52 things challenge

I've decided I need to get actively making again now my family seems to be well on the mend.

So I have decided to join in with the '52 Things' Challenge on the Craft Pimp forum.  

I will need to make something new each week and then show it on the forum -- whether its new beads, new jewellery or something completely new for me to try out. 

I have a number of new ideas of things I want to have a go at, I have just got some new materials to play with!  Also maybe doing some art painting which I haven't even attempted for years or just sketching in my sketchbook. There's quite a few to be getting on with ..

But firstly....

Torch needs to be fired up ....... working on that one --  sorted chair out so I can actually sit down!! (It had a pile of new glass sitting on it, now in a newly emptied drawer!!)

Then there is my new tools and some new equipment to experiment with, those I will show you along the way!

I also have some new books I received for christmas, so hoping to experiment with new techniques too.

I have to admit I really need to tidy up and move things around in my workshop as it needs a complete overhaul for it to work better for me. As, right now, it is very -- OVERCROWDED!!

Its driving me POTTY!!!!!!!  :-/


Now here is my first weeks' challenge make

 

Cracked Ice Copper Earrings

My cracked ice beads with copper findings and beads (my favourite I LOVE copper)
I know its late but we do have a little leeway for the first week.

So this weeks make (#2) will follow when I finish it ....  so will be back again soon with that.

E x

Feeling Better

Yes well I seem to have failed so far (with reference to my last post, the last few paragraphs).

To be honest a few days after my last post I fell ill with the Flu.  I don't mean a bad cold I had real full blown flu was bed ridden for about a week and it has taken the last few weeks since to actually start to feel myself again!

My creativity had completely dried up and I really didn't want to do anything much at all. Then came the Half Term holidays last week and slowly with a bit more resting (well in between trips) I think I am becoming my old self once again!!

Still I've not fired up my torch yet and I have no jewellery creations to show you either  but .....


Thank goodness for our trips last week ~~  LONDON.   

Yep we went to London for the day on Tuesday as my daughter Billie needed to take photos for her art project. 

The project is entitled Urban Eyes/Rural Eyes.  

She wanted to take some night shots of Neon buildings lit up and the hustle and bustle London can give!  We also visited the V&A museum and the Natural History Museum (which are next door to each other luckily) I think she took around 300-400 photos of various things she needed but her night shots were just not working to well on her camera, good job Mum brought her camera too .........


I was totally exhausted when we got home and after I stopped ~~ I had completely seized up!

Oh I have also forgot to mention I slipped down the stairs the previous week (only the last 2 steps) but I really badly bruised my bum and pulled my ankle, I was carrying dirty washing in my hands at the time and think my slipper had slipped off slightly and sent me off balance and down I went! Quite a few bad words and a few tears later ~~ hurt pride was the main problem!

So getting back from a long trip around London, I am not surprised I seized up really!!! I am getting old ~~ poor ol' gal!!!!



Here are a few of the London photos:

 

Picadilly Circus

 

Damn missed the guy taking his shirt off! 

 

 

 

Ripley's Believe it or not!

 

The Hippodrome

 

Leicester Square

 

The Odeon Leicester Sq. 

(Billie is in the middle of the shot walking away from me)

 

What's coming to the Odeon

 

We did have a great day until we got back to the railway station and found all the trains home had been delayed down in Brighton and were running a least 45mins late if not more and so the platform was absolutely packed.  When we eventually got onto a train we had to stand practically the whole way back to Luton and we finally got home about 9.45pm.

Shattered!!!


We got what we went for but it took me at least the next day to recover!!

Pheeewwww!!




I will tell you about our other trip, next time ....

E x

Top Tip Tuesday ~ DAY 8

DESIGN TIPS ~ PART 1    

 

INSPIRATION  

 

Sometimes your mojo (inspiration/motivation) can leave you and you get despondent, not sure what to make or where you can get inspiration from. We all have those times and I am definitely no exception!!

From time to time I have a jewellery crisis and just don't want to make anything at all or worse don't know what to make or even what colours to use! 

And yet I may feel the need to make some new jewellery for myself, as my design ideas keep changing and evolving, I wanted, no needed something new to wear especially when adding new items to my wardrobe, if I had a special occasion looming like a family wedding, a christening or maybe a special party or two ~ just a for instance.  You MUST have something to go with your new outfit that co-ordinates, of course!  And ultimately to show off new creations and new found technical prowess! 

