Oldies but Goodies - Seeds & Nuts

 This week, the Oldies but Goodies Challenge over at the Jewelry Artisans Community was "Seeds and Nuts".  The entries were simply amazing!

From Cat at Cat's Wire, we were treated to examples from her felting period and I  really looking forward to more felting from Cat.  Look at these gorgeous, yet playful earrings!

Michelle over at My Bigou Life gave us these sweet hoops earrings that featured amethyst beads wrapped on sterling silver wire.  They remind me of peas in a pod.

Then she WOWed us with this beautiful wire woven Petosky stone pendant with little fossils embedded in the stone.  Michelle said that the fossils reminded her of the spiky seeds that attach themselves to our socks.  That they do, but without the annoyance factor of those darn stickers.  This is one gorgeous pendant, Michelle!

Irith of Riorita Jewelry wasn't sure that her offerings fit the theme, but there was no doubt in my mind that they did and more.  

I love this necklace with little silver flowers and it's no stretch to imagine the seeds that those little flowers might make.

And, then Irith went from dainty to big and bold with this beautiful ring.  That wonderful stone makes me think of rich and delicious hazel nuts.  

 And, lastly there were my submissions.

This pendant features a butterfly hovering near a flower.  The wing is real (found on a sidewalk) and the body is made from the seed of a wild native grass that grows in my area.

 Chipmunks love sunflower seeds and this hand painted pendant tries to capture the moment when a little chippy found one of its favorite foods and chowed down while perched on a picket fence.

Thank you for checking out this week's Oldies but Goodies Challenge - I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Oldies but Goodies - Mushrooms and Moss

 The Jewelry Artisans Community but Goodies Challenge theme this week was "Mushrooms and Moss."   Participants were challenged to submit jewelry designs that they made recently or years ago that captured the mushrooms and fungi that show up with the arrival of moist fall weather. The entries are gorgeous and I am thrilled to share them here:

From Cat of Cat's Wire:

The whimsy and creativity in this wire woven mushroom complete with woodland fairy swinging underneath is magic:

And, then Cat turned around and shared this elegant mossy ring with us.  Wouldn't that be a great ring to wear to a dinner/cocktail party?

Next to share her beauties was Michelle of My Bijou Life with this beautifully wire wrapped and woven cabachon with a pattern reminiscent of mushroom colors.  I think I see mushroom shapes in there too! This is such a unique piece - well done, Michelle!

Michelle mused that these sweet earring were too blue green to be make us think of moss, but to me they bring to mind a patch of mossy stones under a big blue sky.

Irith of Riorita Jewelry never disappoints and she thrilled us again with these lovely domed earrings that immediately brought to mind the shape of mushrooms.  Not only that, but the gems stones she chose to use are the perfect representations of Mushrooms and Moss.  Thank you so much, Irith!

 

Dawn of Jewelry Art by Dawn (me) chose to submit this hand painted mushroom pendant...

It's always interesting to see how different artists interpret a theme and this week was no exception; I hope you enjoyed seeing these lovely takes on "Mushrooms and Moss".

Oldies but Goodies - Fall Colors, 11/15/20

 At the Jewelry Artisans Community some of our members participate in a weekly "Oldies but Goodies" challenge.  Participants are encouraged to go through their stash and post photos that pertain to the theme. It can be something they made yesterday or something they made five years ago.  For many of us it is a fun trip down memory lane and for others we are seeing the shared items for the first time.  Either way, it is fun and kind of magical.

The theme for the week ending 11/15/20 was fall colors and our members did not disappoint.

From Cat of Cat's Wire, we had this gorgeous wire woven pendant:

And, this stunning beaded cuff.

Irith of Riorita Jewelry shared these beautiful examples of her uniquely organic style. I'd recognize Irith's work anywhere.

 

This three strand seed bead bracelet and these lovely dangly earrings by Michelle of My Bijou Lifereally captured fall colors.

And, bringing up the rear, I ( Jewelry Art by Dawn ) submitted this painted wood beads necklace...

...and, a real autumn leaf preserved in resin pendant.

