I love Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month. What could be better? Every week, no – every day – I am reminded how happy I am to be on this team of talented, smart, funny, creative women. And then every month one of them sends me a treasure? Its like your birthday – every month. Its a pleasure getting to know them each a little better by working with their work. And its a pleasure meeting new people out there on the Interwebs; people who win a piece and create along with the team.
( I know there is a practical marketing side. That we are showing off our creations and networking, and spreading the word about handmade artisan beads/components. But I cant deny the social side!)
OK. Enough gushing, enough sentiment. Let’s get down to the loot. This month’s element comes from Joanne Tinley of Daisy Chain Jewelry. You can find her finished jewelry and her components on Etsy! She made stamped copper hollow disc beads. The amount of labor that went into these! – you can read that best in her own words.
I like them all, but I did request a dotty/divoted one. It reminded me of the craters on the Moon’s surface. I have a tendency to try to highlight the CoM piece, and really make it the focal of my design/creation. I imagined these would be larger because of the labor involved – they arrived and are so delicate! My original plan is sketched below (on left):
(I had been planning to sculpt a polymer goddess, faux ivory-ish, and have the moon bead in her arms.) When I received my bead, I decided the dark rich patina wouldnt “read” as moonto most people. That – along with my crazy schedule, a few postal issues… all contributed to a change in plans from the sketched design. So I sat amidst my gems, and started making piles. The first – a lampwork disc by Joanne Z. Second and third – ceramic pendants by yours truly. The color palette was a natural choice as I love aqua and teal with copper.
I hammered and oxidized long oval copper links to serve as a counterpoint to the “moon” bead as I still think of it. Gemstones are wire wrapped; chain completes the last few inches. (Gems: kyanite, smoky quartz, amazonite, apatite) Its simple, but very much my style. I hope the gentle asymetry balances the composition yet sets off Jo’s bead. And there is a pair of matching earrings – I am always late to the Earring Hop at AJE but I DO make earrings…
(PS: those are SueBeads enameled headpins peeking out of those earrings!)
So – thoughts? I love Jo’s components and truly appreciate the time and energy involved. As always – a pleasure to work with my friends and their work. Please tune in to the AJE blog to see what every one else – and a few lucky blog readers – created with their treasures!
Jenny Davies-Reazor 
Love this Jenny – beautiful colouring and perfectly balanced and your copper links are fabulous. This would be a staple in my jewellery collection.
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Thanks Lesley! So many of us chose a similiar palette – the greens and turquoises go so well with copper!
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Such a lovely necklace! I do love the combination of blue and copper. Thank you for making something so lovely with my bead!
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Thank you for a lovely bead! The only challenge was deciding, it sparked many ideas!
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I too was surprised by how delicate the beads were! I assumed they would be much larger. I love the change you made to your design though. It’s gorgeous! And I love that you kept the same basic “theme” as you originally intended. Thank you for being part of AJE, love having you (hugs)
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Thanks Jen! I think I will try the sculptural goddess, maybe with a pearl… The theme was stuck, sometimes I cant get out of my own way and just have to see it through!
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Gorgeous! I love your pendant! Great work!
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So glad you could stop by! Thank you!
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Oooooh! I love how this turned out! Those copper links are a great foil for Jo’s bead, and I love that you put them just on one side to help the bead shine. 🙂
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Thank you metals maven Francesca! That was the goal. I stamped the rounds, but they competed. The ovals bracket the lentil… So the rounds became the earrings. Nothing lost!
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I love the way that although the ‘Moon bead’ isn’t center stage, it still has a starring role due to is singularity. A lovely necklace 🙂
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So success then! Thanks Jess – that was the plan. Glad you could make it here!
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Love your concept and how you made it work. Beautiful creation!!!
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Thank you Kristi – I really appreciate you coming over, and your kind words!
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So many times we have a design in mind and then something seems to take or make us go in a different direction. I love this direction too! Awesome work!
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