Friday, December 16, 2011

One last show for the year.

I'm getting ready for a show tomorrow which is appropriately names Last Chance Craft Show. Well maybe that's just what I need since I'm not done my Christmas shopping yet!

 As usual I get a burst of creative energy just before a show, so here are a few of the new items I'm made this week.

 This is one of three nest necklaces that will be their.
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 These have just a slight steampunk feel to them.

It took me a while to finish these ones. I did the patina months ago and couldn't decide if I liked them or not but once I found some beads to go with them I think they may have become one of my favs. So I may have to keep one of these for myself!

Along with these earrings I have about 8 more pairs all a little different from each other.

So come on out to the Richmond Arena for some last minute Christmas shopping. What you say you're done! Then come out and get yourself something special to celebrate, you deserve it!

Last Chance Craft Show
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 10am-4pm
Richmond Arena upstairs Hall
6095 Perth St. Richmond, ON.

See you there!
Wendy

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

New earring design.

At my Open House recently I was wearing these new earring I had made a few weeks earlier to try them out...well you know you can't sell things without test driving them first! These little bead and shells are each wrapped on it's own head pin. I had made them to add to a bracelet as  little extra dangles but then didn't like them on it so there they sat on my work table waiting for another project to fit for few months. I don't use pink and purple much in my work but sometimes I do wear a little so I thought I'll just make a small pair of earring for myself with them. I'd been playing with the idea of making some dangling earring from bits of chain and I could try it out with these before making some more combos on head pins.
 Well back to the Open House- one of my favourite customers notices them but asked me to make them in an orange gold combo of colours. I love when people asked for variations of my jewelry because it inspires me to continue to find more variations on a theme. Something I never tire of.
 In this combo the shells are more golden than the first ones I did and the ear hooks are my own had made ones too.
 This has the little coloured shells again with my own ear hooks. I like the way the orange pops more with the lighter coloured shells. What's your preference?

So if you every have any suggestions or variations of my jewelry you'd like to see, I'd love to hear about it.


Wendy

Friday, December 2, 2011

My first blog hop.

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!
I'm so excited to be a part of the Holiday Shop Hop this weekend. This is the first time I've participated in a blog hop and I'm looking forward to meeting some new blog friend. So if you're new to my blog give me a shout, I'd love to meet you. Or if you're not new give me a shout any way, spread some holiday cheer to kick off December.

We've had a lovely light snow fall this morning and everything is coated white. It's a winter wonderland that  can't help but put me in a festive mood. So along with my first blog hop I'm going to have my first Etsy sale this weekend.
Saturday and Sunday
December 3 and 4, 2011.
10% off everything in the shop.
Use code HSH2011 at the checkout.

Now you can go check out all the other participants in the Holiday Blog Hob.

Kristi Bowman Design




Now I'm off to do some holiday shopping. Have a great weekend.
Wendy

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Just part of the journey...and my first tutorial!

For the most part I'm a self taught Artist. I have no formal training other than taking a few workshops here and there. I love to explore and teach myself a variety of techniques.
So when I decided I wanted to combine metal and leather, I just went ahead and got started. It all went well until it was time to attach the copper to the leather. I had seen a few examples of this kind of think on line and my first impression was that the metal had been attached with wire.  After some time fighting with the wire, copper and leather, I discovered that this was not going to be as easy as my brain had led me to believe it would be, as is so often the case. When I get stuck on an idea my best solution is to start doing some google searches. This usually delivers endless suggestions for how something should or could be done. But in this case I came up with next to nothing. Not one tutorial or video to be found. Etsy as usual was a great inspirational source but I could only guess at how some of the lovely leather and metal cuffs had been combined. So it was back to the drawing board. I started to think about any conceivable method of attaching these two elements. It wasn't long before I had a number of methods to try. So I went ahead and tried them all
With this first one I attached it with waxed linen. Something I had handy from doing some book binding. Once the holes were made in the leather and copper I sewed it together. For fun I added some rivets to the leather band with my Crop-a-dile.
The next one I decided to try some mini nuts and screws. I had bought these earlier this year but hadn't tried them yet. Although they are very small to work with they proved to be very easy to use. I was able to cut the extra length of the screw off with my wire cutters and just give the ends a little sanding with my metal file. I will definitely be using these more in some upcoming projects.
On these last two I used rivets and my Crop-a-dile. I was able to use the Crop-a-dile to make the holes in the metal and the leather and then set the rivets. On the tan one I added flowers with more rivets to the band.

I started out thinking if I try lots of different methods for attaching metal to leather, I would at least find one that worked well or that I like. But in the end I discovered three methods that are quite easy to accomplish and I really love the look of.
So what do you think? Which method is your favourite?

And let me know how my first tutorial went. Did I give you enough information or too much? I can take it, let me know how I can improve.

Also if you know of any other methods for this I'd love to hear about them.

Wendy

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