Chandelier Necklace

Have you ever been to salvage yards, where you can find all kinds of home décor pieces for sale? We had a great one near us that recently closed down. That's really too bad because it was a wonderful source for artists, particularly assemblage artists. I had a friend who found door handles, metal P.O. Box doors, funky hinges, and old candlesticks to use for her art. I found a few things I could use for jewelry, most notably chandelier crystals.

This store had boxes and boxes of different crystals, all sorted by shape and size. Presumably, people would go there to find a match for their home chandelier when a piece broke. I just looked for their individual beauty, as well as a suitable size for a necklace. I didn't want to go to big on the crystal piece because they can be quite heavy.

Here's a necklace I created using a chandelier crystal.

I painted a background for the crystal. First, I used watered-down acrylic paints on watercolor paper. I splashed a few of those around. When the paper was dry, I traced the crystal on it, then cut a piece of paper to size. The paper was then glued to the flat back side of the crystal. To finish it, I then traced the crystal on a piece of black adhesive felt paper. The felt has a paper side that you pull off so that you can then adhere the felt to the back of the painted paper on the crystal. The felt gives it a nice soft feel when you're wearing it around your neck.

The chain is a purchased chain and I added my own crystal dangles to match the color scheme of my chandelier piece.

I didn't put a clasp on the chain since it is long enough to slip over your head. Voila! Instant crystal charm.

New Jewelry

So you don't think that I'm just painting right now, I'll show you a jewelry piece I just completed. It is a two-strand necklace. For the small beads, I used a bead soup that I got from jewelry artist Beverly Gilbert, and I added some of my own beads to it. The greenish-brown beads were purchased at a bead show, I don't remember when. I don't have a huge inventory of beads on hand, but enough that I can dig through and find something inspiring to create a new piece. I founds those round beads in a little ziploc, and that was the starting point to this necklace. The clasp is a lobster, and I used copper to go with the colors of the necklace.

Yes, I Still Make Jewelry

You may think with all my posts about paintings that I'm not making any jewelry. You're right, not a lot, but I'm still into it. I'm always trying new things, picking up new books. I'm a book fiend, and can't get enough of them. I recently picked up the latest Belle Armoire Jewelry, which while in the magazine section, is priced like a book and gives a ton of examples like a book.

The hot trend for the last few years has seemed to be using resin in jewelry. While resin is a specific product, usually two parts that you mix together, you can also find many easier things that will give a resin-like quality. Even a strong clear glue, the glossier the better, can give a resin look.

I made this necklace when I was challenged to create something using a piece of sheet music. I cut rounds out of the sheet using my scrapbooking circle cutter. I fashioned copper wire rings with loops so they would be charms on the necklace. Using my chasing hammer, I flattened the wire loops. Then I place a loop on top of a round of sheet music, and squeezed a resin-substitute into the circle. The wire was a barrier so the resin would stay in the circle. I let it dry, then I was able to create this fabulous necklace that I finished with tied fibers. Come to think of it, the other hot thing with jewelry is including fibers -- ribbons, yarn, strings. I'd say this necklace is quite cutting edge.

Mica Book Charms

Everyone needs a little book that they can keep close. Even if you never write in it, it will make you feel connected to your passion for reading and art. I had some friends over to my house, and showed them how to make these tiny books to string on a necklace as a little charm. The cover is cut from a sheet of mica. Mica can be cut with regular scissors. It peels into layers, so you can get two covers out of one piece, or leave it as a thick sheet. We used a crop-a-dile to punch holes in it so we could attach it to a string or ribbon. Since the mica is fragile, we also inserted an eyelet into the holes to give it some strength.

We used thick watercolor paper for the pages, and just cut them to size. I wanted it to have a little bulk and not just be flimsy copy paper. You could decorate the paper with rubber stamps or paint.

Te back cover is cut from a sheet of copper. We used tin snips to cut the metal, and slightly cut the corners to remove the sharp edge. A dremel is perfect for smoothing out the edges, but you can also use manual files. You can't use a crop-a-dile or other paper punch for metal. We used a jeweler's hole punch to make the holes.