This is my favorite time of year and I truly enjoyed seeing all of these fantastic creations from such talented members.  Thank you all for participating in our challenge - it was a treat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday Jewelry

 This month's Jewelry Artisans Community Blog Hop is about holiday themed jewelry - do we make it or not?  I'll be right up front - not very often.  I'm not sure why, but holiday jewelry has never really been on my radar.  I don't have anything in particular against it; I even own a few fun pairs of holiday earrings, but I'd rather spend my time making things that can be worn year around, not just for a few days around holiday time.

 After, I typed the above, I gave this topic more thought and I realized that when I think of holiday jewelry, my mind naturally thinks of Christmas jewelry.   As I'm not a big fan of Christmas, it makes sense to me that I'm not into making Christmas jewelry.  I just feel like Christmas expectations put too much pressure on people and it's often not a fun time for many.

 Now, a holiday I do enjoy is Halloween and looking in my stash, I came across all sorts of Halloween jewelry I've made over the years.  

 Spooky Spider Webs:

And, colorful webs too!

 

Dangly ghosts...

 A sugar skull...

 ...and, tiny skulls...

...along with primitive skulls!

There is also simple black and orange...

...sort of friendly ghosts...

...and, last, but not least this cute little bat.

Hmmmm...I guess I do like to make holiday jewelry.  As long as it's Halloween jewelry!

To see what the other participants of the Jewelry Artisans Community have to say about making holiday jewelry, please click on the links below:

Cat's Wire

Selling vs Creating - July/August 2020

The July/August Jewelry Artisans Community Blog Carnival is about whether or not we sacrifice our artistic integrity by selling our designs.

While I sold my work locally in a couple of small galleries, I resisted online selling for several years because of my concerns that I'd start churning out assembly line work in the hopes of sales or that I'd find myself making things that I hated because it was popular with buyers or that I'd end up following every trend that came along in order to make sales.   It's a heady feeling to have perfect strangers buy one's work over the internet and it's hard to resist that excitement.

As it has turned out, I don't believe that I've changed how I do things because I'm selling my products.  I still make things I like or that I enjoy making.  I use colors that aren't trending and I create designs based on the inspiration I find all around me.  I don't like to get stuck using one particular type of material or doing the same kind of technique over and over which means there is a little bit of everything in my shop from wire work to little original paintings to resin to macrame.  Some would say my shop lacks cohesiveness, but what can I say, I like variety.

 

I laugh about it now, but back when I started out, I was convinced my jewelry was going to be the next big thing and that my Etsy shop would be so wildly popular that I'd have difficulty keeping up.  Because that didn't happen, I've never really had to confront the selling vs creating question.  Sure, I can write about it and talk about it all day long, but if I'm brutally honest with myself, I don't know how I would juggle artistic integrity with high demand.

Would I stay true to my artistic self and produce relatively few designs over a period of time or would I opt for easy and quick to make designs that I could turn out in high numbers?  That is the question so many wrestle with.  I like to think that I would choose the first option and limit myself to selling what I could produce at my own pace while still creating unique and one of a kind pieces.  But...then the temptation of selling and making money from my art rears it's head.  What to do?  What to do?

 

I've come to the conclusion, that for me, an acceptable compromise is to spend part of my time making those easy and quick to make best selling designs while also allowing myself to spend an equal or greater amount of time making those things I love to make and that got me into making jewelry in the first place.  Whether it's turning a fall leaf into a pendant, using some quirky found item in a design, wrapping a stone in some sort of free style wire wrap or learning a new technique, I could no more give up that part of my art than I could give up breathing.  

Even though I'm not a high selling jewelry artist, I feel I have the best of both worlds.  I sell just enough to buy the supplies and tools I need and that allows me to continue to pursue the ideas in my head and to continue to grow as an artist.  I also think it's important to recognize that there is no right or wrong answer to this question.  Each of us must decide what works best for us, what makes us happy and what we feel is a workable solution,

To see what the other participants of this blog carnival have to say on the subject, please click on the links below:

My Bijou Life 

Cat's Wire 

 

 

Photography - May/June 2020

The May/June blog hop for the Jewelry Artisans Community is about photography.  Specifically, how we photograph our jewelry.

