Now that summer is over and fall has rolled in, it's time to switch to making jewelry that reflects the colors of the season.

Well, actually, most of my jewelry reflects this season, so what am I talking about?

I would like to share some photos of a recent piece I created that is very fall focused.



I used salvaged metal components to create the center focal point which is three pieces attached with copper wire wrapping.  From the center, three dangles are includes using a combination of old and new to make the charms.  Each piece is given an vintage, antique look, and painted with metallic colors of copper and gold.  

I love wearing metal jewelry that is different from what you see other people wearing, and this piece is just perfect to wear this time of the year.  What do you like to wear in the fall?

Available on Etsy

My favorite festival of the year!  The Souderton Art Jam has great artists, music and food.  If you have no special plans for Saturday, come out for a fun afternoon, and stop by my booth to say Hi!

Saturday September 26, 2015
10 AM - 5 PM


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  A few posts back I showed a picture of some of the great finds I scoffed up at the local junkyard.  I just love going there to find whatever treasures are laying on the ground that can be transformed into unique pieces of jewelry. So this past week I have been working with this particular stash.  







FROM JUNK TO JEWELRY

The first step is to somewhat sort what I have. Here is a plastic bag filled with some of the pieces I plan to work with. 

Notice they are all rusted.  They had been sitting for a few months outdoors in a bucket with a little bit of water.  Then I set them out to dry for about a week longer.  

My intent is to keep the rusted look, so each piece is coated with a sealer to preserve the rust so it doesn't come off.  The  first layer of sealer is hand painted  on carefully to keep the rust from falling off , then hung to dry.  See the next photo.

The second layer is done using a  a plastic baggie with some sealer inside. Put your piece in the bag, squish around it to get it all covered, then drag it to the top of the bag to remove the excess sealer.

My drying system:  I use old Christmas tree hooks and hang them from a rack I found, where else but the thrift store.  After the second coat of sealer is dry I apply a  layer of  clear gesso, this is done so I can add paint to each piece. The gesso gives it tooth to hold the paint.

After that is is just a matter of playing around with your pieces to see how you want to assemble your jewelry. Once the jewelry is made, I give it a final layer of sealer.

SOME SAMPLE PIECES

I can't tell you what this is made from because I don't know what these parts are called. This piece has three layers of metal parts and a blue turquoise howlite stone.  To create the bail, I wrapped copper wire along each of the sides with loops so a chain could be added.  Each layer was separately painted before attaching using metallic paints. After it was assembled it was dipped in liver of sulfur to give the copper wire a patina.  

This pieces is available at my Etsy Shop.

This piece has two layers made with washers.  The base layer was all bumpy giving it great texture, the top layer was smooth. Again, each was separately painted, then attached with a copper wire wrapping, A bail was formed at the top to attach the chain. A dangle was attached below the junkyard pieces. I used an abalone bead topped with a hammered copper spiral.
 

This piece has 4 layers.  Three from the junkyard, and the top is polymer clay.  The base layer is metal, the next layer seems to be that heavy duty plastic that is used in headlights, the layer on top of that which is not seen, is another washer to give it a bit of a lift.

There are two holes in the polymer clay bead which are wire wrapped with copper.  the top to create the bail, the bottom to hold a dangle which is a stone spiral wrapped with copper, then connected with a small amount of chain.

More pieces are in various stages of completion.  I'll share them when done.

The annual Gallery of the Arts is this coming Sunday.  I'll be setting a booth up, if you have some free time and are looking for a fun afternoon, come out and see all the amazing artists and crafters!

Date: Sunday Sept 20, 2015
Time: Noon - 5 PM
Location: Main Street Sellersville, PA

Link for information: 
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Here is an idea that my friend Wendy and I came up with to display jewelry for an art show exhibit I did recently at Joanne's Frame Shop and Gallery.

I needed to find some way to display the jewelry so individual pieces could be viewed and accessed easily. It also  needed to be easy to store, not overly bulky, assembled and set up quickly.


This idea was the result of  a lot of brainstorming, trial and error and rummaging through my large stash of thrift store finds.  To be perfectly honest, it does take a good amount of time to put together, but once done, it is something that can be used over and over again.  The final result looked wonderful and received rave reviews.

It started out to be used in the gallery show.  I was showing both mixed media art and jewelry, so my exhibit space was limited.  This panel hung on the main wall and was able to hold many pieces.  I liked the way it looked so after the show, I decided to make another panel and  modify them for use in outdoor shows to hang from the sides of the tent.  This would allow me to use just one table, and have many pieces on display. Rather than flipping through many boxes with jewelry, it will now be easily viewed.

THE PROCESS
I started with an old wooden shade from the thrift store. In our area, they always seem to be available and for just pennies.  I took the length needed by cutting away the row of extra slats, then tied the ends off with the string from the shade and added additional security by wiring the edges.

The materials you need are wooden clothespins, wire and something to cut your wire. The cutter shown below in the picture was to cut down the slat row, I used regular scissors to cut the wire since it was a thin gauge.

The next step was to lay out my jewelry cards on the panel to figure out positioning space and lay the clothes pins where they needed to be.  Beginning at the bottom of the panel, each pin was attached.

HOW TO ATTACH THE CLOTHESPINS
The side hole in the clothespin is threaded with wire.