We made jump rings from copper wire. All very simple, and a pleasing result.

Blue Necklace

Yes, that's a boring name, right? I always title my creations before I put them on Etsy to sell, but I'm having trouble with this one. I just finished this three-strand necklace and I'm at a loss as to what to name it. Do you have any suggestions?

I've used a bead soup mixture of blues and purples. Pearls and glass beads accent the strands, every inch or so.



I've joined the three strands within a silver Bali cap bead to hide the ends. The toggle clasp is sterling silver as well.



Any ideas for a clever name? Here are some of my favorite names: Susie wants Silver; Dangling Participle; Madame's Finest; Sultry Blue Moves. Post some of your suggestions here.

My Favorite Color

It's probably not a secret, but I love blue and all its shades. Over time, I've gotten away from so many blue accessories in my home. I embrace many more colors now. But if you analyzed my wardrobe, you'd see I have a lot of blue -- royal and turquoise being my most prized. So here's my latest necklace creation using all those wonderful colors. It's my first free-form bead weaving necklace since I learned the technique in Beverly Gilbert's class. You can check out my previous post and the necklace I created here.

I started with one of her bead soups, a mixture of blue, green, and purple beads.


I strung four interconnected rows, then started building the focal piece.


I added a chain at the end to make it easy to fasten. Here's the final necklace.

Golden Raspberry

I recently made this necklace with Beverly Gilbert's Golden Raspberry bead soup. I added a few glass beads to the mix, and made it a three-strand necklace. When attaching the strands to a 3-strand magnetic clasp, I purposely didn't match up the strands so that it would give a twisted look. When you wear the necklace, it appears like it's one long strand that has been twisted around your neck a couple times. This mix of beads has a lot of shiny gold seed beads, so the necklace is quite stunning and really catches the light. You can now see this necklace for sale at my Etsy Shop.

100th Post and Giveaway!

Whew -- it took me 26 months to get to my 100th post. I'm definitely doing more posts per month now, but I'm still a little erratic. I'll do 4 in one week then skip 3 weeks. Ah well, that's just how it goes. But I'm very excited that I've reached this milestone. I love that I have this venue to showcase my jewelry creations, my experiments with painting, assemblage, artist trading cards, and other art pursuits. To celebrate, and thank all my blog readers, I will be giving away one of my necklaces to a lucky reader. I'll be drawing a name from all the comments to this post, but I have a request. My last couple posts I've been talking about the bead class I took from Beverly Gilbert. I love taking classes and would love to hear about more. So in your comment, tell me about an art class you took that you really liked. Who was the instructor? Where was the class?

As a special bonus, I'll be sending a 10% off coupon that can be used in my Etsy Shop to the first 26 readers who post a comment. Keep your comments coming, and keep them interesting. I love hearing from people all over the world, and I love visiting your blogs in return. Make sure you have a link to your own blog in your comment so I can stop by.

I decided to do a mini-tutorial to show how I made this giveaway necklace. I started out with one of Beverly's bead soups, and a piece of 18 guage sterling silver wire to make a pendant.

I used my round-nosed pliers to make a loop at one end. I always make the loop that will attach the pendant to the necklace first.


I continued using the round-nosed pliers to bend the wire into an attractive shape.

I used my steel block and chasing hammer to hammer the wire pendant flat. I used the large end of the chasing hammer. I didn't hammer the ring at the end of the pendant because that tends to open up the ring.

I turned around the chasing hammer and hammered with the smaller end to make little dimples in the flat wire. I like this look because the dimples catch the light and make it even shinier.


And finally, I strung the beads and attached a lobster clasp.

Here's the final necklace that will be given away to one reader. Get your comments going!



Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll keep this giveaway open until October 30.