My jewelry photos have definitely evolved over the years.  They've gone from out of focus, reflecting the glare of a flash and poorly composed photos to fairly well composed, well lighted and in focus.  There is room for improvement, but I'm mostly satisfied with the quality of my jewelry photos these days.

I use a Cannon Power Shot SX720 to take my photos.  I'm very pleased with the Power Shot; it not only does a good job for close up work, but it takes terrific photos of landscapes, wildlife, people and even action shots.  With it's powerful zoom I can even get photos full of lots of detail from far away.  It's said that taking good pictures isn't so much the camera as it is the person using the camera and I believe this.  I've seen stunning photos taken with a smart phone camera and lousy photos that have been taken with a high end, expensive camera.  What I think is really important is to learn how your camera works (both it's strengths and weaknesses), study lighting in various scenarios, work on composition and practice, practice, practice.

My current set up is to take photos in a corner of my kitchen where a west facing window and a south facing window meet in a sort of 'L' shape.  The light is filtered by the over hanging eaves, and thanks to the eaves, I never have to work in direct sun.   Using this location, the window of opportunity to take the best photos is between 11:00a.m. and 2:00p.m., when the sun is high in the sky and isn't making deep shadows.

I use three large pieces of foam board as background and to reflect the light.  I put one piece of foam board on the counter and lean two of them against the window.  The reason for two pieces of board against the window is because I find that the light coming in from outside shines through one piece of board, but two is enough to block it out.

Laying on top of the bottom foam board is a piece of off white textured scrap booking paper.  I gave up long ago on having bright white backgrounds which are difficult to achieve as they often have either a bluish, yellowish or grayish tint.  Instead, I favor having a bit of texture to give visual interest to my photos without creating a distraction that takes attention away from the jewelry which is the main subject of the photos.

Next, I usually place a small prop on top of the textured paper.  It could be a piece of coral as pictured here, a rock, a piece of wood or a white plate.  There is a great deal of debate among jewelry photographers about the use of props.  Some feel that they create busy backgrounds that distract from the item that is being showcased, while others feel that they enhance the photos and tell a story.  I happen to love props, but I always keep in mind that they should be something simple and I avoid the temptation to go overboard with props.  In this case, I'm using a piece of white coral as a backdrop for a pair of earrings.

When taking photos of small items such as these earrings I use the macro mode on my camera and get in as close as possible to the subject.  The camera lens is no more than an inch or two from the item being photographed and I take several shots from many different angles.  The end result is a close-up shot that is clear and shows all of the detail in the earrings.

When photographing earrings, I also want to show what they look like hanging in order to give people an idea what they would look like being worn.  A white coffee mug makes a good prop for this purpose.

Again, I get in as close as possible with my camera:

At this point, I will often crop my photo to remove distractions such as the line where my foam boards meet, to take out most of the mug and to focus attention on the jewelry:

A tripod is a valuable tool to use when taking photographs as it eliminates camera shake which is often responsible for out of focus photos.  I use a gorillapod mini.  It's small, easy to put into most any position and prices start around $25.  They are also cute, colorful and fun!

When it comes to editing, there is also some debate about that.  Some photographers feel that photos should be published as is and that editing is a form of cheating.  Personally, as long as the item being photographed remains true to it's real life appearance, I think editing is a valuable tool.  I use a free online editing program called BeFunky and I'm quite happy with the site.  There is also a pay version that includes many more features than the free version. 

My photo editing is mostly limited to cropping, resizing, brightening and adjusting colors.  I also like to use the sharpening tool.  When editing, I think it's important not to over edit; the idea is to simply enhance the photo just enough that it's the best photo it can be.  If that can't be done with minimal editing, it's time to take more photos.

Overall, I very much enjoy taking photos, both of jewelry and of things I see while going about my days.  When I look back at photos I took a few years ago, it's really quite rewarding to see how much progress I've made with improving my skills.  I look forward to continuing to improve as I try new techniques and learn new skills.

To see what the other participants of this months blog carnival have to say about photography, please click on the links below:

Cat's Wire