Lay the wired clothespin in the position you want it located on the shade,then  thread the wire through the sides of one slat, turn over and twist to secure it from the back. Continue until all the clips are placed on your shade

Here is what the shade looks like before any jewelry is added. There are several advantages to this system.  It rolls up compactly for storage.  The jewelry is quickly clipped to its place on the shade.  It allows the customers an opportunity to view a large selection.  If someone wants a closer look, they can take it off the clip and it can be replaced back to its original spot easily. 

To hang this in the gallery, it was attached to a wall using staples and small nails between the slats.  It was very sturdy and durable.

TRANSITIONING FROM GALLERY TO TENT

To make the transition from the gallery wall to the side walls of my tent, I had to come up with a system to hang it.  This has been a lot of brainstorming, trying different materials to see what would be strong enough to hold it yet easy to assemble.

My first idea was to create a wooden frame around the border and attach it to the shade by slipping wood frame slats through loops I would place on the back.  I decided against this - not wanting to transport and store 6ft long pieces of wood.

So Plan B was to attach some kind of hanging clips to the top, then thread chain through the clip, at the desired length, and secure the other end of the chain around the side walls metal brace.  The chain can be cut  the same lengths, so the panel would hang evenly.

Having 2 panels to clip, became a challenge. Once I found what I would use, I didn't have enough material for both. So I'll show you the way each was done..

First Panel:  My husband had some metal parts in his stash that would work, but only had 8, which was enough to go across the entire top of the small panel.  This metal thing was wired to the shade as close to the top as possible.  A key ring was placed through that.  I determined I need 15" of chain.  One end will be placed into the key ring, the other end I'll loop around the top bar of the side wall of the tent and S hook it in place.

Second Panel: After trying different options, I decided to go back to the clothespin.  I used these on the larger of the shades, which was the one hanging in the gallery.  I opened the clothespin, placed a key ring in the opening, then glued it shut with E6000, leaving them to dry overnight.

Then I wired them to the top of the shade, as described above.  This panel used 11 clothespins.

I have not cut the lengths of chain yet, so it is not pictured here.  I have a show at the  Sellersville Gallery of the Arts, this Sunday. I'll take pictures and add them to the post, sometime next week.  Or, if you are in the area, come by and see it in person.

I still need to come up with a simple way to tether the bottom of the panel so it is stable when it hangs, so that will be pictured as well.

Compact System
Here is a picture of the two panels all rolled up and ready for transport.  Very compact and won't take up much room in the car.

I hope this gives you some inspiration for your next display project.  I would love to hear what other jewelry artist are doing as well!

I have recently made some new earrings, necklaces and pendants using turquoise howlite. Here are a few of the items I have photographed so far. Hope it gives you some ideas and inspiration for pieces to make of your own.

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Well that's all folks!  Hope you enjoyed my little show and tell, although I guess I really didn't do much telling

I have a week of reorganization and getting ready for my daughter's graduation from Temple, who knew they had a September graduation!  My inlaws are coming in for the event, which I love the ideas of- with the exception that it presses my back against the wall in cleaning and reorganizing. No lazy pace, no getting distracted and slipping off to the studio, nope!  I'll need laser focused attention- which will be a real challenge!

But after that, yes!  I get to play again!  Here is a peek of what I have had sitting in a bucket of water rusting for the past few months

My junkyard trip jackpot!  I love going to the junkyard finding all kinds of interesting hardware pieces on the ground that become the inspiration for the next jewelry making project. And I can't wait to get my hands in this bucket.

So this will be my next project to get some new pieces made for the end of September Art Festivals.  Check back later to see what I cooked up!

Upcoming Shows:
Gallery of the Arts, Sellersville, PA  Sunday Sept, 20, 2015
Souderton Art Jam, Souderton, PA Saturday Sept 26, 2015

This past month I have been working on some mixed media pieces while my jewelry was at  Joanne's Frame Shop and Gallery for the month of August.  So I just wanted to share some of the work here.

Real Love Stories Never End

This is a highly textured mixed media assemblage piece, but with my simple old iphone it is hard to capture all the detail.  The focal point is the heart at the top right corner surrounded by 2 circles representing the people in the relationship.  Found objects mostly of metal are used in this assemblage, they are painted metallic blue then highlighted with gold and rose metallic tones.  I thought this would be the perfect gift for someone celebrating a long journey together.  See more pictures.

Another very textured piece.  The background was created using homemade texture paste that was applied using a variety of stencils. Many layers of color from various mediums were applied- acrylics, glazes, pearl ex, gelatos, oil stick, distress inks and sequence waste.  The butterflies were created digitally then painted, a copper plate is on the bottom with a metal tag saying Live is About Creating Yourself, from the Tim Holtz collection.  More photos

A few years back I created a series called Butterfly Kiss, each one slightly different.  A word is chosen representative of the recipient.  The background is homemade paper which I make in a variety of different ways.  A paper butterfly is selected then painted and placed in the center, with the decided word appearing above it.

On the back is a tag card to fill out telling the person you are gifting why they are so special to you.  I also custom make these, using the word  and the color palette you would like to use.  This is another great gift idea for that someone who is so hard to buy for,  for a person you really appreciate or for just no other reason than you love the idea.  More pictures

I have more work that I did this month but am busy re-organizing from taking down my art show, so it will have to wait.  But I do want to say the show was a great success, I sold 4 paintings and a lot of jewelry and one assemblage that is about to be purchased!  Makes me happy when my art and jewelry goes to good homes.