!!!!!SORRY ABOUT THE MESS BUT WE ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!!!

New beads on Etsy!!!

A Quilt  For Simone

When my daughter was little I made her a blankie from a small lap blanket size quilt that kept coming apart where the pieces were sewn together. When I would see a spot coming apart I would take some fabric from a cute pair of pants or anything sweet and cut out a flower shape and cover the part that was coming apart. Eventually the blankie had several flowers and bugs. I also put a silky backing on it because, well, it's silky.

Simone loved her blankie as any kid with a blanket named blankie does. She would have it still if she didn't have the unfortunate experience of puppy-sitting a dog that got a hold of it and shredded half of it. Although it was shredded like a car wash octopus thingy she still slept with it. 

About 6 weeks ago I looked at it and asked her if she would like a new one. I was quite surprised by the colors she picked out at first which were beige and beiger. I encouraged her to get a bit more color since the palette she was expressing to me was corals and pastels.

This was the background.

 I added the darker colors but didn't use them all. 

I stuck to a flower theme and chose clematis on a trellis.

I added birds and the original buzzy bee from the first blanket

Still silky on the back and an extra cushy 4 layers of batting.

Here you can see that the test run went very well!

17TH CENTURY FASHION AND JEWELRY

"Toward the end of the 16th century, the Renaissance style blended gradually into the manifestations of the Baroque period, which arose at different times in different countries. This gradual change in the style of jewelry was conditioned mainly by two factors. The first was of a technical nature and concerned improvements in the cutting of precious stones, while the second consisted of a great vogue for the cultivation of flowers. Floral and vegetable decoration therefore became the most fashionable theme for jewelry designers, and its popularity spread throughout Europe. The ornamental motifs of knots, ribbons, and Rococo scrolls also saw a considerable development."

http://www.britannica.com/art/jewelry/17th-century

http://costume-jewelry-magazine.blogspot.com/2012/08/jewelry-history-in-17th-cfentury-baroque.html

I have to say not my favorite fashion period but, alas, Orlando Bloom saves the day!

I was drawn to the necklace from Nepal because of the shell like shape to it. I felt it could lend itself to this challenge. I was drawn to the Hungarian pieces because of the flowers and animals which reflect the statement given above. I wanted to incorporate the two for this challenge.

For the focal bead I had added more things to it but it was a bit garbled so I took them off and just let the colors, shapes and textures speak for themselves. 

I used brass sheet metal and embossing enamels and pigments. The wire is a bronze wrapping wire and was twisted. 

The bracelet I struggled with I had it all together bet the leaf is so slender that it looked good but wasn't as balanced as I felt it should be. I used Sari Silk from Lima Beads http://www.limabeads.com/Multi_Color-100-Silk-Sari-Ribbon-P21834

The round swirl discs are from Taneres on Etsy

https://www.etsy.com/shop/taneres

The clasp is antique or vintage I repurposed it with a Grace Bead I think it is a Grace ://gracebeads.com/.

I thought that I saw an insect in the painting so I made it a dragonfly.

The leaf is sheet metal shaped and enameled with embossing enamels and pigments.

This 17th century "statement necklace" was probably given by King Pratapamalladeva, ruler of the palace in Kathmandu, Nepal to Taleju Bhavani.

Hungarian, 17th century Jewellery by Kotomi on Flickr

17th Century Jewellry, Hungarian, Flickr

Mid-17th century Italian/Hungarian Bodice and skirt at the Museum of Applied Art, Budapest - Found via Ladies Historic Fashion!

July

Art Bead Scene Challenge

http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2015/07/july-monthly-challenge-color-palette.html

Still Life with Seashells by dutch painter Balthasar van der Ast

1640

 Van Der Ast became one of the most distinguished still life painters in the Netherlands. His unique subject matter, such as seashells and fruit, also made him notable among his peers. He is considered to be one of the founders of still life painting in the Netherlands.

I am very excited about this painting! It is so beautiful and I know most people remember collecting shells whenever they were on vacation.

I especially like the shell right above the black swatch.  It is very unique to me. 

Well anyway, I love working with metal and the embossing enamels so here is my first bead.

I can see myself progressing as an artist and I really like this pendant.

Second piece. Polymer clay focal created by Katherine T ~ myself.  Well I couldn't get that black and white or pearly white shell out of my mind and it almost drove me out of my mind. I really had to work on it  and it didn't come together until I was gifted the metal beads. I purchased the wood disc beads with Mother of Pearl inlay from, The Bead Gallery in Ann Arbor. You can look at the older posts to see my visit there.Vintage leaf dangle. If you notice there is a leaf in the painting, Yay! Even though this is my inspired necklace I try to capture the feeling of the painting I thought the swirls on the metal beads helped interpret the swirls of the shells.