Mariana

It's the end of July already - which means it's time to show you what I made for the Brit Pack Beaders challenge!

A quick reminder..... this was our inspiration - Dante Gabriel Rossetti's 'Mariana' chosen by Teresa

And these were the ingredients we had to work with - Claire sent the focal, a beautiful polymer clay flower made by Pippa Chandler. There's a hole going across the back of the flower. Teresa sent the clasp - my favourite ingredient. Lesley made these gorgeous bronze clay components - the sweet heart and the leaf connector are my favourites of these. Rebecca sent the ribbon and cord, and my contribution was lampwork and Czech faceted glass beads.

And this is what I made! 

My first thought had been a bracelet but I wasn't sure how the focal flower would sit, whether it would twist round too much. Then I remembered one of the projects in my Macramé, Art Beads and Wire ebook (an instant download in my etsy shop if you're tempted!) and decided that would be a perfect way of making a comfortable bracelet that would keep the flower shown off on the top of my wrist. The big flower and the mixed metals makes the bracelet very different from most of the jewellery I make - but then that is the point of challenges, isn't it? I'm really pleased with it, especially as despite wearing it whilst working in the studio all day it hasn't slipped round and the marcamé knots in the silk at the back of the bracelet make it really comfortable to wear. A successful challenge I think!

I'm off to see what the others have made now and I know they'd love to have you visit too!

Lesley Watt - Thea Jewellery - www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.co.uk

Rebecca Anderson - Songbeads - www.songbeads.blogspot.co.uk

Claire Braunbarth - Smitten Beads - www.smittenbeads.blogspot.co.uk

Teresa Hulley - Bo Hulley Beads - Bo's Facebook page

The Brit Pack Beaders are back!

The Brit Pack Beaders are back! We originally meant to set ourselves a challenge earlier in the year but eventually decided on a summer challenge as we were all busy with little things like building a new studio (Lesley), visiting the States (Rebecca) - so here we are!

It was Teresa's turn to choice the picture for our inspiration this time round and she chose Rossetti's 'Mariana', saying that she fell in love with the painting after seeing it at Aberdeen Art Gallery many years ago, and being fascinated by the richness, colour and texture of the dress.

I did a bit of research and Teresa gave us a little history on the painting too, so if you are sitting comfortable here is your evening (or morning/afternoon, depending on the time in your part of the world) art history lesson...

Dante Gabriel Rossetti's 'Mariana' was originally meant to have been a simple figurative portrait of Jane Morris, the wife of William Morris. However, at the request of his patron William Graham, Rossetti added a page-boy (William Graham's son Willie) as well as other symbols and motifs to turn the composition into a subject picture. The subject was Shakepeare's 'Measure for Measure,' with Jane Morris playing the role of Mariana. The character of Mariana is somewhat tragic. She is betrothed to Angelo, though he nullifies this engagement when Frederick, Mariana's brother, is lost at sea along with his sister's dowry. A delightful man! He does get brought down a peg or too at the end though.

But now onto the important business - the beads! This is what we have to play with this time round. At the time of writing this I don't actually know whether we were all sent the same, and I'll find out when I visit the other Brit Pack Beaders' blog later today.
 

Claire sent the focal, a beautiful polymer clay flower made by Pippa Chandler. There's a hole going across the back of the flower. Teresa sent the clasp - my favourite ingredient. Lesley made these gorgeous bronze clay components - the sweet heart and the leaf connector are my favourites of these. Rebecca sent the ribbon and cord, and my contribution was lampwork and Czech faceted glass beads.

I have to say that I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to make at the moment! I'm sure that inspiration will strike before our reveal on 30th July!

To see what the others think of the ingredients for our challenge and to find out if inspiration has struck them please visit their blogs/facebook pages!

Lesley Watt - Thea Jewellery - www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.co.uk

Rebecca Anderson - Songbeads - www.songbeads.blogspot.co.uk

Claire Braunbarth - Smitten Beads - www.smittenbeads.blogspot.co.uk

Teresa Hulley - Bo Hulley Beads - Bo's Facebook page

Tutorial Tuesday - Wrap-around Bail

As promised, here is a tutorial for the bail I made for the focal pendant that Teresa Hulley sent me for the Brit Pack Beaders challenge. I knew that I wanted bail that would allow me to attach another wrapped loop to it easily, and one that would encourage it to lie flat, and also one that would go with the hammered wire links that were part of my contribution to the challenge ingredients. And this is what I came up with....

You will need:

•  a focal pendant with one hole at the top
• a long length of fairly thick wire - I used approximately 12cm of 1mm wire, but the amount you will need will vary according to your pendant. Cut off more than you think you will need and trim off the excess later.
• Round nosed pliers
• Wire cutters
• Hammer and bench block
• Needle file

1. Cut a length of 1mm wire and turn a wrapped loop at one end.
2. Hammer approximately three-quarters of the remaining wire to flatten it and flare it out at the end.

