A Bit of Inspiration

Tags

Allegory Gallery, Ava Motherwell, MyElements, Nostalgica, Sundance Living, Yvonne Irvin Faus

I saw a cute bracelet in the Sundance catalog, and it inspired me. Sort of a classic turquoise, silver, and gemstone number. I got out some materials, and as my piece started to come together, it wanted to be a necklace. So that’s what I ended up with. I think it’s lovely.

I got several of the carved silver tubes from Allegory Gallery. I was planning to use them in earrings, and I still have enough to do that. But I like this use too. The agate beads are from a Tucson mystery box I got from Ava Motherwell. (Allegory Gallery is having a trunk show with Ava Motherwell September 17 – 18, 2025. I’m very excited!) The gold-edged turquoise beads are from Nostalgica as is the silver ring of the clasp. That may seem like a little thing, but findings can really make a piece look finished and higher end. I don’t always have the findings I want, so I’m trying to stock up on things when I see them, like nicer jump rings. I don’t know where the turquoise is from. I don’t even know if it’s really turquoise. I put everything that looks like turquoise in my turquoise box. I’m terrible at labeling things (or have been in the past. I’m a little better now.) But it was in my stash, and it was perfect.

I might end up making a coordinating bracelet. I rarely make anything matchy, but even if I don’t wear them together, a nice stretch bracelet with similar materials would be something I would get a lot of wear out of.

I also made a pair of earrings. I attended the Allegory Gallery Creative Make-Along on Friday. I was tired and joined late, but it’s fun getting together with beading friends. And interestingly, no matter how long I’ve gone without making something, a Creative Make-Along always seems to help me make at least something.

In these, I used some cute chartreuse and dark rose charms repurposed from old earrings I loved. I used some large green Czech glass beads my friend Lisa gave me and some dark rose Austrian crystals. They’re fun! This is the kind of color combination I am really attracted to.

I made some additional earrings later in the weekend. These are for the Artists for Animals Auction coming up later this year. I’ve used some cold weather motifs. Here I’ve used handmade acrylic beads from Yvonne of MyElements with mitten charms from Allegory Gallery. I made a second pair with materials also from MyElements and Allegory Gallery.

I think Yvonne’s components look like a snowstorm, perfect for the Allegory Gallery snowflake charms.

I like some party earrings for the holiday season. These glitter balls are perfect for that! I think they are from Allegory Gallery, but I didn’t label the bag they were in.

I’m trying not to make too many things for the auction this time. I had so many leftovers last time, and I don’t like leftovers. But it’s always fun to make.

Slacker

Tags

Artists for Animals Auction, Brilliant Resin, MyElements, Yvonne Irvin-Faus

I’m becoming a bit of a slacker in posting, so I’m just making a small post since I haven’t done much. I took off today, just a random day in the middle of the week, because I really needed a day off. I’m taking it easy, but wanted to make a pair of earrings.

I was really going to make a different pair, but I had designed these, for the most part, a few days ago, so I put these together when the other idea wasn’t turning out.

The mismatched rectangles are by Yvonne Irvin-Faus of MyElements. I love her work, and she is always coming up with something new. I felt like these colorful earrings were a good time to use colored wire and also colored ear wires! These will be in the Artists for Animals Auction coming up November 7 – 13, 2022.

Last weekend my mom and I tried a new resin. We have a history of our Ice Resin hardener turning yellow because we don’t use it fast enough. We’ll keep it for projects we want to look aged, but Ranger is moving out of jewelry supplies, so we needed to find a new product anyway. We asked for suggestions and decided to try Brilliant Resin. It has the option to order a small amount and order just hardener in case yours gets too old. They also offer reusable cups and stir sticks. I thought I liked that idea until I had to be bothered trying to clean them. If I used resin a lot, I probably would, but for just a few times a year, they weren’t as easy to clean as I thought.

These are what my mom was working with.

These are what I was working with.

We had some mishaps, but overall we considered it a success. Brilliant Resin has some of the same good qualities of Ice Resin – easy to use, self-healing for some hours after pour. It seemed to have way fewer bubbles. I believe it has a shorter working time, but that can be handled by mixing smaller batches. We ended up mixing two batches. There was one small piece that we had to save for next time when we ran out of the second batch. We probably could have mixed a double batch and used it all in the allotted time. We ordered the second smallest amount (3 oz.) and only used about half of it. My mom’s bezels were pretty big, especially the heart. I think that used one entire batch.

I will share my finished pieces with better pictures. They were still curing when I left, so I will pick them up next time I visit.