B'sue Boutiques Build A Line Challenge Blog Hop 3: The Big Reveal

Sorry for The Big Delay before The Big Reveal. On with the show!

So this is it, our third BALC hop!

If you've been following my previous posts, you saw my theme was "black." I thought, "yay, so much leeway!" Then I realized…so much leeway. How do I make the pieces work together?

I decided that on top of pulling from current fashion, I should look back through what I'd done to see if there were any themes, any strong points. I also looked at what I'd ordered lately to see if my mind knew something I didn't. It does that sometimes!

"Hand me the black thing." "Which one?"

I could see I picked up the lace and florals, blacks, whites, and reds from the runway. 

I looked at my worktable and what else did I see? Butterflies. I had some patterned parts, also, what would bring it together?

I had just finished the painting and patinas on these drops and cabochon when they sparked a vision. 

Lesson learned here: Gilders Paste darkens when spray lacquered!
This was Tulip Red.

They reminded me of tiles, and suddenly I could see a bistro, open late of course, with the pops of bright reds, hints of sparkle from the lights, and flowers all around. Perhaps a small box garden lining the front of the building…and maybe even a nice, full moon. I could see a female customer, in her flowing, floral skirt and heels, with a butterfly clip in her hair. (Is this my customer, who knows? ;) )

Ted Drake

I know, I'll call it the Midnight Bistro line!  

And these were the first four pieces to come out:

Wait, wait, something's not right here...

A lovely bow and floral motif, a modest statement necklace, a convertible necklace/bracelet, and one of my favorite butterfly designs modified and made into the colors. Black is hard to photograph! Those centers in the silver flowers in the bottom necklace are actually Siam Swarovski Crystals, but the camera doesn't want you to know that. Here's another view:

"Hang on, where did the color go, and where is that fifth piece?"

(That was Ookie! He's late to our party, but he promises he'll be here tomorrow. 

*folds arms and pouts* But I digress.)

The first four above (Sir Fifth Piece not appearing in this film*) are now a sub line I've tentatively dubbed Moonglow Garden. This is because my "second" fifth and sixth pieces came out more like these below. I realized I was making a turn, and that I should just let it flow and see where this went instead. 

Did I mention black was hard to photograph?

Okay, with that out of the way, here's the ACTUAL Midnight Bistro line!

"Geez, that's a lot, can we zoom?"  Clicking the photo should do it.

I used the red and white cabochons I'd initially painted as a bouncing off point. Here are a few before and after pieces:

Slight bit of a difference.

First I added the reds back:

There goes those Siam Swarovskis again. HOW do you photograph them? They're so vibrant in person.

Aha! You have to have direct sun coming from the side.

I had the Peony Cabochon and a certain color in mind...I couldn't wait to use it. I added some soft pink just for good measure. The beads on the leftmost necklace are handmade millifiori beads with tiny pink roses.

"They're so soft, they're soft focus!" Boy, I wish I could show you these colors in person...

(Remember what I said about my mind knowing something I didn't? Look at the Pantone Colors of the Year, there! My Inner Designer was paying attention, and used Rose Quartz and Serenity without my even realizing it. Nice!)

Most pieces had no special backings, but in addition to the one up above, these two pieces below did. Those floral star pieces come in handy here.

Here's a link to the star flower piece in raw brass.

I had some good sun today, so I've gotten some better closeups for you:

You can sort of see the variegation I was able to get on the leaves. Painting these was so much fun. You get a better view of the pink millifioris, too. I achieved the glow on the little pink cabochon in the middle pendant by silver leafing the back. It was initially a clear pink piece.

Welp, there's my run-through. Oh wait, I should show you I still have lots to come. Including that pesky Ookie!

I'm still fiddling with that red floral pattern piece. 

I might even try some cagework. Yipes!

I would like to thank Brenda Sue Lansdowne for hosting this class; I've learned SO much! Through this class I have come to understand that I'm in an exploratory phase, that I don't need to push myself to bigger business jussssst yet. I'm enjoying the ride. :)

(*We apologize for the unavoidable Monty Python joke.)

PS:  Ookie is fashionably late, as always.

I'm playing around, but the idea was too much fun not to try. 

Click here to see where the idea originated.
It was fun trying to figure out how to anchor strung pearls without making a small strand for each swag. Can you spot the secret?

______________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for joining me on this adventure, please keep the hop going with my classmates below!

Brenda Sue Lansdowne Jewelry Making Outside the Box --our Host and wonderful Teacher!

