Year of Jewelry Week 24: Commitment

Five days of blog posts IN A ROW!?
It's taken real commitment, but I've actually done it and am pretty pleased with myself. . .it's the little things in life that make me happy.

Speaking of commitment, that's actually this week's prompt for the Year of Jewelry Project. I didn't consciously work on this week's theme but when this necklace was finished today, I knew it fit the bill. Don't ya think?

It had been a simple brass cross. The simplicity of it had left me dumbstruck so I added the acrylic floral piece with some E6000. From there, the design just kinda took off.

I dug through my beads for white, ivory, and off-white beads and a few brass/gold tone pieces. I even did something I hardly ever do anymore, I worked on this piece while I watched a movie with Pat last night. That took commitment. . .

It was no time at all before I finished it up this morning. It's WAY longer than I had planned (guess I got carried away while watching that movie), but just perfect the way it is. You can see more 'Commitment' in the YOJ Facebook album.

I'm going to try to be a little more committed to the Year of Jewelry Project's prompts, but I really can't promise anything. My days and weeks always surprise me. Does the end of the week ever sneak up on you before you realize that you didn't get half the tasks done you had planned doing? This was a good one for me, we'll see how next week goes.

Year of Jewelry Week 17: Organically Yours

It seems to be taking forever, but I'm desperately trying to get back on my game. You may remember from earlier in the year that I'm participating in the Year of Jewelry Project. Besides the fact that I somehow managed to skip week 5, I'm now six weeks behind on the prompts. For now, I just want to share what I made for this week's project. However, I am hoping to try to go back and make something for the weeks I've missed. That may end up a bit too ambitious for me, but it's at least worth mentioning. Maybe putting it out here like this will make me more accountable.

So. . .as the title states, this week's prompt was "Organically Yours." The prompt can be taken any variety of ways, but I went with my initial impulse to make something using materials from nature.

I chose to pick from items found during one of my latest trips to the beach in order to make the focal for the piece.

A spongy-looking piece of coral and a bit of driftwood worked perfectly. From there, I used some waxed linen cord to attach them together with a mother of pearl bead to tie the beachy theme together.

The rest of the necklace was constructed with other beads made of natural elements: wood, tagua nut, shell, and lava.

 Right now, I'm pretty smitten with the focal but am not sure that the rest of the necklace is doing much for me. It works. . .but I'm not in love with it. What do you think?

Check out the other examples of how "Organically Yours" was interpreted in the Year of Jewelry Facebook Album.

Since I'm all about getting back on my game I should be posting my Focusing on Life photo(s) tomorrow as well. Make sure you check back in for that. As well, tomorrow will be the 3rd and final reveal for the Bead Soup Blog Party. I'm still trying to hop the first and second reveals. . .yeah I'm kinda glad Lori made the BSBP only once a year. How are you coming on the hopping?

See y'all tomorrow!! (see what I did? I made this promise so now I HAVE to follow through. ha!)

Year of Jewelry Week 10: Wabi Sabi

Prior to this week's prompt, I had never heard the term Wabi Sabi before.

I read through most of the description of Wabi Sabi provided on the link we were so kindly given. In fact, I kept it open in my browser all week to refer back to. Of course, that didn't help me get my butt in gear to make something before today, but it did keep my imagination flowing for what I  might make to correspond with this theme. One of the parts of the description that hit me were these lines:

Wabi-sabi is flea markets, not warehouse stores; aged wood, not Pergo; rice paper, not glass. It celebrates cracks and crevices and all the other marks that time, weather, and loving use leave behind.

Ohhh. . .doesn't that sound lovely!? I think it's an aesthetic I want much of my jewelry (and even my house) to have. For more design-focused, here's yet another line:

The palette is drawn from browns, blacks, grays, earthy greens, and rusts.

I can almost FEEL this idea of Wabi Sabi. It's lush and green and damp and warm. There's something of a mossy-feeling about it. And the more I read over the description, the more I wanted to make something mossy. Yet, I couldn't figure out exactly HOW so I procrastinated once again. Today it hit me that I could flock an item to give it a mossy finish. Yet, I haven't had any flocking materials in the craft room in a few years and I didn't have time to run out and get any. So I'm holding that idea close for another time and decided to just go with the Wabi Sabi idea of imperfection and the wear of time for today.

Digging through some thrifted items, I turned up a couple of worn wooden beads. Then I turned to my trusty mother-of-pearl buttons to find some chipped and well-loved ones. Since the idea of mossy green was still firmly imbedded in my head, I grabbed some dyed jasper rondelles. For the final touch, I used some luscious brown patina-ed brass wire from the Patina Queen to make the findings.

There's just something about these that make me think of a walk in the woods. They're somehow comforting.

What do you think? Did I capture the Wabi Sabi concept?

