers), something new (the Czech glass), something borrowed (the repurposed vintage chain) and something blue (the fairy flower!)! How exciting! 

Look for these in my Etsy shoppe tomorrow! 

And that concludes this Whimsy Wednesday post! 

Come on back for a visit on Friday and see what I've been up to! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Charity, Creations and Adoptions!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!

I hope your week has been fabu so far!

I've a peek into a bit of what I created over the weekend to share with you today! There is an Art Auction of art created at the Gathering that I attended this weekend, with proceeds going to a non-profit. I love supporting excellent causes and have a tradition of creating shinies for this auction! And so it was this year as well!

Photographic evidence is below!

Creations, from top left to bottom right are as follows:
Title: Opposites Attract

Ingredients: Czech glass, Swarovski crystals, metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires.

Title: Pompeii Teardrops

Ingredients: Glass, lead-free pewter, Artistic wire, silver-plated surgical steel earwires.

(Many, many Thanks to a good friend who helped with that title when none had yet come my way!)

Title: Elvan Generator

Ingredients: Quartz, Czech glass, metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires.

Title: Dusty Planets

Ingredients: Swarovski crystals, acrylic, metal, gold-plated surgical steel earwires.

It is always so much fun to see the excitement my creations stir up and I'm pleased at the abundance that was raised by their adoption fees for charity! YAY!

 

Speaking of fun, excitement, adoptions and abundance....This second photo is of a dear friend who happily adopted the necklace that so graciously adorns her! Title: Good Witch, Bad Witch 

Ingredients: recycled laptop keyboard keys, sterling silver, hand-finished brass(USA), aluminum, lead-free pewter.

You can find more details about it's creation here! I am so blessed that she found a few other shinies to adopt as gifts this past weekend, too! 

YAYAYAYAYAYYYY!!! 

  

That's a wrap for this Whimsy Wednesday! 

In case you're just tuning in, I'll mention my BlogTalk Radio Interview in a few weeks!

Tuesday, Feb. 19th 3-3:30pm (CST, USA)

A Special February Message From the Faeries! 

I'm not giving any hints, so hop on over for a listen that day to hear their message!

See you Friday!

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Fairy Berries and Happy Kittens!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

I hope your week has been fabulous so far! 

I'm excited to show you new creations I have on tap, so let's get started! 

Working Title: Fairy Berries and Butterflies 

Ingredients: vintage butterflies, glass, acrylic, metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).

  I've had these acrylic berries in my inventory for some time and am happy to finally play with them! These berries look so luscious, don't they? 

Yum! 

The next pair of earrings also use those acrylic berries in a little different way and would be fabulous with both casual and formal wear... possibly even wedding attire! 

Working Title: Old World Fairy Berries 

Ingredients: hand-finished brass(USA), Czech glass, acrylic, metal, gold-plated surgical steel earwires(hypo-allergenic).

Aren't these wonderfully elegant? 

These last earring creations are a bit different and definitely whimsical! 

Working Title: Happy Kittens! 

Ingredients: Czech glass, Artistic Wire, brass, silver-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic). These stamped-brass kittens are cute all by themselves, and when paired with their lunch-fish, are absolutely adorable! This creation gave me a chance to play with wire a bit, which I love!  I'm so pleased with how these turned out! 

So that's it! Thanks for visiting with me today! 

See you on Friday! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! At the Show!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!! 

I've decided to go a different direction with the whimsy today! 

I'm going to show you a little bit of what it is like to visit with me and Sprite Creations at a show! 

Let's start by showing you some of the creations that were adopted at the last show, which was the Women's Art Festival.

This was a Custom Creation for a formidable guy who is satisfied enough with them that he wears them all the time! He commissioned a second pair for a present and picked those up this past weekend! YAY!!!!

  The jumprings from which the wrench charms are suspended are woven in a mobius-strip (infinity sign) pattern. Cool, huh? 

This second creation was adopted by a good friend as a Yule present for herself! I love those kinds of presents! 

Title: Rare Beauty 

This friend truly is a rare beauty and I love it when the perfect creation and person find each other! 

This last creation was adopted as a present for a sibling! 

Title: StarShine 

Apparently the giftee is highly interested in both stars and Sprecher soda! 

Again, a perfect choice! YAYAYAYAYYYYY!!!

   

I'll wrap this post up with a photo of our booth at the last show! 

