October Art Spark

This months Art Spark Challenge at Love my Art Jewelry is Color and Movement.  Check it out here, because Mary Jane Dodd gives some great tips for ways to accomplish this in your jewelry, just to get you started.

One of the things she reccomended was creating a trapeze to invoke movement.  I really liked how you could take this simple idea and do it a million different ways!  I also enjoyed the challenge of adding movement to my jewelry, since my designs can flow visually, but be very static physically.  So for me, the challenge was to create flow in both areas. 

I made my trapeze, and wrapped the top with some great yellow recycled sari silk.  It added just the POP of color my piece needed.  After all, we can't forget about the color portions of the challenge.  If I haven't mentioned this before, I get my sari silk ribbon from Lisa Jurist or jmozart on etsy.  She hand cuts old sari's and sews the strips together to create these fantastic, organic, recycled, handmade ribbons!!!!  Check her out, you will find something you love, I promise.  Ok- back to the design.
From my trapeze I dangled one of my lentil beads, with a slight hint of yellow patina, added some copper beads and a piece sea glass that I drilled, then I added a nice dyed agate of some sort to one side, yet, it still needed more movement.  So I decided to make wire wrapped links, and connect them with large jumps, to allow them to move around.  Voila!  Just what it needed.  I added another sari silk (can you tell I just adore them???) and a handmade clasp. 

So here it is all finished up!  Hope you like it, and I also hope you will enter our challenge. There are some great prizes!!!  Push yourself to create more handmade in your pieces.  Make the clasp (here is a great tutorial by Cindy Wimmer on that), hammer some wire to make paddles, use some handmade beads to add color, and you are there!!!!  You CAN do this.  I started out simply stringing beads.  I never went to school for this.  Just try it.  The more of your jewelry that you make by hand, the more rewarding it will be, and I know you can do it.  We'd love to have you and your creations over at Love My Art Jewelry.  Hope to see you there!!!!

P.S.  each week we pick an artist to be highlighted, but the grand prize is chosen randomly.  (and we at LMAJ don't qualify to play)  So don't be intimidated, you have as good of a chance as anyone!