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!

Fini Friday! Winging Away!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

I don't know about you but today has been a full day for me! 

I am very much looking forward to the weekend! 

How about we get started winging our way there?! 

This is the first of the two new creations I have to show you! They are a bit of a riff on the same idea.... 

Title: On Raven's Wing 

Ingredients: metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires.

This is finished inspiration that started the 'riff', as it were. 

The initial vision was of a longer segment of the black feathers with the silver pair dangling at the bottom. This shorter pair grew into completion first, and I like the mystery the single ebony raven feather evokes! 

Raven is viewed differently in many cultures, yet is commonly depicted as a Divine messenger and associated with wisdom (even if that wisdom is based in deception, illusion or war). 

I wanted to continue to play with those fascinating inky wings, whilst adding some whimsy and light! And the second pair of earring creations was born! 

Title: The Butterfly and the Raven

Ingredients: Glass, metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires.

 

The butterflies are beads upcycled from a ring found at an antique shop on Walkabout that I chronicled here! Butterflies are often seen as a symbol of rebirth and possibility. 

So, while these two initially seem a very unlikely pair, a Raven's ability to see through illusion and deception and the Butterfly's ability to rebirth and reinvent sounds like a powerful combination! 

These will be up in my Etsy shoppe by Monday!

(By the way, my Etsy shoppe has a few new Creations in it, so click on over and take a look!)

That's it for this Fini Friday!

Thank-you for stopping by for a visit!

One announcement before I bid you adieu!

I'll be on BlogTalk Radio with a Message From the Faeries specific to January!

Tuesday, Feb. 15th from 3-3:30pm (CST, USA)!

Come on over, rest and listen for a bit!

See you Monday!

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!