Diana Buynak Butterfly Emporium Ceramic Studio

Irene Hoffman, Heart's Dezire by Irene

Clare Wells Nemeth, Creative Magick

Mary Reckmeyer, Afrayed Not

Marcia Tuzzolino, Aurora Designs

Elisabeth Wilks, Wearable Art by Lizzie

Jeanette Rose Belmont, One Canvas At A Time

Lyn Joy Reeve, A Journey From Jewels To Jubilation

Beth Trubman, The Journey of Jewelry

Carole Carlson, Bead Sophisticate

Jann Tague, Clever Designs by Jann

Shari Gardner, SLG Jewelry Designs

Susan Bolton, Fern's Place

Chris Kemp, Noodle Pie Bracelets

Susan Bowerman, Woodside Wireworks

Pamela Anger, Novegatti Designs

Joan Donovan, Hailey's Cottage

Alison Huie, Ally's Baubles

Sharon Palac, Sharon's Jewelry Garden

Erica Olmos, Beeb's Closet

Erin Whitacre, Shattered Time Jewelry

Fran Sitton, Sitton Up Front

Ginger Hammond, Lynn Leigh Designs

Paula Gaskill, Lovely LaylaBug Jewels

Mary Deis, The Rose Sword

Renee Webb Allen, Small Stuff Design

Valerie Tilghman, ArtJewelsandGifts

Chris Cravens, Vintage Cravens

Leslie Carver, Adorn Divine Designs  you are here!

Donna Parry, JewelryDonna

Gina-Marie Hammer, Tangles, Twists and Treasures

Kelly Wymer, Winged Wisdom Enchantments

Under the Influence....

....of design!

Welcome to the second installment of the B'sue Boutiques Build A Line Challenge Blog Hops!

We got to really thinking about our sources of inspiration this time, and I wanted to share a few. As an artist of multiple media, I never know where inspiration is going to strike, but this class has opened my eyes to something I'd crazily overlooked. I've always been a fan of getting the gears turning watching things like Project Runway and the like, but for whatever reason, I never connected it to trying to find out what was on the major runways to see what that might inspire. Boy, what a treasure trove!

Dolce and Gabanna top, Reem Acra bottom left, Naeem Khan center and right bottom.

I wanted to treat my Black theme as the Black Dress, a foundation on which to build. Not letting it get lost, not letting it get too heavy, or too cliché. The wonderful pops of color this year, patterns…all inspired me to think what might go with some of these lovely dresses, and what might I pull from them if I wanted the general feel without going over the top. It's been great to feel that rush of creativity again with "what can I do with this?"

One of my experiments, a plain clear cab, given a silver back and a little color. Work in progress.

I love working this way, putting it all out in front of me and just seeing where it goes. It began to flow, and I'm loving what's happening so far. I would love to show you the bigger pile, but that gives away too much! 

I can tell you I need to go get more of these, so save me some!

A lovely B'sue Floral Sprig!

I have given thought, as I dove into my pile headfirst, as to which of the categories we've talked about in the class that I thought I fit into: the hobbyist, the maker, or the designer. Volume and income wise, I know I'm qualifying as hobbyist, but the way I'm gathering things and planning is the mind of a maker. 

Does that make me a Mabyist? 

As in "maybe I'll sort this out?" 

I realized today I'm in Explorer Mode right now with all these new ideas, feeling it all out, seeing where it goes. I need to give myself room to see how I work best, without the pressure; I've been too hard on myself with the business end. In fact, I actually realized it's been the thing that's kept me hopping around so much design wise; too much pressure to find what worked for the market, leaving myself out of the equation too much. That's not good for creativity!

Speaking of creativity, this lovely lady has been popping up for me everywhere I go lately, no kidding!

Artist Frida Kahlo

From wall murals down the street, to random people's teeshirts… she even showed up in class! Wow! She's good inspiration, too, so I'm taking it as a sign.

And yes, Ookie is still here. 

He's in his finest ink, and we're taking him out on the town. All gets revealed April 1. Stay tuned!

Thank you for stopping by; onward to my other classmates!

Brenda Sue Lansdowne Jewelry Making Outside the Box --our Host and wonderful Teacher!

