THE ART TRAIL!

Our Art Trail last Sunday went quite well, not sure what to expect as this is the first year our town has held it, some people said they couldn't find us although I think they just didn't walk far enough up the road, anyhow we met some nice people and everyone was pleasant.

I sold my first Kumihimo necklace a rather elaborate one with baby blue pearls and garnets all the findings I made in Polymer, it was one of my favourite necklaces as it took me a long time in working out the design and making it was incredibly fiddly, the lady who bought it liked three of my necklaces maybe she will get in touch and buy the other two...!!! She also bought a pair of earrings, I think she was trying to buy something from everyone which was a lovely thing to do.

Here is a picture of the necklace.

~Jackie~

THE WEDDING!

The wedding was a colourful affaire, the bride wore a gorgeous purple gown with frilled train and the bridesmaids all wore a similar colour but the style was more subdued very Grecian they had long silky wraps and all looked very pretty. 

The reception was a pleasent affaire there was even a chocolate fountain with marsh mallows and pieces of fruit to dip  plenty to eat, the cakes was quite plain and strangely it was a coffee cake very unusual I thought, anyway all went off well.

I can hardly believe Katherine is married, she went to school with my daughter Lara and the pair used to come home after school on a Monday, Kat had dinner with us then her mother would pick her up after work and take her home, the pair of them would spend hours drawing and listening to music together, oh my! Where does all the time go, below is a photo of the pair at the reception.

 ~Jackie~

ART TRAIL WEEKEND!

Today is the start of a busy weekend for my daughter and myself. 

Lara's best friend is getting married today, Lara is one of the bridesmaids, the dresses her friend chose for her five bridesmaids are in a lovely soft purple, flowing and rather grecian I think they will all look very elegant. Hoping the weather will be ok the sun is out at present so fingers crossed!

This weekend is also our little towns first Art Trail weekend there are over fourty artists and crafters exhibiting their work, either in the several galleries in the town or in their homes or studios, there will be workshops, live music and poetry. Six gardens to visit and many other attractions, including music, dance, theatre etc, etc. The weekend will I think be interesting, we are participating on Sunday only as Saturday is taken up with the wedding. Between us we are exhibiting paintings, art jewellery, silk scarves, soft sculpture and Lara's book for signing.

I think it will be a very fun and interesting weekend for us and hopefully be the first of many more Art Trails.

Blue Bells, one of my necklaces in the Art Trail created especially for the occasion 

~Jackie~

MY GARDEN.

The weather is improving and I have been able to get into the garden, the beds have been too wet to walk on till now as there has been a lot of rain.

It is wonderful to take my coffee outside and sit and feed the fish, while I plan what I will be doing next, so far I have planted some lovely blue grape hyacinths also snowdrops bought in the green to add to the ones already there I bought two variety's as I just love them. About the middle of the border I planted Digitalis Camelot Rose and near the front a beautiful Primrose, deep blue with silvery white edge it is a nice big plant which I will probably have to split next year the yellow and pink Primroses are out and the primulas have buds! 
I transplanted a lot of the bright pink small gladioli they grow wild on the continent and seem to like my garden too. 

As we are on the coast we usually get mild springs though the winter gales can get very cold but the garden now it is mature seems to have its own micro climate and I can grow tree ferns outside all year and the Hedychium Gardnerianum (ginger) grows huge it had eight flower spikes last year as there was so much warmth and sun. 

I keep some of my Cymbidium orchids out all year too as they won't flower in the house, though I do very well with Phalanopsis etc, if they don't succumb to mealy bug. I was clear of that pest for years then bought in a plant quarantined it for a month then put it in the display and eventually had to get rid of more than a dozen of my miniatures it was heart breaking and I felt like giving up. Once that mealy bug is established it seems impossible to eradicate.

The double Magnolia Vulcan is gorgeous this year with no cold winds to brown the edges of the blossom it is a picture against the blue sky, I have put a couple of pictures below of Vulcan and the ginger.

I have more planting to do so will be going out later this morning.

~Jackie~

ART JEWELRY ELEMENTS REVEAL - MARCH HARES !

This is my first time doing a challenge with the AJE which is nice as I had been looking for something interesting to join in on and Hares seemed like the ideal thing, that was until I tried my hand at actually sculpting a tiny one for my necklace! Well I managed a passable one eventually and you can see him below.

I love this template I made it for a different necklace and have used it several times now in varying sizes, I used gold Premo Polymer, the grass and hare are textured ( I really enjoy doing this ) and the little flowers are embellished with Swarovski crystals. I hammered some bronze to make links and also makes the closure added citrine rondelles and gold plated beads.
I did a Kumihimo braid especially in greens and yellow of various hues which sadly the picture doesnt show much of and as I don't like the glue on ends I make my own end caps with Polymer, I chose these sort of heart shape leaves.

