I have to say I love the idea of this seasonal challenge - it's a great opportunity to give your creativity a bit of a workout! I totally fell in love with Autumn's inspiration, the raven, a bird steeped in mystery and mythology the world over.
For my raven design I decided to tackle one of by biggest beading fears head on - knotting! I've had terrible trouble with it in the past and everything I tried turned out a bit lumpy and wrong. But I purchased a 100 meter spool of black Irish waxed linen and practiced practiced practiced!
I made the raven pendant from copper sheet, heavily patina-ed with liver of sulphur. I didn't realise when I was tracing, cutting the template and sawing that the raven I was basing this on had a missing feather! I only realised when I was looking at it in my hand wondering why it looked slightly wonky - I think it adds charm though. I also mussed up the protective spray lacquer a bit - I brought some new stuff and I am not particularly impressed with it! Anyone have any suggestions for a good sealant that can easily be found in the UK? Any way long story short the chap will be staying with me. What. A. Shame :P
He's joined by a fabulous ammonite bead I purchased recently, a lampwork bead by The Fyre Faerie, a white ceramic round from Grubbi and plenty of Czech glass is autumnal reds and yellows.
I think this knotting thing might catch on :)
I hope you have enjoyed visiting me here and that you will hop on over to see what the other participants have created for this wonderful challenge!
Art Jewelry Elements Team:
Guest Bloggers:
What a lovely design Jess - it has such a sense of movement. I think the missing feather is great...suggests this is bird that has lived through trials to tell a tale! Personally I don't seal oxidised copper with anything other than Renaissance wax but you can use Krylon Crystal Clear or Everbrite Protectaclear but the latter is horribly expensive.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lesley! I think I will get some renaissance wax - it seems to be pretty popular so I guess it must be good! I'll check the other options you suggested out too - thanks so much for that :)
DeleteHi Jess, what a lovely surprise I got when I visited your blog and the first thing I saw was your gorgeous necklace made with one of my focal beads!
ReplyDeleteI love necklace you've designed and if you hadn't pointed out that the raven was missing a wing feather I wouldn't have even noticed. You could always saw the other one off if you wanted it to match ;-) Would you be able to sand it back and try again?
Linda x
Hi Linda, yes indeed that is one of your super beads :) The necklace just kinda built itself around that bead it was so inspiring - and that was the first piece of jewellery I ever sold!
DeleteI think I will leave my poor raggedy raven as he is for now - he's staying with me and I'm quite fond of his imperfections! I have already made a couple of other pendants based on him so hopefully I will have another raven design soon - who knows, maybe with another of your lovely beads ;) x
What a gorgeous necklace. I especially love that the raven has an imperfection, which makes it even more perfect.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tammy - yes the little imperfections in life are what makes it worth living I think ;)
DeleteCompletely understand your fear of knotting, I am totally the same, but you nailed it! I love how you have used your Raven (great minds!) and the colours you have used are perfect you EVEN have a ammonite bead, way too cool! I'd love to know how you get such a dark patina on your metal, every time I try to do anything darker then brown it flakes off!!! I use Keen top crystal clear and Renaissance wax to coat my metal but I don't really like either! Love seeing your work look forward to seeing more of it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Niky :) It is always good to conquer your fears and try something new! Haha, yes he is a very nice raven isn't he ;) I got the dark patina through several baths in very hot LOS with some gentle scrubbing in between to get rid of those flaky bits - it works but you do have to seal it pretty thoroughly or it get damaged easily - and yes sealer is not my favourite thing atm - I like preserving a finish but it can make the metal look a little cheap and plastic!
DeleteBeautiful work, I love how you've got the feeling of him soaring through the sky. And I think you've nailed the knotting!
ReplyDeleteThanks Caroline :) I am loving the knotting - definitely going to be doing a lot of it in future!
DeleteKudos for trying knotting - new to you! Creativity grows! The necklace is lovely, the fringe detail is a great counterpoint to the spread wings. The white ceramic round? Makes me think of the Native American myths where Raven stole the sun... Hope to see you for the winter theme too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny - got to love widening the creative palette :) And yes I did have the Native America myth in the back of my mind - the ceramic round is the moon ant the lampwork bead with it's reds and yellows is the sun!
DeleteWhat a stunning necklace. I love the raven you created and the beautiful spray of knotted beads that spreads out beneath him. Altogether lovely.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda :) I think I will be doing quite a few more beaded sprays like this - I love the effect and they are fun to do!
DeleteYour raven is gorgeous! I wouldn't have even noticed the feather if you hadn't mentioned it. In fact, I had to look for it. We spend so much time staring at what we're doing in close proximity, that we notice things no one else will. Fantastic job with the knotting. Look great!
ReplyDeleteHahaha, yes it is quite hard to spot - obviously it took me long enough to find it myself!
DeleteWhen you started out saying you were going to tackle something that scared you, I assumed it was going to be the sawing, lol! Your raven pendant is amazing and I never would have guessed that knotting has given you fits. It's a truly lovely piece! I really appreciate how you tied those little glass leaves on the bottom of your linen strands... it's a nice effect.
ReplyDeleteSawing was quite scary at first but now I love it! Well, sawing out shapes anyway... I'm still a little scared of piercing :P
DeleteThis is fabulous!! What a great idea and I love how you paired the raven with the beads. It looks very bohemian. I'm a newbie with the saw, but I"m loving it! There's so much you can do. Great job on the challenge.
ReplyDelete