Saturday, March 31, 2012

Finished! or maybe not yet...

So - here is the finished necklace. I really like the way the beaded necklace looks. But there is still something about it that I am not sure I am happy with... I am going to put it on Miranda - do you remember Miranda, my trusty dressmaker's mannequin? - and just contemplate it for a while. We will see.



Vintage leather, vintage linen, silk rod, copper, ostrich shell beads, peridote nuggets, carved citrine leaf bead, African recycled glas beads, African sandcast brass beads, small brass and glass beads from India.
Kind of like another prayer flag talisman...

Wishing everyone a beautiful Saturday!

Friday, March 30, 2012

work in progress - rework in progress - necklace version 4.1...

Many of you will know just what I mean. Creating a piece of jewelry does not always happen in a straightforward way. You have an idea or even a visualized finished piece and in the process of making it, things change. You may have a new inspiration. Something might not work as planned. Maybe you aren't completely happy with the finished piece. You start down one path, retrace your steps and go down another. New options arise. You retrace your steps again... and so it goes.

None of this is ever visible in the finished piece. So I thought it might be interesting to show some of those byways...


Heavy gauge copper wire for the top of the focal...


That ring at the top just didn't convince me in the end - off it went.




Smaller gauge wire with recycled glass bead inserted - much better, I think.



The gauge of wire I was using ended up being too thick, so new hooks needed to be forged. I wasn't happy with the result of using sari silk ribbon. Started a different version with waxed cord - not happy with that either...

See the final version tomorrow...

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

something in the works...

It has been awhile - sorry for the long silence. Seems I haven't felt I had anything interesting to share...

But - I finally made it to my workbench and have something in the works...





I am leaving you with these bits and pieces of my WIP, which will be finished soon (I hope)...