Summer is always a busy time for my husband and I… and this year has probably been even busier than normal. Things are only now starting to slow down a tiny bit… and that means that last week we only had 6 extra-curricular activities going on! LOL! Despite our busy schedule, I did manage to sneak in some time at the bead table and it felt so good!!
For the Trellis pattern, I went more for colors and motifs rather than using the actual inspiration pattern. I figure this is just proof that you can go so many directions with these Art Journey challenges! I’m envisioning people playing with the birds or even the little insects in this one.
I actually had this ceramic flower pendant by Tracee Dock of The Classic Bead already on my bead table when this Journey started. I had it out to possibly make something for the July Art Elements Theme of the Month challenge which was Flowers but didn’t quite get there before the end of the month. No worries! I realized that the flower itself and the pinky-peach colors in the center of the pendant worked nicely with the Trellis pattern. The other colors in my design are a little more blue, but I’m calling it good enough! I used several different shapes and textures of Czech glass beads along with some vintage German resin rounds. The findings are all Vintaj Natural Brass. I love the soft and somewhat rustic feel of the necklace.
While this necklace does actually feature a William Morris print, it isn’t Trellis… Meet Honeysuckle! I bought this large and lovely pendant from Heather Powers in a Humblebeads VIP Party Group de-stash event a while back. The design is under soldered glass and has a different pattern on the back side that is a brown background with words in white. Anyways, I thought the colors as well as the leaves and flowers worked as a response to the Trellis pattern pretty well.
I had fun pulling beads to make the wire wrapped links for this one. I’ve got Czech glass, Swarovski pearls, some fun faceted peach moonstone, and prehnite. With such a substantial pendant, I went for a long necklace that can easily be slipped over your head.
My favorite thing that I made for this Journey is this pair of earrings! I bought a few pairs of William Morris print faux tin charms from Anna Pierson of Saga Hus specifically for this challenge… two of them half circles in the Tulip & Blue Willow pattern. I decided it was time to dust off my Now That’s a Jig! (NTaJ!) to make some copper components to go with those half circles. I figured out how to space the pegs on my jig to line up with the holes in the charms and then played with what size peg to use to create the desired curve at the top.
Once I got the pieces formed on the jig, I hammered the copper wire components to give a nice texture. I liked the look, but I wanted something more. The answer? I used some 24 gauge copper wire to make coils around each side for extra visual interest. A quick dip in some liver of sulphur followed by a little steel wool action and they were ready! (Seriously, I’ve got to use my NTaJ! more! I’m always thrilled with what I create.) I connected the two components with jump rings which gives them nice movement. I just added these pretties to my Etsy shop… you can find them HERE.
So here’s some exciting news… Don’t want to try to figure out the correct spacing and jig configuration to make something like this? The fabulous Brenda Schweder of Now That’s a Jig! fame is making a pattern template for my components available in her Etsy shop HERE for only $1 for the rest of this month! You can find the “HalfMoon Earrings” pattern template and all sorts of other Now That’s a Jig! goodness in her shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/brendaschweder/
The template gives complete directions for both versions of my component, the ear wire, jump ring, and the coil. (Wish I had of known I could make the coils that way sooner… next time!) Anna Pierson is planning on adding some more of her half circle components to her SagaHus Components Facebook Group and her Etsy shop. The ones I used are 7/8″ or 22 mm across and Anna is open you being contacted for made to order components.
Obviously, you could use the pattern template with your own faux tin, real tin, or other metal components of that size for different looks. I’m itching to get my disc cutter out and play with some variations on this theme!
Thanks for stopping by and seeing what I’ve been up to. I hope that you’re enjoying creating for this Journey as much as I am! There’s still plenty of time to enter your creations… You have until Saturday, September 7th to add your entries for Journey Six. Click HERE to submit your creations for this Art Journey. Remember, you can enter as often as you like… the only rule is that you have to use at least one art bead or component.
