Welcome! Get ready to be sucked inside, there are more than 300 hundred blogs to check out - is that not truly amazing? Actually, the amazing part is the feat of organisation and patience performed by our lovely hostess Lori Anderson of Pretty Things blog. Thanks Lori! There are links to every blog here - once you get past my contribution.
My partner this time was Cherrie Fick of En la lumiére in California. My soup arrived very promptly and I stared and pondered for a good long while. These were lovely beads indeed, but very far away from what I`ve been working with lately - the whole point of this exercise, so worthwhile, indeed. In fact, I should say, I`ve mostly been making supplies for other artists this past while, so making a necklace seemed really challenging! Here's my soup....
I started with the idea of making a hollow branching sculptural tube, designed specifically for that challenging area where the focal joins onto the necklace. This is an idea I've been working on for while and I have a few of them lying around in my studio while I decide what I think of them. So, I figured I'd better use one myself to see if they worked. They provide a rigid separator where the focal joins in and hide joining 'clutter'. That is, of course, if you are like me and not confident with connections. This worked well with the simple ceramic focal - it allowed some breathing space for the simplicity of that quiet focal, particularly as I realized that the rest of the necklace would have lots going on.
After this hurdle, I decided that the tiny beads needed a setting, a kind of rigid organic bezel which would allow them to be displayed at a different orientation to normal stringing. Naturally, the bezel is out of polymer, naturally! ( what else, my metal skills are fairly pathetic!) The idea with this was to unify, display and provide a rigid element in the necklace that would never drape or sag. It will always have this curve on your neck, while the other side drapes. Just an idea I'm pursuing with polymer necklaces...interesting, but requires more work and trial - isn't that just the great thing about this hop? I try it to see if it works and find that it has potential.
The other larger beads got strung between knots on the other side of the necklace. I used paper yarn from PaperPhine on etsy (one of my current favourite supply shops on etsy). I used her fine yarn and twined it for strength. Then I individually coloured the knots with alcohol pens for fun. I made a polymer frame for the beautiful carnelian stone as it really deserved to stand out.
Here is a look at the lovely quiet clasp from missficklemedia. Just perfect for this, I think.
Yes, that was really mean and sneaky. I made you look at all the details before I showed you the WHOLE, so if you've come this far, you can see these disparate parts put together. It's quite a mess o'details... and I'm still looking at it with those eyes that ask desperately "What have I done, does it work?" I'll have to live with it and wear it for a while to find out, as the proof is in the pudding, as they say.
Pleeease be sure to check out Cherrie's blog to see what she made with the soup I sent her!
Can't wait to see what the hop has to offer, many beautiful pieces and much inspiration...
I started with the idea of making a hollow branching sculptural tube, designed specifically for that challenging area where the focal joins onto the necklace. This is an idea I've been working on for while and I have a few of them lying around in my studio while I decide what I think of them. So, I figured I'd better use one myself to see if they worked. They provide a rigid separator where the focal joins in and hide joining 'clutter'. That is, of course, if you are like me and not confident with connections. This worked well with the simple ceramic focal - it allowed some breathing space for the simplicity of that quiet focal, particularly as I realized that the rest of the necklace would have lots going on.
After this hurdle, I decided that the tiny beads needed a setting, a kind of rigid organic bezel which would allow them to be displayed at a different orientation to normal stringing. Naturally, the bezel is out of polymer, naturally! ( what else, my metal skills are fairly pathetic!) The idea with this was to unify, display and provide a rigid element in the necklace that would never drape or sag. It will always have this curve on your neck, while the other side drapes. Just an idea I'm pursuing with polymer necklaces...interesting, but requires more work and trial - isn't that just the great thing about this hop? I try it to see if it works and find that it has potential.
The other larger beads got strung between knots on the other side of the necklace. I used paper yarn from PaperPhine on etsy (one of my current favourite supply shops on etsy). I used her fine yarn and twined it for strength. Then I individually coloured the knots with alcohol pens for fun. I made a polymer frame for the beautiful carnelian stone as it really deserved to stand out.
Here is a look at the lovely quiet clasp from missficklemedia. Just perfect for this, I think.
Yes, that was really mean and sneaky. I made you look at all the details before I showed you the WHOLE, so if you've come this far, you can see these disparate parts put together. It's quite a mess o'details... and I'm still looking at it with those eyes that ask desperately "What have I done, does it work?" I'll have to live with it and wear it for a while to find out, as the proof is in the pudding, as they say.
Pleeease be sure to check out Cherrie's blog to see what she made with the soup I sent her!
Can't wait to see what the hop has to offer, many beautiful pieces and much inspiration...
These are the partner pairs.
9. Amy Freeland and Christine Altmiller
140. Mary McGraw and Laurel Steven
For a total of 362 people making jewelry!
Amazing!
