Jasper's Gems: May 2012

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Fairy Garden Reveal

Audrey Bélanger has only been beading for a couple of months. She admits that there are little things that she's not good at yet, but I think she's doing pretty good for a beginner. She made this necklace for a friend, who love shades of purple and pinks. Mookaite focal, fluorite cubes, pink agate, cats' eye star and crystal teardrops.

Neena Navaneetham has entered a necklace and earring set called Lilac Wine. The challenge colours are not really her favourites, as she generally uses very bright colours, so this was out of her comfort zone.

A rectangular slice of amethyst druzy 2" long with strata of clear quartz, pink and purple chalcedony and amethyst, crowned by a wire woven bail with a purple fluorite bead at the centre. A double stranded necklace of golden quartz nuggets, interspersed with amethyst nuggets and clear quartz faceted chunky beads, with a large, showy toggle clasp, worn to one side to balance the visual effect of the pendant.

Website: www.capriliciousjewellery.com,
Blog: http://www.capriliciousjewellery.com/caprilicious-jewellery-blog.html
Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CapriliciousJewelry

Marlene loved the detail of the colour challenge picture so much, that she had to run with it. The flowers and leaves are all polymer clay, the wings are translucent polymerized gauze and the pendants are resin topped.

Artfire Shop: www.amazingdesigns.artfire.com
Blog: http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.ca/

Here is the picture that inspired these designers...

Stay tuned for the next Creative Colour Challenge!

Monday, May 14, 2012

The Path is Opening Up

I finally found a printer, close to where my 'day job' is, that can work with me to get my display cards for the pendants done. I picked up the first samples today!

There's good news and bad news. They look great but a wee bit of tweeking is required. Take a look....

The Tree of Life pendants are going to look great on these display cards. The logo, company name and website will have to be moved up slightly, closer to the top. There is a bit too much 'white space'. Also, the font size of 'Jasper Moon' and the website need to be larger. Overall, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.

Take a look at the display card with the pewter pendant on it though....

The card stock the printer selected gets marked up everytime the pewter brushes against it. I'm not sure if coating the stock will eliminate the problem or not. I'll have to discuss that with them tomorrow. We may have to go with a different stock altogether. And yes, I realize that the holes are too low on the pewter card. It's a bit of trial and error to get it right.

I'm much closer to getting the job done than I was last week though. And that makes me very happy.

The ultimate goal is to put them into 3" X 4" reclosable bags that will hang for display. We do a lot of outdoor events and they need to be protected from the elements. The cards will also work in retail shops, out of the bag, with a hole punched in the top for hanging.

I'm getting there...slowly but surely...one small step at a time. I'm encouraged by the progress I've made so far.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Button Swap Reveal

My button swap partner, Tania Hagen, lives in New Zealand. It always amazes me that we can connect with people all over the world through the internet. Thanks to Cindy Wimmer at Sweet Bead Studio for hosting this blog hop and swap.

Tania recently started making clay beads and buttons so she sent me some as part of the swap. Working with clay is another one of those things I want to learn how to do 'some' day. That, along with all the other things I want to try, will guarantee that my retirement years will be extremely busy.

Clay buttons made by Tania

Clay beads by Tania

She also sent me a set of four plastic buttons in shades of slate blue & dusky blue, by Beutron Australia Ltd.

I received some green and golden hex spacer beads from Tania too. They will be used in future projects, for sure.

When it came to deciding what to make with my buttons, I could not think of anything. I was starting to panic that I would not have something ready in time for the reveal date.

Then, while browsing through some of the blogs on my reading list one evening, there it was....a tutorial for making button flowers. The clay buttons from Tania, along with some fancy craft buttons from a friend, were used to create this button bouquet for Mother's Day. If I had some artificial leaves handy, I would have added them. It would have finished the bouquet off nicely, I think. Sometimes though, you have to work with what you have.

Mother's Day Button Bouquet

Closer view of button bouquet

Thank you, Tania for the special buttons you made and sent to me. They challenged my mind and expanded my creative diversity. To see what I sent to Tania, click here.

Please check out the blogs of the rest of the participants. See the complete list below

Angie Blasingame and Billi R.S. Rothove

Alice Peterson and Kim Bender

Billi R.S. Rothove and Angie Blasingame

Birgitta Lejonklou and Pam Farren

Bonnie Coursolle and Tania Hagen

Brenda Salzano and Hope Smitherman

Cat Kerr and Heather Powers

Cece Cornier and Jeannie Dukic

Celeste Thurston and Christine Damm

Christine Damm and Celeste Thurston

Christine Stonefield and Dana James