Christmas Necklace

I dabble in alot of mediums, am master of none, but enjoy just trying...

And one of those mediums is Wired Jewelry. I began this journey because I wanted a wired flower for a card I was making. I went to all the scrapbook stores looking for the concept I had in my Mind's Eye, finding nothing, nada, zip... which was soooo disappointing.

Then I happened to wander into the jewelry aisle of Michaels thinking I might find something there. Oh, I found something all right!!! There, in front of me, were these spools of wire -- all colors of wire, all thicknesses, all types!!! My mind started whirling, that sight was intoxicating to a crafter. I began to have visions of the possibilities of adding wire to my cards, my multi media projects, tags -- oh, I was over joyed!!! But never once did jewelry making ever cross my mind. I just wanted to make flowers, and frames, and hearts, and stars -- well you get the idea -- everything!!!

And not knowing a thing about bending wire, I just grabbed a few spools that appealed to me. I knew I would need some tools to help bend that wire and, as luck would have it, or proper commercial placement of products, there were all the "tools" right next to that wire!!! Imagine that!! I grabbed a round thingy and a pliers thingy, oh and something to cut the wire with. I was happy, I knew I would be able to make my flower to complete that card.

I hurried home, all excited to begin. I sat at the kitchen table, dumped all my new found wonders onto the table, pulled out some of the brass wire, cut the length I thought I would need, and began bending that brass into little flower petals, then a stem with, how about a leaf here and one over there. I WAS HOOKED!!!

I must have made 50 flowers, trying all sorts of bending, forming, twisting I could think of. Then it hit me -- YOUTUBE -- I bet there are a "few" videos about bending wire.  Oh, silly, naive crafter!!! I spent the rest of the weekend glued to that iPad, watching all I could find on this new found love. Bending and shaping and forming that wire right along with all the fabulous tutorials I could find.

I learned about wire thickness, or "gauge" as "us" wire workers like to call it (hahaha); silver, copper, brass, bronze; anodizing, polishing; round, half round, square; dead-soft, half-hard, hard; hardening; coated or pure. Intoxicating for sure!!!

I have made a ton of "stuff' since then, and my family/friends have been privy to alot of that "stuff" whether they wanted it or not, I was eager to share. I have even made a few things I kept for myself.

This is one of those items, and I just love it. I found the pendant in Michaels in the Holiday Ornament Section and thought, "Hey, that would make a great necklace for Christmas".  I have experimented with chains, making all my own loops and clasps. I know I could use store bought "findings", but the OCD in me just needs for it to be as much as my own hand made as possible. Besides, links and chains and clasps and ear wires are so easy and fun to make. I can sit for hours bending and turning and hardening wire.

It is satisfying to see a long piece of wire turn into a ring, or necklace or earrings, or bracelet, or "flowers, hearts, stars and frames"

The links and clasp are hand made. The bale is from an old, old broken necklace that I bent into a hook and closed in the back, the Sleigh is from Michaels, the wire is bronzed, 18 gauge round, half-hard.


Now that Christmastime is upon us, I get to wear this. Thanksgiving Day marks the occasion, as that day, to me, begins the celebration of Christ's Birth and all that I am thankful for. It's a wonderful time where people seem to share more, care more. It is nostalgic, whimsical, magical filled with hopes and dreams. And one of the most precious sights of the Season, is to witness its Wonder through small children's eyes and see the world untainted, pure.

Daughter's Altered Art for #ksdnov

Over in Google Plus I belong to an amazing community called Kraafters Kommunity.  Every month we have a Challenge and this month's is to alter something-- anything at all.  My daughter is a member also, but she is too modest/shy to post her kraftiness, but I am not. She never ceases to amaze me with her talents, from the kreative ideas she has incorporated into her home, the kraafts she shares/does with her children, and the art she kreates. She is always thrifty, recycling or using what she has and comes up some stunning projects, and this is her latest.



She had some wood from an earlier project that appeared to be calling to her, so she screwed pieces together to form this 3 foot by 3 foot base:







Then using her printer, she printed off images which she used as stencils, or guides, to paint their images onto the wood, creating this fabulous scene. She used left over white craft paint from her pumpkin project, which was sooo cute also





She is contemplating drilling holes to add lights to the Guiding Light and as stars in the sky. I think it would be beautiful, especially at night lighting up their mantle.








I think it is a stunning altered piece and showcases the depth of her talents.

#ksdnov

Tag Wreath

Want a simple, easy wreath for the Holidays to brighten your home or as handmade gift that looks sooo pretty? I just posted my KISS Video of a simple wreath made from shipping tags. Ya know, those cute little manila tags with string attached. Watch it here below or over on my YouTube Channel taboriginal

Here are a couple of pictures:

Watch the video here to see how simple these are to make:

Thank you stopping by my blog!!

