Cuff: Falling Leaves

Managed to finish this cuff up last week, but I've been a bit slow on blogging about it. I know I posted in on Facebook the moment I managed to get the photo's of it. It's been really heard to get a good picture of anything these past two weeks, the weather has been wet, dark and gloomy and the light the day provides gives the nicest photo's on jewelry in my own opinion.

Anyway!
The inspiration for this cuff actually came to me in autumn, when the leaves begin to color. I put away the materials I wanted to use for it the moment that creative muse hit me, but I decided to finish up my "Marie Antoinette" necklace before starting on something new, as it was almost done at that time.
I got the inspiration one of the days when I was walking to the bakery in the town I live in. The path is in grey stones, and there were leaves in different oranges shades all spread out over the path, making the colors really POP.
I have never really created anything using the color orange, so I decided to listen to that voice in my head that told me to take advantage of this play of two colors and make something really different.

A couple of months ago I purchased an orange dyed sea sediment jasper cabochon for random reasons (I mostly buy things without having a plan for them, and then I'll wait and see if inspiration will come along to do something with them, which in this case worked out perfectly... ). Or course I had to use that cabochon as the focal point, the crackles in it are a bit beige/grey and the different shades of orange in it just looked divine to my eyes.

On each side of the cuff I decided to "paint" a leaf with beads. I know, on the photo they look a bit red, the beads in color I mean. The seed beads color is called "Sunset Orange" (Toho) and is very close to red, but isn't red.
After I was done with everything on the cuff (covered the whole surface with beads), I thought the leaves looked a bit "naked" like something was missing, so I took up some 3mm Swarovski sew-on stones and experiments, laying them out on the beadwork to see if they would look good there or not. And I ended up laying them out randomly over the leaves and sewed them on there.

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Can you put a price on a 'Memorial Diamond'?

We know (as manufacturers) making diamonds at all is a modern miracle. To make them from 'Cremains' (cremation ashes) or hair is yet another aspect that I think is absolutely taken for granted. 
When deciding what type of 'Memorial' (to a deceased loved-one) will be best, consideration should be given to - is the memorium for others to view or is the memento a personal issue.
Over the years we have had headstones with which to make a mark of respect, but surely the MOST enduring, MOST valuable memorial would be a DIAMOND?
They say 'Diamonds are Forever'.... If we are taking just 100 grams of ashes or about 15grams of hair to make THE most everlasting and valuable memento, all the rest of the ashes can still be scattered or the body simply buried - but it is the diamond that will be lasting the longest. It will be passed down through the family, generation to generation.
The costs of making our 'Memorial Diamonds' is creeping up and up, £6500 per carat is not only a worthy purchase but also a worthy everlasting and unique memento - to keep close to the survivors and loved-ones.
You can put ashes into glass (is not a paperweight a bit tacky?) You can put hair and ashes into jewellery but without the very special ability and production facilities costing 'millions' you cannot make a diamond like we can. Can you put a price on that??

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Happy New Year!

The old year is almost over, and a new year is going to begin. I wanted to share this small video, a sum up on most of the creations I did during the summer to winter period this year.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and a wonderful and fantastic beginning of the New Year!

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Bead Embroidered Brooch

One more week and this year is at an end. I wanted to share this one little last christmas present I created for my mother-in-law.
It's a brooch made with bead embroidery. I haven't really made many brooches at all, this is the second one, the first one was that little rose I posted a couple of weeks ago.

The brooch was born in the simple way of "improvising", heh. What I did was that I dug through the small collection I have of assorted gemstone cabochons, and I ended up finding three really nice ones that looked good together. They were white and had a little bit of a mossy green (no idea if they are moss agates or not though, heh) color spread out here and there on them, and I actually liked the color combination so I decided to use the palette; white, olive green and amber as beads for the brooch.

At first I actually had a silhouette that I decided on in the beginning, BUT. As I bezelled the cabochons I just ended up putting beads in places and shapes that I saw fitting, so I ended up with something more abstract in the end anyway.

