Saturday 30 April 2016

AJE COM Reveal - April is for Amulets

Today is reveal day for the AJE Component of the Month challenge for April and the pieces we had to work with this month were these wonderful polymer clay Amulets created by Jenny Davies-Reazor. I was lucky enough to get the gorgeous green swirly one at the bottom left of this image.


When my amulet arrived the first thing that struck me was that the swirly textural design and the colour palette were reminiscent of the ocean so that was going to influence my theme. I also decided I wanted to add some sort of stopper to create a little vessel - maybe for hiding secrets or special treasures in. My initial thought was that I could do this with a little round bead but I couldn't find anything that would stay put but then, while rummaging around looking for inspiration I came across my Tracey Seder-Donoughe bead stash and this one leapt out at me. Not only was it a perfect colour match but its 'waisted' style made it a very secure fit - perfect.

I was also keen to add some sort of accent to the bottom of the amulet so I drilled an extra hole in the bottom and set about wiring it up along with the bead which I attached with a length of brass chain...so far so good.

 

Working with the ocean theme I added one of my own bronze shell charms to the bottom of the amulet and gave this a little accent bead that picks out the darker teal tone of the piece.


For me amulets tend to call for long necklaces and I decided to go with bronze chain but to give it some more depth and interest and to support the theme, I went for one of my favourite techniques and wove waxed linen threaded with tiny pearls through the chain.


At this point I felt I needed to add some embellishment for a bit more impact. I was thinking of this necklace as something a mermaid would wear to keep her treasures close so I added a cluster of dangles made up from bronze charms, pearls, Citrine, Ocean Jasper and Czech glass, all of which pick up the subtle tones of the amulet. I'm still thinking about what to put inside the amulet...



And that was it - job done and 'Mermaid's Treasure' was complete! It's not the easiest piece to photograph well and personally I think it looks much prettier in real life.




Many thanks to Jenny for supplying such a fun piece to work with - I got fully immersed in this challenge and thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. Please do now join our blog hop to see what the rest of the AJE team and our guests created.

Enjoy

Lesley

Guests: 
Marsha of Marsha Neal Studio
Alison of Alison Adorns
Jess of The Copper Cat

AJE Team: 

18 comments:

  1. I love the long length of this piece and all of the treasures it has (all of those elements are fabulous!). Definitely something a mermaid would have for her treasures!!!

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  2. Ooooooo Lesley, I LOVE this!!!!!! This is perfect for a mermaid!

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  3. Wow, I really love this. It's amazing how perfect all the elements are. I love all your choices; it's a really gorgeous necklace.

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  4. Gorgeous and perfect for a mermaid! And that little stopper is amazing, they were made for each other!

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  5. I love everything about this Lesley! Especially your little bronze charms, and the embellished chain! They coordinate and accent the amulet so perfectly...

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  6. Love the little stopper - that's really rather clever indeed :) I wonder what a mermaid would keep in there?

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  7. Gorgeous necklace, so many neat elements to it. Love how you weaved the strung beads through the chain too.

    Dolores

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  8. Well, I knew it would be awesome, as usual, and it is! It's perfectly put together and named! Love your ingenious idea of putting one of Tracy's beads in as a stopper!

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  9. Okay, so, when I blog hop, I quickly look thru all the blogs and just look at the pictures, THEN I go back and read the blog and comment. With that said, YOURS IS MY FAVORITE! (sorry, I have no prize, just lots of love ;-) )
    Why is it my favorite, you ask? Well, the mermaid theme is UBER cool and is perfect for the vessel design. The pearl and chain necklace is just 'fancy' enough to be complimentary. Your handmade headpins that mimic the swirl design are spot on! I know the colors in real life are MUCH nicer (I got mine in person at BeadFest) sooo I am in awe of the yellows and how they really POP. And then there is the stopper. WOW what a FANTASTIC addition. The bead you found is sooo perfect, it looks like they came as a set!
    LOVE LOVE LOVE!

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  10. I just love this Lesley! What a fantastic theme to go with your amulet. And the execution is just perfection

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  11. Stunning necklace Lesley! I just love every thing about it!

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  12. Absolutely STUNNINGly gorgeous! What a great homage to that bead!

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  13. Love your design - I like that you embellished the chain and how you showcased the amulet is unique and beautiful.

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  14. When ever you create I am just blown away!

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  15. Oh heavens. Drilling for a dangle - why didn't I think of that?
    The stopper bead! Wow. Utterly perfect.
    You know I love this in every. way. possible.
    Thank you. Its brilliant.

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  16. Omg, just awesome,Love the colors, dangles,Neckchain, the new long length everyone seems to be into. total package thanks for sharing.

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  17. OMG!!! This necklace is absolutely incredible. You had me at ocean and then I looked at the pictures.

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  18. That is amazingly creative. Just brilliant.

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