Gemstone calling!

This week, I was litterally drawn by these gemstones while I was working on something else.
At first, I tried not to hear them but I was so obsessed that I even dreamed of them at night and kept thinking of them night and day. I felt this calling was a sign to return to my soldering adventures. I wanted to test if my skills had progressed since my first attempt.
I don't know how much time I spent making them, but for sure, I put my heart and soul on each of them !
I would like to sell some of them as headpins, for someone to relate their spirit and journey on their own creative way.
I already turned some of them into a pair of earrings. I will share them with you here and later list them on etsy. Just in case, you see something here you want, please let me know.

I know you all are asking yourselves. What is the weird thing in the middle? :)
Well, It's an old bone I collected in the river Thames in London amongst ceramic pipes and beach glass.

An assortment of beautiful earring gemstones.  From left upper row to lower right: Multi-color picasso jasper, butter honey ocean jasper, blue fossil coral, serpentine and another jasper. I don't remember exactly which one of jasper it is!  (Sorry) 
 Ready to wear as they are or I am thinking to embellish them with something else.
On the other hand, I really think of those of you who don't like long earrings.
I am doing my best to make my earring shorter. The truth is that I enjoy to add a lot of small details on each of the design and I always end up with long earrings. :)

Phantom quartz point gemstones

Raw citrine crystals with lovely white to amber colour with specs of eggplant color sprays on some of them.

Wild and rough-cut rustic blue Kyanite gemstones to use in your unchecked designs. 

Handmade yellow ceramic dangles, small drops poppy jasper and bone I collected in the river Thames in London.

 Mystic titanium AB quartz crystal point rocks.

I have protected each of the items that I made with renaissance wax so that it will be more durable and protected from the elements.

Like always, thank you so much for stopping by.  

Merci beaucoup. :)

Spring cleaning studio!!!

I don't have much to say this time! Well, in fact, I must limit my time on the computer in order to be able to heal my longtime wounded shoulder and backache.

However, I would like to talk a little bit about my unorganized "so-called" studio.

Normally, I am a very tidy person, with a place for everything and avid about putting each thing where it belongs, my family even always said that I am too meticulous.

I don't get it, because when it's comes to my studio, it is so hard for me to keep it tidy!

I won't show any pictures of it, because you guys out there will be afraid! ;)

I won't hide that I spend a lot of time searching for items or particular beads each and every time I design which leaves me feeling lost a lot of time.  My beads are lost...I'm lost.

Sometimes I clean and rearrange everything but it never lasts. For some reason, when I'm inspired, I need to mess up my bench with all kinds of beads because I have so many ideas at the same moment that I need to have those beads to make all of the designs in my head right then and there!

And here we go, the mess is back!

We all know that a well-organized studio makes it easy to work on any project, so I have decided that

I need a real studio that looks neat and tidy with a great bench to work, so maybe then I won't mess up it .

Well even in the chaos of my studio, I am happy to see all of these evocative materials, those that I have hoarded for so many years and also the new beads all of which work very well in my aesthetic vision. 

My Spring - Summer collection and so many more to come...

African Turquoise, lampwork beads, unique organic pattern artisan ceramic headpins all the way from Russia and vintage African glass from my Grandma

A pair of diamond shaped earring shields made from dark clay embossed with an African ornament

dangled below Greek ceramic spacers and  African brass cage rice shape beads, topped with  Lemon Chrysoprase gemstone beads.

I started these earrings with another design in mind but my initial plan fell apart and I didn't want to waste my copper wire. So, I improvised with these hybrid Picasso turquoise I had on my messy table within easy reach. My mistake lead me to this perfectly imperfect design which I finally love.

 Petra's ceramic dangles always make a statement. Hand formed rustic pair of wrapped loosely with nichrome wire spikes dangled below vintage coconut roundelle spacers, tribal yak bone mala Inlaid turquoise and coral chips and topped with  chrysocolla gemstones.

Another one of my favorite ceramic artist. Happy Fallout, I can't get enough of her beads!

I used handmade lampwork headpins (I love all kind of headpins) then, I enhanced them with stunning genuine ancient Roman glass roundelle fragment beads with green and blue color. These Roman glass beads are over 1000-1500 years old and were found in Afganistan. I also added unusual textured ceramic beads with printed letters on wet clay using an old typewriter, matte aquamarine gemstone and 4 mm gold olive green Czech glass to make this magnificent perfectly imperfect statement pair of earrings.

Stay tuned!!!

As always, Thank you so much for stopping by!

History Hop, Reveal day!

I don't remember when the History Blog Hop first began but I was there and here am I again!  Hosted by the talented Leah Curtis of Beady Eyed Bunny.

