Resin Update

I spent a good portion of my day off this week working on turning those resin-filled and covered pendants into full-fledged jewelry.  I haven't finished with all of them, but I thought I'd go ahead and show you what I've made so far.

I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out...take a look.  I will try to get these up on my Etsy site soon (along with more pics of each necklace).

The honey bee necklace below is my favorite of the bunch.  It was also the most work from start to finish!  The little dangle hanging off the pendant is a piece of aquamarine that I wire wrapped.  It's the first time that I tried wrapping the wire over the top of the bead and only the second time I've attempted a spiral swirl.  These are some of the best looking and most consistent loops that I've made in a long time (I know I'm way more critical of my work than anyone else will ever be!).  I guess practice really does make perfect!

           

I had an odd little moment while working on the bee necklace.  I realized that all of the glass and the aquamarine were all from some of my very early jewelry projects.  In fact, the amber colored glass and aquamarine were both from the project that taught me how to make decent simple loops in the first place.  It was a necklace adapted from a design idea from Fire Mountain Gems, and I made it way back in 2009.  You can see the inspiration design HERE.  I still wear that necklace (although the sterling silver jump rings are in serious need of polishing at the moment) and it just seemed kind of neat that some of its leftovers were joining up in this new design so many years later.  

I think that this isn't too shabby for a day's work!

Vintaj Morning Mist Design Challenge

Those of you who know me fairly well have already discovered that I've been enjoying participating in various design challenges.  Vintaj Natural Brass does a challenge every month on their blog that I love to take part in whenever I can.  It's been a few months since I've done one of these, but I'm back in action this month with their "Morning Mist" challenge!

The only real design parameter for the Vintaj challenges is that your piece showcases a good percentage of Vintaj Natural Brass Co. findings and embellishments.  Vintaj makes a wide variety of products in brass, copper, and arte metal (a blackened color) so there's plenty to choose from in the creative process.  Each month they award a prize of Vintaj goodies to the designer who gets the most votes and also to an editor's pick winner.  I've got my fingers crossed that someday I will be chosen!

I really didn't think that I had time to do another challenge piece this month with all my preparations for the Artsy Market sale, but I figured if I could make something I was willing to part with, then it wasn't really diverting my energies away from the show. 

I looked through my supply of focals and art beads and came across this great enamelled copper pendant by Becka Beads that I had bought from her back when she was still selling at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.  The swirling blues and greens over the copper were just perfect for a misty sunrise...now to figure out how to incorporate enough Vintaj peices to make it elligble! 

Close up of pendant and my initial design idea.

Since the pendant already had copper wire bail with a gemstone I wanted to include some of the gorgeous Artisan Copper from Vintaj.  I haven't built up quite as much stock from their copper line, so I had fewer options to play with.  This ivy piece immediately caught my eye--now I just had to think about the best way to attach it and the pendant to the rest of my necklace design.  I initially thought about hanging the pendant from the ivy as seen in the picture above.  With the longer bail, it just didn't look quite right to me, so I played around with other ideas.

Thinking out my design.

In the end I decided to do a mix of copper and brass elements (the darkened edges of the pendant have a color that's similar to to the natural brass).  I added some amazonite beads (both nuggets and rounds), as well as some pale green gemstones from a mixed strand, along with some other little pops of copper.  I liked the way the chunkier nuggets balanced out the ivy connector for some nice asymmetry.  

The finished product!

If you want to see the rest of this month's challenge entries and vote (hopefully for me!), check out the blog here.  Mine is number 9.

I think I'm drawn to these challenges because they often force me out of my comfort zone and make me think about my beads and findings in a totally different way.  I think our brains all need that on a regular basis to keep us sharp and nimble.

As a P.S. to this post, I sold this necklace at the Artsy Market!  It was one of my more expensive items (due to the art bead and other materials used) so I was thrilled at making such a big sale!

Buzzin' Around

I'm sure that you can all imagine that I have been buzzin' around trying to get ready for the Artsy Market (and I have!), but that's not what this post is about, not really.

In one of my first orders of Vintaj supplies I picked up a pack of Queen Bee Connectors and some Busy Bee Charms.  I'm not sure why I bought them, just because I thought they were cute I guess, and they've been sitting in my stash for a while.  Now they languish no more!

Also in my stash was a ceramic bee pendant from Kylie Parry.  In the process of making a necklace with that piece (and getting a little "stuck" on that one) I ended up making this super cute set of Honey Bee Earrings.  I love the way these yellow beads that I picked up on a whim look a little like honey comb and a little bit like bee hives!

Next came the matching Honey Bee Necklace.  I added some fun new clear yellow teardrop shaped beads above the bee connectors so that I could do just one strand of chain around the back of the necklace.  In a pleasant surprise, these links look like pollen that these busy bees have collected!

After these two projects were done, I finally went back to the necklace that I had originally meant to make with renewed inspiration.  It's funny how "productive procrastination" often works out for me.  So here is my last bee piece...for now anyway!

Taking the Plunge with Sj Designs Jewelry

Hello, and welcome to my blog which is a showcase for my little handmade jewelry company, Sj Designs, and my various creative exploits.  I also plan to share other fun and creative things that I stumble upon along the way.  There is a whole wonderful world of color and design out there and I want to be a part of it!

I started making jewelry in 2008 and it's hard to believe that I've been doing it for that long.  For the life of me, I can't even remember what made me sign up for that first class but I'm so glad that I did!  Even though my husband initially thought that I was just collecting beads, my hobby soon took off and I was stringing necklaces and making earrings for myself, family and friends.  Over the years I have expanded the skills and techniques in my arsenal and keep finding new things that I want to learn.

A few years ago, I began dipping my toes into sales through my neighbor's local shop (a big thank you and a shout out to Becky and The Stash of Waconia).  This was an easy and safe way to start selling my creations.  I started wanting to do more so my next big step was a holiday open house sale in December of 2012.  Thanks to all of you who came out to support me that day...you're part of the reason I am where I am today.

Now after all of these baby steps, 2013 is the year that I really take the plunge and make Sj Designs a "real" business.  My New Year's resolutions were almost entirely related to growing my business and I'm happy to say that I'm already well on my way to achieving many of my goals.

I didn't think that I would ever have a blog... What would I say?  Would anyone be interested?  But here I am taking that step.  It is so wonderful to have a creative outlet and having a blog is one more way to put myself out there.  This is an exciting and slightly scary time for me...and I welcome you along for the ride!