Back to nature...again

It seems like forever since I last posted - time goes so quickly these days which must mean that I'm having a good time.

I've got lots of projects on the go at the moment as the old brain seems to be quite active in thinking up ideas just lately. It's unlikely to last so I scribble them down in a note book for when the grey matter inevitably fails me.

I've been playing around with metal clay again this week and have been inspired by the burgeoning growth in my garden (which translates to untended!). I've made silicone texture plates to create a couple of new necklaces:

This Bronze clay pendant was made from a mould of the flower buds and leaves of a Pieris Japonica (picture above) and I'm really pleased with the way it has taken the texture. I've formed a bail with bronze wire and hung it from a 5mm red (slightly metallic) leather choker. It's quite a large bold piece, but the same could be said about me really!

For this pendant (also bronze clay) I made the mould from the leaves and tendrils of a Passion Flower (picture below)  - it's finer in detail than the Pieris but still works well. I 'ummed' and 'ahed' (how do you spell that?) about how to present this but in the end decided a simple chain was best so as not to distract from the detail. I've added just one single plump garnet to set it off...I guess it should have been an amethyst really to complement the colour of the passion flower but unfortunately I don't have any.

I'll share some more of these 'naturalistic' pieces when they're finished.

Please leave a comment  and let me know what you think - it's always good to hear other people's opinions good, bad or indifferent I don't mind...as long as they're polite!