"Ocean" - Earrings

Back to the blues! ^^

Czech glass beads, ceramic beads and old pressed glass beads. Simple but lovely... and dangling! ^^ The colours remind me of the ocean, all the different moments...

Look how beautiful when the light goes through...!

"Glow" - earrings

Pink and more pink...! Some shades of rose and dark silver... and more pink! ^^ These swarowski bicones were a present from a friend... who used them in a hair pin for a wedding outfit. She thought she wouldn't wear it anymore so she took it apart and gave me the beads! If you read my blog for some time you know what great friends I have! Soooo many beads, stones, sea shells, seeds and other stranger things they gave me over the time. :)

"Winged" - Polymer clay pendant

I made this some time ago... I really like it. I am just struggling to create an necklace out of it. But I am still trying ^^

"Cosmic whispers" - Necklace

Since I like to give the jewelery pieces I make names, I try to find suiting ones. Not always but more often than not recently. Since I made this necklace with beads from a surprise bead selection kit named "Whispers" this had to be incorporated in the name. Just that.... mh... the piece has a kind of steampunk feeling for me combined with... Saturn. The colour, the ring... the planet saturn just came into my mind. Since saturn and whispers is a not so perfect combination I tried to figure out what feeling the neacklace projects to me. Cosmic whispers fits for me into a Jules Verne idea of science fiction. A little bit whimsical, mechanical and last but not least, the necklace speaks to me like is has a story to tell.

You see the big bronze ring? I bought it in my sewing store in the city center of leipzig. It is normally meant for a belt (if you want to sew one). A nice and sturdy quality, already meant to be worn and not too expensive (not cheap either to be honest ^^). They have them in a lot of different sizes and colours.

The other pieces I made with the "Whispers" bead selection:

"Whispers and flowers" - Bracelet

"Whispers and flowers" - Earrings

"Urban whispers" - Earrings

"Urban whispers" - Earrings

Hammered wire, some wrapping, small beads... they have a tribal feeling for me and all the beads are again from the bead package "Whispers" (have look here for more details and here what else I made with these beads).

Inspirations: On the streets (Freiburg)

If you wonder which Freiburg... Breisgau. I just had about an hour to look around but found this wall in the first moments!

"Whispers and flowers" - earrings

I struggled to take pictures of the earrings. That you could see all beads, get an idea how they "dangle"... They would not lie flat on the table so I tried different versions hanging them. 

Fitting for the bracelet I made (have a look here) and all the beads as well as the little bit of waxed linen were also part of the bead package "Whispers". 

"Whispers and flowers" - bracelet

I got my first beads taking part in "The Curiosity Club". Rebecca started this club and sells it in her etsy shop "The Curious Bead Shop". In short: You get a monthly surprise package with beads, findings and other surprise supplies. She gives her selection a theme every month and this was: "Whispers". All the beads are from the kit and the bronze metal parts from my stash. It is a simple bracelet but I love how it turned out :)

"Forgotten treasures II" - Stories they tell

Normally I am not too fond of mixing metals. Not that I really dislike it rather than looking at a piece I quite often have the impression that it was just a random mistake. There are jewelery pieces with perfect mixed metals, they complement and enhance each other. But that is (for me at least) really difficult to achieve. These earrings are an exception for me! I used some more of the old silver beads (have a look here at "Forgotten treasures"). I combined them with tiny red czech beads with a picasso finish (from The Curious Bead Shop), grey swaroswki bicones (one of my favorite colours for swaroswkis!) and copper beads. Copper. But the silver beads have a copper hint in them as if they just have a thin silver layer on top with the copper below. Together with the dark read glass beads I surprisingly loved the colour story! Like my first earring pair I made with my treasured old and worn silver beads, these earrings look like they have a story to tell. Rather belonging in an arabic fairy-tale, directly out of thousand and one nights :)

"Forgotten treasures" - The beauty of time

You see the silver beads? The worn look, full of bumps and dents? They are made over a kind of inlay (don't know what), just a thin layer of metal on top. From the colours I found I would say a copper basis with silver on top. They were part of a bracelet I found in a second hand shop. The thread was worn (and not nice anymore... no way...) and like the two silver beads on top, all of the beads looked like they had a rough past. But they appealed to me.

There is something special they tell, a hidden story. This worn look can't be achieved by anything else than time. For me they are little treasures, beads you just get once!

