Find the hare - Component of the month at Art Elements

The component of the month (COM) at Art Elements (AE) was made by Niky Sayers this time. It was one of her gorgeous coin claps. I love her work for years, her creations really speak to me. Especially how she uses old coins and creates something new out of them.

I have to admit there was only one problem...

It was a struggle to take images! The silver of the coin shines so brightly that it reflects the light and makes it difficult to capture the hare image. This is actually not a problem in real life but moreover a problem of not having a professional camera on my side ;)

So you will have to believe me on this!

I used some green leather scraps. It was a rather accidental choice since I am cutting leather right now for some book binding (christmas is right around the corner) and loved the green scraps too much to throw them away (it may be a massive problem to be able to use nearly anything... it may accumulate the stuff one have....).

So I cut them to thinner stripes, knotted them several times and combined them with rustic beads. The blue ones are made by Grubbi ceramics and the round ones by me. Also I just went with it. There are also some other beads hidden, a single blue dyed seed and some glass ones.

The clasp will be one the side when this necklace is worn. So the weight of the (mostly) ceramic beads will further secure the hold and it adds a wonderful accent.

Thank you so much Niky! I may finally be ready to also use the other precious pieces made by you I have hoarded until now. :)

Please have a look what everyone else made. I can't wait to see it myself!

Guest Designers

Linda Landig

Kathy Lindemer

Divya N

Art Element Team

Claire Fabian

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Cathy Spivey Mendola

Susan Kennedy

Caroline Dewison

Lesley Watt

Diana Ptaszynski

Lindsay Starr

Laney Mead

Niky Sayers

Zom-Bee! - Component of the month at Art Elements

Time really seems to fly. It seems Laney Meads adorable little zom-bee beads just arrived and now September is already nearly gone...

This year seems to fly especially fast. So many things happened -good and bad-, so many problems came over from last year, and the general workload from my husband and me seem to have triplicated this year.

We didn't even manage our time out at Formentera and it pays for him as well as me. It is a kind of deep exhaustion and nerves are laying blank. But sometimes it is... like it is. Even in hindsight, I don't know how we could have managed it any other way.

Of course there were a lot of good things (and he is a constant good "thing", even when we fight ;) ), for example some of the research grants I applied for were granted.

But back to the component of the month (COM) of september at Art Elements (AE). I tried a lot with this cute little bee (look at the eyes!) but most didn't work out. Most failures were due to the fact that the zom-bee was not the main focus anymore and somehow got lost.

So I went with a cleaner design with only a few elements: A matte big glass drop to counter balance the zom-bee, tiny beads to get the overall shape right with some metal elements added and a drop of blood red at the top.

The chain is adjustable due to the added rings on top of the pendant. I like both ways.

So that was it in short. I will be in Berlin (again) on saturday, come back in the middle of the night, because sunday is my husband's birthday. Maybe I can find some sleep in between ;)

Thank you so much for this cute little zom-bee Laney!

And please have a look what all the other participants made! (I'll also come over to have a look but it may be late sunday)

Guests
http://fromthebeadboard.blogspot.co.uk/ – Linda
http://www.beadsforbusygals.com/  – Elisabeth Auld

Team
http://www.lesleywatt.com/ – Lesley  Watt
http://www.glassaddictions.com/blog  –  Jennifer Cameron
http://dianaptaszynski.indiemade.com/blog  – Diana Ptaszynski
https://jdaviesreazor.com/blog/  – Jenny Davis-Reazor
http://suebeads.blogspot.co.uk/ – Susan Kennedy
http://blueberribeads.co.uk/ – Caroline Dewison
http://phantasmcreation.blogspot.co.uk/ – Lindsay Starr
 http://cmendola.blogspot.co.uk/– Cathy Spiey Mendola
 http://saraccino.blogspot.co.uk/ – Claire Fabian (you are here)
http://silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk/ – Niky Sayers
http://laneymead.co.uk/ – Laney Mead

"Time-worn" - Scarabs - Component of the month july (AE)

Scarabs... what a wonderful fitting component, like made only for me! (I guess there may be several people thinking that ;))

The component of the month was a lampwork bead made by Susan Kennedy (you can find her shop here and her blog here). Actually I cried out for this special scarab during a bead sale she had... and she send me this one for the component of the month challenge over at Art Elements! Thank you so much!

You can easily see why this bead was (in my mind) made only for me: Insect, rustic, turquoise, ancient looking, crusty, organic... and with a definitive tribal vibe.

This time I went again for an overall quite simple necklace shape but I wanted the scarab to be the focal piece while having an easy to wear necklace. I try to balance the jewelery I create. Here all the special details are in the single parts.

Being extravagant with the parts as well as the shape can be gorgeous (and I do and love that too) but it ends up in pieces for only few special occasions. I wanted something more suited to have the piece with you on (maybe nearly) every occasion - like your own little ancient amulet hidden in plain sight.