I also decided to make just a pendant with a Hare peeking out from behind an old tree, this one is in Polymer too and is touched with gold paint here and there, I just put it on a green silk cord.

These were both such fun to do I have really enjoyed the challenge and am looking forward to see what others have created! 

The rest of the blogs in the challenge are below so please do go to visit them if you can.

 ~Jackie~

 AJE Team

Jenny

Caroline

Lesley

Linda

Niky

Melissa

Rebekah

Lindsay

Guests

Aural - Woodland Bay Native

Heather - Hidden Ridge Studio

Cindy Martin-Shaw

Karen Panthaki

Jackie Ryan

Karin Grosset Grange - Ginko et Coquelicot

Pamela Traub - Klassy Joolz

Paisley Lizard Designs

Karen at Ditsy Blue

Michelle McEnroe ( 4 pieces pinned on  the AJE Pinterest page)

THE CONTEST!

I could not have been more surprised when I won a contest recently, not because I thought my humble offering was unlovely but simply because it was so different to my usual offerings and  materials, but I do like to use and put together in my own way things that appeal to me sometimes unusual or overlooked materials.

Thinking about it I always go rather for elegance, it can be simple or elaborate, I have been musing on this a lot lately, why I design as I do, put together certain colours, even use certain materials or gems does it depend on my mood, fashion, time of year! Yes, probably all these things hold a certain sway over how I design and make. Then there is the inspiration, I am inspired by so many things, colours definitely I love colour! My garden, trees, the sea, flowers and leaves, photographs, architecture, sometime a film will spark an idea, art nouveau and many other things, anyway enough of musing.

The necklace for the contest started with hand dyed silk in shades of Pale blue and green with baby blue freshwater pearls for the Kumihimo braid. I made the ends for the braid in silver Polymer, inspired by the seed pods of Lunaria Annua ( honesty ) no glue was used to attach them to the braid, I hammered and sculpted the silver wire central shape, the inspiration for these shapes came from a photograph of bubbles frozen under a lake in Canada. Then I wire wrapped the center circular portion to hang a pendant of rock crystal. One end is also the hook closure. 

So there you have it, Blue Ice the necklace!

 Thank you for looking your comments are much appreciated ~Jackie~

MY FIFTH AND LAST DAY ON THE FACEBOOK ART JEWELRY CHALLENGE!

Well its my last day so I had to put up one of my great favourite necklace I made it as a special birthday gift for my dear sister.

This Huge freshwater drop pearl is set with ruby and peridot cabs on a carved band of gold polymer clay, the beads and bead cap are either gold vermeil or gold fill as is the chain. I used some very fine freshwater white pearls and ruby and peridot faceted beads for the necklace. 

I love designing these embellished pearls they look so amazing! 

DAY 4 OF THE ART JEWELRY CHALLENGE!

Day 4. of the Facebook Art Jewelry Challenge. 
Today I am adding another of my gold polymer clay pendants set with a large cab of green tree agate and a round cab of turquoise, I strung it with the green tree agate rounds and some beautiful white freshwater pearls. I really liked the shape of this pendant in fact I made the template for the cab especially, as it was an odd shape but a nice size.

It is the last day of the challenge tomorrow I am going to miss it, I have managed to find people that had not been nominated before which is quite a feat as so many have already been nominated to carry on some even twice!

DAY THREE OF THE ART JEWLRY CHALLENGE

Today is day 3, of the Facebook Art Jewelry Challenge initiated by Donna Greenberg. 

Goodness the time flies by, today I am showing one of my leafy gold Polymer Clay pendants, it is set with a cab of Ocean Jasper a pearl and two Amethyst crystals and strung with freshwater pearls in various shapes and sizes, smooth amethyst and tiny gold plated spacers. I love these Ocean Jasper cabs and bought several at the time, I am so glad I did as now it is very difficult to get them.

 ~Jackie~

FACEBOOK ART JEWELRY CHALLENGE DAY 2 !

Today is my second day of the Art Jewelry Challenge so I decided to post a picture of a bracelet it is a decidedly Valentine affaire with prety puffy Rose Quartz hearts and a carved flower, the cubes are Rhodonite and the pearls are white freshwater, it is all hand wrapped with sterling silver and I added a litle silver heart to finish it all off, it looks really nice on and I also made a pair of earrings to match!

~Jackie~

ART JEWELRY CHALLENGE!