After I bought them (with other broken jewelery pieces and old glass beads) I got rid of the thread and scrubbed them again and again and again.... and again! Inside and out just to really get them clean. I used mild soap to make sure I would not get rid of the patina but just of all the real and even worse, the imaginary dirt (working in a lab has its downfalls...). Afterwards I polished the top with soft fabric.

The czech glass flowers and beautiful facetted blue beads (both from the curious bead shop again ;) ) combined with the silver beads are now telling a new story and just by looking at the earrings my head is full of images and ideas, sounds and colours.

"Summer night" - polymer clay earrings

First of all: It was not possible to capture all the layers of colour, the depth of the structures and all the sparkles that the polymer clay beads posses. I love these ring beads. So much that it took me over a year and a half to finally use them. I already used some of the beads I made in that session but are also still hoarding some. I try to use them now, one bead pair at a time. But it is difficult!

I had them around me dedicated to finally use them. But nothing was fitting until I got some new czech glass beads from The Curious Bead shop from Rebecca. Colour and shape and especially the play of transparency just went together perfectly!

Some more pictures: I tried to get you a better impression of the structures and colours :) The earrings are dreamy, saturated with colour and seem to dance while worn.

Mothers’ day

I realized how personal my blog is for me. It is strange because it is just an internet journal and also I edit myself what to write in this open-to-all medium. But still I already wrote time and time again about what is dear to me, what made me cry and I showed you some of my work that is deeply personal to me... showing more of myself than I could ever describe with words.

Today is mother's day and this is one holiday that is not part of my life at least not for celebrating. My mother died on mother's day. She died 2002. Cancer. I would even say cancer and other things because this happened after a long and hard journey. It is hard to realize that you are not always able to help. Devastating not only to learn from the ups but to be told the real downs. 

I still want to protect my mother, want to change the things that already happened, things that are already long gone... Would have loved to be able to change things, change her life. It makes me sad and smiling at the same time that I remember her telling me I should be angry with her, shouting at her. I never could, not even as a small child, because I understood her. Now, so many years later, I understand even more. I know that she was right. 

I miss her. I also miss the chance to get her known not only as my mother but also as person. I only got a glimpse of that, her thoughts, dreams and hopes. All the sides of your parents you will only know when you are also grown up (and even then you have even to... mh... somehow grow up more?). This is an ongoing process as we all are developing while we get older. 

I am stopping now because I fear I will (or already have) started brabbling with no red line to follow. Maybe a part of me is just nervous showing another part of myself so openly. But here it is, this was what I wrote on the day my mother died, sitting hours later in the train home (and I kept all my original writing errors).

Mothers’ day

It truly was my mother’s day

Family and friends came all the way

To sit there waiting all night long

Waiting for mother’s day to come.

Scrawny she was, just skin and bone

But nevertheless the heart beats strong

And the will to live

Did not have gone.

The kisses were given; The loves were told;

The guilt was forgiven; Nothing bad more to hold.

I love you Mami. I always did.

I miss you Mami. I am still your kid.

We all sat there, near by her side

Listening to her song

Of breathing hard and loud,

Of water her lungs were full

It just sounded in an awful way cruel…

But it means she was alive

Until then, a quarter past five

I do not know if birds start to sing

All I knew was one mere thing:

Sky was turning grey…

…and my mother died on mothers’ day.

BSBP - "Show off!"

These earrings are probably my favorites. The colours and textures are so beautiful and the dangle perfectly. The "dangling" quality of earrings is an important feature earrings must have for me! The should not only be long... the should move and play!

My favorites from all the pieces I made for the  8th "Bead Soup Blog Party" (BSBP) I participated! Thank you so much Lori for hosting and organizing and especially for getting (at least me) us challenged and inspired! :) To have a look at all the participants (and of course go over to their blogs!) have a look at Loris Blog here. Make sure you visit at least.... a lot!

My partner was Nathalie (I wrote more about her and her blog here) and we both send each other soups that... had surprisingly a very fitting colour story! You could have joined both soups in one with no problems! Please go over to her and have a look what she made with the beads I send her! (oh yes, I am soooo curious, can't wait! :))

My first bracelet was something quite colourful. I looked through my wire and linen cord and loved the combination of the green beads with the bright orange. Simple macrame knots as well as my first handmade wire hook... the tiny glass beads are old, well over 25 years, from czech. I also send Nathalie some of them (even if you can't see it, there is something special for me if I work beads that have a story and were given to me) hence I liked the idea of incorporating some in my own design.

