11/16/2017

Oldies but Goodies - Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

The inspiration for this week's Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge is of course a quote from the classic movie The Wizard of Oz.
As you may remember our rules for the challenge are not too strict, so instead of a tiger we were also allowed to show tiger's eye. Actually it makes me wonder why I have never made anything tiger inspired given the fact that I love those animals so much?

And here's my little collage for today. We got fierce, sparkly, adorable, cute and beautiful. Pick your own favorites! :-)


1 and 4 Jewelry Art by Dawn
2 and 6 and 8 Cat's Wire
3 and 5 and 7 MC Stoneworks

11/10/2017

Tackle that stash - Viking knit and magnesite necklace

In March 2013 I made my first attempt at Viking knit. It was a tiny Barbie necklace and I haven't been coming back to this technique ever since.
Now, having been somewhat frustrated and uncreative lately (for reasons I'll get to end of this month), I had been looking for something that was within my possibilities and came back to Viking knit.

I made two ropes using 24 and 26 gauge copper wire, more for practise than to actually use them. I pulled them through my draw plate and found they were too long for bracelets and too short for necklaces. Not only had I been pretty clueless about how much the draw plate would change the length, I admit I had also not been patient enough to add more wire before knowing how the ropes would come out.

In the last few weeks I have been wasting wire by throwing out some WIPs rather than unwinding little knots and loops (I'll save you the accompanying curse words). I was not ready to throw out the Viking knit ropes as well.
So it was a good thing I remembered my stash of magnesite beads in all kinds of shapes, natural ones and dyed red ones which might like look good with the copper.
I think it did work out quite nicely, now I just have to come up with something for the second rope. Who knows, maybe this is going to give my creativity a little boost?


P.S. I almost forgot to thank Katrina Lum for her tutorial about the endcaps (which I made in different sizes to enhance the asymmetric look, by the way)!

11/09/2017

Oldies but Goodies - Romantic

Okay, so I'm romantic. Shoot me. I do have my favorite movie or TV kisses, I like the idea of going for a walk in the shine of a full moon (my ex still owes me one of those from 30 years ago, and hey, don't offer something if you are not ready to deliver! ;-)), I have been known to re-read romantic scenes in a book, and yes, maybe I have even shed one or the other tear over a happy love story.

Of course this was just a more or less clever introduction for today's Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge which has the topic "Romantic".
No need to shed tears over the pictures, by the way, but maybe they make you smile.


1 and 10 Jewelry Art by Dawn
2 and 8 MC Stoneworks
3 and 7 RioRita
4 and 6 Cat's Wire
5 and 9 VMCdesigns

11/02/2017

Oldies but Goodies - Red and black

Red and black is a color combination that will likely never go out of style - and it's definitely one of my favorites.
You can encounter it in all kinds of places.
Nature for example, just think of certain snakes, frogs, and spiders whose red and black can be a warning sign.
Think of gothic fashion. I never really thought about it, but is the black standing for the night and red for the blood?

Depending on the kind of red you use you can also achieve different looks. You can accent black with just a bit of bright red. You can tone down red with some black. Or how about teaming up black and a very dark rich red instead of a bright one?

Whatever your favorite black and red combination is, maybe you will find it in the pictures I chose from this week's Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge.


1 and 9 RioRita
2 and 6 VMCdesigns
3 and 7 Cat's Wire
4 and 10 MC Stoneworks
5 and 8 Jewelry Art by Dawn