Since the beginning I liked the idea of finding my way back to history, I was pretty good in the field of history but It was sometimes hard to remember all the dates you need to know by heart!

Since I was a little girl (that mean hundred year ago...Lol) I have been fascinated by Aborigines and their culture and how they made it on the other side of the world.

Well, about a month ago, I was lucky again to see another documentary which was related to their journey but also how they came to survive. I was so fascinated by the documentary that I did not realize it was 2am and that I have to wake up at 5:30 am that morning! :)

It wasn't like this one was the first time I saw or read informations about them but you all know how it is to be drawn to something and you just can't stop watching or reading it.  

So, when I saw what Leah had chosen for the History Bloghop this year, my mind wandered to Australia!

The purpose of this blog hop is to create a piece of jewelry (or wearable art) inspired by a period in history, Leah said.

 I have been experimenting in a new field in my jewelry creations.  Making my own ceramic beads and recently I ran into someone that I have known for a long time but had not told her that I make jewelry.  Well I was finally telling her about my jewelry. (I don't know why but for some reason I don't often tell people that I make jewelry). 

When we were talking we realized that we shared the same love of clay. I asked her, if she could guide me into my Paleolithic adventure! 

With her great help, I created a ceramic pendant on which I drew some Aboriginal cave art and of course, since I am here in Europe, I also venture in France and Spain to draw my inspiration of this amazing horse (well, Géraldine drew the horse because she is an artist at making all kind of animals with clay)

Sometime in a future, I will show you some of her animals made with clay, they are amazing!

Since the time was short , I could only fire the pendant once. My friend suggested to me to paint them,

so I painted each of them individually and it was so exciting!

I got very interested in the cultural remains of this period which reflect the way of life for men in the Paleolithic.

I decided to let what I made speak for themsleves, no history of the cave painting. There are plenty of books or internet blogs and websites out there to explain the history art better than me.

Humans are hunter-gatherers taking advantage of the resources available in nature

Tassel Bradshaw (Gwion Gwion) figures wearing ornate costumes

Identified by their characteristic tassels hanging from their arms and waists, various other accessories can be recognised, such as arm bands, conical headdresses and boomerang . This style is the earliest, most detailed and largest

I mostly used Mother Earth's element for this project.

 I made this necklace using my own handmade pure copper chain, which I oxydized naturally (No chemicals) and soldered rings. I made my own clasps.

I used Mother Earth's natural elements: rare red chysoprase from Australia, cowrie shell and cherry creek jasper.

                                                                 Inspired by cave painting

Found objects, Genuine baltic amber, Red Coral, sea shell collected in Scotland,  African roundelle shell disks in a shade of cream from west Africa, horse hair, mahogany leather cord, recycled sari silk, petrified rainbow wood from Arizona , Pilbara jasper, pure copper wire, black lava stone, Tibetan Agate round wavy line brown Gemstone beads

We noticed today that I assembled the earring pendants upside down. :) I am sure going to remake them as soon as possible.

Rustic bone pendants from indonesia, rustic black round glass beads , black lava stone.

I am in love with my horse hair tassels

That's all for today, I will let you go around and see what the other designers made!

PS: I will take a tour slowly over the next few weeks on all blogs but due to the state of my health, I will only be able to visit a few at a time.  I am so sorry.   However I will give piority to those of you that stop by my blog. Thanks for your understanding!

See Ya!

Sources for all the photos:  Wikipédia

List of participants: Leah Curtis (hostess) - Beady Eyed Bunny
Shaiha's Ramblings
Anafiassa
Emmanuelle
Julia Hay - Pandanimal
Rachel Mallis - Mint Monarch
Beadrecipes
Robin Reed - Artistry HCBD
Joanne Tinks
Solnage Collin -  YeeLen Spirit Designs
Karin G. - Gingko et Coquelicot
Dini Bruinsma
Deborah Apodaca
Tapping Flamingo

Facebook Participants:
Laura Bailey Taskey
Album for Facebook participants found in Bead Soup Cafe

Necklace!!!

I made this simple, minimalist, very elegant, timeless necklace by using mostly materials handmade in Africa. I wire wrapped a unique handmade white raku bead and African Jasper gemstone with my own oxidized  pure copper wire and I dangled the necklace with a large pendant which included large handmade Ethiopian metal, vintage African glass, handmade raku and ivory lampwork spacers and raku ceramic beads to make this stunning African Inspired necklace statement. I finished the assemblage with oxidized silver chain reminiscent of the handmade Ethiopian silver pendant.

I'm on my way...

 

Sometimes,  I like to be my own model.  A souvenir of my short-lived as a model in the 80's.