Bead Soup Necklaces

I've been playing around with these fabulous bead soups that have been created by Beverly Gilbert. If you haven't seen what she can do with color, you have to stop by her website. I'm heading out to her vacation home in Whidbey Island, Washington, tomorrow to take some of her colorful bead weaving classes. I can't wait to see what I come up with. I already own a lot of her bead soup mixes, so I looked through my stash to decide which color theme I wanted to go with for my class project. I ended up calling her to see what mixes she had on hand. She said not to worry, she'd have a dozens of new color combinations to show me and I could just decide then. She said I may even change my color ideas a few times before I decide on the final project. I'll post some photos from Whidbey Island as soon as I can get my hands back on a computer. For now, I'll show you some photos of necklaces I've made with her bead soups.

Shimmery Desert Sand


Dark and Tangled Seas


Hike into the Rainforest


Crackling Ice Floe


You can soon see these for sale at my Etsy Shop.

Another Necklace

I've been back at my art table, creating a few more necklaces. I made this last week using browns, mauves, and beige. It sounds plain, but it really isn't. The center beads are colored fresh-water pearls. I love how they are unevenly shaped and hang vertically. They're real smooth and feel nice on your neck. I think the colors make me think of Fall weather. Here in Florida, we've been having stormy wet days. It's keeping the temperature in the low 80's, and we may have even broken 78. That's cool for us! I guess Fall is coming.

You can see this necklace for sale in my Etsy shop here.

Joyous One Note Musical

Maybe that title is a mouthful, but that's what I thought of when I looked at my latest necklace creation, and that's what I called it when I posted it to my Etsy shop. The beads are a mix from Beverly Gilbert's collections. I added a few silver beads to it so it would really go with the dangle I was making. The vibrant reds, pinks, orange and blue just seemed so joyous to me. I used 18 guage sterling silver wire for the pendant. I cut a length, bent it into shape, then hammered and textured it with a chasing hammer. Finally, I polished it nicely with my Dremel.

Just Finished Some New Jewelry

I needed to get back into some basic jewelry making. You know, going through your stash of beads, arranging colors, patterns. I'll give you a sneak peek, and I'll be posting these to Etsy later in the month. The focal beads are ceramic. I've found a few of these in different colors at bead shows. I've used brown and black glass beads and seed beads to accent them. The turquoise beads are ... turquoise? I'm guessing not for real, but they are beautiful.

Empowerment

I recently read a blog post from someone who was speaking of empowerment. She thinks empowerment is a "loaded word. A word that gives me a push/pull reaction, a word that the more I thought about it the more I didn't really understand what it meant."

That got me to thinking. What does empowerment mean to me? I think there are two parts to it: the empowerment you give to yourself, and the empowerment you receive from someone/something else.

You empower yourself by learning about something, knowing as much as you can about it, becoming a master at it. Then you are empowered to do that thing in an intelligent, creative, beautiful way. And you can empower yourself to do something that you truly like (like a piece of art), regardless of whether someone else accepts it or likes it.

I take various art classes, then I come home and practice what I've learned. I have empowered myself to be a more skilled and creative jewelry artist. Then I can make something bold, like this fish necklace here.

Now, who in their right mind would like to wear this big, honking, fish necklace? I would. I'm quite proud of its creation. I used a gyotaku rubber stamp of an actual fish. I soaked it in an etching solution, so now the copper has a raised, fish-scaly surface. I carefully cut around the fish and smoothed the edges. I used glass beads that look sort of like sea (or river) glass for the upper strand. The back of the necklace is recycled sari ribbon. The chain holding the fish is aged and wrapped with a strand of various seed beads. The shell hanging from the fish was found here in Florida.

I was able to put all those elements together because I am empowered by my knowledge of jewelry techniques; I am empowered by my ability to place unlike components and colors together to make an interesting look; and I am empowered by my confidence in my design to wear such a stunning necklace.

The other kind of empowerment is that which is provided by another. Yes, others can make us feel empowered. But isn't it much better to have faith in yourself, and develop your empowerment from within?

