So I made these lovelies on the weekend :)
All supplies from Beadfx.
Right at the end of our journey to the Highland Cattle Farm I picked up a feather from the ground near the chicken pen. ‘Can I keep this?’ I asked a bemused Kim, ‘Uh, sure’. Of course I had plans (evil laughter, ok no, not really, but check this out):
The feather was carved up and preserved into 1″ bezels using jewellery grade resin for some truly unique and lovely jewellery. Both pieces are Christmas gifts :) I can’t say for whom…. who am I to ruin Christmas?
Inspiration comes in the craziest places, doesn’t it?
Blog death yet again – but this time it’s not my fault. My computer has been on the blink, and I have been in and out of Apple stores trying to get this resolved. I am starting to feel dubious about ‘genius’ being a job title… but I digress.
I have been busy though, and today’s post is about the birthday gift I made for my newly wed friend Kris. At the end of the wedding, while everyone was drunk and distracted, I absconded with a few petals from her bouquet. Sneaky, no? Here was the bouquet:
And here are the results:
Like all my resin work, this is jeweller’s grade resin. It will never yellow, or fade. I thought it would make a sweet keepsake for her – so even after the rest of the bouquet has been dried she can wear and remember the original colours of her wedding day :)
Well, not quite. There are still leaves up there but I’d say the sweet spot for leaf preservation has passed.
And that’s the ‘why’ of the matter for me – Autumn is beautiful and magical because it passes. The trees give us a treat for a few weeks and then it’s over. More than spring, more than summer, there is a nowness to autumn – you’ve got to enjoy every beautiful, colourful jewel of a day because, well because winter is on it’s way.
This is why, of all the things I’ve preserved in resin, autumn leaves are the most precious to me. I have taken something transitional by nature and preserved a piece of it. No matter how many times I do it, it always feels a little bit like magic, especially when my stash of leaves begins the inevitable – turning into dust.
Another reason I love these pieces is that they’re pieces of home. They’re Canadian maple leaves, collected here in Ontario. The fact that we have 4 seasons is one of the things that makes life up here so beautiful and inspiring and I love being able to create something not only inspired by, but made of, seasonal change.
Enough babbling :) I’m in a romantic mood this morning, maybe because tomorrow is the big wedding day for Kris and Kev! We all got our mendhi (henna) handwork done last night, and we’re all excited for tomorrow!
There will likely be only one more round of jewellery coming after this one, and then I’ll retire the resin until tulip season in the spring. Check out my Etsy shop to see what’s available :)
This is a new experiment I’m trying – what do you guys think? A tiny knitted swatch inserted into a pendant and sealed in with a glass cabochon. I’ve only made 2 so far – I wanted to see if others found the idea as compelling as I do. Knitting is beautiful, why not as jewellery?
For anyone who’s curious – the grey yarn is Viola Viola in Dew Drop, the Blue is Tanis Fiber Arts Silver Label Mulberry Silk in a OOAK colourway that’s very close to Deep Sea.
A few more additions to the Etsy site tonight – still in the resin zone! Last summer we found a monarch butterfly in the grass that had been eaten by a bird. The bird left the wings behind. I know it sounds kinda gross, but I folded the wings into some paper and slipped them into my wallet, knowing I would do something with them later.
I would never hurt a living thing to make art – so I couldn’t pass up the chance to get my hands on perfect monarch wings! I also put in a few floral pieces based on some tulips I preserved last spring. I had taken the summer off working with resin… clearly I missed it!
I’ve finally updated my Etsy site with jewellery made from the leaves collected on our road trip. If you followed my travels around North Ontario you might have seen this picture:
During the trip I made sure to be collecting leaves along the way – looking for anything that caught my eye including small ferns, and strips of birch bark. We didn’t hurt any trees though ;) everything I used was collected from the ground. We slowly dried and preserved the leaves over the trip so when I got home I had all kinds of beautiful material to work with.
Every necklace is made with jeweller’s grade resin; it will never yellow and it won’t scratch easily. Little compositions of leaves and bark have been created in each 1″ bezel.
They come in a variety of finishes; copper, bronze, hematite and silver. Each one comes on a matching 18″ball chain.
If you like what you see then head on over to my Etsy site to see more :) These one of a kind pieces are crafted with love and are a great way to celebrate this beautiful time of year.
