Good Morning! I am pleased to welcome you to the Spring edition of Suburban Girl Studio’s Design Team Hop and Reveal. I was thrilled when Diana asked me to be on her design team. She and I totally hit it off, and have so much in common – including the fact that we make ceramic pendants, charms… So why be on her team? Her work is lovely, and totally different from my own. What a creative ‘shot in the arm” to be sent lovelies in the mail and get to make jewelry with them! And to be in a sisterhood – the Design Team…I know – all you bead/jewelry colleagues out there know of what I speak. Had to put it in context for the Muggles. So this is what I unwrapped from the postman…
Uh – pink? orange? Not Jenny colors. Excellent. Like I said – not like my work… And look at the gorgeous lampwork bead! A challenge bonus from Jan – from Molten Mayhem and fellow design team member…Going to think on this a bit…
OK – thought it over, sketched it out as I always do. My personal challenge was to use metal. Metal smithing was one of my two areas of concentaration in art school. (With painting the other) But teaching art full time, living in rental apartments right after college – not a torch friendly lifestyle. I am thrilled with the new equipment available in the metals world and glad to have a chance to dive back in…Sorry, I digress. I decided to tab set the flower in copper and use the words “Bloom and grow” on the border. ( I use text frequently in my work) And dont miss those glass headpins from Sue at Sue Beads. They were very inspirational in the design plan…
The cast of characters; Jan’s bead, Czech glass leaves and flowers, assorted silks and suedes…
Ready, set, go! To me the antiqued copper gives an earthiness and grounds the vibrancy of the glaze color.
There it is! Set ceramic flower with a frenzy of floral inspired goodness hanging below. The flower centers are the SueBeads glass head pins – just the right color pop and size. It is long, and there is a lot going on visually so I decided to keep the rest simple. Those clasps? No, thank you. I made them to correspond with the piece – but wont need them now. Worth a try…
Top row: I tried wide silk, and thin suede. Nope.
Bottom: Chain – yuck. Need a green element. The winner – fairy silk from Marsha Neal Studios!
(Sorry for the wet hair/just out of the shower shot. Had to take the picture minus dog hair…)
I would wear this short, with a v-neck. Thats my style. But with the silk you could wear it long as well. What do you think? I would love to hear from you before you click away to visit my bead sisters on the design team… Thanks for stopping by!
Diana Ptaszynski http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com/
Jenny Davies-Reazor http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog
Kristen Stevens http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/
Jan Onipenco http://moltenmayhem.typepad.com/
Marla James http://marlasmudmoments.blogspot.com/
Sandra Basara Miller http://www.sandra5461.blogspot.com/
Michelle Buettner http://misheldesigns.blogspot.com/
Love, love! Your work is fabulous (of course)! Hope to see you soon!
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Thanks CaroL! Hope you are well! May not be til Sept – but I hope to see you soon too!!!
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I love the necklace. The pendant is wonderful and I love all the dangles. It was also nice to se your sketch snd your process. It is always interesting to me to see how an idea comes to be.
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Thanks! I think the more pix the better, and I like to present the whole timeline, how I got to Point B as it were. It was a fun journey, and I look forward to three more seasons with the team!
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I love love love the setting for your flower and the stamping! What a fab design and a great idea! Beautiful!
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I am a bit competitive – with myself especially. Lets see if I can work metal into all the seasonal challenges… Hmm . Glad you like it! Thanks!
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Wow Jenny – this is amazing! I love the copper and as you said, it gives it an ‘earthiness’ which is fabulous! The silk cord really does pull everything together and the dangles with their colors, shapes and textures really adds interest and fun – I love this!
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Jenny, I LOVE what you made! I also love the fact that you showed your process. I totally dig the tab setting. It’s funny because I’m terrible at tab bezels and I never finish them. The necklace turned out beautifully!
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I prefer ceramic pendants lith a loop – like your had – instead of a hole. How ironic I snipped hte loop off and went somewhere else… Wish I was attending Beadfest Spring – I would wear this! Thanks for starting this team, D!
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Jenny your design is fantastic!!! Super creative idea . . . and love the punch of color too. Can’t wait for the nest task, LOL.
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Thanks Jan- glad you approve of your lil bead’s new home. It was a pleasure!
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Jenny, I love it! It’s perfect for you even though it wasn’t your color! I love how you sketch out your design too. Really great job!
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I love the setting you created for this. Copper is one of my most favorite metals and what you did just totally blows me away. Amazing work! Glad to have met you!
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I really enjoyed having you walk us through your design process. The way you mounted the flower is genius! I love the words around the flower and the little scrolls on the tabs. Great, inventive work!
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Thanks Linda – I use words so often, in my shrines, collages, and jewelry – it seemed like a natural. I am glad they were small though, since “bloom and grow” can be a bit over used…
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That is one gorgeous necklace and feels so full of spring. I love the way it looks on.
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Thanks Leann – i never tried it on til the very end – past the point of no return. I know some people would like it longer, and I like the flexibility with the silks.
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Jenny, what beautiful work!!! The copper piece you made to hold the focal is FANTASTIC!!!!! I love every part of the necklace!!
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Sally – I have Melissa Manley to thank for my love of tabs. After that first ArtBliss sleeping metal skills were awoken!
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Simply said, that necklace is fabulous!
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WOW – that is awesome!!! Sorry I’m so late to the party – this just popped up in my FB feed on my MNS page…
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