 
There’s nothing like a bit of self advertising is there!!!

 
So what to do???
 

So I would get out my sketch book and then look down at the blank page, rack my brains for ideas to come to me!! No joy!!  I would just put unfinished items to one side after getting beads and materials out but can’t seem to find anything to work with!!  Inevitably, I didn't make anything!

I have to say, I am lucky in some respects as I have more than one hobby/craft that I love to do but each one is linked to the other which can be an asset or sometimes a hinderance because my mojo is connected to both of them.
 
Right then, how about I make some beads instead! So off to my workshop to practice my beadmaking, maybe improve on my skills (which only practice will do!)  My lack of confidence heightens when I am not at the torch very often, I do lose the will to try new things out but I need to go have a play!!!

It has been of great benefit to play, new shapes, what colours to try, shall I make sets or focals, or maybe some special designs like flowers or butterflies for instance! What glass to use, how about trying out some of the new glasses I just purchased, especially the Double Helix Silver rich glasses (oooohh LOVE them!!) so many new types coming along, I am getting behind the times!!

 

OH NO now I have a new mojo crisis, what BEADS to make!!!!


HA!! 



So here's the crunch question 'Where do I get my Inspiration from'????

 

Well this is a good place to start ~~~

 

1. Other peoples work ~  No, its not right at all to copy others work or 'nick' it as it were but it can inspire you to create your own ideas to work from.

 
For instance, colours they have used, the type of materials or their design style which could be very different from your own but you could see potential from it for your own work.

My Boho Bridal Neckpiece a tutorial piece for Beads and Beyond magazine, this was inspired by one of Lilian Chen's designs I had seen in a US jewellery magazine.

I made it my own by adding beads and little tendrils and adding chain to it too

These ‘work in progess’ Earrings were also inspired by some of Lilian Chen's work and cultural background ~ Oriental/Asian

I have now scrapped this design as it was not working successfully ~ don’t be afraid to

change the design if elements are not succeeding, I felt this design was not stable enough

and maybe a little dangerous to the wearer!

 

2. ART Inspiration is a good tool to inspire those creative juices! Go to the Library for art books, check out some of the famous artists ~ that you like or know of and just LOOK!!!! Doodle in a sketch book, what colours have they used ~ together, have they come from a design era that inspires you ~ Victorian, Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Pop Art, The Impressionists, Surrealists, the list goes on.

Just have some fun with it!!

This era of the early 20^th Century still had Victorian influences but you can see some current trends taking on this style today but with a modern take on it.

At college we were told to brain storm ideas on a big piece of paper ~ put in a central idea/theme/word/historical era.

So say, for instance, we decided to use the words Art Deco we would then just throw down words that just come to mind, creating bubbles linked to bubbles to build up anything to do with Art Deco ~~




ie:  Clarice Cliff ~ bright colours ~ stylised ~ trees ~ strong lines ~ plates ~ jugs ~ glasses
and so on...........

Love the geometrical shape to the cup handle

And the hexagonal plate shape is fab

 

it can then spark off other words/ideas from these!

I love bright colours so Cliff has often come into my mind just because of the colours she used in her designs.

The Art Deco period had very geometric lines, I have some Art Deco Lamps for you below the bottom left lamp is so typical of Art Deco.

Here is some Art Nouveau jewellery, this era is very recognisable for its lovely curvy style, flowers and clean lines.

 

Here you will see some jewellery by Murrle Bennett ~ gorgeous!

 

Sorry it was scanned on the skew

 

  

And this is an ornate buckle by Liberty

 

©These pages were taken from a book of Vintage jewellery of the 20^th Century but I can’t remember its actual name



'Charles Rennie Macintosh' is another favourite of mine I love his stylised rose designs and when I started to make stained glass he was a very big influence.

 

3. Things around you that just jump out and grab you because you ~ like it!!

Everyday things in the street, in the park, driving along and what passes you on your travels and even things around your home or maybe something your children may be doing at school, history project, art project, even what they made in cookery class!! Who knows when inspiration can strike!