I was nominated by Lori Anderson to do the five day Facebook Art Jewelry Challenge initiated by Donna Greenberg. I have to show a piece of jewellery for 5 days, and nominate an artist each day to show one of her pieces to carry the challenge forward. 

I thought it would be nice to show the pieces here as well just for fun and something to write about at this cold time of year there is nothing much going on and I can't get in the garden, so I am doing all kinds of indoor crafts, although the painting will have to wait till the light is better and the days get longer, anyway here goes with my first day which was yesterday ( Saturday )

This necklace was made as a special gift for my sister for her birthday, it is made of Imperial Topaz and white Topaz with Citrine maquise drops and tiny gold beads and clasp!

~Jackie~

KUMIHIMO BRAID NECKLACE!

I am enjoying my Kumihimo braiding very much. I am using hand dyed silk threads at present that I buy from Lorraine as I want fine braids it seems perfect. If you read my prevous post you will know I don't like the pre-made ends that you have to glue in position, so have worked on a way to secure my hand made Polymer ends without using any glue.

The necklace in the picture below has lovely warm shades in the braid with tiny freshwater pearls. I made endcaps of autumn leaves and one for one of the ind drops the other two are green Tourmaline and the three waterfall strands are a mixture of freshwater pearls glass beads and Tourmaline and a couple of gold plated beads as well.

Lorraine has a lovely blog you may like to visit its called http://colourcomplements.com/ she also has an Etsy shop here https://www.etsy.com/shop/colourcomplements?ref=l2-shopheader-name

I will put some more of these necklaces up soon, I hope you have enjoyed taking a look most of these are available but not on the web site as they are a new collection.

Your comments are very much appreciated thank you.

~Jackie~

 

MADAGASCAR DENDRITIC AGATE!

I have been very busy lately with tucking my more tender plants up in the garden as the winter progesses, lately it has become quite cold and the tree ferns have had to be wrapped up in fleece for the winter I do leave it as long as possible, but the time has come and I would hate to lose them.

On the jewellery scene I have been claying and making more Kumihimo braids which I can use in necklaces I will post one of those later.

I really enjoyed designing this setting for a large and unusual shaped piece of Madagascar Dendritic Agate, I designed a template and used gold Polymer to set the stone I did add a pair of Carnelian cabs as they seem to work beautifully with it. The Jasper and Carnelian gemstones make a great combination for the necklace I think.

Your comments are very much appreciated thank you.

~Jackie~

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

A very Merry Christmas to all my readers old and new and the very best of wishes for a Peaceful, Harmonious and Inspired New Year. 

I will be trying out new things and hopefully blogging more in the weeks to come, I have ideas for paintings and learning new techniques with my clay and jewellery.

This clematis Cirrhosa 'Freckles'blooms almost all year round but tends to ramble all over our garden I am always cutting it back and its so easy to propagate, the picture was taken one January. 

 ~Jackie~

WELCOMETO THE 2nd ANNUAL BEAD HOARDERS BLOG HOP!

I am just a little late posting the things I have made from my stash, as everything has been crazy round here with the exhibition and Lara's first book published, so here goes.

First up I have been learning Kumhimo, I started it in bed when I had to take bed rest for a couple of hours in the afternoons a couple of months ago with ruptured ligaments in one of my knees, I decided to learn something new and started Kumihimo.

A friend of mine is allergic to metals so I thought Kumihimo would be great to solve that problem. But when it came to finishing pieces I hated the ends you can buy so decided to make my own, you can see the result below. I used some lovely smooth pebbles of Prehnite I bought years ago but hadn't used just hoarded!

I thought I would like to make a necklace with beads so designed this one with seed beads, the pearls I have been hoarding as I can't seem to find any nice lavender pearls these days  so have been saving them for something, anyway I used some of them in this necklace.

Now for something completely different I had some pink Tourmaline pencils, no idea why I bought them years ago but they were so sweet so I just kept them, truth be told I had no idea what I wanted to do with them, Looking through for things to make for this blog hop I decided some gorgeous white stick pearls might be the very thing to go with my Tourmaline, finished off with a sterling silver chain so here is my last offering, hope you like it.

