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I'll admit it, I don't really get birthstones - wait, I think I mentioned that before. There are birthstones in different cultures, there are old ones, modern ones. In fact all I remember is that as a child I was very disappointed about mine being a pearl. A pearl is not even a stone. I never quite got that one.
It's a good thing we have people at JAC who are better at that and can tell us that the Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge will be about the colors of turquoise or blue topaz because those are December birthstones :-D
It's amazing how turquoise has taken over this challenge, but there's also one piece that shows both colors ... do you see it?
1 and 6 MC Stoneworks
2 Cat's Wire
3 and 8 Violetmoon's Corner
4 and 9 RioRita
5 and 7 Jewelry Art by Dawn
I'm not talking of the many challenges that 2016 threw at all of us. I don't have the time or nerve to list all of them up, also I know it would turn into a big rant and I want to spare you that.
No, this is a wrap up post about the 2016 challenges at the Jewelry Artisans Community and about the pieces I came up with. If you want to see the other entries as well, just click through in the topic list at the bottom (although most of my pictures have disappeared there, but you get them here, so that's okay).
Which one is your favorite?
January - Make something that's new for you
I had never made something tassel like before and I re-found those beautiful rose beads that were a gift from a dear friend, so I teamed up rose, seed and drop beads for this one.
February - Romance
I didn't feel the romance, so I skipped that month.
March - Lariats
After a few attempts that didn't make me happy I took the opportunity of those pearls already being on the wire and had a little crochet session.
April - Spring has sprung
Beaded flowers can turn into an obsession as you can tell from this beaded necklace!
May - Button, button ... who has the button?
Now that one was a real challenge for me. I have never been a fan of buttons, not even as a child, and I avoid them until today. The ones that I do love are usually Victorian and too expensive for me to have them lying around. Then I stumbled upon a mysterious vintage button, mysterious because I had to find out its history and because I have absolutely no idea how it ended up in my place!
June/July - Zip it up
After my whining about buttons our challenge master chose zippers for those two months. Strictly speaking this is not a piece of jewelry although I had planned to turn it into one - which hasn't happened yet. It features a zipper from a vintage Barbie swimsuit and, well, I had fun with this one.
August - Cool clear water
This pendant is woven in dark and light blue wire around an ammonite
that is about 100 million years old. It never ceases to amaze me that I
am able to work with such old and beautiful fossils. The water is
represented by the wires, but also the ammonite itself and by the pearl
that is topped by two tiny crystals.
I do love my ammonites!
September - Goodbye Summer
I'm not an expert in peyote bezels, but I'm trying ;-) A sunflower picture that our challenge master took was supposed to inspire us. Can you tell?
October - Halloween Treat
No one could come up with anything due to different reasons, so there were no Halloween treats at all ...
November - Fire
I have all those bugles, but hardly ever a good idea for them. This bracelet ate up some of my stash - and my time.
December - Christmas earrings
I got these finished just in time to wear them on Christmas Day. Now I'm thinking I need to make more next year.
Please also visit these blogs:
Violetmoon's Corner
Jewelry Art by Dawn
This week we are talking about bangles. To be honest I never really thought about the exact definition of a bangle. To me it was always a bracelet without a clasp, and that's what I found in some dictionaries. Others, however, told me that a bangle is circular in shape AND rigid, not flexible. So my wire crochet bangles are not really bangles, but bracelets just because the ropes are not rigid? I know that there are others who seem to follow the same definition as mine. I'll have to check that out and let you know what I found out.
For now here are examples from our Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge, though, "real" bangles and (maybe) not that "real" ones ;-)
1 Jewelry Art by Dawn (I hope you can see all the pictures, I just couldn't pick only one spot of this fabulous bangle!)
2 and 5 RioRita
3 and 4 Cat's Wire
6 and 7 The Crafty Chimp
About one and a half years ago I already showed you a collection of items from the Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge that are not jewelry.
Some of the techniques our members use for jewelry are also useful to make other things, and there's always more than just beads and wire. I'm sure if they had thought of it, they could also have shown us how they knit, sew, draw and more. Once again this is just a small selection from this week's challenge. Enjoy!
