Monday, October 28, 2013

Halloween / Day of the Dead Blog Hop

If you follow me, you may know that I do not do holiday or seasonal jewelry, at least not on purpose.  I do however, love sugar skulls.  I have been making them as components for some time now. 
 
So I couldn't wait to participate in Diana's blog hop.

First I made this necklace using one of my current style sugar skulls in bronze.


It features beads from Lisa Peters Art, Starry Road Studio and bronze links from me with gemstones.  I thought Lisa's rose heart was perfect with the skull and added in some yellows to give it life and color.
 
However, I didn't want to use one of my regular old sugar skulls for the hop.  I wanted to make something REALLY cool.  I had been wanting to try to make a 3-d one in bronze for some time now.  This was the perfect opportunity to try it out. 
 
Well, it was pretty successful.  After the first turned out ok, I right away made another.........
 
This is the more detailed and much larger second one all cleaned up from the kiln
 
 
 
Then came the fun part- making them into jewelry.  I had to fill them with something and give them some sort of eyes.  I used polymer and gemstones and baked them.  Then I attached them to a copper back with rivets. 

 
 
Finally, I got to make them into finished pieces of jewelry.  They are big, chunky and weird, and I adore how they turned out. 
This is the finished piece I made with the sugar skull above. 
 

 It has lava stone behind its eyes, a couple of large criffle beads from Numinosity, a rustic donut from Marsha Neal Studio, some pearls, some gemstones, and lots of little bronze pieces of my own. 
 
This one, is all mine. 
 
 

I also made this one below.  It creeps me out a little more then I thought it would...but I love the colors.  Not so sure of the zombie like eyeball, kinda kills the beauty of the sugar skull, but I am happy with the piece none the less.
 
 
 This one also has a Marsha Neal Studio donut, some Starry Road Studio beads, and some of my bronze, along with gemstones and pearls.
 
I was really happy to try out this 3-d bronze a little further (I had done it before in hearts).  I think I want to add more pretty detail, and perhaps even give the skulls some color in the future.  I am definitely going to take it further.
 
Thanks for the challenge Diana!  I love to find reasons to try new things.
 
To see what everyone else made, hop over to Diana's blog for the link list.


Staci Smith  http://www.stacilouiseoriginals.com/ - You are here

Kathleen Breeding  http://99bobotw.blogspot.com


Dianne Miller  http://www.artbydianne.blogspot.com

Lisa Liddy  http://www.lisaliddy.wordpress.com

Toltec Jewels  http://www.JewelSchoolFriends.com


Laura Medeiros  http://Www.zoeowyn.blogspot.com

Veralynne Malone  http://www.veradesigns.blogspot.com





Jenny Davies-Reazor  http://jdaviesreazor.com/blog







Stephanie LaRosa  http://Www.stringaholic.blogspot.com





Nicole Valentine Rimmer  http://www.nvalentine.blogspot.com




Sarajo Wentling  http://www.sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com










Dawn M. Gallop  http://www.flipflopsandpoptarts.com
 

35 comments:

  1. I LOVE your new sugar skulls - both necklaces are fantastic! I knew you'd come up with something great for this hop! (And the zombie eyeball is JUST right!).

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  2. Awesome. Love your skulls. I'm not a skull person but I fell in love with the one that you sent Karen Totten. Love, love, love those. Gonna need one for my collection- oh wait- I don't have one but this might be the beginning of one. Great job on the 3d skull also. You are an extremely talented person.

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  3. You already know I love these pieces! Thanks for joining in!

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  4. ADORABLE!!! you are so talented!!! :)

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  5. Seriously!!!! Ever piece of jewelry you make sends my mind a flutter!!! I could stare at them forever to see all that you put into each and every one! There is not one piece that has not made me stop in my tracks and gasp!!!!!!!!!!!

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  6. Wow what a fantastic piece! I love your 3D sugar skulls. Everywhere you look there is something fun to look. Great inspiration!

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  7. omg .. those are amazing! I love pretty much everything you do -- your style is awesome -- but these blew me away. I love the 3d skulls, especially the lava rock one. You may find some skull stalkers around your store for a while. :)

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  8. Oh my goodness....breathtaking amazing work of art!!!! I can see why this one is all yours! EXCELLENT!!! Thanks so much for sharing.

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  9. WOW! I love the 3D Skulls. I like the lava eyes the best and your combination of other components to compliment both the large skulls is fabulous. I'm so glad you joined the blog hop, I love your work and have become a new follower. Cheers!
    Lori in Atlanta

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  10. Those 3D skulls are totally amazing!

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  11. SOOOOOOO f'ing cool! LOVE them all! Especially that last one with the dimensional skull - to die for!

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  12. Those sugar skulls are FANTASTIC!

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  13. I really like your skulls, and the necklaces that you made out of them! I love the PMC, You did a great job making them come to life, so to speak!

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  14. Wow, those are definitely some statement necklaces! Your work is always beautiful as well as these necklaces too!

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  15. Awesome skulls! and yeah the zombie eyeball one is kinda creepy.. but in a cute creepy kinda way...;) lol

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  16. That bronze sugar skull is fabulous. Beautiful piece.

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  17. Your 3D skulls are great! I like zombies. I am addicted to the walking dead show. I think your zombie like skull pretty awesome.

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  18. Beautiful work! One of the first blogs I went to in this hop (Linda Landig) used one of your bronze sugar skulls, and I thought it was so beautiful. It was fun to see you take it to the next level. The necklace you kept looks great on! I always enjoy seeing how you mix materials. Love it.

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  19. Your sugar skulls (and the jewelry you made with them) are just amazing! The 3-D ones are pretty darned cool, but I think the first one is my favorite...I love the colors and the textures.

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  20. I love the metal work! Well done!

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  21. I love the metal work! Well done!

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  22. Fantastic pieces! The 3-D skulls are very cool!

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  23. Those 3D sugar skulls are VERY cool and so innovative. I adore them. Great designs to go with them too. Of course :-)

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  24. I love the dimensional sugar skulls. Soooo cool! And your necklaces are awesome, as well! I enjoyed working with one of your bronze sugar skulls in my necklace, too.

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  25. Love those 3D sugar skulls, and your necklaces look great -- I love the eclectic collections you put together!

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  26. Wow! Those bronze sugar skulls are so cool... absolutely love your work! And cannot wait to see where you take them next time.

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  27. Steampunk Halloween! Great choice!

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  28. That's the best sugar skull I've ever seen! Fabulous idea to go 3-D. The finished pieces really enhance the skulls with their style. Amazing work.

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  29. You know I love your style, and I like the new 3d skulls. Next Halloween lets trade skulls and see what happens! ;-D

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