Flower Art Challenge

This month’s challenge theme from the Art Elements blog is Flowers. Nothing inspires me more than flowers do. I love their many colors, shapes and textures. I have always been deeply moved, healed and inspired by the beauty in nature. We once had a home that had over 1,000 daffodils in the back field – my husband planted them over the years because he saw how much joy they brought me! 🙂

I make greeting cards with pressed, dried flowers. I photograph flowers. I design flowered jewelry and ceramic items and I love to arrange flowers. I adore flowers!

I have a number of different entries for this month’s Challenge, but several things are still works in progress. I was sick for a couple of weeks in July and didn’t get everything finished up. However, early in July, I made this bowl, with a floral motif in it.  It has now had its first kiln firing, but I haven’t had time to glaze and re-fire it. I am still pondering which glazes to use.

I have set myself a goal of having a booth at a large Art To Wear show next April. Judging will take place in January 2020  My goal (besides being juried in) is to have all my own ceramic jewelry in the show. This is a lofty goal, because I have tons of jewelry with art beads from other makers, but I haven’t done a lot of designing with my own ceramic components. Mostly I have just offered them for sale to jewelry designers. So I have my work cut out for me and I used this Art Elements challenge to jump start my efforts.

I made these yellow earrings early this month. They include my ceramic roses which I accented with lampwork glass by Third Eye Gypsys.

After making these earrings, I decided to make a bunch more roses to use for simple post earrings and necklaces. I haven’t had time to glaze them yet, but I plan to make them happy and colorful! These are the earring pairs.

These are larger and will be used in necklaces.

Next I made some daisy post earring pairs.

These also have a larger version for necklaces.

Here’s another floral earring pair, in a more rustic style.

And a last minute necklace addition… I made this simple necklace this afternoon with a new pendant I made last week.

Last of all, I want to share a floral “event” that took me by surprise this month. I posted some flower photographs on Instagram and Facebook. Shelly Turner, the owner of the OOAK Artisan Showcase gallery, in Rome, NY saw my photos and asked me to submit two of them to an upcoming show. The show is titled “Summer Afternoon” and it runs through August 4th. She sent me a photo of one of my pictures in the gallery.

And here’s the other flower photo I submitted; a stunning purple poppy.

I would like to thank Art Elements for hosting this challenge, with special thanks to Marsha Neal Minutella who arranged it all. This is a blog hop so please take some time and look at the wonderful things people are creating for this theme. I invite you to visit the artists’ blogs and leave a friendly comment, (if you are having issues leaving comments, try using google chrome as your browser).
You can also see and participate yourself via social media by using the hashtags: #AEThemeChallenge and #AEFlowers

Here is a list of the Visiting Artists:
Alysen
Cat
Divya
Evie and Beth
Jill
Hope
Kathy
Linda
Louise
Martha
Melissa
Michelle
Rozantia
Sarah
Sarajo
Tammy

And the Art Elements Blog Contributors:
Caroline
Cathy
Claire
Jenny
Laney
Lesley
Marsha
Susan

Linda Landig Jewelry

 

 

Art Elements Sunflower Challenge

Art Elements blog is hosting a Sunflower blog hop challenge today.  Participants have all agreed to create jewelry or other art forms with a sunflower theme.  I love sunflowers, so I hopped right in.

I took this close-up photo of a sunflower I had in a floral arrangement I’d made.  I love the streaks of reddish-brown on the yellow petals.  To achieve that effect on my ceramic pendants I layered two specific glazes.  The top glaze crackles when layered over the reddish-brown glaze beneath, allowing some of that lower layer of color to bleed through. I was so pleased with this effect that I made a whole pile of sunflower pendants, just because I was having so much fun with them. As you can see, each one is a little different as I played with different aspects of the design.

I made one pendant that was a bit larger the those above and which had a big enough hole to accommodate some leather.  I used that pendant in my necklace for today’s challenge.

I attached the pendant to the leather with a simple larks head knot and above it I placed two hand enameled tubes that I believe were made by Mary Dodd.  The leather then connects to some Terra Cast copper rings with a nice surface texture. I love how the copper color echoes the browns in the pendant.

I added a short strand of vintage glass beads and peanut beads, that I suspended from the rings, as well.  When worn, they drape just on top of the leather and end about an inch or so above the pendant .  Leather cording finishes off the back of the necklace, which ends in a copper-colored lobster clasp.  This is a nice long necklace, which I could have made without a clasp, because it slips easily over the head.

I have one sunflower pendant listed on my website, but if you want more, just message me here or through my website.

My thanks to Sue and to Art Elements for hosting this fun summer challenge. This is a blog hop, so be sure to share the love with all these other great artists!

