Scrap Pendant
Posted by Leah on Jun 14, 2007
I made this pendant from scrap sterling silver, with a few freshwater pearls added. One thing that is really nice about working with metal is that it is easy to reuse scraps. In this case, I had some half-round sterling silver wire in a size that I just don’t use. I’m not really sure why I bought it originally, but it had been sitting around my studio for quite a while. So, I sculpted it & fused it with my torch until I was mostly happy with the look, then added pearls to contrast with the rough look of the semi-melted silver.
This piece took a while to complete because there wasn’t an obvious place to attach a bail, but with some small alterations, I was able to add the wire bezel shown in the picture.
New Pendant
Posted by Leah on Jun 6, 2007
I’ve been working on a new pendant style, which is based on knots. I start by making a knot with wire, then permanently fuse the ends of the wire together, creating a knot that can’t be untied. This is the first finished knot pendant, and I’m really happy with how it turned out.
Recent events have reminded me how impermanent every aspect of life can be. One thing that I explore through my jewelry work is the contrast between the durability of metal and the open, airy, delicate look of many of my metal designs. I like to keep some negative space in my jewelry, using wire in a way that mimics vines, seaweed, or a curled lock of hair - delicate, impermanent, movable states that I try to capture with the wire, the same way a photograph preserves a moment in time. Some things are beautiful because they are temporary and fluid, like water. This is what inspires many of my wire jewelry designs.
If I can evoke movement in my designs, they feel more beautiful. I’m inspired by the state an object is in while it is moving or changing, the moment when something about it is perfect because in a few seconds it will have changed forever.
Beaded Journal Project
Posted by Leah on May 31, 2007
Robin Atkins, a well known beader and author of beading books, started a bead journal project. There are over 200 people signed up to participate in this project, which involves creating one beaded journal page per month.
I can’t wait to see the results! From the main project blog, you can click over to the various members’ blogs for lots of bead eye-candy.
Crocheted Bobble Cuff
Posted by Leah on May 21, 2007
This is my favorite crocheted jewelry design so far. I wanted to learn some new crochet stitch patterns, and found a bobble stitch pattern in my Reader’s Digest needlework book (it’s a huge hardcover book that was given to me by a friend’s mom, and has instructions for all kinds of needlework including knitting and crocheting).
To make a bobble stitch, you yarn over, insert hook into stitch, yarn over, pull hook through stitch, yarn over, pull hook through two loops. You keep doing this into the same stitch until you have six loops on your hook, then yarn over and pull the hook through all six loops. The bobble will look kind of flat at this point, but so you single crochet into the next stitch, which gathers it up and makes it look more bobble-like.
For this bracelet, there are two single crochet stitches in between each bobble. I used a multiple of three stitches and alternated where the bobble was in each row. In between a row of bobbles, I did a row of single crochet. That’s basically the stitch pattern as printed in the book! I ended up with a flat bobble at the end of the middle row of bobbles, so that’s where I sewed on the button. To make a closure for the button, I did a row of single crochet along one end, but chained a couple stitches and skipped a couple before continuing the single crochet, forming a small loop.
I used sport weight yarn and the hook size recommened on the label, and did nine repeats of the bobble to get a decent length for my wrist. You would probably want to experiment with gauge to make sure your bracelet is the right length for you. I think I’ll make it a bit tighter - maybe one less repeat - if I make this again, because it stretched a little when I wore it for a while. It still fits okay, but I’d prefer a tighter fit. I have some beautiful silvery gray yarn (”Love” from southwest trading co’s vickie howell line of yarns - the black version here was made with “Craft” from the same line) that I think I’ll use to make another cuff and a matching necklace. The black was really tough to photograph, so I’m hoping to get a better picture once I’ve made this in another color.
Carnival of the Creators - May 12, 2007
Posted by Leah on May 10, 2007
I got a *ton* of entries for this carnival (which was for May 10th, not 12th as I mistakenly wrote). If I missed your entry, I sincerely apologize - don’t hesitate to submit to the next edition. A few people submitted more than one article, and in those cases, I picked one to include. Since there are so many entries, I’ve divided them into a few categories.
Articles by and about Creative People and their Creations
Bobbi A. Chukran presents Transformations…The Art of Recycling exhibit online posted at Recycled Stuff.
Don West presents Tenacious Trees posted at Idle Minutes.
Cyndi presents Creating a digital mixed media collage posted at Layers Upon Layers, saying, “There are so many different ways to combine digital and physical art. Here’s one of my new favorites!”
Amy E. Fraser presents Dormant Canvas posted at EXALTED BEAUTY
Elvis D presents You Should Be An Actor posted at OneSmallWindow.
Kathryn presents The San Francisco Writing Life | San Fran Voice posted at San Fran Voice, saying, “A blog post about what it means to be a writer in San Francisco.”
Lexi Sundell presents Creative Burnout From Unreasonable Customer Demands | Energies of Creation posted at Energies of Creation, saying, “Burnout results from having to create ill-conceived projects. The “Omigod Ring” reached ridiculous extremes in this category.”
Derek presents Our Earth as Art posted at Acres Wild.
