I've been on a bit of making frenzy this week. Well actually when compared to some, my output isn't that huge.
The looping on this necklace (thanks Mary Hettmansperger) opened up a new way to work with some of the many gemstones I've collected over the years. I'll happily drill metal but stones and shells intimidate me. The large amethyst in this necklace was said, by the ancient Greeks and Romans, to prevent drunkenness. FancifulDevices (a complete and utter genius) has been using gemstones and her blog prompted me to dig through my stash
I also revisited my collection of hmong textiles and found this little beauty. The colours are just beautiful, really deep almost like a Persian carpet. I teamed it with rosary wrapped beads and added a couple of wrapped silk bracelets - rather than sash chord I used tubing on the bangles,fed a thick copper through and then looped the ends together
I bought some gorgeous Ethiopian beads from xclusivdsgns on etsy including this big round metal bead I used on this choker:
These following pieces are reworks. I picked up some stuff I've had at a local gallery. Mostly I just recycle things that don't sell and break them down in order to scavenge the components . But these have been reincarnated by adding some elements and removing other bits:
If someone could please tell me where December and January went, that'd be great.
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. The summer here in Australia, so far, has been really mixed. We've had pouring rain but also some incredibly hot weather leading to major bushfires, thankfully none close to us but my thoughts are with those impacted.
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| Bermegui Blue Pool, NSW |
We also took our first family holiday for years and travelled up the coast from Victoria to southern New South Wales. My mum, over from the UK, travelled with us so we rented an absolutely fabulous house overlooking a lake and only five minutes from the beach. Whilst we often pop down to Melbourne for the weekend I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to get really get away. We took two cars which meant I was even able to take some supplies with me and make a few things.
Both of these necklaces use window sash chord wrapped in sari silk ribbon. Rather than modpodge, I used ordinary craft glue to preserve the softness and color of the silk. The large washer came from a flea market, the stall holder was astonished at my preference for rusty as opposed to shiny new and gave it to me for free! I was inspired by Kimberly at Numinosity Beads to call the piece 'Rusty Karma'.
The little grungy washer for the found wrapped stone necklace below came from the salt water lake we overlooked, the stone came from outside the property. I used hemp to 'loop' the stone. Mary Hettmansperger covers the this technique in her wonderful book 'Fabulous Woven Jewelry'.
Lately, I find myself drawn to natural elements like rocks, raw and unpolished gemstones (particularly carnelian) at the moment. This bangle stack uses a slab of crazy horse stone along with bone, shell and kuchi.
And this charm bracelet has red and white coral, carnelian, agate, beach glass, fossilised stone and a lovely clay foot from ScorchedEarthonEtsy
I was looking at the balance of items in my shop the other day and realised I hadn't made any earrings for a while. The bells in these are little versions of larger ones I used in the necklace up above.
I realise that I've been a bit slack on my 'blogger' blog posting lately. I've just started using tumblr (quisnam.tumblr.com) and instagram (@quisnamjewelry) to post photos of pieces as they come off the work bench so it's a bit more immediate and up to date work wise but less conversational than my blogger blog if that makes any sense.
'til next time