Diana Buynak Butterfly Emporium Ceramic Studio

Irene Hoffman, Heart's Dezire by Irene

Clare Wells Nemeth, Creative Magick

Mary Reckmeyer, Afrayed Not

Marcia Tuzzolino, Aurora Designs

Elisabeth Wilks, Wearable Art by Lizzie

Jeanette Rose Belmont, One Canvas At A Time

Lyn Joy Reeve, A Journey From Jewels To Jubilation

Belinda Reed-Ingle, Vogue Rocks

Beth Trubman, The Journey of Jewelry

Carole Carlson, Bead Sophisticate

Jann Tague, Clever Designs by Jann

Shari Gardner, SLG Jewelry Designs

Susan Bolton, Fern's Place

Chris Kemp, Noodle Pie Bracelets

Barbara Kelley, Angels' Keep

Susan Bowerman, Woodside Wireworks

Pamela Anger, Novegatti Designs

Joan Donovan, Hailey's Cottage

Alison Huie, Ally's Baubles

Sharon Palac, Sharon's Jewelry Garden

Erica Olmos, Beeb's Closet

Erin Whitacre, Shattered Time Jewelry

Fran Sitton, Sitton Up Front

Ginger Hammond, Lynn Leigh Designs

Paula Gaskill, Lovely LaylaBug Jewels

Mary Deis, The Rose Sword

Renee Webb Allen, Small Stuff Design

Valerie Tilghman, ArtJewelsandGifts

Chris Cravens, Vintage Cravens

Leslie Carver, Adorn Divine Designs  you are here!

Donna Parry, JewelryDonna

Gina-Marie Hammer, Tangles, Twists and Treasures

Kelly Wymer, Winged Wisdom Enchantments

B'sue Boutiques Build A Line Challenge Blog Hop Post #1--What's Your Theme?

It's time for the first hop!

I LOVE this class!! (In fact, I've already learned so much, I realized I have way too much for one post (or three)! So, I'll be spreading my thoughts out between hops in order to get right to the meaty goodness today.)

This was starting my point--a collage of previous pieces I've made:

"Lovely bunch of designers, isn't it? Wait, it's all one person?"

Over the years, I've done a lot of different things, as you can see, but I've never created a jewelry line on purpose with the intent of presenting pieces as a group. Especially reproducible ones. As a result, my customers may have experienced both the good and the bad side of never knowing what to expect from me.

I draw from so many things, enjoy so many techniques...where would I start? What to keep, toss, or transform? Who is my customer? Who am I? It can get pretty introspective pretty quickly, but you learn so much just by asking yourself these things. (Now you know why I need more than one post to tell you about what I've discovered, stay tuned!)

I've joined the B'sue Boutiques Build A Line Challenge this year in the hopes to sort some of this out.

One challenge here is for me to learn the practice of creating a set of pieces that have elements that tie them together; that look like they all came from the same person, that all sing the same song...even if I don't have my style "voice" nailed just yet.

"You're singing right now, aren't you?"
Maybe. I do have that "teach the world to sing" song stuck in my head now, though.

Those of us in the class each picked a theme that would be at the center of our lines, and for this first blog hop, we get to reveal them! So here is mine:

"Wait, what? Did you drop ink on your B'sue order?"

No, no...my theme is BLACK. I've been gathering supplies and feeling out some ideas.

"You're making mourning jewelry? When did you go full-on Goth?"

Well, no. There's going to be more. It's more like "Black & Something."

"That's not a good name for a line."

We're working on that.

As I've been nosing about researching historical periods and peeping in on current runway shows (and boy at the posts that'll be coming out of that), I realized my theme has given me a great gift...and a challenge unto itself. If black is the thread that weaves the line together, I can meander around different styles to a degree--do some experimentation, even, and it will all still work together. I could technically use anything.

Anything?

Anything.

So much to explore... I can't wait to see where this goes! The blog hop, though, goes onward!

Check out my classmates' blogs and see their themes!

Brenda Sue Lansdowne Jewelry Making Outside the Box --our Host and wonderful Teacher!

