OK :)
This is the last one in my short series of delicate little charm bracelets, and for my last one I’ve chosen the beautiful city of Florence. The Ponte Vecchio at blue hour, that perfect sky colour and the Arno river so still and reflective inspired me to create this last bracelet – with a deep blue Swarovski in antique copper, filigree charms and one beautiful piece of Italian Murano glass to set it off.
I’m tired, but very pleased with how this latest round of Inspira jewellery has worked out. Now to see how they do at Le Pop! this weekend!
Be prepared this week to see a lot of jewellery – I’m in full prep mode for Le Pop! this weekend and thinking, breathing and dreaming out new designs for my selection. Each piece will be part of my Inspira series – jewellery inspired by my photography and travels. I try to convert the feeling, the colours, the textures, and even the materials where I can, into a piece of wearable art. This one is from my time in Venice:
Silver plated findings, genuine Swarovski crystal details, a large Swarovski rhinestone set in a silver plated bezel and filigree charms make up this whimsical little bracelet inspired by, and sold with, a print of a photo I took from the Rialto bridge in Venice of a gondola going by.
Check out the FB page for Le Pop! here for more info!
It’s official, I’m obsessed with glass working. The tipping point came when I realized I’d finally started making beads nice enough to create jewellery from them. It is so satisfying to wear something where even the actual beads are made by you!
This isn’t my bead – it’s Tito’s. I stole it from him as soon as I saw it. He’s been quite gracious about the theft – especially after he saw the cute overlong necklace that I made ;) It’s my colour anyways – doesn’t that mean that it’s mine?
This one is mine – I love the pendant on an overlong chain, but I’m also pleased with my budding abilities at decorating the actual bead. This one had dots that were melted in, then I poked holes in it with a pick, and covered it with a layer of clear to form little bubbles in the glass. The entire thing was melted smooth afterwards. For extra shiny the base bead is created with a hematite finish glass for that metallic look.
I love this one! after created nested dots in blue and white and melting them smooth I took the pick and lightly swirled my design. Love the results!
And of course my obsession with etching continues – I love the effect I got on these two beads – still working out what to do with the rectangular one.
Best of all… I took all the beads that were a reasonable match from this round and finally did something with them. Add a few bead caps and some pretty spacers and I got this, which I am proudly wearing even as I type:
I’m finally getting confidence with the torch, and it shows. I’ve got another round coming out of the kiln today, can’t wait for my goodies!
In the tradition of my other Inspira pieces I’ve created a bracelet inspired by the Lake of Quidi Vidi in St. Johns, Newfoundland:
Tito and I shot the lake during the blue hour. It was a very serene spot. I love the deep blues and the reflections in the water.
The Quidi Vidi bracelet was created using chocolate Japanese delicas, sterling silver bead caps, ocean blue Swarovski crystals and quartz crystal stones.
Western Canada is breathtaking – but give me the East Coast any day, that is where my heart lives :)
I loved the washi bracelets from a few weeks ago and decided I couldn’t stop there; here are my latest attempts :)
I love this one – hematite findings with a toggle clasp and black/white/pink washi.
Because the ring and the backing are not one piece I had to make my own bezel. I used contact paper on the back of the ring to make a seal, placed a thin glaze of jewellers grade resin on the back, placed the washi inside and added a second pour, including the dome. The paper ends up nicely sealed inside the resin and after it’s cured you can pull the contact paper off the back and add your own backing.
To make sure the paper didn’t go translucent on me I sealed it using Modge Podge beforehand. I let this dry for a full day, to make sure it was totally cured before adding the resin.
Turquoise and antique copper are one of my favourite colour combos.
2 extra medallions went into a cute pair of earrings.
I’ve been doing some more work with resin and flower petals – more pics tomorrow!
I’ve got resin on the brain ;) This time I experimented with making small medallions of Japanese Washi (和紙) and antique copper. I then used them to create a few rings, earrings and a bracelet – I love how it turned out, I’ve already got plans for making another one out of flower petals…
