Inspired by Reading – The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston

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Allegory Gallery, Andrew Thornton, Grubbi, Inspired by Reading Book Club, Nunn Design, Paula Brackston, The Silver Witch, William Jones

I have two reveals today!  To see the reveal for the Allegory Gallery Design Challenge – Storm Cloud, click here.

Today is the reveal for the Inspired by Reading Book Club featuring the book The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston.  I really enjoyed this book, although it took me over 100 pages to get into it, and it wasn’t a long book!  I don’t know why. Perhaps because so much of the beginning of the book was the main character in her head.  I live so much in my own head, maybe I like books with characters who get outside themselves more for a change.  I’m not sure.  Anyway, as I’ve said before, this is the great thing about book club. I persevered because of book club and enjoyed a book I otherwise would have abandoned.

This book is about Tilda Fordwells, her experiences and what she learns about herself as she starts a new life in a remote cabin in Wales a year after her husband’s death. I really enjoy books about women taking control of their lives and also like magical realism, so this was just my sort of book.

I had recently gotten this hare by Grubbi, so it was just perfect since a hare features in the story.  I wanted to include something in beautiful gold as a nod to the torc.  I had larger things in mind, but settled on this one bead with a fancy design on it.  I have a couple of large gold seed beads and a gold Nunn Design toggle as well.  I had some lovely matching rounds also from Grubbi that I thought about using, but I couldn’t stop thinking about these vintage German glass beads.  They always remind me of snow, also something that has a role in the story.  I separated the glass with tiny stones. Although they are stone, they look to me like clay pots and reminded me of Tilda’s work.

When I went to look for a good link for this book, I found the author has a bunch of others.  I enjoyed this book enough that I will be checking those out, and I look forward to reading more of Paula Brackston’s work.  Thank you to Andrew Thornton and William Jones of Allegory Gallery for hosting the book club!  Check out the Inspired by Reading Book Club Facebook page to see what others have made.

Ceramic Bead Challenge ft. Grubbi

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Ceramic Bead Challenge, Grubbi, Lisa Lodge, Natalie McKenna, Pine Ridge Treasures

Lisa Lodge of Pine Ridge Treasures is hosting this Ceramic Bead Challenge on her Pine Ridge Treasures – Beads and More Facebook page.  The challenge features beads by Natalie McKenna of Grubbi. Lisa offered sets of beads and sets of discs.  I opted to get one of each.  More is better when it comes to Grubbi!

I absolutely love these colors and the rustic nature of the beads.  I especially love the colors of the disc set and was tempted to use them in a necklace just all next to each other at the front, but that just seemed too easy.  I chose instead to use the sets together in a knotted necklace, a favorite style of mine lately.

I added a nice silver oval connector I got at Michael’s with a couple of the Grubbi beads and a little silver key.  I dotted the strand with stamped silver beads between the ceramic.  Here is a little closer look at the Grubbi beads.

This was another fun challenge from Lisa Lodge.  Thanks, Lisa!

AJE August Component Reveal

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AJE, Art Jewelry Elements, Grubbi, leather feathers, Natalie McKenna, Rebekah Payne, Tree, WoolyWire

I have had such wonderful luck with the Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month.  I was very fortunate to win one of Rebekah Payne‘s leather feathers to work with this month.  We were offered a single larger feather or a smaller mirrored earring pair.  I chose a gorgeous single feather.

The top photo is by Rebekah and shows the choice of single feathers.  I chose the one in the middle of that photo.  Below you can see the incredible detail. She cuts the feathers from suede, uses a wood burner to create a design and then hand paints them.

I went through so many ideas in my head, I think I’ll have to get more feathers. For this challenge, I decided to make a bracelet.  I tend to wear bracelets more often than necklaces.

I made the feather the focal of the bracelet and added some labradorite to bring out the grey tones.  The feather is rustic yet elegant.  I see the labradorite the same way – a gemstone in this rough faceted nugget cut.  I separated the larger beads with small random brown beads as a nod to the various browns in the feather and wrapped the connection with WoolyWire for texture and color.  I punched a hole at the end of the feather so I could add a clasp.  I have to admit that was hard for me.  I never want to alter components, but sometimes they need a hole or glue (in the case of cabs) for a connection.