 ~Jackie~

Here is the list for the blog hop, Thank you Lori Anderson for making this possible

Lori Anderson	PrettyThings  (Hostess)
Audrey Belanger	Toki No Hourosha
Jenny Kyrlach	Wonder and Whimsy
Kathy Lindemer	Bay Moon Design
Lori Schneider	Bead Addict
Dee Elgie	Cherry Obsidia
Dolores Raml	CraftyD's Creations
Rebecca Ednie	Eclectic Endeavors
Lili Krist	http://emjestudio.blogspot.com/
Marybeth Rich	http://forestofjewels.blogspot.com/
Hannah Rosner	Good River Valley
Nicole Prince	http://healingbeading.blogspot.com/
Deana Hager	http://justdeesarts.blogspot.com/
Jackie Ryan	http://kydojewellery.blogspot.co.uk/
Elsie Deliz-Fonseca	http://ladelizchica.blogspot.com/
Mowse Doyle	http://mowsemadethis.blogspot.com/
Evelyn Shelby	http://raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com
Lisa Johnson	http://spudandmrsbutters.blogspot.com/
Terri Gauthier	http://terrisbloomingideas.blogspot.com/
Patti Pruhs	http://threebeadsandastring.blogspot.com
Shai Williams	Shaiha's Ramblings
Andrea Glick	Zenith Jade
K Hutchinson	https://jumbledhutch.wordpress.com
Marci Brooks	That Nothing Be Wasted
Jo-Ann Woolverton	It's a Beadiful Creation
Jasvanti Patel	Jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com
Laurie Vyselaar	Lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com
Lisa Knappenberger	LIRaysaDesigns.blogspot.com
Mary Lindell	marylindell.com
Niky Sayers	Silver Nik Nats
Sandra McGriff	skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com
Patricia Handschuh	thecolorofdreams.blogspot.com
Erin Prais-Hintz	treasures-found.blogspot.com
Maria Rosa Sharrow	willowstreetshops.blogspot.com
Kathleen Breeding	www.99bobotw.blogspot.com
Monique Urquhart	A Half-Baked Notion
Jackie Locantore	www.artfire.com/ext/shop/blog/MorningStar
Sheryl Stephens	The Babbling Beader
Becky Pancake	Becky Pancake Bead Designs
Mona Arnott	Bijoux Gems of Joy
Michelle Escano	Cabby Craft
Denise McCabe	Cabewoman
Carolyn Lawson	www.carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com
Sheila Prose	www.catswithbeads.blogspot.com
Kim Dworak	www.cianciblue.blogspot.com
Iveth Caruso	www.CreativeAtelier.net/blog
Deborah Apodaca	www.deborahapodacadesigns.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth Bunn	www.elizabethbeads.blogspot.com
Janine Lucas	www.esfera.me/travel/blog/travel-stories
Kari Asbury	Hippie Chick Design
Inge von Roos	Inge's Blog
Divya N	www.jewelsofsayuri.com
Debbie Rasmussen	www.kepirasmussen.blogspot.com
KJ	www.kjsbeadaciousbeads.blogspot.com/
Klaudete Koon	www.klaudetekoon.blogspot.com
Ghislaine Kruse-van Erp	www.kruseartllc.com
Ginger Bishop	www.lilmummylikes.blogspot.com
Kelly Schermerhorn	www.meanderingwithkelly.blogspot.com
Mischelle Andrade	www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
Sue Kelly	Mid-Life Greater Expectations
Rachel Mallis	Mint Monarch
Susan McClelland	www.mistheword12.com
Mary K McGraw	MK's Creative Musings
Tania Spivey	Moobie Grace Designs
Stephanie Perry	Mustard Seed by Stephanie Perry
Mitzie Crider	www.NeedfulLuxuries.Blogspot.com
Nicole Rennell	Www.nicolerennell.com/blog
Nicole Valentine	www.nvalentine.blogspot.com
Karen Mitchell	www.overthemoon-design.com
Tammy Adams	www.paisleylizard.com/blog/
Patty Miller	www.pattymillerbeads.blogspot.com
Blanca Medina	MediBeads
Stephanie Haussler	www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com
Roxanne Mendoza	www.roxidesigns.blogspot.com
Claire Fabian	www.saraccino.blogspot.com
Bridget Torres	www.shears58.net
Donetta Farrington	www.simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com
Lee Koopman	www.stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Deb Fortin	www.studiok24.blogspot.ca
Susan Walls	Www.susansartcircus.com/blog
Cece Cormier	The Beading Yogini
Heather Otto	www.thecrafthopper.com
Lizzie Clarke	www.theneedtobead.blogspot.co.uk
Elizabeth Hodges	www.thewhisperingseas.blogspot.com
Fay Wolfenden	www.torchfairy.blogspot.com
Kelly Hosford Patterson	www.TravelingSideShow.blogspot.com
Nan Smith	Nanmade Jewelry
Jayne Capps	wwww.mamasgototdoodle.blogspot.com

Robin Kae Reed                                          http://www.willowdragon.blogspot.com/
Melissa Trudinger                                      https://beadrecipes.wordpress.com/
Regina Wood                                                  Gina's Designs