Instead of our usual AJE component of the month we decided to change thing up this month and challenge ourselves to break into our art bead stashes and design something around a piece (or two, or three...) by one of our team mates. We also gave away some pieces for guest designers and we are joined by some of our readers who have also raided their collections for AJE beads.
My original plan was to make something for every member of the team but what with the madness that January has been that turned out to be wishful thinking but, I did manage to make five pieces. I'm going through a bit of a 'less is more' phase at the moment and I've kept all my design fairly simple to let the focal pieces shine.
First up is a necklace using a mixed media focal I got from Melissa Meman in a swap at Bead Fest last year. This handmade copper bezel is set with a vintage butterfly illustration set in resin with silver loops and I think it's utterly charming.
A good rummage turned up some lampwork and Czech glass beads the matched
perfectly some metal dipped Greek ceramic beads to continue the mixed
metal theme. These were all put together with my favourite double link
chain from The artisan Bead Company, some silver jumps and a little
silver clasp I made. A Thai silver flower charm and some Czech leaves
suspended from the bottom of the focal add a final flourish. I'm really
happy with this as it's just the sort of thing I would wear.
Next up I chose a ceramic feather focal set by Karen Totten. I love Karen's beads and usually all I want to do with them is hang them on a simple leather cord or chain because they convey so much on their own. In this case I wire wrapped the set in copper and suspended it from a necklace strung with toning seed beads interspersed with textured copper beads and finished with a hand forged clasp.
There is an added bonus with this piece as it can be worn standard
length with a double strand or long with a single strand and the round
bead has a different pattern on each side - four for the price of one!
Just to add a bit of textural variation I added what I thought were solid copper crimp covers at points along the chain but after tumbling I discovered these were fact copper plated brass. Hey ho - these things happen.
Lesley
AJE team:
Guests winners
Lee - Strega Jewellry
Shai - Shai’s Ramblings
Samantha- Wescott Jewelry
Kathy - Bay Moon Designs
Nikki - Silver Nik nats
Yvette - Blue Kiln Beads
Karin - Ginko et Coquelicot
Extra guests