Guests

Alysen
Anita
Cat
Divya
Jill
Kathy
Linda You are here.
Linda
Mischelle
Norma
Raven
Sarajo
Tammy

AE Team

Caroline
Cathy
Claire
Jenny
Laney
Lesley
Sue

Facebook Trunk Show

This Saturday I will be having a trunk show in a wonderful Facebook group called Artisans Create Together.  This group has been a great resource for finding out about jewelry designers and component makers that I’d not known about before.  They’ve also featured old favorites of mine, as well. The primary purpose of the group is to get to know various jewelry artists, but they do have trunk shows too.  I was the featured artist on Wednesday and the info about me is still on the page.  The founder of the group, Janice Everett of J-Lynn Jewels, shared info and photos about my studio spaces, my family and home, as well as my creative journey.

Saturday’s Trunk Show will feature my ceramic jewelry components and my finished jewelry as well as work by Dana Phillips.  Here are some sneak peek at some of my offerings.

See you at the trunk show on Saturday. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArtisansCreateTogether/

Starfish Color Palette Challenge

Towards the end of May, Sherri Stokey put out a challenge on the Love My Art Jewelry blog to design something in this color palette.

I was inspired, although I didn’t play by the rules exactly.  The necklace I designed is beachy and turquoise.  I even included a starfish, however the necklace doesn’t have the neutral colors that Sherry included in her pretty color palette.  My necklace just didn’t seem to want to develop in that direction.

I’m still inspired by Sherri’s color palette though and I’d like to make some additional pieces of jewelry that adhere more closely to her colors.  I made some ceramic clam shell pendants this weekend.  I bisque fired them on Sunday, but they haven’t been glazed yet.  Perhaps I’ll use one of the clam shells to design a necklace in tan, ecru, turquoise and teal.

Some of the items that were bisque fired this weekend –

I’ll be sure to share further explorations with this theme. In the meantime, my Sea Star Necklace is available in my shop.

Linda Landig Jewelry

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Sweet Silk Strands

The package arrived a bit late from Germany, but look at what I just got from my sister and brother-in-law for  Christmas!

This is 2 dozen dyed silks in brilliant jewel tones!  When my sister-in-law visited us last summer, she was shocked at how much dyed silks cords cost at Shipwreck Beads.  So she went all out in providing me a lifetime supply of silks! Below are another 2 dozen silks, all in watery cool tones.

Oh my goodness, I’m going to have so much  fun designing with these!  It might be a little while until they start showing up in my shop, though, because we’re moving on Feb. 12th and my studio is mostly in boxes at the moment.  I looking forward to getting resettled and  having some creative time again.

Here’s a picture of all the silks together. Which silk color(s) do you like best? I’d like to know.  Tell me in the comments, please.

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.

Linda Landig Jewelry

El Dia de los Muertos

Happy Day of the Dead!

Several years my husband and I were in Oaxaca, Mexico during the Day of the Dead celebration. And Oaxaca celebrated this holiday in a big way!

Dia de los Muertos was originally an Aztec celebration of the lives of those who had died. The Spanish conquerors tried to put an end to the holiday, but were not successful, (thank goodness). Over time el Dia de los Muertos merged with the Catholic All-Saints day and All-Souls day on November 1st and 2nd. The contemporary celebration melds aspects of Aztec ritual with Christian traditions and contemporary life.

Sugar Skulls and Marigolds

Sugar Skulls in Oaxaca

We started seeing sugar skulls in the markets about a week or 2 before the Day of the Dead celebration. Apparently the Catholic friars taught the Mexicans how to make decorations from an ingredient that was abundant and affordable: sugar. Sugar Skulls and other items are often used to decorate the ofrendas on Dia de los Muertos. As in the picture below, marigolds also decorate small home altars like this, as well as large public displays. The bright orange marigolds are said to guide the spirits of the deceased, back to their earthly homes, as they visit their loved ones.

Oferendas with sugar skulls

Day of the Dead Necklace

I wanted to design a Day of the Dead necklace that would  reflect these traditions, with respect and authenticity. So I started with an awesome, bronze clay sugar skull  by my friend Staci Smith.

I needed some beads to represent the marigolds and these were perfect!

Day Of the Dead Necklace with Marigold beads.

I wired a “marigold” beneath the chin of the sugar skull and dangled 7 other from a strand of black, gray and silver “peanut beads”.

I topped the sugar skull with a dark lilac handmade ceramic bead by Mary Hubbard, of White Clover Kiln and then added a strand of purple, recycled sari silk.

Here’s some additional information of the Day of the Dead, that you might find interesting: http://www.firstpost.com/tag/day-of-the-dead

The Skull Sugar Necklace is available on my website.

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.

Linda Landig Jewelry

Fall Flash Sale – 20% Off!