3. Thread the wire through the hole in your pendant and push the wrapped loop so that it is sitting above the pendant with the wire below it folded around the top of the pendant as shown. Make sure that the loop is sitting in the direction you want it to.
4. Start to wrap the rest of the wire around the stem below the wrapped loop.

5. Continue to wrap the hammered wire around the stem so that it covers the wire of the first wrapped loop and wraps back down over itself. Finish the wrapping at the front of the pendant, trimming the wire if necessary. File the end round with a needle file.
6. Push the end of the wire down so that it lies neatly against the wrapping.

7. Carefully hold the pendant so that it is safely out of the way while the top of the first wrapped loop lies on your bench block. Hammer the top of the loop.
8. And there you have your finished bail!

And if you haven't seen how I used this gorgeous pendant by Bohulley Beads in my challenge jewellery yet, come and look here!

The White Rose and the Red Rose

(c) The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2012.

Back in October I shared this beautiful work of art with you - the inspiration Rebecca Anderson choose as the inspiration for the second Brit Pack Beaders challenge. I fell in love with it as soon as I opened up the email from Rebecca. It's "The White Rose and the Red Rose" by Margaret MacDonald MacIntosh, and you can read more about her work in my post from October here. Well, today I can finally share with you the pieces I made with the ingredients we pooled together based on the painting!

First of all though, a quick reminder of what I was sent..... a clasp by Rebecca, lovely silk ribbones and cotton cords from Lesley, beads from Claire, hammered links and poppy charms from me and a couple of gorgeous focals from Teresa. I had a few ideas floating around as soon as I saw the focals, and for probably the first time ever in a blog challenge the ideas hardly changed as I made the jewellery.

I assumed that the face focal would be the hardest for me to work with as it's so different from my usual style, but in the end this oxidised copper bracelet was the first thing I made. I like the mix of subtle tones and textures and materials - mixing my materials more is something that I've definitely picked up from Rebecca over the last couple of years!

My favourite, though, is the necklace I made. It's got a very romantic feel and has far more of a vintage style than most of the pieces of jewellery I have made in recent years. The combination of silk, the motive on Teresa's beautiful focal pendant, the frosted glass beads and the oxidised silver give it an almost Victorian feel in my mind. The silk makes it very comfortable to wear. The central drop is quite long, and I can imagine it being worm with a blouse or over a jumper (sweater to my American friends!)

And last but not least, a pair of simple but elegant earrings with beautiful pearls from Claire. I think I'm going to be making some more of these for my next Christmas fair!

I'm really looking forward to seeing what the others have made! We've all scheduled our posts to be published at the same time so that we don't see each others work before we show our own off. Rebecca was down last week for a couple of days of silversmithing fun and I hid my designs so that they would be a surprise! Fancy coming to have a look at their creations with me?

Lesley Watt - Thea Jewellery - www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.co.uk
Rebecca Anderson - Songbeads - www.songbeads.blogspot.co.uk
Claire Braunbarth - Smitten Beads - www.smittenbeads.blogspot.co.uk
Teresa Hulley - Bo Hulley Beads - Bo's Facebook page

I've actually been very organised for once, and all these pieces are already listed in my Daisychain Jewellery etsy shop!

Oh, and come back on Tuesday and I'll show you how I made the bail for the pendant!

Brit Pack Beaders Challenge

It's the second Brit Pack Beaders challenge. It was Rebecca's turn to choose our inspiration - and I love it!

(c) The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2012.

The beautiful work of art above is called 'The White Rose and the Red Rose' and the artist is Margaret MacDonald MacIntosh - you are probably more familiar with her husband, Charles Rennie MacIntosh and his rose motives that have become popular on everything from posters to mugs. Margaret and Charles were both part of the Glasgow Four, and you can see definite links and mutual inspiration between the two. They did alot of work together, creating everything from menu cards to furniture. The work that Margaret produced on her own has a softer feel to it though, and I love this gesso panel - she's painted thin lines of gesso over a burlap background, almost piped on like icing. You can read about her on wiki here, you can see more of her images here, and there's more about The White Rose and the Red Rose here.

 As Rebecca choose the inspiration it was also her task to send out the clasps. Lesley supplied the stringing materials, a lovely mix of silk ribbons and cotton cords, Claire the beads that match the colours perfectly, I made some hammered silver links and some little poppy charms and Teresa has made a couple of gorgeous focals. I've got a couple of ideas floating about for the lilac flower pendant, but the cream face focal is definitely going to be more of a challenge! I'm looking to see what ingredients the others have - I sent the same to everyone but a couple of things Teresa and Rebecca let slip makes me think that we may have different clasps at least!

Please do go and check to see what ingredients the others have to play with, and we'll be back with our finished designs on Wednesday 24th October!