I combined the scarab with some rustic beautiful beads from Kimberly Rogers (numinosity) and some seaglass like beads from Julia Hay (yes, both some of my favorite lampwork artists ever), some matte greyish-lilac faceted beads (from The Curious Bead Shop) knotted with deep purple waxed linen with basic macrame and finished with oxidised brass fishbone chain (my all-time favorite chain - would it not be for the fact how much time and trouble it makes to create this finish).

Thank you so much Sue for my scarab (still convinced you made him only for me)! Now please have a look what the other participants made with their scarabs.

Guests

Deb Fortin

Lennis Carrier

Barb Fernald

AE Team

Jenny

Diana

Lindsay

Claire (you are here)

Lesley

Caroline

Laney

Cathy

Niky

Sue

"Treasures" - Art Elements component of the month (COM)

Time seem to fly, way to fast to be honest... Strangely enough the COMs over at Art Elements (AE) are a stark reminder that again a month has gone by. It is finally warm again, even hot, around here and the days are long and sunny. It feels good and I needed this. Still, I am not back into full mood.

This is probably why this time I was not challenging myself but rather stayed in my comfort zone. After all it is called comfort zone for a reason, nai? This month Lesley Watt send us beautiful ceramic pendants or cabs (if you want some too, there are some left in her shop). I you follow my blog for some time, you know how perfect they were for me looking like treasures found in the sea and also she chose the perfect colour combination for me. Although all variations of her pendants are nice, turquoise gets me, always!

I made a knotted necklace with grey waxed linen that is long enough that one don't need a clasp but can simply pull it over the head. I chose these matte and silver lined glass beads to go with it. I bought a lot of them several years ago but I never found the exact shade again. I love how they shimmer against the grey. 

I added some accents with some other beads closely but asymmetrical arranged around the pendant. There are some african recyled glass beads, some from thailand and several of my own ceramic clay beads. I think I used up all of my small and tiny beads I made. Mostly I tend to work lager but seeing how well the smaller ones fit here... uh... I need to make more!

 Here you can see the knots a little bit better. On the left side I had to make one a little bigger since the hole was also quite big even with a little bead as "stopper" added.

They way how the end of the waxed linen hung after I finished the necklace was something that I liked somehow. I entangled the single strands and cut them a little bit.

 Although I have to admit I am still not sure whether I should keep it like this or rather cut them completely...

So here you go, all my favorite colours, my favorite theme and one of my favorite techniques... all in my comfort zone... and sometimes this is exactly what I need :)

Thank you Lesley for this beautiful pendant!

Please have a look what all the others created with this months COM! :)

Guests
Linda Newnham

Sarajo Wentling

Jess Green

Art Elements team
Laney Mead

Diana Ptaszynski

Susan Kennedy

Cathy Mendola

Jen Cameron

Caroline Dewison

Claire Fabian (you are here)

Karen Totten

Niky Sayers

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Lindsay Starr

Lesley Watt

Take a deep breath...

 

There are still a lot of things on my to-do list that I just didn't manage to do in the last weeks/months. I am sorry but I am not ready to write about this here, at least not now. It will take a little bit more time to be processed by myself.

But the sun is finally out again, the temperatures are getting mild and all the plants around us are in full growth mode. It makes me feel lighter and like I am finally breathing free again.

This month's component of the month (COM) at Art Elements (AE) is a gorgeous bead made by Jennifer Cameron. She had the Northern Lights in mind while creating these beads but actually felt they rather have an ocean feeling to them. I agree and for me this is perfect.

The bead I got has a deep and clear blue that remindes me of the surreal wonderful colours of the Mediterranean sea in the summer time. The blue you can only see when the sun is on its peak of power and the skies are cerulean blue.

And it makes me smile. It brings me to the moments on Formentera in spain in the summer time when everything is just as it should be. The air is filled with the fragrance of pines, rosmarine and thyme, the light so stark at the white sand and red rocks, you can taste the salt on your lips and the ocean so powerful vibrant and clear showing all shades of blue to turquoise.

I believe we are all lost from time to time. Struggle with the world around us and even more with ourselves. Formentera always brought me back to myself. Let me take a deep breath...

So for me this bead was a wonderful inspiration and reminder. Thank you very much Jennifer!

PS: Just for the record: I used actually some wool from my stash and some cotton thread. Both were fiddled through the bead, knotted and then I wrapped the wool around the cotton thread. At the end I also added some turquoise waxed linen to add some highlights. The ceramic bead is from Grubbi ceramics by Natalie McKenna and the small ones are african glass beads.

PPS: By the way, the necklace looks great when worn with a very tribal but elegant look. They weight of the bead is perfect for this, not too much, not too light weight :)

PPPS:Please have a look at what everyone else made this month!


Guest Designers:
Sarajo Wentling
Deb Stewart

Art Elements Team:
Sue Kennedy
Laney Mead
Lesley Watt
Claire Fabian
Karen Totten
Cooky Schock
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Caroline Dewison
Cathy Spivey Mendola
Niky Sayers
Lindsay Starr
Jen Cameron