I really enjoy being able to use this set-up because the merry, multi-coloured lights immediately draw people's attention! This is also a fun way to set a very Faerie mood, which is very important to me. 

 So there you have it! 

A post chock-full of whimsy! 

I hope you are able to take this whimsy with you out into the world! 

I'll see you on Friday! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Playing Hooky!

Hello Hello! 

I’m writing the bulk of this post whilst listening to The Cars “Moving In Stereo” in stereo, in the car and on the road to visit a friend! 

I’m playing hooky from the studio for a little while! Wheeee! 

This feels grand!

I’ve been rather busy preparing for both a home Sprite Creations party tomorrow and the Women’s Art Festival this Saturday and I’m excited about all the new creations I have to share! 

Below are just some of the newest shinies! 

Title: Transcend 

Ingredients: 4GB (working) Flash Drive, non-toxic resin (hand-coloured & hand-painted), Swarovski crystals, vintage German glass, Czech glass, lead-free pewter(USA), aluminum, metal. 

There are all sorts of details in this creation, and let’s start with that fabulous Flash Drive! It is a working 4GB Flash Drive! The swirls are part of the factory design of this drive and it was named Transcend before it arrived in my studio. Since the creation design of both the Flash Drive and the necklace centers around the Drive, it seems fitting that it lends it’s name to the entire creation. The shiny flashes of colour on top of the Flash Drive are Swarovski crystal rhinestone, set in a rainbow pattern. (Some believe this pattern of colours also matches those of the 7 major charkas of the human body.) I would have loved to place each rhinestone in the center of each circle or swirl, but too much resin too close to the edge of the convertible flash drives can be a problem. The rhinestones are set and sealed with non-toxic resin that I’ve hand-coloured with pigment and literally paint onto the Drive. The Pegasus, Star and Sun all speak to traveling to other realms, realities or mythologies. The “Love” circle is also hand-painted with hand-coloured resin by me and fits the title quite aptly! After all “Love transcends all things”! Even in looking at the “Love” ring, there are hidden details. This is a repurposed charm and so while the Love is immersed in flecks of gold, there are marks of wear and age in the shiny metal underneath the golden resin. This is a love of strength, beauty and wisdom, wrapped with whimsy in the mixing of both modern and timeless. 

The second Flash Drive creation I have to share is just below… 

Title: Traveling With Turtle Island 

Ingredients: 8GB Flash Drive (Iamakey), non-toxic resin (hand-coloured & hand-painted), hand-finished brass, old watch parts, metal. 

The key-shaped metal bit is actually the working 8GB Flash Drive! I’ve worked with this shape before and had so much fun, I played with it again! The turtle charm enabled me to mix both dark and shiny metals and the turtle shape echoed the more boxy key shape of the Drive. 

I placed the old watch parts in a column down the shank of the drive, four gears and all over-lapping. This is what I love best about creating! I had no set vision of what to do with the gears, only that I wanted round gears on the shank. It seemed right to have four overlapping, and then the story of the "Four Ages of Man" popped into my mind! Very fitting since the Earth has been named Turtle Island by many aboriginal tribes in times past! The myth of the "Four Ages of Man" by Ovid is recounted here. While the resin is speckled with golden flecks, I also meticulously dropped alcohol ink onto the resin once it was painted on. That is the ethereal green you see. The ink pools and flows as I work with it and the resin and I love the “swampy”, yet misty and mysterious feel that it created! Perfect for a turtle in the water and the legends described above! And, again, wrapped with whimsy in the blending of both modern and timeless! 

So, there you have it! 

I'll leave you with information of my final show for 2012!

When is that, you ask?

The 20th Annual Women's Art Festival! Come join us at the Midtown YWCA in Minneapolis, MN (USA)!

Saturday, Dec. 15th only!

10am to 5pm.

There will be live music all day, an on-site coffee shop and art of all kinds and for all budgets!

I’ll wrap this up as I am almost at my friend’s house and see you Friday!

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Land and Air!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!!

I hope your week has been most excellent so far! I've been busy in the studio! I've made progress putting it back-to-rights after neglecting my organization a bit as well as creating more!

I've a few more unusual creations to show you today! They are more unusual because of either the materials or the subject of the focal bead!

So let's get started!

This first creation has two titles that popped to mind!