Historial ~ Cleopatra and her Asp - inspired by arm cuffs worn by the Ancient Egyptians

4. Finally Nature, this is a very popular inspirational tool with many facets from seasons ~ colours to plant life ~ trees, leaves, flowers, etc., ocean/marine life ~ shells, fish to all sorts of organic shapes like rocks and mountain ranges, shapes, textures, smells, the list again goes on and on!! I just love to use this one and most people love these themes too.

colours a superb

 

I Love Trees

 

 

 

great textures

 

steampunk influence in what seems a tree/root structure

  

My Autumn Sunshine set was inspired by the colours of the season

So what it really boils down to is ~~ don’t give up, don't be afraid to experiment, find inspiration from anywhere and everywhere, believe in yourself and do some research, do some doodling and go do some footwork then ……

 

THINK ~  What’s next!    NOT ~  I don't know what to do!!!



I hope it has been of little help if your mojo has gone walkabout, the up and coming season is a busy time of year when you really don't want it to wander off!!!!!

 

Have Fun!!

 

 

E x  ♥

 

NB: Some of the photos are my own work, some are of other designers work or sourced from books.

 

Next time I will be covering:    Part 2  ~~  Interpretation

Sweet 16

I can't believe that my baby turned sweet 16 on 24th June!

Then the following week she went off on her Art Trip to Paris with school and she was most excited about visiting Chateau Pierrefonds which is the place that they filmed Merlin (TV series) as the castle  ~~Camelot.  She also went to Monet's garden at Giverny along with other galleries and Notre Dame.  This trip will be the intro to her A level Art in the sixth form in September, the theme is Architecture.

 

Monet's Garden

 

Notre Dame

 

She did enjoy it and I so want to go to Paris myself to check out all the Art galleries and the main art visits that just have to be done!!  One Day!!


So all thats left now to do is Billie's Birthday Trip with her friends to Brighton!  We love Brighton again its such an art inspiring place to be with the added bonus of being by the sea as well!!  We will be going on the 25th July which is the day after school finishes for the summer holidays!  A whole 6 weeks off,  Yay!!

So looking forward to that, lets hope this fabulous weather will hold out till then! 
Its countdown as school too, only 2 weeks to go!!!!!



Its been one mad, busy, hectic and exhausting year to date and finally we are coming to the end of all this mad, busy, hectic time.  Massive deep sigggggghhhh!!!!

                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^******************^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



I have the Beadathon coming up soon too. 
I will be joining fellow lampworkers to raise funds for the

Beads Of Courage charity   'Be Child Cancer Aware' campaign.  

I will give a bit shout out in my next post, so please check it out for details of how you can help us with the fund raising via the Just Giving page and what we will be doing!



See you very soon with all the details.

Toodleoo

E x

Exams & Costumes

Right EXAMS first...

My daughter Billie ~~ my very clever daughter!!!!  80*  xoxoxoxox

She got her Science retakes results
(well couple of weeks ago actually but haven't got round to telling you all - Sorry about that, so here we go then!)

Yes I am very proud to say they were all A's  ~~ that means that all six of them are A's now (she retook the B results)

Physics P123 & P456
Chemistry C123 & C456
Biology B123 & B456

She loves Physics so much so she is taking it as one of her A levels
along with Maths, Art and now Biology (which she changed from psychology)

I am so happy, she is working so hard.

Next is her Art exam ~ which is over the next 2 days and she has just handed in her Product Design Coursework too.


Then she will have to complete her other art projects/coursework by 1st May.

And then its into all her other exams in May/June. 

Its very stressful for her and its been quite stressful for me too as I have been helping her as best I can, with ideas for her Art work, finding materials she can use (usually from my Aladdins Cave of a workshop ~ its amazing what I can conjure up from my cupboards) and just generally being there for her!!

She definitely needs the Easter break to have a bit of relaxation time!!

I expect we will need to go shopping as she will want to start sorting out her outfit for the next Comic Con  in May.   This is a comic/cosplay convention held in the Excel in London.  She loves to dress up and has recently dressed up as a Manga character Sakura Haruno (Naruto) for the recent Comic Relief 2013. 