Flash Sale – 20% off! Today Only, on all jewelry & ceramic components

Linda Landig Jewelry

July Component Of The Month Reveal

This month’s  Component Of The Month was made by Art Jewelry Elements (AJE) team member Niky Sayers.  Niky, who is from London, England, used 2 old farthing coins to make a very cool bead.  I didn’t know how much a farthing was worth or when it had been in use, so I looked it up.  A farthing was worth a quarter of an old penny and there were also half farthings and 3 quarter farthings.  They were taken out of circulation in 1961.

I knew that I wanted to make a multi-strand bracelet with my farthing bead.  I thought this raku bead, from Odd Designs, would add some color while also tying in with the coppery color of the coin.  At that point I decided to go for blue and coppery brown in the whole bracelet, along with some smaller spots accent colors.

The blue lampwork glass bead (above, right) by Jen Cameron of Glass Addictions was perfect for my third focal bead.

Each of the three strands of smaller beads has a mix of blue and brown glass beads, with some accent colors and some small copper heshe..  Although each strand is different, they all have some blue glass seed beads with a copper sheen and some of the copper heshe.  These common components help  to tie the overall design together. I  finished the bracelet with a handmade ceramic button by Karen Totten of Starry Road Studio.

Thank you Niky for sharing your awesome metalsmithing skills with us in the form of this uber-cool bead!  In addition to the AJE team members, 3 lucky guest artists also received farthing beads. My Farthing Bracelet is available in the bracelet section of my shop.

Check out the blogs listed below to see what everyone else made with their farthings.

Guest Artists

Rebecca Anderson
Nan Smith

Jess Green

AJE Team 
Niky Sayers

Sue Kennedy

Kristen Stevens

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Lindsay Starr

Caroline Dewison

Lesley Watt

Linda Landig
Rebekah Payne

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.!

Linda Landig Jewelry

Aurora Borealis

This month I am excited to be Erin Prais-Hintz’s Pretty Palettes partner.  Pretty Palettes is a monthly challenge that Erin hosts on the Halcraft Inspiration blog. Halcraft is a company that produces several different lines of beads for various retailers. Their Bead Gallery® line is made exclusively for Michaels. Each month Erin chooses a theme and selects Halcraft beads inspired by that month’s theme.  July’s theme is Aurora Borealis.

Photo by Julien Ratel ( Júllí Jónsson ) Creative Commons

Erin also chooses someone to partner with her each month.  As her July partner I received this fabulous set of Bead Gallery beads and the pendant.  Its hard to catch the shimmer and shine of these beads in a photograph.  They are super inspiring!  Others can play along with this challenge as well.  They can purchase these beads if they want and/or use beads from their stash.  My designs will be a combination of the Halcraft beads and coordinating beads from my stash.

So far I’ve made one item and I’m working on more. I can’t show you what I’ve made until the reveal date, which is July 29th.  But I will say that I have used almost the whole strand of beads that is on the far right in the photo above and I love how it turned out!  I hope you will come back on the 29th for the Pretty Palettes reveal!Linda Landig Jewelry

AJE Component Of The Month Challenge – May 2015

Iris Bracelet

This month’s components are beautiful beaded beads by Sue Kennedy of Sue Beads.  I love her beaded beads and her color choices!

Sue’s beaded beads are an obvious choice for earrings, but this time I decided to switch it up a bit and make a bracelet.

I paired Sue’s bead with a lampwork bead by my friends at Beads and Botanicals. and a pretty matte bead with light blue stripes.

I enjoy making bracelets that go from one strand to multi-strands and that was my approach here.  When I started my Facebook Destash Group several weeks ago, I realized that I’d been neglecting my gemstone collection, so I chose some amethysts and pearls for the for the first two strands.

Although I rarely use Swarovski crystals any more, they were exactly what this bracelet called for in the third strand.

While I like each strand to be different, I try to tie them all together with some repeating components, in this case, I have light purple seed beads and small, blue cubes in every strand.

At this point, I knew that my usual brass or copper clasps were not going to work at all for this bracelet.  Instead I selected a beautiful, hammer textured sterling silver toggle clasp. Ooo, so lovely!

When I was a kid, I had a little garden plot where I grew purple irises.  They made me happy and so does this “Iris Bracelet“.

Check out my new life-sized wrist model!  This is her début!  Does she help you picture how the bracelet would look on you?  I hope so.

The Iris Bracelet is available on my website.

The Component of the Month Challenge is a blog hop. Enjoy all the eye candy by visiting the links below.

Guests

Elisabeth Auld

Mischelle Andrade

Karen Martinez

AJE Team

Susan Kennedy – Hostess

Jennifer Cameron

Diana Ptaszynski

Kristen Stevens

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Lesley Watt

Melissa Meman

Linda Landig

Caroline Dewison

Lindsay Starr

Niky Sayers

*************

Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry