Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Got My Mojo Back

Part of the problem, when I hit my "creative fork" in the road, was that I was having a B*t&# of a time trying to figure out how to wrap the cabochon in the above necklace. You see when I initially bought the seed beads I wanted to do a peyote wrap around it but it's actually a very big cabochon and it was so fiddly and, well, it just didn't work. Then I knew that I probably needed to do some kind of netting around it. My first attempt was to do four rows of netting around and to connect it but I soon realized that too was just not going to work. Frustration was seriously setting in and my friend Jennifer gave me good advice "set it down and forget about it". Well, I did put it down and started to go through all my old Bead & Button magazines in the hopes that something would jump out at me and lo and behold it did. I found a pattern for wrapping a button using netting and that was the answer. The pattern used only one row around to connect THEN do the rest to "capture" the cab. Yeah, I know, easy peasy right? Why didn't I think of that to begin with? I think I was so hell-bent on doing peyote at first that I wasn't able to see the woods for the trees. I should get a photo of the back since it actually is kinda pretty too but I wanted to at least show this off. By the way, the cab is one I made and is glass fused using dichroic glass to get that beautiful effect. The rope is a twisted herringbone which isn't very thick but does the job. When I finished this, I put it on to see how it looked and my husband says "It's kinda big isn't it....bold?" like that is some kind of bad thing....lol. The cab measures almost 3"/7cms across at it's widest point and is 1.5"/4cms tall, so yeah it is big but that was kind of the point!


The next piece uses more beads from Sorta Flowering Designs, they are their seeds called Karma. I wanted to do something that would not take away too much from the beads. Despite the fact that they are a smaller bead they are just gorgeous and the colors are so pretty. I ended up making waves with argentium silver wire and then adding the beads with Swarovski crystals in violet and aquamarine AB. I actually even made the clasp and hook on this one too. I have to admit that the wave sections were initially meant to be an 'S' section but I used a 2" piece of wire since it was already cut and the wave happened instead. Happy accident since I prefer this look.

So now that I'm not standing in the middle of the road anymore I shall continue to play. Planning on going to the SNGMS shop today and work on some more cabs to wire wrap. I have a rivoli that I have all wrapped but just can't find the right crystals to go with it, so that is one that I have put down and will get back to.

Also, thanks to all for the information about Artfire, I have now opened a shop there, one of the free accounts. So far, it looks like a great place and I'm really hoping it goes better over there. I do think they seem to be more attentive to what sellers AND buyers want from a site. I'll be putting up my Rapid Cart on my blog as soon as I get a few more items listed.

One last thing too, apologies to Jerri over at Gems By Jerri and Wiggy over at Wiggys Musings. Both tagged me and I have yet to get to them. Sadly my anxiety over not being able to figure out what to create overtook me. So thanks to both.

8 comments:

  1. Your new necklace is stunning!! And thanks for sharing the process, esp. the struggle parts, behind the product!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The cab looks fabulous! I'm sorry it was such a pain, but sometimes it's how we learn!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oooo, I love the top necklace! Great beauty and creativity.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi there,
    Just to let you now, I left an award for you on my blog today.
    Hope you can pass it on:)
    Victoria

    http://www.bikudesigns.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. very pretty necklace thanks for sharing your design process

    ReplyDelete
  6. Men just don't get it do they? I find myself sometimes embarrassed for mine. I call his daily outfits his "uniform" as it's basically a carbon copy in different colors.

    Anyway...lovely new necklace. Sometimes the easiest things are so frustrating. But that's what great about art. It humbles us so through the process of risk and trial and error to problem solve. Glad you stuck it out! Now I'm sure you'll never forget;) Also, glad to see you're trying out Artfire. I do think it's a great place to sell, if we'd get any views over there!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Very good to hear you got your mojo back! That can be very frustrating! Both pieces are great looking. One detailed, one simple, both fabulous!

    ReplyDelete