She went around the school with her trusty bucket collecting for the charity but had some competition this time from the sixth formers doing the same thing.  She collected £28 as opposed to the last 2 events when she collected over £70 for Children in Need each time. She was a little disappointed but I told her that it was still good for one person to achieve.

She has decided to start blogging about her fundraising and her cosplay costumes and the events she attends.  When I get the link I will let you know (I cant remember what shes called her new blog!!!)


Next time will have new beads to show

Toodleoo

E x

Happy New Year for 2013

I never got to wishing everyone a Merry Christmas so thought I would make up for it by wishing you a very


HAPPY NEW YEAR for 2013


I have been thinking about the new year and what it may hold and I really hope it will be an improvement on this year ~ especially healthwise for me.  So I have been deciding on what things I want to do in the coming year!

I like to make lists ~ this helps me to remember to begin with, as well as having all my thoughts/ideas in one place to look back at.

Right were to begin???


1.  ART ~  I have been involved with helping my daughter in her Art projects for her GCSE's this year and it has made me a little envious and so I really want to get back to my paint brushes and get my canvases out (which are just sitting there doing nothing other than getting in the way) so why not get some paint on them and get them up on the wall.  Could use some collage images and some abstract art on them as well as maybe some of my daughters art here and there too, sort of a family collage painting, something along those lines anyway!

2.  STAINED GLASS ~ yes this is something I learnt a long time ago but havent done any making for a number of years!! The thing is I have a few areas in the house that need windows for that have been earmarked for stained glass.  Partly due to the fact I am unsure what designs to use for these areas along with the fact my workshop now is set up for beadmaking so my bench isnt fit for stained glass making.  I am unsure if I will be able to get this project underway this year but it goes onto the list, hoping I will get it done! 

3.  JEWELLERY ~  mainly tutorials, for the magazines and for here on my blog. I will just do those as I go along, making decisions on what as they come up.  I already have some in the pipeline anyway.  I do want to get more wirework pieces into my etsy store and am thinking about brooches/scarf rings, maybe finger /thumb rings and even some earrings too. 

4.  BEADS ~ now then this is a big issue!!  I have so many techniques to learn and also revisit to perfect the techniques also I want to come up with some new designs as well. 

Buttons (more, more and lots more!!)

Cabochons (love these, got some new ideas for cabs too)

Sets Designs ~ sockys,  focals as well as the sparkle beads (transparent small beads) too
 

 

 

 

spatter  

 

 

mayhem series

Jelly Roses, to name just a few

 

 

Focal Designs ~ Dynasty series,

Seascapes (like the cabs as well)

My Chatelle beads (Big Holes) get my new bead roller christened, this has different bead shapes.

Techniques I would like to try are  ~ the Chaos designs

~~  more DH silver glasses ~~ results arent always as good so need to get my technique more controlled!

Also need to get a better flame control this in turn will improve my designs as I cant always achieve the end result I want.   Just got out of practice I guess along with confidence too.

So need to be more positive and get cracking again!!!  Yep!!  Fire up my little Cricket!!


Roll on 2013!

80))


E x

Christmas is getting close!!

I have struggled so much this year trying to get ready for the arrival of Christmas!!  I can't believe I still haven't purchased any gifts other than my husband/daughter's present of a (joint) laptop.

Billie needs it for her school work so she can use it up in her bedroom for revision of her GCSE exams.  She got her Mock results last week and they were pretty good - some better than expected.  Her dragon for her Art & Design mock sadly broke in the kiln (previews in a previous post), she has glued it back together, hopefully with a good paint job it shouldn't be to bad!!  She then has her science resits in January, she got B's in 3 of them so we decided why not give them another go to see if she can get A's in those as well, she was only 2 marks off the chemistry one!!!  She can't lose as she keeps her best grade either way!! 

She will also resit her English language module which the school has agreed to put everyone back into resit it because of all the wooha over the government changes they made mid-year!! She got a D and her target grade was a C she was pretty devastated by that!!!  

So now we are trying to work out what she wants to do for the future, its so difficult making these decisions now, she is still 15 and trying to decide on her future.  She wants to carry on into the 6th Form and do A levels. She is suppose to pick 4 only, so wittling down from 11 has been very mind-blowing!!   I think we're nearly there now!!  Phew!!

