Fire Opals 2

The fire opal technique has been around for a while but thought I would revisit it yesterday.
I learnt the technique from Amber at lampworketc
It is made using Double Helix Glass, 'Ekho' over silver foil.

I find it  a challenge to repeat the same/similar colour range, yes I know Practice, Practice, Practice!
I will do a little more tonight!

Fire Opal Beads

Fire Opal Beads

Capped & Cored Fire Opal Beads

Copper Capped Large-holed Bead

The other exciting news I wish to mention is I have been teamed up with my Bead Soup Blog Party buddy.
Her name is Grace and you can see her work at her blog,

Suddenly Last Summer


Please check out her blog, Grace makes gorgeous pearl and silver jewelry.
I am thrilled to be paired with her, it will be an exciting challenge for me to work on something for her, especially after seeing her lovely pieces.

Cheers for now,
Jenni

Bead Soup Blog Party

To participate even further in the online beading community fun, I have also joined up in the Bead Soup Blog Party, organized by Lori Anderson

This works in a different way to the Blog Hop.

Each registered participant sends a focal bead, some co-ordinating spacers or beads, and an interesting clasp to another party member. (nominated by Lori)

When each person receives their  surprise collection of beads, they take a photo of those beads and posts it on their blog.
A jewelry item is then made using those components.

On Blog Party Day, (Saturday february 26th), the completed item is revealed on each participants blog.
So far there has been an amazing 145 people (and still going) register to join in.
Please check out Lori's blog to read about this amazing event.

I can"t wait!
Cheers,
Jenni

A Gift

Just recently I was given this old typewriter.
It doesn't work of course, the top part (? Name) has seized and I can't imagine the ribbon is any good.

My original idea was to take off the round keys and make them in to a bracelet.
However after protest from the family and realizing how difficult this actually would be, I gave up on the idea pretty quickly, so now it is a rather large 'ornament' around the home!

My father was a journalist who used to write on his typewriter at home.
I remember the constant "tip-tap" coming from his work room.
Originally he did have a typewriter similar in style to this one.
The typewriter models became updated through the years until finally, he had a very quiet, electric typewriter and that background tip-tap noise disappeared.

I compare that way of writing; noisy and a little messy (the dreaded carbon paper!), with the ease of use of this iPad.

Will the iPad still be around in 50 years or will it too, become a writing tool antique?!


Cheers,
Jenni









- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sneak Peak

I wish 2011 to be a year of personal growth, a year of challenges and a year of participation.
So to start the year off in the direction I wish to go, I have joined up to participate in a bead blog hop.
It has been organized by Lorelei, at loreleis Blog

This is where the participants all have the same bead components (there actually will be some differences as additional personal choices can be made).
Everyone makes an item of their choice and on a designated reveal date,( Friday, January 21st), all finished jewelry pieces will be shown on blogs, with links to other blogs to browse.
It sounds like a lot of fun and I can't wait to see everyone's pieces.

On the reveal date I will describe more about the components etc, but for the moment am just showing these few photos!

Cheers,
Jenni
















-Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Etched Discs

I recently saw a gorgeous necklace in a magazine that used old Roman glass discs as it's main component.
It made me wonder if I could make something similar myself.

So I made the discs and a few focal pendants using various transparent glasses.
I then aged them by soaking them in an etching solution to give them that old/beachy glass look.

The pale aqua "took" very quickly and in the photos appears almost white.
The darker, more intense colours took a little longer soaking to achieve a similar look.
I'm pretty happy with the look that I achieved, and at a mere fraction of the price it seems like a good option.

Cheers ,
Jenni









- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Clematis

Prior to Christmas we visited Cloudhill for a family lunch.
Cloudhill is a wonderful garden in Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges,east of Melbourne.
It was a very cold, rainy day so we couldn't walk the very extensive gardens, however I managed to see these glorious Clematis, a plant I have had no success with in my own garden.
I think after seeing these I will just HAVE to give it another go!

Cheers,
Jenni









- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Christmas Decorations

Thought I would show a few of my favourite glass Christmas decorations.

They are a simple, uncluttered style of decoration, however  I love them for their  shimmering and reflective  capabilities.

And my favourite Christmas decoration of all - my little dog, Pepper complete with Christmas bow!

Cheers for now,

Jenni

My Robot Necklace

Finally, another post!

 This necklace did take a while to get done as I was waiting delivery of components to complement the robot and the black metallic industrial beads.

The gunmetal Tim Holz Idea-ology sprocket gears came from Beads Online. There were quite a few in the packet, different metals and sizes, so plenty to go around for the next project.

The gunmetal key charms were a fun addition and were purchased from Rings & Things.

 Some of the silver connector rings were darkened to match the gunmetal look using Liver of Sulphur.
This was easy to do, just a quick dip in and out of the liquid, ( which was actually a gel base) and very easy to make up.

The bronzish-looking balls in the above photo are actually "scrimps" from Fire Mountain Gems.
This is the first time I have used these and they are definitely a much more polished look than a squashed crimp!

They are this colour because I painted the Liver of Sulphur gel directly on to them as I suspected  their screw mechanism could be damaged if immersed. This stronger solution gave a bronze patina which is a similar  colour to that of the robot's chest.

Another first for this necklace was the use of wire guardians, which help the stringing wire from breaking over time or from slipping through any little gaps.  These can be seen in the two photos above connecting the bronze scrimp to the gunmetal ring.

Above are the hematite hexagonal beads interspersed with small groups of gunmetal spacers which form the back part of the necklace.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, the robot bead is from Georgie at Jawjee and the "industrial" lampwork beads were made by belinda at Bellissimo Jewels.

This necklace did take a while to come together for different reasons, however, I was happy to learn  a few different techniques in the making of it, something I hope I continue to do with each piece I make. 

These little tips were given to me by a few friends from my new beading group, The Flaming Matildas.

I will write more about them in future posts. 

Until then,

Cheers,

Jenni