One World One Heart Giveaway

You are all invited to come to One World One Heart and meet hundreds of fabulous bloggers, just like you. Lisa Swifka, of A Whimsical Bohemian, has created an annual event, called One World One Heart. The idea is to enable bloggers from all over the world to come together, visit each others' sites, and see the richness of the art, creativity, and personalities, that make up the blogging world.

I have joined the One World One Heart 2010 Magic Carpet giveaway. I'm inviting you to check out my blog, post a comment at this post, and then I will put all the names in a hat and give away one of my handmade necklaces. I hope you take some time to look at some of my other blog posts and see what I'm all about: making jewelry, meeting other artists, sharing creative ideas. And then, take a moment and look at others' blogs. There are so many wonderful bloggers out there. This giveaway will end on February 15.

Please leave your name and the name of your blog on your comment. I hope to be able to stop by your blog as well! See you soon. -- Suzanne


I call this necklace "Copper Moon." The focal is a raku piece, and it is surrounded by hand-hammered copper disks, deep blue beads, and is held by a copper toggle.

Vary Your Tastes

An art piece may contain many elements. Visually, there's color, quite often the more, the better. There's finish: matte, shiny, smokey, milky. Shapes and lines pull your eye to the different parts. Texturally, there's soft, hard, smooth, rough, cold, hot, sharp, blunt.

For this necklace, I wanted to introduce many elements by using various beads, wire, metals, and fiber. And so I call this necklace, Vary Your Tastes.

You can see all the colors I used from the mix of beads and the ribbons hanging from the pendant. This necklace combines hammered copper wire, torch-fired copper metal, different types of ribbons, and silver end caps and clasp.

P.S. The beads I used were from Beverly Gilbert's Coral Beach bead soup. Beverly has the wonderful ability of combining many colors, shapes and sizes of beads together to make a beautiful mix. She'll be showcasing her jewelry designs in her new book, Beaded Colorways, due at the beginning of 2010. You can visit her blog here.

Native Symbol

Have you ever found something at a bead show that you thought was way cool, but you weren't sure what you would do with it? I know, that happens all the time. Just change the location from "bead show" to "flea market" or "antique shop" or "art store," and I'm sure you know what I mean. Sometimes these jewelry elements/art supplies sit in your stash for months, or even years. Then one day, and you don't know why that day is different from the others, you pick up that little trinket, bead, -- whatever -- and you know just how you will use it.

And that's how I came up with this new necklace. I call it Native Symbol.

The trinket I found at a bead show is this long center piece. I bought it from a woman who had beads from all over the world. At first I was mad that I didn't write down its country of origin or what it was made of. But then I though it would be more fun to imagine where it was from and what it means. To me it looks like it would be worn by a native people, centuries ago. Whether Native American, Aboriginal, Inuit -- it didn't matter. But I imagine it would be worn to symbolize the power that your family holds in your community. And the colored ribbon reminds me of the brightness of the sun when it sets -- brighter still at that last moment before it drops. I know the trend now is to use steel wire when you want that aged look, but I used sterling silver for this one. I don't think steel was available to the Native Americans. Drop the silver in a little liver of sulphur, and you instantly have that aged look.

Heart & Soul

I haven't posted any photos here for a bit, but it's not for lack of artistic creation on my part. I've actually been quite busy making necklaces, ATCs, and other collage art. Next week I'll be showing three pieces of jewelry at an Artists' Reception at a local bank. The Wellington Art Society has been invited by Amtrust Bank in Wellington, Florida to hold a one-night reception for their artists. Each participating artist can bring three works of art. I'll be busy all afternoon putting together easels so our members can display their 60+ pieces. After I do the hard work of setting up, I'll do a quick change and be ready for the reception from 5:00 - 8:00. I decided to make three new necklaces for this affair. Here's a sneak preview of one of them.


I started this necklace by making the focal piece. The heart is hammered copper, and I've hung a clutch of ceramic beads below it. The chain links are all hand made -- I wrapped wire around the oval handle of spatula! Hey, anything works, and you'll get a nice consistent look. The side copper pieces say "HEART", "& SOUL". I love the combination of the copper with this cool, sherbet-y green.