Mick needs the laptop to download his music collection (records) when we had to wipe the system on the main computer I didnt know he hadn't saved anything onto disk/memory stick so he lost everything he'd done already!!  He was gutted!! So they are both sharing the laptop, I will need to get him an external hard drive I think to save everything onto so he won't lose it all again!!


So hence Christmas has taken a bit of a back seat, I just cant seem to get interested in it at all. My biggest problem is the fact my oven is cremating everything I put in it!! 80((  Yes its about 23 years old and has seen better days, the thermostat has gone and my hubbie says the parts are now obselete so that means I need to get a new one.  I dont want to get a new one, they don't make them like they used to (mine is a split level one) my kitchen is only half complete and I just didnt want to buy one right now, so what to do?????  January Sales I think cheap and hopefully cheerful!!!   So not much chance of getting a christmas pressie this year! 80((


Its my birthday again in January, only this is a biggy!! 

Yep 50!!

Oh gosh!!  I feel ancient, at 40 I seemed to change over night but 50 I really dont know how thats going to go!  I know one thing I really want to do something a bit different, special ~


a flying lesson!





            No not a glider a real plane!! 





Checked it out and I have found a company on the web

http://www.intotheblue.co.uk/flying-experiences/fly/flying-lessons/panshangeraerodrome/

this is at Panshanger in Hertfordshire so not too far!! I am quite excited about the experience but I will wait until the spring for better weather.  I am still trying to work out what to do on my birthday, I am thinking of doing an Afternoon Tea type gathering, I'm working on that one!!  Will update you when I have decided.



Thats it for now, nothing new to show you jewellery/beads wise, I am working on tutorials for Bead Magazine right now so got to keep that under my hat. 

One thing though I can hear my paint brushes calling me from my workshop, I might just have to go answer that call, must be all the art stuff Billie is doing at school, she keeps raiding my art and craft supplies and its making me think ~ I do miss it!  I need to get those canvases out which seem to be cluttering up my space!  Mmmmmmm problem with that though is I love doing life drawing, I might need to go join an evening art class!!

Maybe I'm having another mid-life crisis at 50!!!  Ha ha ha!!

Catch you next time!!

E x

   

ChatElaineJewellery.com is Closed!!

I have closed down my website ~~ ChatElaine Jewellery .com but my Etsy stores still remain open. 

It has been a soul searching decision but felt it was for the best.  I fired up my domain name 3 years ago but found that I havent been very successful with sales from my website all my sales have been through craft fairs, home jewellery parties and for my beads from my Etsy stores.

Craft fairs have seen a decline, especially in my area and so I don't sell this way anymore! It is heartbreaking spending so much time making jewellery, travelling and setting up and then no sales, packing it all away again and not even covering the cost of the table, very demoralising!!!  Home jewellery parties are quite hard to come by and so I decided I needed to concentrate on my beadmaking from now on. Jewellery will take a back seat, making mainly for myself or friends and family, also coming up with projects for the magazine.

The way I would like to go is Bead Fairs for my lampwork beads, I am not at a place where this can happen yet but hope to be there in the future!!



The family has taken a bit of a back seat for the last few years but that needs to change, my daughter is in her final year at school and her first Mock exam is this thursday.  So I am concentrating on helping her when she needs me as this first mock is Art and Design.  She is working towards making a sculpture, she has made some preliminary models and so can you guess what it could be????

 

DRAAA-GONS!

Ain't plasticine great!!!  Ha ha!!

Its just like being a kid again, of yes she still is really!!!  Silly me!!

We are having a little trouble on how she can do the wings as she really wants them flapping up,  but I really think it might need an armature wire but worried it wouldnt survive in the kiln!!

Its a 10 hour exam which is all day thursday (5 hours) then 5 lessons of an hour each!! So over the next 2-3 weeks she will have to finish it. Her other mocks are next week, her science re-sits are in January and then her proper exams start in May.

Phewwww!!  Cant believe it, seems only yesterday she was starting school, now we have to start working out what she wants to do for her future career!!  Very hard decisions to make ahead!!  Mind boggling!!

Catch up soon.





E x

Giveaway on my Website

Giveaway on my website now.

ChatElaine Glass Art Beads & Jewellery

Go to my Web Blog to find out how to enter.

Good Luck!