Check out the other interpretations in the Year of Jewelry's Wabi Sabi Gallery.

Year of Jewelry Week 9: Simplicity

While I want to say that the idea of creating a piece of jewelry that personifies 'simplicity' was complex, it actually just fell together without much thought. I mentioned the other day that I've been attempting to create with some of the goodies that are already scatted across my desk. After I paired up the loose beads to make earrings, I was left with a tiny collection of three beads. These quickly transformed into a little pendant on a silver chain.

Simple

Easy

Beautiful

Ah, simplicity! Sometimes I completely forget how refreshing it can be.

There's more examples of Simplicity in the Year of Jewelry Project's Facebook Photo Gallery.

Year of Jewelry Week 8: Multiples (Earrings Galore)

For this week's theme of "Multiples", I didn't have to think too hard as I already had a project in the works. A friend of mine (MUCH younger friend of mine) celebrated her 17th birthday this week. She got her ears pierced last month and had asked me to make her some earrings. So, I went on an earring-making tangent and ended up with one pair of earrings for every year of her life and one pair for good luck. I'll let her decide which ones are the lucky ones.

See. . .MULTIPLE pairs of earrings!

Since I was in a rush to get the earrings to her on her actual birthday, the above picture is the only one I got of all those earrings, but I used Photoshop to zoom in and crop that picture a little so you can see the details somewhat better.

Top left corner

Top right corner

Bottom left corner

Bottom right corner

I tried to make sure I covered the gamut of what she might want/need: a variety of colors, some dressy, some classic, school colors, variety of metals, etc. And, I assured her that if she found that she needed some other kind of earrings I would totally hop on making it for her. What do you think? Did I leave anything out?

Year of Jewelry Week 7: Off the Cuff

There's plenty I should be saying and catching up on today, but sinus issues had me working in slow motion all week. That worked perfectly with this week's Year of Jewelry Project topic, "Off the Cuff." Initially I figured I would do a bracelet, playing off the 'cuff' of the topic. However, as the end of the week began to loom upon me, I realized that I didn't have the time or energy to learn a new skill. It works out though since the definition of Off the Cuff is "to ad-lib with little or no preparation or forethought." HA!

As this was the case, I grabbed my bowl of miscellaneous beads (leftovers from other projects), picked out some beads that seemed to blend well together, and threw this bracelet together.

It makes me happy to know I got SOMETHING accomplished this week.

This Year of Jewelry thing is really helping me push myself to get at least one item made each week and that's great. You can see more of the projects for this week's topic in the Off the Cuff facebook album.

Heads Up and Year of Jewelry Week 4 Reveal

Oh, there's so much going on today I don't even know where to start. I guess let's just jump right in.

First, if you go back to my ZnetShows Design Team reveal post, I've added a list of links to the other design team members' reveal posts. I need to get through them all myself. I've seen a bunch of the reveals on the Facebook Page, but I definitely need to head to each of the blog posts. I'm in awe over some of the innovative, inspired, and downright beautiful design these other designers came up with.

Secondly, today starts the sign-ups for the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party. You only have until Sunday evening to sign up for one of the three reveals. Remember, there will only be ONE Bead Soup Blog Party this year, so this is IT! You can find the link for the sign-up form over at hostess Lori Anderson's blog, Pretty Things.

The main thing I wanted to share with you today was my completed piece for The Year of Jewelry Project. This week's topic was "Not from the Mall." This sure got my wheels turning. I immediately thought of buttons since that's not something you see very commercially available in jewelry. I envisioned a bright array of buttons wired on a frame. My attempts at that idea just were not coming into fruition. I knew my lacking skills with wire frames were to blame. You can see a bit of what I was attempting in my Bead Table Wednesday post. Since I was running short on time, I decided to simplify and make a pair of earrings. Here's what resulted.

Using some soldered copper rings and vintage mother of pearl buttons, these earrings just fell together for me. While on a flat surface like this it looks as though the buttons are framed in the rings.

However, when hanging, the buttons turn sideways in the rings to give them a neat look from all angles.

I don't think you'd find anything like these at the mall. I could be mistaken though, I don't go to the mall very often.

You can check out the other designs for this topic in the Year of Jewelry Project Week 4 Gallery on Facebook. There are some pretty amazing artists in this group!

I think that's just about everything I needed to tell y'all today. At least I hope it is. If not. . .I'll be back!

Grace Reveal and a Little More College Football

I'm a little ahead of the game out of pure luck I suppose. The prompt this week for the Year of Jewelry Project is GRACE.

"Grace" really has a lot of meanings, interpretations, and definitions and I definitely won't get into all of those. I do have to say that what I saw on the football field last night by the Alabama Crimson Tide was indeed grace. Their skill and ability, the ease at which they played, and their general sportsmanship (with a few exceptions) exuded grace. Roll Tide for sure y'all!