To finish it off with a little movement, I added a ladybug charm I got in a destash from  Natalie McKenna of Grubbi. I love my feather bracelet.  Thank you so much AJE and Rebekah Payne!  Please click on the links below to see what contributors and other lucky guest winners made with their feathers.  It’s going to be fun!

Guest Artists

Karin Grosset Grange – http://ginkgoetcoquelicot.blogspot.com/

Ann Schroeder – https://beadlove.wordpress.com/ – You are HERE.

Claire Lockwood – http://www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com/

Toltec Jewels – http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com/

The AJE Team

Jen Cameron – http://www.glassaddictions.com/blog

Diana Ptaszynski – http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com/

Kristen Stevens – http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/

Lesley Watt – http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com/

Jenny Davies-Reazor – http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Francesca Watson – http://francescawatson.com/

Linda Landig – http://www.lindasbeadblog.com/

Melissa Meman – http://melissameman.blogspot.com/

Sue Kennedy – http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com/

Rebekah Payne – http://www.treewingsstudio.com/

Caroline Dewison – http://blueberribeads.blogspot.co.uk/

New! Beads and Photo Backgrounds

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Frugal Muse Bookstore, Grubbi, Jubilee, La Bella Joya, Marci Abney Carroll, Mary Cullinan, Natalie McKenna, Sam Siegel, Sam's Bead Shop

I was at the used bookstore yesterday, and I decided to buy some old books to use as photo backgrounds.  Quick shout out to Frugal Muse – a great bookstore. I always like the look of old books when I see other people use them in photos, whether text or a tattered cover or picture.  I got a an old text with yellowed pages and deckle edges, a large book of sheet music (good for longer items), an art book with both black and white and colored pictures, and a book about Rembrandt and his comtemporaries with lots of good black and white.

As a book person as well as a jewelry person, it’s a little hard for me to do what might need to be done to treat these books as photo props more than as books, such as break their spines so they lay flat.  Eeek!  I haven’t done that yet, but I did get them out and grab some new beads to see what’s what.  Here is what I came up with when just quickly testing them in the overcast morning.

I feel like the sheet music works pretty well, especially for something colorful like these beads from Jubilee.  I am in love with the raku selection available from Mary Cullinan of Jubilee, here mixed with some glass.  The colorful beads show much better than the light ones.  If I were truly trying to feature the beads, I would choose a different background for the white building bead.  Also, I’m usually so focused on getting decent lighting, that I don’t notice other things.  The above picture perhaps wasn’t the best of the lot, but it’s the only one in which the building bead is showing front with the door.  In subsequent photos, like the one below with perhaps better light, the building is shown from the back.

Next we have pictures of some gorgeous beads by Natalie McKenna of Grubbi.  I was lucky to snag the landscape pendant.  There was some hot competition.  🙂

I think this shady black and white background is perfect for them.  Color is a bit distracting as shown below.  I also tried one with a color picture more in the color family of the pendant, but it all blended together too much.

Moving on, I recently got two beautiful word banners by Marcie Abney Carroll of La Bella Joya.  She keeps finding news ways to upcycle laminate samples.  I love it!  For this I used the cover of a book.  I thought the yellow banner might look better on a darker background.

But I actually think they both look better, or at least just as good, on the lighter background.

Last but not least is a non-art bead that I am in love with all the same.  I’ve been enjoying shopping at Sam Siegel’s store on Facebook, Sam’s Bead Shop.  I got this big and beautiful Dzi agate bead with my last order.  I love it and have so many ideas for it, I added four more to my upcoming order.  I have a feeling I’ll be asked to replicate the first necklace I’m going to make for myself, so I want to be prepared.

I think the bead looks fabulous here on black and white, even though the black is very dark.  This bead is bold enough to hold its own.  I think I got kind of an Alice in Wonderland effect with this next picture having the bead look bigger than the room in the background.  That could be a cool effect to play with sometimes.

I hope you enjoyed this photo tour of some of my new beads and backgrounds. I really enjoy trying to improve my photos.  Please share any great photo tips you have in the comments!