Art Jewelry Boot Camp: Wire Work Out Blog Hop!

Free form wire work earrings with New Jade stones

Today is the Wire Work Out Blog Hop presented by Art Jewelry Boot Camp.  I have been following along.  What really grabbed me was the post by Staci Louise of Free Form wire work.  I found that I just love working with 14 gauge copper wire.  So all of these pieces that follow were made with it.. After I free formed the wire, I put the pieces in a Liver of Sulfur solution and waited until they turned black.  Then I tumbled them and the black became shiny!!  I have rubbed off bits of the patina on some of the pieces to show the copper but I do love that black.  I did the same with the wire I wrapped the stones with but I didn't tumble it since it wouldn't fit in the tumbler--I make up quite a few feet at once. 

Theses cool dangles are from Scorched Earth on Etsy

These are slightly mismatched stones that I wire wrapped to hang from the free form 

A group shot with one pair not quite finished ( that one was made with 16 gauge--quite a difference!!)

I also tried making  free form wire pendants which are such fun to do.  Here is a pic of one that I decorated with wrapped ceramic beads that I made. Wrapping onto the wire construct is such fun and has so much inspirational potential.  I can see this worked into one of my free form peyote necklaces.

Free form wire with wrapped ceramic beads and stone dangles

Thanks so much for stopping by and looking.  THANK YOU  Love My Art Jewelry for all your well thought out and inspirational  tutorials, videos and info.

I hope you will check out what others  made in their wire work out sessions.  You can get the links HERE

Focus on Life: Green Week 24

This week our prompt from Sally is Green--so perfect for this Spring here in Northern New York.  We have been deluged with rain and everything keeps growing and growing and getting greener and greener.  I chose to post this photo of some blueberries on by blueberry bush because they are green with that beautiful hint of pink which will turn to blue later.  They look so tasty but sadly they are about all the berries there are for the three bushes I  planted 4 years ago.  I must be doing something wrong.  Any suggestions would be so appreciated!!
I hope you will check out what others have green in their lives HERE.  Thanks so much for stopping and for all of your comments.

New in my Etsy Shop SALE First Friday Art Walk Weekend

Porcelain Toggle Clasp in Red Orange in my Etsy Shop

It is First Friday Art Walk Weekend on Etsy through Midnight Sunday June 9.  Use coupon code FirstFriday15  at checkout for a 15% discount in my Etsy shop.  Also please take a look at the other Etsy shops participating in this event HERE.

Lime and Coral Daisy Pendant here

Shamrock Pendant here

ART Toggle Clasp   here

Small Round Rustic Black Toggle Clasp with Sterling Silver Bar   HERE

Large Sun Rays Toggle clasp   HERE

Out of the Volcano Toggle Clasp  HERE

Rustic Black Tree Pendant  HERE

Butterfly Toggle clasp in Scarlet  HERE

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  We are told we will have sun and warmth today.  Hopefully you will too!!

Inspired By Reading Book Club: A Rumor of Gems

A Rumor of Gems with Clasp from my necklace inspired by the book

Close up of double strand toggle clasp by Mary Harding

This month for Andrew Thornton's  Inspired by Reading Book Club we read A Rumor of Gems by Ellen Steiber.  This is a fantasy novel that is full of magic and the lore of gems.  I  was captivated by the setting and the incipient magic of the gems.  In the necklace I was inspired to make by this book I focused on the idea of captured power and magic in gems.  I used several beads that I made to convey the idea of fantasy and mystery.  

My starting point was some long Rosemary Herbal Totem sticks that I made recently.  I wanted to increase the raw gem like quality of these so I made some in porcelain clay. 

I was inspired to try dipping them into some Copper Clay slip by artist Petra Carpreau from Scorched Earth.  She makes beautiful rustic pieces using a technique of blending clay and bronze clay. You can check out her Etsy shop HERE.   Mine are quite different because of the way I did it and because of the copper clay being quite a different material than bronze clay.   The black color is from the copper clay slip and the gorgeous turquoise is a mid fire clay glaze.  I feel that the two together invoked the sense of the captured incipient power of the raw turquoise gemstone.