Diana Buynak Butterfly Emporium Ceramic Studio

Irene Hoffman, Heart's Dezire by Irene

Clare Wells Nemeth, Creative Magick

Mary Reckmeyer, Afrayed Not

Marcia Tuzzolino, Aurora Designs

Elisabeth Wilks, Wearable Art by Lizzie

Jeanette Rose Belmont, One Canvas At A Time

Lyn Joy Reeve, A Journey From Jewels To Jubilation

Belinda Reed-Ingle, Vogue Rocks

Beth Trubman, The Journey of Jewelry

Carole Carlson, Bead Sophisticate

Jann Tague, Clever Designs by Jann

Shari Gardner, SLG Jewelry Designs

Susan Bolton, Fern's Place

Chris Kemp, Noodle Pie Bracelets

Barbara Kelley, Angels' Keep

Susan Bowerman, Woodside Wireworks

Pamela Anger, Novegatti Designs

Joan Donovan, Hailey's Cottage

Alison Huie, Ally's Baubles

Sharon Palac, Sharon's Jewelry Garden

Erica Olmos, Beeb's Closet

Erin Whitacre, Shattered Time Jewelry

Fran Sitton, Sitton Up Front

Ginger Hammond, Lynn Leigh Designs

Paula Gaskill, Lovely LaylaBug Jewels

Mary Deis, The Rose Sword

Renee Webb Allen, Small Stuff Design

Valerie Tilghman, ArtJewelsandGifts

Chris Cravens, Vintage Cravens

Leslie Carver, Adorn Divine Designs  you are here!

Donna Parry, JewelryDonna

Gina-Marie Hammer, Tangles, Twists and Treasures

Kelly Wymer, Winged Wisdom Enchantments

It's Here! The B'sue Boutiques September CHANGE IT UP Vintage Flair Challenge Blog Hop Big Reveal!

That's a mouthful!

You've seen a LOT of great designs today. Thanks for hanging in there this far! 

As you probably know by now, we all had to choose at least one from these four pieces below to use for the challenge (available for sale here): 

I ordered more than one, because I had no idea where I was going at first. Thankfully, when we were given a link to the wonders of Joseff of Hollywood, the gears started turning. By the time my order arrived and I combined it with my stash hoard, I almost had too many ideas to know where to start!

I wound up saving that tie for strategic steampunk purposes. 

As you can see, the first thing I did was cut the cuff in half. I picked out some vintage from my B'sue Etsy store orders and made the base for two necklaces. 

I let things go bling crazy for the one on the left, which resulted in this piece:

I needed sunglasses to photograph it!

But you can't really see the main element, so while this can get filed under "Vintage Flair," it's not quite changed from how I might use it otherwise. 

No....This is a job for two elements.  Actually two and half, but we'll get to that in a minute.  I bent the floral component (upper left of our choices) all sorts of ways and pondered a bracelet, but it wasn't satisfying on its own. I sat it down on the remaining half of the cuff piece, and knew what I needed to do. 

I took all the skills I've been gathering from my Etsy ventures; my rosary making, my assemblage, my metal bending and coloring...and threw them at this piece. 

I tried the pearl cabochon you see in the stash photo, but it seemed to get lost. Then I remembered; I've had this magical big blue gem since I was a kid. Never had anything it seemed to go with. It's been sitting in a baggie in one my bins forever and a day. 

Not this exact one, but to give you the idea what it looks like.

On this day, it got its time to shine. It needed to be cradled completely, and my one flower bit didn't do the job, so I had to get creative.

*snip!* Good thing I've got a bunch of these!

I stared at all the bright brass looking back at me. Needs something. Despite already being assembled, I needed to be creative again:

Testing 1-2-3...

"Hmm the bottom needs something. What's that? Tassels are a thing again? Say,...."

Without further ado, here she is:

Whee! Thank you Brenda Sue Lansdowne for the inspiration and fun (and all those goodies).

Now it wouldn't be a blog hop if I didn't give you the list of all of us you can visit, so here it is!

You may have started with Brenda's blog here. 