Title 1: Air Spirits

Title 2: Air Travel

Ingredients: Acrylic, Swarovski crystals, hand-finished brass filigree, Czech glass, cut crystals, antiqued copper wire, steel and magnetic-metal neckwire.

I'll be interested to see which title you-all like better! Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts! The materials of this creation are a bit unusual in that I don't usually use a lot of acrylic, especially for the focals of my creations. However, the swallow and the butterflies are really quite dramatically simple and beautiful!

I suspended them from antiqued copper wire and Czech glass that seems to change colours with the light. Further embellishment came with the cut crystals and hand-finished brass filigree, accented brilliantly with Swarovski crystals that match those fascinating butterflies! I love the mix of modern and vintage in this creation!!!

The next and final creation features a cute little fellow that is unusual in that I haven't created with a hedgehog before!

Title: As Yet Unknown

Ingredients: Green Girl Studios Hedgehog bead(fine pewter), Czech glass, lead-free pewter, rayon and quartz adjustable neckcord.

I just love the little hedgehog dude and have been waiting for some time to create something that is just right to feature him in! I believe this is it!

A title hasn't yet popped to mind, but I'm open to suggestions!

Look for these to appear in my Etsy shoppe shortly!

My next and final show of 2012 (it is so weird to type that!) is the 20th Annual Women's Art Festival! Come join us at the Midtown YWCA in Minneapolis, MN (USA)!
Saturday, Dec. 15th only!
10am to 5pm.
There will be live music all day, an on-site coffee shop and art of all kinds and for all budgets!

And with that, have a fabulous rest of the week! 

I'll see you on Friday! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Gifts and Growing!

Hello Hello!

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!

This is also the day before the American holiday of Thanksgiving!

Regardless of nationality, I love the idea of pausing for a day of celebrating plenty, generosity and gratitude!

And so, I'm taking a moment to say Thank-You!

Thank-you to all who read this for being here and sharing this adventure with me! Thank-you for all that you do and all that you are! You are undoubtedly a priceless gift to all you visit with every moment of your life. May this Winter Holiday Season bless you and all you cherish with Love, Joy, Abundance and Freedom!

Onward to the shinies!

Speaking of the Winter Holiday Season...

I've a whimsical bit of gifty-ness to share!

This is a scarf created as a gift...

This is a statue that is going home with the same Loved One as the scarf.  And which absolutely needed to be embellished!

After all, don't all kitties and birds need scarves to help ward off the winter chill? Heeeeeeee!

One more whimsical creation and we'll be off to celebrate!

Title: Grow

Ingredients: Swarovski crystals (Volcano), Czech glass, lead-free pewter(USA), Artistic Wire(USA), silver-plated surgical steel earwires.

  The Swarovski crystals (hand-glued by me!) in the center of each flower are namedVolcano and shift from a beautiful, sunny gold to a vibrant violet with pauses at fiery orange in-between! I included a couple of photographs in the hopes of capturing some of this chameleon colour change! Perhaps you'll have to meet them in person to see the fabulous effect!  Look for these in my Etsy shoppe by Friday!

So!  Have a wonder-full few days and we'll see you on Friday!
Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Rare Beauties!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

I hope this mid-point of the week finds you-all well! 

I'm excited about the new creations I have to show today! They are, as the blog post title indicates, rare beauties! 

And with that, let's get started! 

Title: Hangin' With The Fae 

Ingredients: Squinkie Elves (Rubber), Czech glass, lead-free pewter, metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).

As everyone knows, it is rare to glimpse those of the Fairy world and so this sighting is a special treat! I love these guys!! They are calm, casual and collected, yet with glimmers of mischief in their eyes! They keep it cool in the Woodland Neighborhood! 

More Fairy sightings ahead!

Title: Fabulous Fairy Friends 

Ingredients: Squinkie Fairy Chimpunks (Rubber), Swarovski Crystal (Purple Velvet), Czech glass, lead-free pewter, metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).

I love the way the purple Swarovski crystal dangles over one eye! It gives a sort-of punk-glam appeal to this rare fae creature that is fab-u-lous! 

Our last rarity is comprised mainly of repurposed laptop keyboard keys! 

Take a look! 

Title: Stereotype Reset 

Ingredients: Repurposed laptop keys, silver-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).

I've never before had a pink keyboard come into my collection and so this is truly a rare beauty! I have no idea if, much less when, I'll lay hands on one again, so this is truly a very limited edition (of one). 