Articles written *for* creative people on everything from inspiration to calls for art to staying healthy
Ruth Mitchell presents Buy Outside the Box: Where Does Inspiration Come From? posted at Buy Outside the Box, Tips on finding inspiration.
Mr. Besilly presents The Power of Creative Vision posted at Mr. Besilly - One Man’s highway, saying, “The world desperately needs creative vision determined to give happiness by creating beauty. Now more than ever, in a time when we trade counterfeit happiness as if it were gold. Selling shallow and fleeting beauty to the highest bidder.”
Debra Moorhead presents The Motivational Trick that Works – EVERY Time posted at Debra Moorhead.com.
David presents How Fashion Houses and Designers Can Use Websites posted at The Alexander Report, saying, “Creative ways fashion houses and designers use websites to increase sales.”
Anmol Mehta presents 3 Most Powerful Yoga Pranayamas and Kriyas - Part 1 posted at Mastery of Meditation, Enlightenment & Kundalini Yoga, saying, “This breathing exercise enhances and develops the right hemisphere of the brain thus promoting creativity, awareness and meditative powers.”
shedwa presents LA Shorts Fest Wants Your Work posted at shedwa.
Alan presents After The Secret posted at Made to Be Great.
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of the creators using our carnival submission form.
The next edition will be hosted at Lori Greenberg’s Blog. Last month’s host was Cyndi at Bead Arts.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
A couple of fun links
Posted by Leah on Mar 14, 2007
The latest edition of Carnival of the Creators is up on Bobbi’s blog. There are some interesting articles to check out!
This next link relates to my post yesterday about what can legally be called handcrafted in the United States. If you want to create a completely handcrafted bead necklace, check out all the resources for making your own beads, posted on Cyndi’s bead arts blog.
Tutorial: Easy Crocheted Pendant
Posted by Leah on Mar 8, 2007
If you know how to make a chain stitch, a slip stitch, and a single crochet stitch, you can make this pendant. The yarn I used is from Vickie Howell’s new yarn “rock”, manufactured by Southwest Trading Company. It is a sport weight yarn, so you could probably substitute any sport weight yarn and get similar results (the color I used is called Courtney - it’s such a bright pink that it seemed like a flower would be a natural thing to make with it). I used a 4mm crochet hook.
You can change the look of this flower by varying the number of chain stitches in the center and each petal - thus increasing or decreasing the size or the loop- or by using a different size/style of yarn with an appropriately sized hook for that yarn. If you aren’t feeling too adventurous or are a true beginner, try doing it with the exact yarn and hook that I used until you feel comfortable enough to experiment.
To start, chain for about an inch and join the chain using a slip stitch to form a ring.
Instead of doing single crochet into each chain stitch, single crochet into the ring itself until you have single crochets going all the way around the ring. Join to the first single crochet with a slip stitch.
To make the petals, chain 4-5 stitches, then single crochet into the next stitch. Do this all the way around, using the same number of chains for each petal if you want a uniform look. Then single crochet into the loop of the first petal the same number of times you chain stitched. In other words - if your petals used 4 chain stitches, single crochet into each petal 4 times. This stiffens up the petals a bit.
Instead of fastening off, chain for about 1 1/2 inches, then join the end of the chain back to the body of the flower with a slip stitch - this makes the pendant bail (the loop you use to hang your pendant from a chain). Cut the yarn and weave in the ends. That’s it!
In the picture, the pendant is hanging on a knitted I-cord, also made from a sport weight yarn, but you could hang it on any kind of chain or fiber. If you’d prefer a pin instead of a pendant, don’t make the bail of the pendant, and glue or tie it to a pin finding.
Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing
Posted by Leah on Mar 5, 2007
Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing (Jewelry Crafts)
This book is an excellent introduction to the basics of metalsmithing, as well as some more advanced techniques. In addition, the selection of photographs is very inspiring. I refer to this book often when I want to try a new technique, or one that I haven’t used in a while. McCreight is a highly respected metalsmith and author, who also wrote books on precious metal clay, casting, and design, just to name a few. His books always seem to be highly recommended by other jewelers and metalsmiths, so even though I can’t personally recommend any except this one, I expect that his other books are also excellent.
My Profile at Bead Arts Blog
Posted by Leah on Mar 1, 2007
Check out this profile about me on the Bead Arts Blog!
Thanks to Cyndi, the author of the blog for featuring me and arranging all the images so nicely. You can read about all of the jewelry artists Cyndi has profiled on her blog here. She also profiles mixed-media artists on another blog, Layers Upon Layers, here. The guy who makes porcelain urinals really caught my attention - definitely unique!
Another blog to check out
Posted by Leah on Feb 14, 2007
My friend Cyndi recently started a new Bead Arts blog, and she already has some fantastic articles and tutorials up.
Check out this profile on another jeweler friend of mine, Wendy of Indigo Skye.
Cyndi and Wendy are two of the jewelry makers who contributed charms to the Charmed Life necklace (I also have a charm featured in this collaborative necklace, pictured here) which will be auctioned off to benefit breast cancer research.