Here's the rest of us:
Mary Deis

The Rose Sword

http://theroseswordmdeis.blogspot.com/

Jann Tague

Clever Designs

https://janntague.wordpress.com/

Lori Beekman

B.Accessorized

https://baccessorized.wordpress.com/

Renee Hong

Fine and Dandy Jewelry

http://www.fineanddandyjewelry.blogspot.com/

Cynthia Wainscott

Exotic Peru Jewelry

http://exoticperujewelry.blogspot.com/

Dana Hickey

Magpie Approved

http://magpieapproved.blogspot.com/

Mary Beth Quigley-Spiker

Q Settings

https://qsettings.wordpress.com/

Karen Eaton

KJewelry Creations

http://kjewelrycreations1.blogspot.com/

Shari Gardner

SLG Jewelry Designs

https://slgdesigns.wordpress.com/

Alison Huie

Ally's Baubles

http://allysbaubles.blogspot.com/

Pamela Anger

Novegatti Designs

http://www.novegattidesigns.blogspot.com/

Carole Carlson

Beadsophisticate

https://beadsophisticate.wordpress.com/

Cindy Peterson

Howling Dog Jewelry

https://howlingdogjewelry.wordpress.com/

Marcia Tuzzolino

Aurora Designs

http://auroradesignsjewelryblog.me/

Charlotte Smothers

Sea Horse Ranch Life

http://seahorseranch.blogspot.com/

Catherine Shattuck

Victorian Rose Boutique

https://vrbrose.wordpress.com/

Clare Wells Nemeth

Papercrafting Magic

http://papercraftingmagic.blogspot.com/

Erin Whitacre

Shattered Time

https://shatteredtimejewelry.wordpress.com/

Lynda O'Mara

Lomara Creative

http://www.lomaracreative.com/

Ginger Hammond

Lynn Leigh Designs

https://lynnleighdesigns.wordpress.com/

Ingrid Anderson

Lilis Gems Artisan Jewelry

https://lilisgems.wordpress.com/

Deb Beechy

Beetique

http://www.beetique56.blogspot.com

Harry Wood

Oscar Crow

http://oscarcrow.blogspot.com/

Delyssa Maxwell

Past Time Fancies

https://pasttimefancies.wordpress.com/

Paula Gaskill

Lovely Layla Bugs

http://lovelylaylabugjewels.weebly.com/blog

Irene Hoffman

Heart's Dezire by Irene

https://heartsdezirebyirene.wordpress.com/

Alexandra Sefton

Imaginary Jewelry and Altered Art

http://wilywolverine.blogspot.com/

Leslie Carver  (Hey, that's me!)

Adorn Divine Designs 

http://adorndivinedesigns.blogspot.com/  (You are here!)

Thank you for joining us! 

Come join The Creative Group on Facebook!

Ever had an idea that just wanted out?

I had several of those butterfly fairies fluttering about my worktable.

They were just asking to have something interesting behind them, but I didn't want to just attach them flat. If you've seen my wing earrings, you know I've gotten into bending things lately, so sure enough I found myself twisting them all sorts of ways. Here are two that came out of the adventure: 

One of my butterflies was silver plate, so I had to give its raw brass backing a silver treatment. Wound up treating the bead caps, too. I need to remember to look up suggestions for doing that, since it's not so much fun chasing tiny things around on a plate! Funny enough, finding the right beads to match the reddish pink faux-opal effect of the cabochon was the hardest part. "Colors between the colors," indeed!

But "Best in Show" for this lot was definitely this one:

Not so easy to get that opal like effect to show on camera, but you get the idea. I got in some good wire wrapping practice here. 

I'm working steadily now on my pieces for the September "Change it Up" Challenge and blog hop on September 25!

It all started with an octopus...

...this one to be exact:

The August Monthly Challenge theme for B'sue Creative Group on Facebook was "End of Summer/Under the Sea." I had a few of these eight-armed fellows hanging around (you can get them here) and some strands of beads that reminded me somewhat of seaweed/coral ocean type scenery, so I decided to play around a bit.

The oxidized brass octopus got the green beads and nautical looking chain. I'm still debating the starfish on this one. Too much green? Perhaps a little Swellegant is in order here.

For the second variation, I used the chocolate octopus above with some of the same beads in ivory. Wow, it wound up looking eerily like bone. I just went with it, and gave him a little skull souvenir. This guy means business!

But the winner turned out to be the octopus I gave a little patina treatment to, along with the turquoise version of the beads:

This one wound up being my August Challenge entry. He won me a spot in the B'sue Boutiques Blog AND the newsletter, which was a first for me, and very exciting!

Haven't decided if I should be selling these or not. Lots of fun to do!

Greetings from the Lab

Welcome to the Mad Scientist Laboratory (aka Worktable 1).

(in a rare moment of order!)

This is where I've been collecting various means to color and patina metals, opening the doors to a lot of design elements I've not tried before.

Today's experiment has involved an Alphonse Mucha style stamping. I could only find it in this silver color, and I needed a brass/gold finish. The results:

At first, I tried the Brass Swellegant metal coating as the base layer. The details for this piece are so fine (the stamping is only 1.25 inches), the coat was very thin, and didn't want to play well with the Gilders Paste, despite being sealed. The Iris Blue has a lot of green undertones, which cooled the color of the brass finish appreciably.

On a second stamping, I decided to try the highlight color as the underlayment, using the Vintaj Patina coating. It took some doing to get it into the details and keep it a thin coat, but it worked. I took a stiff dry brush, held it sideways, and gently applied the gold Gilders. Much closer to the look I wanted, so I now I know to work "backwards" when I want this kind of effect. 

I've got to get back over to the jewelry worktable (we'll save that photo for another day) so I can finish something "seaworthy" for the August Design Challenge over in the Facebook Creative Group page for B'Sue Boutiques...join us!