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

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

Inside her head... there was a whole universe (January AE COM)

Usually I love showing you some pictures of the different creation steps of the "stuff" I create. In between being still ill myself, my husband still recovering from his operation, work, work and more work and my general winter induced low energy levels.... I simply forgot to take pictures.

This time we got a leather cabochon from Lindsay Star for our component of the month (COM) challenge over at Art Elements. If you are curious how she made them, have a look here (I also had to "steal" one of her pictures since I also forgot to take a good picture of the leather cab before I used it).

Don't you think that the all look like little galaxies? The idea of a nightsky was never leaving my mind when I pondered what I should do. Lindsay also send a lot of other little surprised along with the leather cabochon; beads, leather, fabric.... and a little wooden queen (nope, no princess, she has a scepter and the real crown on her head). Although she also reminds me of Alice somehow... maybe the style?

Seeing both together I knew I also wanted to use them together.

My table is always full of other materials and ongoing projects (nobody should visit me without a warning in advance ;)). There was the lid of one of those cheap and ugly little treasure boxes people buy as gift wrappings (to put a gift coupon or something inside). I couldn't get myself to throw them away (had two), instead I opted to take them apart... and let the parts lay around.

But the little queen and the leather cab universe were a perfect fit for the box lid. I added pages from an old book, painted all over the lid, drilled holes in the leather cab (that was scary!), added some glass drops (these were also send by Lindsay, aren't they lovely?), painted over the queen (I wanted to add my own touch and enhance the colours), added a layer of resin on her, cut the the labels from card board.... and finally wrapped and glued all together!

"Inside her head... there was a whole universe"

Please have a look what all the other participants made with the leather cab!

And thank you again Lindsay, I hope you like what I made with your treasures :)

PS: I am sorry that I am late with my blog post... I had troubles with my camera (still have).

Guests:

Ann 

Renetha 

Patty

Sherri

Kelly 

Linda

AE Writers:

Lesley

Laney

Lindsay

Caroline 

Cathy

Cooky

Claire (<-- you are here)

Diana

Jenny

Susan

Niky

"Ancient dreams" - Component of the month at Art Elements

The start with a new piece is often the most challenging as well as the most enoyable part. My main problem actually is always "the middle". When you found your inspiration, chose and gathered all materials, have made the work halfway through, see already the end with only some minor last steps open to decide... and then I stop. Honestly, I don't now why. There are soooo many UFOs in my stash, pieces that I know I'll love as soon as they are finished.

*sighs*

But that is maybe just how my brain operates. At some time-point most projects come to an end (either way).

This is why I love and enjoy challenges. They push me and give me a tight schedule to fit in. Even more with a component you get from a fellow bead artist.... huh... the social pressure added works even better! (Not a joke, this works really for me and I like to trick myself with this behaviour ;) )

The component of the month (COM) of Art Elements (AE) came not from a member of the AE team but were gifted to AE team members as well as to AE readers by Kristi Ann from Artisan Clay. You can find more of her work here.

Back to how my brain is working... I got the gorgeous pendant from Kristi (thank you again!). As gorgeous as it is, it was way out of my comfort zone. I love circle shapes and crackled glass / glaze surfaces (you would never have guessed, mh?). But this was too big and a little bit too heavy for me (remember, not being objective here, just relative to what I normally work with).

Puh... and then I started with a necklace design where I liked all the pieces but there was not this perfect start with all elements fitting perfectly together. Time was closing and I finished it and just had to wait until I would be able to catch some rare daylight to take pictures. You need daylight to give such a stunning pendant with crackle glass credit, trust me in this.

So sitting late at the evening at the living room which is a absolute state of chaos with my "stuff" my eyes fell on one of my wrapped bracelets. I wanted to label it for our Pop-Up store in Leipzig (Malwatanderes) but it was sitting close to the necklace. Mh... the colours went nice together so I tested how the would look combined. Loved it. So I took the necklace apart, decided to make a kind of decorative art element (or ornament? tribal totem?). It was the right way. The right way since I started to love this pieces, consisting just of two "circles" at this moment, already.

The rest was easy, also close by was one of my ceramic bird skulls I made. I am in the process to test the effect of different glazes and no, originally I thought this light blue/yellow glaze is not my favorite. How wrong I was. Without the light blue accents it would not have fit to the pendant. Now it was the perfect addition. Yes, perfect! For me at least... especially with the piece of bone (that was also part of my table chaos, don't ask).

You can also find some more of my ceramic clay beads, a single czech glass bead and a lampwork bead from Kimberly Rogers (above the bird skull, such a perfect accent colour to bringt the bone, pendant and skull together).

Here you go... just loving it now! Last minute, but hey, perfect timing, no?!

So, please have a look at the other participants!

PS: Seeing the pictures now, it could be also a piece inspired by / for Prince, or not? *sighs* 2016...

PPS: I had to take the pictures at work, since it is dark when I leave home... and already dark when I come back home. So they are not my usual quality (and not my preferred background style). It was long enough winter time, I am ready for summer again! ;)


Guest Designers:
Sarajo Wentling
Lola Surwillo
Beti Horvath
Kate Kemp

Art Elements Team
Susan Kennedy
Lesley Watt
Claire Fabian (you are here right now :) )
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Jen Cameron