12/28/2016

Oldies but Goodies - December birthstones

I'll admit it, I don't really get birthstones - wait, I think I mentioned that before. There are birthstones in different cultures, there are old ones, modern ones. In fact all I remember is that as a child I was very disappointed about mine being a pearl. A pearl is not even a stone. I never quite got that one.
It's a good thing we have people at JAC who are better at that and can tell us that the Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge will be about the colors of turquoise or blue topaz because those are December birthstones :-D
It's amazing how turquoise has taken over this challenge, but there's also one piece that shows both colors ... do you see it?


1 and 6 MC Stoneworks
2 Cat's Wire
3 and 8 Violetmoon's Corner
4 and 9 RioRita
5 and 7 Jewelry Art by Dawn

12/27/2016

Challenges

I'm not talking of the many challenges that 2016 threw at all of us. I don't have the time or nerve to list all of them up, also I know it would turn into a big rant and I want to spare you that.
No, this is a wrap up post about the 2016 challenges at the Jewelry Artisans Community and about the pieces I came up with. If you want to see the other entries as well, just click through in the topic list at the bottom (although most of my pictures have disappeared there, but you get them here, so that's okay).
Which one is your favorite?



January - Make something that's new for you
I had never made something tassel like before and I re-found those beautiful rose beads that were a gift from a dear friend, so I teamed up rose, seed and drop beads for this one.

February - Romance
I didn't feel the romance, so I skipped that month.

March - Lariats
After a few attempts that didn't make me happy I took the opportunity of those pearls already being on the wire and had a little crochet session.

April - Spring has sprung
Beaded flowers can turn into an obsession as you can tell from this beaded necklace!

May - Button, button ... who has the button?
Now that one was a real challenge for me. I have never been a fan of buttons, not even as a child, and I avoid them until today. The ones that I do love are usually Victorian and too expensive for me to have them lying around. Then I stumbled upon a mysterious vintage button, mysterious because I had to find out its history and because I have absolutely no idea how it ended up in my place!

June/July - Zip it up
After my whining about buttons our challenge master chose zippers for those two months. Strictly speaking this is not a piece of jewelry although I had planned to turn it into one - which hasn't happened yet. It features a zipper from a vintage Barbie swimsuit and, well, I had fun with this one.

August - Cool clear water
This pendant is woven in dark and light blue wire around an ammonite that is about 100 million years old. It never ceases to amaze me that I am able to work with such old and beautiful fossils. The water is represented by the wires, but also the ammonite itself and by the pearl that is topped by two tiny crystals.
I do love my ammonites!

September - Goodbye Summer
I'm not an expert in peyote bezels, but I'm trying ;-) A sunflower picture that our challenge master took was supposed to inspire us. Can you tell?

October - Halloween Treat
No one could come up with anything due to different reasons, so there were no Halloween treats at all ...

November - Fire
I have all those bugles, but hardly ever a good idea for them. This bracelet ate up some of my stash - and my time.

December - Christmas earrings
I got these finished just in time to wear them on Christmas Day. Now I'm thinking I need to make more next year.

Please also visit these blogs:

Violetmoon's Corner
Jewelry Art by Dawn 

12/21/2016

Oldies but Goodies - Bangles

This week we are talking about bangles. To be honest I never really thought about the exact definition of a bangle. To me it was always a bracelet without a clasp, and that's what I found in some dictionaries. Others, however, told me that a bangle is circular in shape AND rigid, not flexible. So my wire crochet bangles are not really bangles, but bracelets just because the ropes are not rigid? I know that there are others who seem to follow the same definition as mine. I'll have to check that out and let you know what I found out.

For now here are examples from our Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge, though, "real" bangles and (maybe) not that "real" ones ;-)


1 Jewelry Art by Dawn (I hope you can see all the pictures, I just couldn't pick only one spot of this fabulous bangle!)
2 and 5 RioRita
3 and 4 Cat's Wire
6 and 7 The Crafty Chimp

12/14/2016

Oldies but goodies - That's not jewelry

About one and a half years ago I already showed you a collection of items from the Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge that are not jewelry.
Some of the techniques our members use for jewelry are also useful to make other things, and there's always more than just beads and wire. I'm sure if they had thought of it, they could also have shown us how they knit, sew, draw and more. Once again this is just a small selection from this week's challenge. Enjoy!



1, 9, 12 Violetmoon's Corner
2, 8, 10 Jewelry Art by Dawn
3, 5, 7   The Crafty Chimp
4, 6, 11 Cat's Wire

12/07/2016

Oldies but Goodies - Sparkly

You will have noticed that I don't have an advent calendar on my blog this year. I just didn't make it and I don't like doing just half.
That doesn't mean we can't have a bit of holiday feeling, however, this time with lots of sparkle.
I have to admit it, I love it sparkly. I can sit in the dark with just my reading lamp on, hold a strand of crystals, twirl it, move it and stare at it hypnotized by the sparkle. The other day I made a bracelet of black and silver lined red bugles and gave it away as a gift, but only after I admired the beauty of the beads in the light for a few days. I know I'm not the only magpie out there!
Here are some of the pieces from the last Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge. I just wish my blog had the right light for them to show their true sparkle potential ;-)


1 and 8 The Crafty Chimp
2 and 6 Violetmoon's Corner
3 and 7 Cat's Wire
4 and 5 MC Stoneworks