Change it up Blog Hop

Wow! I was beginning to think I wasn’t ever going to get this finished! I couldn’t seem to get started, I kept getting interrupted or frustrated so it took days to make and then just as it was all finally starting to fall into place, my camera died. Right after taking a couple of the most gorgeous clear pictures it has taken in a very long time. Well, since it went for a swim in my coffee anyway.

The bright side is I discovered that little slot on the side of my laptop that looked like it might be the right size for a memory card, is in fact the right size for a memory card! It seems not all the photos saved but I did get the photos that had saved uploaded! Yay! 

Just in case you aren’t aware, here’s how this hop works. Brenda Sue of B’Sues Boutique has given us a choice of four items to play with.  These cuties:

Change it Up Choices

Our job is to look at them from a different perspective. cut them up or use them in a different manner than you normally would. Keeping the months challenge theme in the B’Sue’s FB group in mind. Septembers challenge btw is Vintage.

I chose the cuff in the bottom right corner.  I don’t normally do cuffs, in fact the only cuff I’ve ever made was for the Build a Line Challenge in the beginning of the year.

My Cuff from Build a Line

 

First challenge, what the heck am I going to make with it? I’m actually ok with making a cuff with it because, I don’t usually make them so for me that is different but I can't just form it, that isn’t really out the box. I thought to myself, Oh I have a piece of Prehnite that would make a great focal, I’ll use that!

Prehnite Pendant

So I cut the filigree in half intending to create a focal with the Prehnite.

Challenge number two…….. the Prehnite is curved both front and back. The cuff would also be curved….. in the opposite direction. No matter how I worked it in my head there was too much air between the stone and the metal. So there I sat, with a cut up piece of filigree, a stone that won’t work and a piece of brass I had intended as a back plate. What to do what to do?

Not going on the cuff, but Hey! This is a cute idea!

I’ll emboss it! But it needs to be annealed first and now the color is nowhere near as clear and bright as the filigree …….. ha fire for you too!

I’m now quite happy with my decision! Yay me!  I just need to attach everything. Rivets! I drill four holes and I just have four nail head rivets left.

oops dropped one, three left. Where on Earth did that rivet go? It was JUST in my hand! sigh Two rivets left. That isn’t going to work. I still had some balled copper rivets I made for my Dia Los Muertos necklace maybe I can make them work. Grabbed them up, flattened the heads and Tadaaa!! Worked great!

Until I realized I missed on the hole placement and the whole thing was too far over. I cut the rivets off except the one that wouldn’t come off the filigree. That one I had to redrill, through the rivet.

Flatten more rivets and finally we’re done! Woohoo! That’s when I remembered I bought a new packet of rivets from B’Sue when I bought the filigree for the hop…… face palm! I had a brand new pack just sitting there waiting for me all along.

This is my finished piece. I’ve never had one fight me so hard as this one has. Apparently the change it up for me wasn’t so much about the cuff as it was with having to continually come up with plan b, c, d, e, f lol 

I may play with it some more, add another rivet on either side and maybe a little embellishment but for now I’m happy with it. Both my son and my daughter like it and my hubs gave me the  "You made this?" seal of approval. And hey! I kinda like it too!

Please join me in thanking our Wonderful Hostess Brenda Sue and visiting the rest of the Hop participants.

List for Blog Hop September 25, 2015

Brenda Sue Lansdowne

Jewelry Making Outside the Box

Mary Deis

The Rose Sword

Jann Tague

Clever Designs

Lori Beekman

B.Accessorized

Renee Hong

Fine and Dandy Jewelry

Cynthia Wainscott

Exotic Peru Jewelry

Dana Hickey

Magpie Approved

You Are Here!!

Mary Beth Quigley-Spiker

Q Settings

Karen Eaton

KJewelry Creations

Shari Gardner

SLG Jewelry Designs

Alison Huie

Ally's Baubles

Pamela Anger

Novegatti Designs

Carole Carlson

Beadsophisticate

Cindy Peterson

Howling Dog Jewelry

Marcia Tuzzolino

Aurora Designs

Charlotte Smothers

Sea Horse Ranch Life

Gillian Cunningham Wright

Bead Therapy Girl

Catherine Shattuck

Victorian Rose Boutique

Clare Wells Nemeth

Papercrafting Magic

Erin Whitacre

Shattered Time

Lynda O'Mara

Lomara Creative

Ginger Hammond
Lynn Leigh Designs

Ingrid Anderson

Lilis Gems Artisan Jewelry

Deb Beechy

Beetique

Harry Wood

Oscar Crow

Delyssa Maxwell

Past Time Fancies

Paula Gaskill

Lovely Layla Bugs

Irene Hoffman

Heart's Dezire by Irene

Alexandra Sefton

Imaginary Jewelry and Altered Art

Leslie Carver

Adorn Divine Designs

Thanks so much for stoppin by!
We'll see ya next time!