My mother-in-law liked it a lotm which made me very, very happeh :3

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Call for Artwork!! (And Happy Holidays!!)

So, first and foremost, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!  Whatever you celebrate, or don't, I hope this time of year is filled with peace, love, and joy for you and yours :)

I have been BUSY this season, and I'm loving every minute.  Recently, I premiered some brand new pieces in my shop: Etched Copper and Brass Cuff Bracelets.  I'm really excited to be offering these pieces.  They've been a blast to make, and I am just in love with how they look and feel.  Apparently I'm not the only one either--about 5 minutes after listing my favorite wide cuff in my Etsy Shop, a very nice gentleman from Georgia snatched it up.  This is my current favorite, a brass cuff with an organic crackled texture on the surface:

Brass Cuff

My plan is to make many many more, which brings me to the main point of my post :)

CALLING ALL ARTISTS!!

I want to feature your artwork on one (or more) of my cuff bracelets!

I don't care if you draw, paint, or make graphics on the computer.  I'm just looking for some awesome images to transfer onto metal.

Here's the skinny.  I use a process called acid etching to make the cuff bracelets.  Part of the process is transferring toner rich images from paper to metal to act as a resist.  All the areas of the metal covered with toner (or paint, or wax, etc, etc...) will be protected from the etching solution.  All the exposed areas will get cut away, creating recessed areas and awesome texture.  In the cuff above, all the bright brass areas were protected from the etching solution, while the dark areas were exposed.  Pretty cool, right?

I've managed to come up with some pretty cool designs that I really love, but now I'm interested in what you all might come up with.  Just about anything you can think up can be used; the only real requirement is that the image has to be black and white.  JUST black and white, no gray areas.  The black areas are what will protect the metal, and gray just doesn't hold up.

Crisp images like this one are perfect.  There can be a lot of detail, or not, so long as the black lines are strong and dark, and the white areas are crisp and clean. 

Images like the one below won't work because the gray shaded areas won't be protected well during the etching process.  Thin black lines are also not an ideal fit for this project.

Getting the idea?  I hope so.  Anyway, anyone who wants to is more than welcome to submit artwork.  I'd prefer high quality digital files since the crisper the image, the crisper the transfer, but I can generally make whatever you want to send in work.

What size should the image be?

• Full size cuffs are made from strips of metal that are 6 inches long, and from 1/2 to 2 inches wide.  

• Half size cuffs are about 2 1/2 to 3 inches long, and approximately 1 inch wide.

• Ring stock is about 3 inches long, and 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide.

• Earring stock is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide, and can be up to 2 inches long.

It'd be awesome if you could size your images to fit these dimensions, because if I resize them, they could become less crisp, which would be a big bummer.

What do I get in return for sharing my super cool artwork?

Everyone who submits a piece of art work (whether or not I use it) will be entered to win a gift certificate to use in my shop.  And if I end up using your art, I'll credit you in the item description, on FB, and on the care card that's included with the piece featuring your work.  I'll also give you first dibs on whatever jewelry I make using your design.

Sounds great!  Where do I send my stuff?

Email it to me!  Send all submissions to jewelry_gal85@yahoo.com

Please put "Artwork Submission" in the subject line so I know you aren't spam.  Also, include your name, email address, and website (if you have one) with each submission. 
Just about any file type should work, but I'd prefer a .jpeg  or .png file.  PDFs, Word documents, and high definition scans of hand drawn images are fine as well.

The Fine Print

I'll be drawing the gift certificate winner on Friday, January 25th, 2013.  You can submit as many images as you'd like, but your name will only be entered into the drawing once.

If you're sending me artwork, it must be your own.  Seriously, don't steal images from the web and say it's yours, that's called copyright infringement and it's against the law.  Plus, how would you feel if someone stole your stuff?  So, original work only, please.  You CAN use open source materials, but original is (almost) always better.  By submitting artwork to me, you are certifying that you have the right to use and distribute it.