These creations will be up on my Etsy shoppe tomorrow! 

And if these singular creations aren't snapped up by then, I'll have them available at this Saturday at the Arts Fest! 

Saturday, November 19th Only! 

9am to 4pm 

Look for us in the Middle School Cafeteria! 

Spot 5E! 

North Branch Middle and High School

37775 Grand Avenue, 

North Branch, MN 55056

Whimsy Wednesday! Owls, Cats and Colours!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

This has been a very interesting and productive week for me so far and I hope it is the same for you! 

I've been busy with creations that were in-statis as we waited for the finishing materials to arrive. The materials did arrive and so I have finished creations to show you today and Friday! 

Whee!!! 

Let's begin with the most whimsical first! 

(Working) Title: The Perfect Companions for a Psychedelic Trip 

Ingredients: Lampwork glass owls, Swarovski crystals, lead-free pewter(USA), metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires(hypo-allergenic).

I really love these unusual owls! I wanted to keep the design simple, both to highlight the fabulous feathered friends and to create something that would be equally at home with casual jean-based outfits as well as club wear! I wonder if these would glow under black-light?! Hmmmmmm! 

These next earring creations are all about whimsy and elegance! 

Title: Miss Kitty 

Ingredients: Lampwork glass kitties, Czech glass, lead-free pewter(USA), metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires(hypo-allergenic).

Miss Kitty's expressions are so droll that they encourage me to giggle! I love the little pink dots reminiscent of a bow just below her right ear! I gave her accenting pink cathedral-cut Czech glass beads just below her chin so that she would have a very elegant collar...as all well-mannered cats should! Hee! 

And now to take the Whimsy in a different direction! These earrings are fun in the way the colours of the furnace glass and the faceted vintage Czech glass play with the light! 

Title:  Playing with the Light

Ingredients: Furnace glass, vintage and non-vintage Czech glass, lead-free pewter(USA), metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires(hypo-allergenic). Designing asymmetrical art and creations is always intriguing and I'm quite pleased with how these turned out! 

Speaking of art and creations, you can see these and many other creations "up-close and personal" this weekend at my first show of November! I'll be with a smaller group of independent, fine artists offering an early opportunity to shop for your Winter Holidays or for those who have birthdays in November and December! 

Come browse through fabulous art and gifts in a more intimate setting in the heart of historic Uptown Minneapolis!

Shop Local 

Saturday, Nov. 10th Only! 

9am to 6pm  

Monthei Fine Arts Studio 

Upper Carriage House 

314 Clifton Avenue, Suite 300 

Minneapolis, MN 55403
It would be grand to see you there!
Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! BookMarks Abound!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

My week, so far, has been productive so far and I hope the same can be said of yours! 

I've been playing with some of the loot I brought home at the end of September and have some of the first finished creations to show you! 

I found the bookmark blanks and fell in love with the details stamped in raised into them! I chose one each in an antiqued brass and antiqued silver finish, which showed the stars, moon, flowers and etc. in lovely detail! 

Here is what they grew into! 

Title: Fairy Tale 

Ingredients: Vintage German Glass, Czech glass, metal

  Did you see the pun in the title? Hee! 

My vision was to combine a variety of colours and textures in this creation much like a tapestry!  The golden-yellow bead is actually Vintage German glass and always reminds me of the sun!  It seemed a fitting match to a lovely strand of flower beads and a leaf dancing in the breeze with our Ballerina Fairy in the midst!  if you look closely, you might be able to see the extraordinary chain from which these are suspended!  It is an infinity symbol and two hearts set back-to-back!  Isn't that just intriguing!?!

And now! 

For the second bookmark! 

Title: Stars and Fish 

Ingredients: Earthenwood ceramic starfish, cultured Pearl, Czech glass, metal.  

I relish the bright ocean-inspired colours!  Perfect for warding off thoughts of the upcoming winter chill!  

I was delighted to find the star-shaped cultured pearls and have had so much fun weaving them into various creations!  That's the star you see beside the Ocean Blue spiral bead at the top!  I treasure the whimsical addition of the bright green, petite fish swimming just above the ceramic StarFish!  Speaking of the StarFish.... that's a hand-fashioned porcelain bead from Earthenwood Studios! I adore Melanie's work and have so much fun playing with her creations as materials! 
Whee!