Interestingly, a few days ago (before I ever saw what this week's prompt would be) I listed this necklace in my shop. It's name? Grace.

Don't you find it kind of funny that the the only beads of color I placed on that necklace are crimson in hue and that there's a chandelier crystal in it (the BCS Championship trophy is a crystal football)? I know I'm reading to much into this. I do tend to over-analyze things.

In any case, this is my submission for Grace. Head over to this week's album to see how other designers interpreted the prompt.

I also HAVE to share this picture of the pendant I won from Therese at Therese's Treasures. I received it in the mail yesterday, and it must have been a sign of good luck as Therese lives in Alabama too!

Yes. . .yesterday was a very lucky day! (well, with the exception of it being the end of the college football season.)

Don't forget to visit the Year of Jewelry Project facebook page for more on this endeavor.

Renewal Reveal and a Link-a-palooza

After a late night on Wednesday, I was moving super slow yesterday. Even with my snail's pace I was able to finish my The Year of Jewelry Project design for this week. The prompt was "Renewal".

Now, my design is nowhere NEAR as impressive as some of the other designs in the album for this week, but I'm so happy with the way it turned out. It's very near to what I had imagined.

When I read the prompt, I saw in my mind's eye a blank canvas of white with a little bit of color starting to seep into it.

I was also struck with the notion of Springtime and the renewal of plants and flowers as winter's chill begins to lift. With this image in my head, I knew I needed to incorporate a flower.

The pendant is made from a Tim Holtz tag fragment and a piece of cardstock that I altered with paint, embossing powder, and distress crackle. I'm quite pleased with how well these worked together.

In addition to revealing this week's Jewelry Project, I thought I'd also share some links for

• If you saw my goals for 2013, you may remember that one of my goals for the year was to operate Analytics better. I haven't really figured out the best place to start on this goal, but did find that I had this link from Problogger saved on 5 Goals Every Blogger Should Set Up in Google Analytics. Now. . .I'm not positive that all the words in that article make sense (to me) when put together in that combination, but I think with some re-reading and actual hands-on experience I'll figure it out. I hope you do too.
• I had no idea you could use a high temperature glue gun and silicone molds to make awesome jewelry. Ashley at Lil Blue Boo shows you how with her Glue Gun Cabochon tutorial. See for yourself.
• Michelle Mach at Beads and Books always has some great information. Back in August (I KNOW, I'm wayyyyy behind), she shared some tips on SEO for Jewelry Shops. If you can believe it, I actually used to do SEO as a job for a little while. However, I've let all that information just slip out of my head. This was a fantastic refresher and so, so easy to understand.
• Over at Cheap Crafty Mama there's an awesomely simple tutorial on making your own Air Fresheners with items you probably already have sitting around the house. Go take a look-see.

Now I've got some photos to edit, some to take, and some XBox playing to get to later so I'm headed out. No worries, I shouldn't be gone long as I'll be revealing my Focusing on Life photo tomorrow. Eek! See y'all then.

BTW: New Projects and Groups to Inspire My Creativity

Look at me getting back into my old routine. Woohoo! I hope I can keep this up, but it's only the second day of the year so we'll see.

To help keep me motivated on some of my goals, I've joined a few groups/projects. One is The Year of Jewelry Project. It's a Facebook group that gives you a prompt/theme each week for a year to create a piece of jewelry and explore your creative process.  The first prompt is "Renewal" and that's the project on my desk presently for this Bead Table Wednesday.

As soon as I saw the theme for this week, I had an idea. Now it's just up to executing my design before the deadline of Saturday (1/5).

It's getting me to attempt some fun and new mixed media skills.

As well, I get to play with my beads and buttons for the first time this year. If you're interested in joining the group you better hop on it. I remember reading that they'll only be taking new members until the first deadline of Saturday.

In addition to that group, I've also jumped on board Sally Russick's (of the Studio Sublime) new project called Focusing on Life One Photo a Week.

She'll be sending us a photo prompt each week and we have the whole week to capture something inspired by the prompt. You can read more about it on her blog. Personally, I think this will really get me in gear to work on my "learn to operate my camera better" goal for 2013. The first reveal for this group will also be Saturday, Jan. 5th. I'm not sure if Sally is still accepting new members or not, but it couldn't hurt to ask her if you are interested.

I hope I haven't gotten myself in over my head with these new year-long projects. For now I'm really excited about the possibilities and creativity they may bring.

So, that's what's on my Bead Table this Wednesday. You may find more Bead Table Wednesday in the Flickr Group, but it doesn't look like there's been much activity over there in a little while. Come on guys! Play along with me and share what's on your craft desks too.

Do you have a plan on how to foster your creativity this year? Why not join one of these three groups or let me know what ideas you have to get and stay inspired. I'd love to hear your ideas.