1, 9, 12 Violetmoon's Corner
2, 8, 10 Jewelry Art by Dawn
3, 5, 7 The Crafty Chimp
4, 6, 11 Cat's Wire
You will have noticed that I don't have an advent calendar on my blog this year. I just didn't make it and I don't like doing just half.
That doesn't mean we can't have a bit of holiday feeling, however, this time with lots of sparkle.
I have to admit it, I love it sparkly. I can sit in the dark with just my reading lamp on, hold a strand of crystals, twirl it, move it and stare at it hypnotized by the sparkle. The other day I made a bracelet of black and silver lined red bugles and gave it away as a gift, but only after I admired the beauty of the beads in the light for a few days. I know I'm not the only magpie out there!
Here are some of the pieces from the last Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge. I just wish my blog had the right light for them to show their true sparkle potential ;-)
1 and 8 The Crafty Chimp
2 and 6 Violetmoon's Corner
3 and 7 Cat's Wire
4 and 5 MC Stoneworks
I remember a time when you didn't get cranberries here in Germany. Now they are everywhere. Frozen or dried like in the quite addictive cashew-cranberry mix I just had for a snack.
The first time I met the cranberry was in a fruit punch (that was simply fabulous). Around these parts we are more familiar with the lingonberry. Both kinds are easily confused as you can see on the aptly named site Botanical Accuracy which was a relief for me because that means for once I don't stick out with my pathetic botanical knowledge ;-) Both kinds go well with meat and are popular on Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. I don't eat meat, but potato salad and caraway bread with lingonberry sauce, mmmmm.
The Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge asked for cranberry colors this week and this is only part of we came up with.
1 and 6 Violetmoon's Corner
2 and 4 MC Stoneworks
3 Jewelry Art by Dawn
5 Cat's Wire
This was a game we used to play at my jewelry forum (before it was even JAC) and now we made it the topic of November's blog carnival at the Jewelry Artisans Community.
I'm sure it is the same for all creative people. Their minds are working differently. A musician probably notices sounds that I would not necessarily pay attention to (did you know that trees make music?). A painter or a photographer will see shadows and light from his own creative point of view. How does a writer listen to a conversation? Does someone who sew look at other people's outfits and get a new idea from it? Does a dollmaker dig into the depths of the own childhood or listens to children? Of course I could go on and on and on, but then there are jewelry artisans.
You know you are a jewelry artisan when you can't look at stones, keys, shells, baubles, glass etc. etc. etc. without wondering if you could use it for jewelry.
You know you are a jewelry artisan when you change TV channels and suddenly you have the feeling you need to make something with giraffes, but don't really know why. You start on the giraffes and a few days later when you go through the channels again, there's a sitcom on - and there's that boy who is wearing a shirt with giraffes on it! And then you remember that's exactly the same scene you passed last time. True story.
You know you are a jewelry artisan when a burger recipe makes you think of a new design. Again, true story, but nothing to show for it yet.
You know you are a jewelry artisan when you watch a quiz show and instead of listening to the questions you are trying to find out if that one lady's bracelet is beaded and what kind of beads those are (I didn't find out until the end).
You know you are a jewelry artisan when you see a top with beads on it and you hate the top, but you'd love to have those beads.
You know you are a jewelry artisan when you go to the garden department although you don't have a garden or even a flower pot just to see what kind of wire they have there.
You know you are a jewelry artisan when you go to the museum, see an antique chest of drawers and think how well it would work for your supplies.
You know you are a jewelry artisan when you have a collection of gift ribbons although you don't wrap gifts.
You know you are a jewelry artisan when you are crazy enough to write about how you know you are a jewelry artisan!
This could turn into an endless post, but how about reading the other JAC members' thoughts on this topic? Check them out here.
Jewelry Art by Dawn
Violetmoon's Corner
And if you have a moment time and do something creative of whatever kind, tell us how you know you are a writer/painter/sewer/clay smoosher/felter ...........