By sending in artwork, you are agreeing to allow me to use (or not use) the image as I see fit.  This means the image may be re-sized, reshaped, or re-purposed as needed to fit the project.  It also means you are giving me the rights to sell any and all projects featuring your artwork with no financial obligation to you, other than what's mentioned above.

Submissions constitutes a binding contract for non-exclusive rights to your image(s).  You may sell, distribute, and otherwise share your image(s) however you like, though it'd be great if you didn't go handing them out to other jewelry artists.

And that's that.  I can't wait to see what you all come up with!  Be sure to stay tuned.  I've got a TON of exciting new projects in mind for the new year!

Happy Holidays!

-Heather

Little Hill Jewelry

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Necklace: Marie Antoinette

It's Done!!!!

Managed to finally finish up my necklace, inspired by Marie Antoinette yesterday :)

I must say it's been an interesting journey, completing this piece. I think I started on it sometime around June/July. I had this brass cuff collar that I bought some time ago from "Robin's Beads" and I wanted to make something on a scale that I've never done before. In short I wanted to make a big two piece necklace, with a piece that would be attached to the collar.

I decided to begin my journey with focusing on the part that would be attached to the collar, and cause of the inspiration, I wanted to make a baroque inspired silhouette for it. The main colors I had in mind from the very beginning were mainly pink and peach in different shades. After doing the bezels for the cabochons I already had glued down, I ended up with an artist's block, so I felt that I had to put it away for some time.

I took it out again when the inspiration sprouted out again, and this time I actually decided to add some more colors to give the piece a lot more contrast; moss green iris, lavender and amethyst with gold luster beads.
I ended up finishing this piece in a couple of weeks after working on it. I actually posted the w.i.p photo's on my facebook page as I went a long, and they are still there for those who are interested in having a peek :)

I actually had a living hell making a template for the collar, lol! No, really. It's so big and wide and already shaped so I kinda had to use sticky tape, double fold it and attach it onto the collar and carefully press it down on a paper AND THEN draw around the edges of it onto the paper.
The biggest sample of Lacy's Stiff Stuff actually isn't big enough for this collar model, so I had to improvise. After I drew out the shape from my newly made template onto the beading foundation I took another piece of foundation and angled it next to the other one. I added some E6000 to the edges of each one of the two foundations and pressed them together, and I smoothed out the glue over the area of where two pieces met to make it extra secure.
My experiment actually worked and after the glue had dried the two pieces ended up together as if they'd always been there.

 I took a small break at this point, before starting to work on the collar. I wanted to make some Christmas presents to send up to some special ones, home in Sweden, making sure that they would have them on time before the 24th (we celebrate Chrsitmas EVE in Scandinavia, not Christmas Day like most other countries do, heh), and they received their gifties last week :)

When I started on the collar, I knew I wanted something sparkly and not too many details, as the other part has a lot of details. I incorporated a couple Swarovski rivolies as the focal point for it, and then I began to pretty much work from there. The design of it evolved as I worked on it. At some point however, I decided to also add a smaller feather on each side of the collar that would match up with the big feather I created on the first piece.

After finishing the collar, gluing it onto the brass piece and edging it with brick stitch I went back again to the first piece to create a fringe. One of the things I personally find hard to create is a really good fringe, lol. I find myself sometimes in a bit of a problem when doing this, depending on how the bottom shape of whatever I'm fringing looks like.
In the end I managed to come up with something awesome. I wanted something more irregular, so I chose what kind of beads I wanted to add and how; freshwater pearl, swarovski bicone crystal, 4mm firpolished bead and 3mm firpolished bead. Going from there I decided to add some 11/0 seed beads in the rose tea AB colored beads, and when I would turn up again to secure the fringe I worked peyote stitch on the seed beads laying in between those focal beads I mentioned earlier.

When the fringe was completed, it was time to finish the whole piece. After some comparing I ended up attaching the pieces with two 11/0 seed beads and an 8mm south sea shell pearl in between them.

I'm probably not gonna post another blog update before Christmas, I'm not sure :) 

But in case...

♥ I wish you all a wonderful Christmas ♥ 

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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