Lesley Watt - Thea Jewellery - www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.co.uk

Rebecca Anderson - Songbeads - www.songbeads.blogspot.co.uk

Claire Braunbarth - Smitten Beads - www.smittenbeads.blogspot.co.uk

Teresa "Bo Peep" Hulley - Bo Hulley Beads - Bo's Facebook page

Brit Pack Beaders Challenge

Today is the reveal day for the first Brit Pack Beaders challenge! A quick reminder - Lesley Watt has asked me, Rebecca Anderson, Bo Hulley and Claire Braunbarth to join her in a bimonthly challenge. We'll take turns to set the inspiration for the challenge, and as the hostess Lesley had first go. You can see the photo she choose and the colours that she's drawn out of it to give us a bit of a helping hand below. The photo is by Carolyn Saxby, and is called "Tangled". Carolyn is a Cornish textile/mixed media artist who takes amazing photos of the environment around her. You can see more of her work on Flickr here and also sells beautiful fabric beads in her Etsy shop, Cornish Pebbles.

 

We're taking it in turns to send each other ingredients for the challenge, trying to make sure that everyone gets something slightly different. Although I'm not actually taking part this month (just in case you haven't seen the hints that I've posted recently, we're in New Zealand!), I still wanted to contribute so my ingredient was stringing materials. I chose silk ribbons from Marsha Neal Studios in shades of aqua, cream and rust and some turquoise cotton cord as a contrast. Everyone got cotton cord, but I mixed up the silks so that no two people got the same combinations.

I'm really excited to see what everyone has come up with! To see what Lesley's inspiration has led to (and to leave some lovely comments on my friends' blogs too, pretty please!) you can visit the rest of the Brit Pack Beaders at:

Lesley Watt - Thea Jewellery - www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.co.uk

Rebecca Anderson - Songbeads - www.songbeads.blogspot.co.uk

Claire Braunbarth - Smitten Beads - www.smittenbeads.blogspot.co.uk

Teresa "Bo Peep" Hulley - Bo Hulley Beads - Bo's Facebook page

 

Meet the Brit Pack Beaders....

Although I work from home on my own for most of my work time, it never really feels like I'm on my own, and that is mainly through the wonders of the internet and the amazing people I have met through it - even though I have only met a few of them in real life! I love being part of such a friendly, creative, supportive community. And it is such an international community too! 

One part of this wonderful community life that I have enjoyed over the last through years is taking part in challenges. They have stretched my skills, introduced me to new techniques and improved my confidence in my design skills, especially when it comes to colour. So, when Lesley Watt (aka Thea Jewellery) asked if I'd like to be part of a Brit Pack of designers I didn't have to think twice! There are five Brits making up the Brit Pack Beaders, and I expect that you already know them through their blogs and shops, and if you don't then do go and visit them at the links below. They are.......

Lesley Watt - Thea Jewellery - www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.co.uk, www.THEAjewellery.etsy.com, www.theatoo.etsy.com

Rebecca Anderson - Songbeads - www.songbeads.blogspot.co.uk, www.songbead.etsy.com

Claire Braunbarth - Smitten Beads - www.smittenbeads.blogspot.co.uk, www.smittenbeads.co.uk

Jo Tinley (me!) - Daisychain Designs -  www.daisychaindesignsjewellery.blogspot.co.uk, www.daisychainjewellery.co.uk, www.daisychainextra.etsy.com

Teresa "Bo Peep" Hulley - Bo Hulley Beads - www.Bohulleybeads.etsy.com

Lesley has called us together to take part in some bi-monthly challenges with a little bit of a difference, and as she put it perfectly I thought I'd just quote her!

"For each challenge, one person will choose a theme based on anything they like - could be music, literature, film, visual images anything at all that inspires that person. Each of us is then allocated one of five design items - clasps, focal beads, accent beads, decorative embellishments and stringing material, and must send each team member a different one of those items that has some relevance to the theme. Ultimately, we will all end up with a different bead soup created by 5 different people with which to create a piece of jewellery inspired by the theme."

 Lesley has kicked off the challenges with the photo below as inspiration

 "Tangle" by Carolyn Saxby.

Carolyn is a Cornish textil/mixed media artist who takes amazing photos of the environment around her. You can see more of her work on Flickr here and also sells beautiful fabric beads in her Etsy shop, Cornish Pebbles.

Lesley has also sent all the pack members (apart from me - I'll come to that in a bit!) a slightly different clasp, Rebecca is providing the focals, Claire the embellishments, Bo the accent beads and I've sent out the stringing materials. For the next challenge we will rotate so that we get to send different items.

The reveal for this first challenge will be Wednesday 8th August and we would love it if you'd come back then to see what everyone got up to. I won't be in the country then - in fact, this post is coming to you through the wonders of blogger scheduling - so although I'm sending out the stringing materials I'm not actually making something for this challenge, but I'll come back on here to remind you about it!

In the meantime, if you'd like to find out more about the Brit Pack Beaders you can visit their blogs using the links below our photos.