Well there we have it!
The end of another Whimsy Wednesday!
I'll see you right back here for Fini Friday!

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Lights, Cat and Dracula! ...and Zombies!

Hello Everyone!!!

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!

I have a spookily-whimsical blog post for you today!

Mwuuuuaaahhhahaaahaha!!

Let's start with the lights and cat!

I found this cat light on Walkabout today and just had to bring it home! I'm usually pretty minimal about my seasonal decorations (I'd rather spend the resources on loved ones than on things) and so any additions have to be quite worthy before I'll bring them home. I think we call agree that this is worthy! Heee!

The last portion of this post are some highlights from the 20th Anniversary of the Saint Paul Art Crawl, which I and Sprite Creations celebrated with the Artists of the Lowertown Lofts Co-op!

For those who are unaware, the Crawl starts on Friday evening and is open through Sunday early evening.

Saturday evening also happens to be the Zombie Pub Crawl in Downtown Saint Paul! Hundreds of people dress up as zombies and have a good time shambling about! It is really quite a remarkable sight!! The make-up is absolutely AMAZING!!!!  We never expected to be visited by a small horde of Zombies at our spot in the 3rd Floor Atrium of the Lowertown Lofts, but these fine ghouls took the time to stop by and mob our table! Feast your eyes on the scene above (Courtesy of the PhotoGhoul that accompanied them)!

Fortunately, Faeries and Faerie Friends don't seem to be very appetizing to the Undead as we emerged unscathed and they continued on their never-ending quest for BRAINS! So Much Fun!! My many thanks to that throng of wraiths for including us in their spirited adventures! I hope that when this is reposted to Facebook, they'll tag themselves in the photo so I can give proper credit and Thanks to them for livening an otherwise dead last moments of Saturday evening at the Crawl! (HA!! See the pun?!)

Ahem... Ok!

Speaking of the Undead... let's chat about Dracula for a moment! Or atleast the first actor to play Dracula - Bela Lugosi!

This necklace was born in 2010 and created around the coffin-shaped pendant and the photo-reproduction of Bela Lugosi in his famous role as Dracula! It's title is Undying Elegance and that sums up my assessment of Mr. Lugosi's Dracula! He did such an astounding job of creating a creepy and dangerous, yet intriguing and sensual villian! Bravo!

So... why mention that in this post? This creation found it's perfect partner this weekend!!! The lady who adopted it is writing a book about vampires that is filled with humor, whimsy and originality! (That's all the more I'll say about it, as it is not yet published...) If that is not enough of a fabulous connection with the necklace, she told me a story about her father that sealed the deal! Her father was a soldier in World War I (as was Mr. Lugosi) on a train in Europe. As he landed in a seat on the train, he turned to the man seated beside him and exclaimed, "Are you Dracula?!" Bela replied in the affirmative and the tale was resolved with the description, "And my Dad spent the next 2 and 1/2 days partying on the train with Bela Lugosi!" Absolutely marvelous!!! And so here is that creation that found such an excellent home!

And there you have it!

I'll wrap up this Whimsy Wednesday with mention of a newly-scheduled show coming up this weekend!!

This Saturday, Oct. 20th, I and Sprite Creations will be celebrating All Hallow's Eve with the fine folks at BellaLuna! 

We'll be there from 10am to 6pm for all your Faerie Finery and Halloween shopping needs!

Come join us!

See you on Friday!

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Photos and a Faerie Wreath!

Hello! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

I have a new type of creation to debut in today's post as well as a little more celebrating of Autumn with cats! 

Let's keep a little bit of the mystery going and take a look at our serene feline companion! 

Title: A Mellow Autumn

Isn't that just a wonderful contrast of colours and textures?! I love it! 

Ok! Next up is the first of the Faerie Wreath creations! 

I was on Walkabout when I encountered these dyed grapevine wreaths and had to play with one! 

Here is how it turned out! 

Title: As Yet Unknown 

Ingredients: Green Girls Studios Cat pendant, Faerie charm, vintage and non-vintage Czech glass, goldstone, fiber, organza ribbon, coated copper wire, Fray-check, lead-free pewter. 

 

There are so many wonderful details wrapped in and around this wreath! The fiber and ribbon, the hand-coloured Faerie charm, the wrench charm, the Cat charm with "Kitty Comfort" written on the back, the vintage Czech beads with the lovely swirly patterns and the sparkly! goldstone star... just to name a few! 