Procrastination Invites Inspiration

I seem to be in procrastination mode. I'm procrastinating right now, I should be working on some paperwork but I'm writing my blog post that I procrastinated writing yesterday. It's important and needs to be done, I just don't want to.

Instead I'm giving myself permission to go find inspiring jewelry. I mentioned before how I loved the forum and all the sharing and inspiration. I miss that. So I gave myself permission to search out the oohs and ahhs on Pinterest and Instagram. It's been awhile since I just let myself enjoy other peoples pretties, it wasn't long before I had ideas perking, oh those look a lot like my necklace, if I add this and take away that, they would make a perfect pair of matching earrings. Why didn't I think about making matching earrings before?

I signed up for B'Sues  Change it Up Blog Hop, I know which element I'm going to use but not a clue how I really want to go about using it. While I was out and about carousing the pretties I starting thinking oh what a cute idea! I could cut it up and do something like that, or I could patina it and do something like this. I think I may need to order a couple pieces and allow myself to experiment. Now that sounds like fun and a plan for tomorrow *wink*

Sometimes giving ourselves permission to do something tomorrow allows us to give ourselves permission to recharge the soul and quieten enough to listen to the whisperings of our muse. I needed that.

I'm off to do something, not sure yet just what that is but I'm off to do it!

Thanks for stopping by!
We'll see you next time!

Inspiration

 My Inspiration  

Inspiration comes from many places. I've been talking a lot about inspiration lately I know, probably because my brain has shifted from make to plan mode.

It's been a bit of a whirlwind around here lately, what with awards receptions and end of school year everything. This coming weekend will be a really busy one for our household. My Daughter graduates college and starts a new job, my hubs has a birthday, and we have Mother's Day, boom boom boom just like that.

The kiddo and I are both planning on sewing new dresses for this weekend, which will of course require jewelry. I offered to make her some, but sadly the "trauma" of her high school graduation, and the inability to get off stage because the presenter was so smitten with the necklace I made for her, has made an indelible impression on her memory and she declined. She wants an easy on, thank you and easy off this go around.

I will just be making myself some pretties to wear and she can wear pearls.

So what does a paper bouquet, a spring meadow, polymer roses, a pretty wrapped gift and my daughters best Aladdin face have in common? They're my inspiration for the earrings I'm about to make. I think they're going to do triple duty for me, I'll have something really pretty to wear to the kiddos graduation, they'll do for my entry into the chandelier challenge B'Sues is having, and they'll also do nicely for the About Me entry for Year of Jewelry - see planning mode lol

Oh, you want to know how each is an inspiration? Sure! The paper bouquet inspires a cascade of flowers, the spring meadow brings gorgeous colors (my dress is gray) the polymer flowers are a free tutorial I found on Pinterest, the gift inspires the addition of pearls to the cascading flowers and the kiddo - she's the reason for it all.

Feel free o share your inspirations in the comments below, I'd like to know what inspires you?

See ya next week!

Inspiration is Everywhere Or I Write a Guest Blog Post

I see things a little differently than some people, I see design in everything. I see patterns, and colors, texture and movement. I see the potential to make something pretty, something mine. Like this wonderful photo of a Pariseienne door I found on Etsy. I love the carvings, the floral center, the diamond frame, and the little rosettes. That softly faded green of a natural aged patina. Just gorgeous. 

It immediately brought to mind this wonderful connector over on B'Sues website, with just a little touch of Swelligant or Gilder's Paste that patina could be given life on a really pretty piece of jewelry.  It would make for a truly gorgeous set.

It was the same when I saw the Dolce & Gabanna earrings I write about on B'Sues blog http://bsueboutiques.typepad.com/bsue_boutiques_jewelry_su/2015/04/finding-your-style-in-everyday-inspiration.html. The shapes immediately brought me to several of her brass filigrees. I knew how easily they would make up similar earrings.

As I created my inspiration earrings I could see how wonderfully the style would translate in an asymmetrical design.

I loved Coral's earrings from the Build a Line Challenge, she created a beautiful asymmetrical design. Then I remembered this filigree pair from Mia Montgomery she mixes up both size and shapes but the design still balances beautifully.

If you'd like to see the earrings I made hop on over to Brenda's blog to take a peek and see the $800 earrings that inspired them.

Thanks for stopping by!
We'll see you next time!
Dana