The closure hook I made for Heather Powers "Jewelery Mojo Challenge" realizing too late that if I used this for the BSBP I would not be able to show it in time. Still, I really love all my hooks I made. Used them also in the two necklaces I made.

If you already know my blog, a little bit of me and my work... you will probably not be surprised that I had to alter some of the bits of my soup. This was the fate the clasp had to endure for the bracelet...

Verdigris.... embossing poweder. Yes. Embossing powder... under a layer of resin. Looks like water to me and fitting for all the blue and green, for the shells and the mood of my soup!

Regardless how beautiful the focal is, I have to admit I struggled a lot... The pendant is already so bright and colourful and big, it is too easy to go over the top with it. I tried a lot until I just went to a very simple solution that speaks perfectly to me. I used purple silk, copper wire (that I also treat with liver of sulphur for a nice patina) and two bronze rings. 

I am surprised how perfect it is for me. But maybe because of the texture of the fibre, the added wire, the strong colours, it is still really complex with all the details ;)

I also made this clasp and I believe this won't be the last time I secured and wrapped silk this way. It has a tribal feeling to me and could work in so many different ways!

It is really a simple wrapping but it gives the pendant a beautiful move while still being really, really sturdy! Also it allows to switch the sides of the pendant. Both sides are beautiful and totally different from the pattern.

 Oh, and I also played with the other cute little charms too! The shell has also embossing powder and a resin coat while the dolphin and sand dollar were treated with vintaj patina (Yes, finally... I got myself some ^^). Also I sanded them, used a little bit liver of sulphur and sanded them again. I love all the different looks, the watery like resin, the shades of blue and green... but I especially love the dolphin. He just really looks like some old vintage charm, worn from time and use because someone always had him close :)

This necklace also is surprisingly bold in colour for me... But somehow it still feels "me". Cotton embroidery thread in purple over hard and thick wire, bright blue glass beads, dangling faccette beads (with bead cap over bead cap) and colourful bronze wire...

I should have tried for picture how it looks "dangling" (yes, my word of the day!)... maybe later. Already in the middle of the night here while I write this blog entry. 

I have even more... earrings (always my favorite to create) but the sun didn't stay long enough to make more pictures. So... I will show you more over the next days :)

Now I will be gone looking at all the other blogs and creations. Thank you Lori for letting me being part :)

Whatever you can find - more molds and stamps for polymer clay!

When I saw all these cute and tiny paper clips in south korea, I couldn't resist! As they are all made out of metal I already had some use with polymer clay in mind. But now I thought why not to make some kind of stamps / molds out of them? And here we go...

Something from the lab: A PCR reaction plate (this was already unsteril and before we throw it away I finally realized the great little letters!).

Just to give you an idea how tiny the letters and numbers are. 

This is a closure I found in my local fabric and sewing shop... had to come with me! They also have great bronze metal rings I am using for jewelery normally meant for belts. Really always worth to have a look in stores for other crafting areas ^^

I wanted to make some molds with metal charms I had lying around. I clipped the pin hole off to get a better mold. 

Now to the resulting stamps and molds: Sooooo cute these tiny wee animals!

Some stamps made just with some details of the paper clips...

Just roughly handles ^^

My new letter and number stamps. I have now the numbers 1 to 12 and the letters A to H. Not perfect but enough to play with it! I put small polymer clay balls on top of the plate and baked it all together (the PCR plate can tolerate the heat). Afterwards I glued this strange wood pieces I found in my stash on the baked clay with E6000. 

Perfect impressions!

Molds made with polymer clay is stiff and for other uses (at least for me) compared with silicone molds. With a polymer clay mold like this you can get perfect details. 

I also write on the backside what kind of mold it is and of course mark the top!

The I used some old scraps of polymer clay (fimo classic) to test the imprints / molds :)

Love the little colibri and squirrel! I can see nice pendants and textures made with them :)

In small they are also cute... and such tiny letters and numbers... find he bananas?

The molds are nicely working and I always have use for leaves and more leaves!

...and a lot of tiny cute animals!

Rather more for my beads and pendants... will look great after baking and painting.

Even while I love fimo classic to work with, I definitely would suggest now suer sculpey firm for making small molds and stamps. The fimo classic is not attaching too much to a baked super sculpey mold (that is not the case if I want to use fimo classic in a mold made with fimo classic!). Yes, of course I also use a little bit of water or baby powder as a release agent but I prefer if I already don't have to use a lot to start with ^^Also as I already wrote quite often in my blog: Super sculpey firm hold small details stunningly great and beautiful!