I'm really pleased with how this turned out! I'll have it ready for adoption this weekend at the Saint Paul Art Crawl! 

What is that, you say? 

Sprite Creations has a show coming up? 

Why yes! 

Yes, I do!!! 

 I and Sprite Creations will be helping the Downtown Saint Paul Artists celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Saint Paul Art Crawl Oct. 12th, 13th and 14th in the 3rd Floor Atrium of the Lowertown Lofts Artist Coop! 

It would be grand to have you celebrate it with us! 

Whee! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Autumn Leaves and Forest Critters!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

I hope this mid-point to the usual work-week is treating you well! 

This post will be a bit of whimsy and a bit of a peek into an artist's life! 

The creation I anticipated finishing and showing you hit a snag and will probably require a redesign. So, I'll show you all of that! 

But first... lovely photos of autumn leaves and kitties! 

Title: The Purrfect Halloween Cat Photo 

This is indeed (atleast to me) the perfect Halloween cat photo! 

Title: An Autumn Invitation 

Can you see the impression of someone laying in the leaves? Perhaps someone who has raked the leaves and then fallen into them? What a fabulous invitation to enjoy Autumn! Also....When we leave impressions in the snow, we call them Snow Angels and so it occurred to me that there could be Leaf Angels as well! So this could be the first record of a Leaf Angel in all of human history! 

Hee! 

These next photos are of the still-growing creation mentioned earlier...the first photo is of a collection of buttons I acquired yesterday on Walkabout. 

They are a menagerie of Forest Critters and every one of them is so charming and whimsical!!!

I envisioned creating a bracelet with them on twin strands of brown and green leather... and so I did... the first attempt proved that I cut the leather strips too short to accommodate all the necessary knots. 

The second attempt is shown in the photo. All went well until the green lace snapped as I was adjusting the tension on the knot! So.. here is where this will rest tonight and I'll have another go at it soon! 

 

So! There you have it! 

A Wednesday full of Whimsy! 

See you on Friday! 

Ciao! 

P.S. Want to know where I and Sprite Creations will be "in person" next?

Oct. 12th, 13th and 14th, we'll be at the Saint Paul Art Crawl in the Atrium of the Lowertown Lofts Artist Coop! 

This is the 20th Anniversary of the Saint Paul Art Crawl and it would be lovely to have you celebrate it with us! 

Whee! 

Whimsy Wednesday! Playing With Materials!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

I hope your week is flowing well! It amazes me that this is Wednesday! 

I didn't have a particular idea in mind for this blog post, so I picked up some wire and beads that I haven't used in ages and played! 

This is what grew out of that playing! 

Title: Let's Play! 

Ingredients: Carved bone, Cultured Pearls, antiqued copper wire, metal, gold-plated surgical steel earwires(hypo-allergenic).

 I started with the carved bone beads because they reminded me of games that include boards with indentations in them meant to hold markers of any sort, marbles, seeds, etc. The pearls are meant to evoke the idea of those markers or game pieces as I wanted it to look like the game was in process already. The two pearls of each color hanging off the sides are the spare playing pieces that have not yet been used. I'm pleased with how this turned out and hope you are, too! 

This second creation is also a pair of earrings, again using beads that I haven't played with for a while. 

This design came together quickly and, though simple, has a lot of colour and texture going on! 

 

Title: Flowers of Industry 

Ingredients: Swarovski crystals, Czech glass, antiqued copper wire, surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).

I love the idea of flowering, growth and whimsy, even in the midst of potential toxins, dis-ease and hazards. 

So, there you have it! 

Another Whimsy Wednesday at an end! 

I look forward to seeing you on Friday! 

Ciao! 

P.S. Want to know where I and Sprite Creations will be "in person" next?

Oct. 12th, 13th and 14th, we'll be at the Saint Paul Art Crawl in the Atrium of the Lowertown Lofts Artist Coop! 

This is the 20th Anniversary of the Saint Paul Art Crawl and it would be lovely to have you celebrate it with us! 

Whee! 

Whimsy Wednesday! Faerie Keys & Nests and New Nostalgia!

Hello Hello!

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday!

I hope your week is fabu so far!

This has been a week of many blessings and fun in my world so far!