Hot Dragonfly

I got a new toy to play with the other day. It's my new butane torch. Now, I've had a torch for many years. When I was in cooking school we used big, propane torches to do all kinds of things: heating pans for removing cheesecakes or frozen desserts; burning meringue for a perfect key lime pie; and of course burning the tops of creme brulee. I did that for 200 plated desserts at a restaurant when I was the pastry chef there. There's no way you can't feel macho wielding a propane blowtorch. So when I wanted my own torch for cooking at home, of course the big propane daddy was the way to go. No wimpy Williams-Sonoma creme brulee torch for me! I'd be re-filling that baby constantly.

Fast forward a few years, and now I'm using my torch for soldering, coloring metal, and creating beads on wire. I learned torch-fired soldering in a class in a bead store, using the little butane torches. Well, at home of course I was going to use my big macho torch. I set up a safe area on my dining room table by laying down a 12" square tile, placing a fire brick on top, and I was good to go. Until I lit that torch and blew little balls of solder all across my beautiful table! It was like mercury balls running around, only these were red hot. Luckily, I didn't burn the table. From then on, I did all my torch work outside on the patio.

After ten years, the torch for my propane canister has finally died. I had to make that trip to Home Depot for a replacement. And what do I see? The wimpy little torches have grown up! I see the butane torches are stronger, have multiple tips, and can refill easily. I have now un-machoed myself, and will be using this smaller torch. Just the canister of my older one was bigger than it!


I tried my new torch the other day when I wanted to heat some copper pieces to give them a little color. Much to my surprise, I can use this little guy in the house right at my art table! I'm still a safety girl, but it's just not the big, honking thing the other one was. I don't think I'm at risk of accidentally lighting anything else around. And it has an easy "off" button -- the other one you had to twist the dial to turn it off. I'll definitely be using this more, especially when I just want to quickly heat up one thing.

After all this talk off torching, here's a photo of what I made. I cut out wing shapes from 24 guage copper, then torched them for a nice mottled effect. I "sewed" them together with 28 guage wire, then sewed on a little bead I made using yarn, wire and beads. Together they make a nice little dragonfly.


I made this dragonfly to go on a necklace that was started by Carol Moore. She wanted a nature theme, and she started it with a beautiful focal piece -- check out her copper butterfly wing with attached key and resined bezel photo. She said the drilling of the key to attach the rivets was quite an adventure. I'm impressed with how well she cut the copper around her etching of a butterfly stamp. In a month, after one more addition, she'll get her beautiful necklace back. I hope she likes this sneak preview!


This was a fun dragonfly to make -- you may see some more in future creations.

Objects and Elements

The talented Susan Lenart-Kazmer has challenged her readers to show their best summer color in a jewelry creation on her blog. I've created a three-strand necklace with a large blue and black bead as its centerpiece. I've wrapped the bead with steel wire, and I also used steel wire to make the clasp and jump rings. One strand is full of blue, purple, and silver beads. The black strand is a length of silk cord. And the final strand is bright blue silk sari ribbon, which I bought from Susan's Objects and Elements shop. The sari ribbon comes in many colors -- my bundle is blue, purple, green, all very bright colors. The challenge was to make a piece using the colors of summer. I think I've accomplished that with my summer color necklace.


You can see all the entries to Susan's reader challenge on her blog. Take a moment to vote for your favorite and leave a comment.

Jewelry of the Week

Maybe you've guessed by my studio name that blue is the color that inspires me most. It works beautifully with silver, which is my metal of choice. I made this necklace, which I call Shimmering Silver, to showcase a beautiful blue glass bead I found at a bead show.


I used 18 guage silver wire and made every piece to it except the length of chain at the top. I wrapped the wire, twisted it, hammered it and bent it. I added a few more beads for a little spark of color. The focal bead is hanging below a wrapped hook, which I felt helped it stand out even more. This necklace doesn't have a clasp because it's long enough to go over your head. I love the feel of just the thin chain on my neck. This looks beautiful with a simple black top.