Kraafters Kaard Exchange

I had a great time last night making kaards with some Kraafters over in the Kraafters Kommunity on Google Plus

We were to make a kaard, then send an unfinished version of it to each participating Kraafter.  Once we had all received our Kaards, we would schedule a HangOut in Google Plus. We all got together last night, kraafting to complete each kaard.

We even had a mystery kaard, supplied by Nanette. She sent us all the material for her kaard, with instructions not to open until the scheduled HangOut. Her's was the only one we had no direction for completion. It was up to us to use all the components and create a kaard, hopefully similar to hers. The Kraafter who came closest to Nanette's original kaard won a prize!!! I didn't win .. LOL

These are the kaards we made last night:

The idea/plan was for all to have a few kaards made for sending to family/friends. But I can't part with them, they are mine to keep. Each is so unique, just like the Kraafter who made it, so I will be keeping these as a remembrance of a fun night and a keepsake of an original piece of heART from each.

WOIW Week 5

BOOK

In Kraafters Kommunity on Google Plus,  the 5th Word Of Inspiration is BOOK.

My interpetation celebrates the printed WORDS of BOOKS, from the first scribed scrolls to the Gutenberg Press, to typewriters and today's computers.

I was fortunate to work for Arizona Highways Magazine as a programmer and computer operator. The Magazine had an old Gutenberg Press along with all the printer drawers filled with wooden typeface, in a little room next to the computer room, we called "The Museum". We also had the original printing press and composing table the Magazine was printed on. When The Magazine expanded, this wonderful equipment was donated to the Phoenix Museum of History. They in turn donated the Composing Table and Press to ASU's Walter Cronkite School Of Journalism



I loved those presses. Not only were they beautiful to look at, but those tiny pieces of wooden typeface were magnificent pieces of art. When I needed de-stressing time, I would wander into this room and just take in the visual of these presses and their smells... the wood was intoxicating. I would handle those typefaces and daydream about their usage. We also had something on the press bed ready to print, as we often did demos of the Gutenberg Press. Wonderful times!!!



So with my personal history lesson here, I feel Blessed to have been apart of that history. I still recall those days, and those presses as I work on my journals, or mixed media or cards... that special "something" that influences my choices in my crafting.

Here is a digital piece I did for BOOK. I used an old manual typewriter along with a printer's box filled with wooden typeface, a printer ticker tape and a printer seal. I chose a typewriter as focus, because of all the manuscripts, books, and papers that have been produced/written thru the years.  All those WORDS carefully laid down on paper for others to read, learn from, wander into imaginary places/lands, to give us hope, allow us to dream, or simply pass a Summer day reading for the pure pleasure of reading... and because I still have two manual ones and one very old electric...

Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog.

Organic Stamps

Over in Kraafters Kommunity on Google Plus, Heather does a weekly show on kraafting.  Last week's show was all about Stamp Kaarving (yes, all those Ks and double As are intentional, part of being a Kraafters in Kraafters Kommunity).

Tina Van Eick and Sandra Artfully Made were guests on the show. They are Master Kaarvers, to say the least!!! We got to watch them kaarve stamps while they offered tips and tricks. Tina showed a few stamps she made from cuttings from her yard -- a clover and a daisy. They were so beautiful, organic and just captured those little flowers perfectly. So I thought I would do the same.

I love bougainvillea, their colors are so vibrant and the little flower is made of three petals stuck together into a dimensional triangle before they open up. I think I spent more time studying the bougainvillea for the right clipping than I did actually kaarving the stamp!!!

So, here is the stamp and the printed image. I use Distress Ink Pads in Mowed Lawn for the leaves, and Picked Raspberry for the Flowers. I stamped onto a watercolor background I had made many moons ago. I didn't want a plain white background, I wanted something that looked like "outside"...

Thanks for stopping by...

Face Sketching

Over in Kraafters Kommunity on Google Plus, alot of the Kraafters have been posting face sketches. It all stared very innocently by this rendition of a challenge from Sandra of Artfully Made 4 You. She said all you needed to do to draw a face was... "draw an oval, make a "T" down the middle, add some eyes, a nose and maybe a mouth"

So this is what a drew, following those directions. I do think I nailed it!!!

This lead to many others posting their drawings. Then +Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith posted a video about face drawing from Kathy Arbour. Wow, what a great video and tutorial about faces. Kathy explains the proportions of the face which was fascinating. She then went into painting with the proper highlighting techniques. I like my pencil drawing, and wanted to share it here...

If you are interested in drawing faces, check out Kathy's video... here