I'm still happy every time I look at the photo of that nifty gargoyle I posted about this past Magical Monday!  Hee! He's so awesome!!!

There has also been a computer upgrade in the studio which is a great happiness! As some of you may know, we tend to run Open Source software or utilize Mac whenever possible around here and so when upgrades to my OS were needed, the switch was made to...(drumroll please)... Commodore OS !!! Yes! Yes! It is true!! Commodore is back!!!!

This is my first day test-driving the OS and I'm so pleased with it so far! It is truly bringing the fun back into computers for me!! So many visual shinies!!! And little sound effects and nostalgia - oh my! Hee hee!!!

Yet more happiness is a new Shiny to show you!

Title: Faerie Nest

Ingredients: Faerie Key (hand-coloured resin from a hand-made mold), Glass, antiqued copper wire.

This is the first of my Faerie Key series. These are keys created from hand-coloured resin I pour into a mold I made from vintage keys. I'm in the midst of refining the mold process and the Faerie Keys, so the first prototypes will undoubtedly be woven into other pendants, such as this Faerie Nest! I'm excited at the possibilities of these keys! Stay tuned to see what happens with them next!

I'll end this blog post with a heads-up as to where I and Sprite Creations will be "in person" next!

Oct. 12th, 13th and 14th, we'll be at the Saint Paul Art Crawl in the Atrium of the Lowertown Lofts Artist Coop! 

This is the 20th Anniversary of the Saint Paul Art Crawl and it would be lovely to have you celebrate it with us! 

Whee! 

See you Friday! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! A Fairy, Her Prince Charming and Stars!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

This WW is a bit of a continuation of another posted a few weeks ago and a love story all in one! 

Whew! 

Let's start with the continuation! I first introduced you to the focal beads in this necklace in this Whimsy Wednesday post. Some of them have grown into a complete necklace creation! 

Working Title: Quilted Stars 

Ingredients: Polymer clay stars (prototypes hand-crafted by Serena Mira Astra), Czech glass, stretch cord, metal, lead-free pewter.

What a lovely, softly-coloured creation! 

And now for the love story!

This next creation is a wedding present for friends who are planning a Fairy Wedding, complete with Fairy Wings, mushrooms and much, much more! 

 It will be so much fun and I'm really looking forward to it! 

Working Title: A Fairy and Her Prince Charming 

Ingredients: Squinkies (rubber), Bali silver, Czech glass, metal, sterling silver earwires (hypo-allergenic).

I was so pleased to find this Fairy with her darker-coloured locks as they match the brides much more closely! 

YAYYYYY!!! 

So, that's it for this Whimsy Wednesday! 

See you on Friday!

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Portraits of Growth!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

I've been playing with bead frames and bead caps today and have a few little vignettes in the form of earring pairs to show you! 

Let's get started!

Title: Portrait of a Rose

Ingredients:  Swarovski crystals (rose, olivine), Czech glass, lead-free pewter, metal, gold-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic). 

I love these bead frames! They remind me of vintage picture frames and so spark my imagination to ponder what to fill them with and the stories to be told in doing so! 

 

Here is another portrait and another story! 

Title: Portrait of a Gothic Flower Ingredients: Czech glass, lead-free pewter, metal, gold-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic). 

The beads within the frames shaped like flowers have a wonderfully darkened iridescent coating on the back, lending a graceful, gothic feeling to this creation! The faceted glass beads closest to the earwires are edged with a weathered gunmetal finish, completing the gothic beauty of these earrings! Ah! You can almost hear the stories being whispered out loud, can't you?

I'm looking for a little bit of input from you, the reader, regarding this last creation! 

Two titles popped to mind and so I'd like to hear your thoughts on which is a more suitable title! 

Working Title #1: Another Time, Another Rose 

Working Title #2: Roses Show the Way 

Ingredients: Swarovski crystals (light amethyst), Lampwork glass roses (Artist Unknown), hand-finished brass bead caps, Czech glass, metal, gold-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).

So! Let me know your thoughts about those titles and I'll see you on Friday! 

Would you like to see these and my other creations in person? 

If you're in the central Minnesota(USA) area this Saturday, you can! 

Here is where to find me!

 

Fall Art Festival 

Saturday, September 8th Only! 

10am to 4pm City Center Market 

122 North Buchanan Street Cambridge, MN (USA

Until Friday!

Ciao!