I further conveyed the talismatic feeling of mystery and captured or incipient power in making small copper clay charms and a fiber bead which I attached  to the tips of the peyote stitch strands.

 And to give the necklace more focus I made a large round focal bead from copper clay as the center energy point of the necklace.

                   

                                 View of the entire free form peyote stitch talismatic pendant.

A view of necklace as it would look if worn

Since I loved the technique for the long porcelain beads, I made more of them and turned a pair of loosely matched totem sticks into a pair of captured gems earrings.

I wrapped  waxed linen around the tops of the earrings to increase the primitive talismatic look of the gem sticks.

As you can see, I had a wonderful time being inspired by the Rumor of Gems.  If you have an interest in the lore of gems, I highly encourage you to read the book and go to Ellen Steiber's website where she has an extensive list of books to read and information about gems.

But most of all, please  look at what the other readers were inspired to make by clicking on Andrew Thornton's blog for a complete list of those participating in today's blog hop.

or click on the list below

Mary K. McGraw http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/
Jenny Davies Reazor http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog/
Judy Campbell http://www.macmillanmarie.blogspot.com/
Jeanne Billeci Steck
Andrew Thornton, Laurel Ross, Terri Greenawalt http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/ 

Week 22 Foodie

Our prompt this week from Sally was to take a pic of food we love.  This picture above is a cheese plate my husband prepared for us last night.  It was so hot it was a "no cook" dinner.  I love the way the food looks on this plate and the parts I like best are the cheeses( Brie, Gouda and Swiss) and the fresh Italian bread.  The Schinken under the knives is a specialty deli meat that my husband loves. We are not able to get it locally so we buy it whenever we are near a Wegman's grocery store since they carry everything good in food.  But that is in a big city, not out here in the country.

My other food loves are salads, raw veggies, fruit and Mexican food, especially enchilladas which I make whenever my children visit.  In the category of foods that are not good for you, I especially love cheddar chips.

                                                               My  bad!!!


To see what everyone else loves to eat please click HERE

Week 21 Reminisce

Our prompt from Sally this week is to take a photo that triggers a memory and to reminisce.  Recently I was reminded of a very special summer when I was 11 by the cottony seeds flying in the air  from this great  tree.  There is a long line of them in a town near where I live. 

 We call them giant sycamore trees.  And they in turn remind me of the giant cottonwood tree that grows out west: in  particular, northern Arizona.  It was the summer when my parents sent me to a horse camp in northern Arizona.  Just an amazing experience for 6 long weeks on a ranch.  Each camper was assigned a horse to care for and ride.  My memories are of long rides on endless acres of  unfenced land and then coming across the lone giant cottonwood-- a beacon and a sign that water is nearby; a memory of a dry arroya suddenly filling with a 3 foot high bank of rushing water after a thunderstorm; passing the test after  learning the correct names for all the parts of a horse, saddle, bridle and how to care for and groom them and earning the status of no longer being considered a tenderfoot.  I had many incredible and wonderful experiences that summer besides riding every day.  I learned how to tool leather and made a belt, I had a close group of friends in our bunkhouse, we had campfires and sing alongs and a camping expedition to the Grand Canyon.   And I encountered my first bout of homesickness.  When the summer was over, several of us and an adult boarded the train and rode all the way to New York City where my family met me at Grand  Central Station.  It was truly a summer of adventure and personal growth that revisits me whenever those cottony seeds fly. I will always be grateful to my parents for their wisdom in making it possible for me to have these experiences

                                     


To see what others have reminisced about this week click HERE.

Looking Up Week 20

                                                               Lilacs blooming

This week out prompt from Sally was to look up.  This time of year that is a good idea since much of the magic of spring is in the trees as they begin to leaf out and flower.  I missed some wonderful shots since everything happened so fast this Spring due to the very warm weather.  But I didn't miss these gorgeous Lilacs.  Turns  out this is a fab year for lilacs.  They are blooming big and bountiful everywhere you look.  Yesterday on a long drive though out the area I was treated to many:  where there were homes and in places where they mark an abandoned long since decayed and disappeared dwelling.  It was a sight to see.  Here is a pic of some blooms  from one of our ancient lilacs.  I can get a whiff of their sweet perfume as I type.

You can see what others saw this week when they looked up HERE.