Fini Friday! Bottles, Charms and a Pouch, Oh My!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

I've some raw materials and a nifty leather pouch to show you today! 

Why am I showing you the nifty leather pouch? 

 First, because it is nifty! Second, because I procured it from a fellow vendor at the Holiday Geek Expo and lastly, for reference! Folks at shows have lately been asking me where I obtain all the Faerie Finery that I wear at shows, so I'm going to start cataloging some of that here! 

And really lastly... because it is fun stuff to show you! 

Whee! 

Ok! Starting with some raw materials.... 

These are charms I found earlier this week and brought home to the studio. The stagecoach and cowboy boot charm, though large, are quite light-weight! I envision them becoming chunky, funky earrings! Stay tuned to see what they grow into!

  

And now, the nifty leather pouch! The fellow vendor who created this pouch is Da Vinci Scientifica. As you might imagine from the name, they create all manner of Steampunk accessories! 

This is a basic leather pouch in a fabulously flashy shade of red! I'm toying with the idea of playing with it and one of my leather punches so as to create a border around the edges of the flap with the snap....hmmmmmmmm....!!! It bears experimentation!!!

The pouch contains two lovely, long bottles safely stowed away! 

Bottles that could hold secrets! Bottles that could hold Faerie Dust! Bottles that could mysteries and legends and anything else I wish to fill them with!!! (Insert evil laugh here!)

  

What will I fill them with? 

You'll just have to stop back by to find out! 

Hee hee!! 

So, that's it for me here at Sprite Creations and for Fini Friday! 

Have a fantabulous weekend and I'll see you on Monday! Ciao!

Fini Friday! Ringing in New Treasures!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

This will be just a quick post whilst I am preparing for my show tomorrow! 

Onward to the Treasures! 

First, A Ring! Title: Jewel of a Bygone Era 

Ingredients: Vintage German glass, lead-free pewter, glue. 

I love this ring! 

It is the perfect mix of ageless beauty! It is also adjustable! WOOT! 

Next up! A Tinker Faerie Treasure Bottle! 

This is something a little bit new, inspired by suggestions from folks who visited us at the last show! 

Ingredients: a spring, Amber, Kyanite, Rock Crystal, glass, acrylic, lead-free pewter, metal, cork hand-felted "Faerie Stone" (England!). 

These are all little treasures that a Faerie who values mechanics as well as natural things would gather! 

I'll wrap this post up with a little bit of creations that are still growing! 

These are all Popcap Pendants that I finished over the weekend! Some have particular designs and ideas already attached and some are still in the dreaming! You might catch a glimpse of Swarovski crystals, old watch parts, vintage rhinestones, stickers, beads, and an old Kachina pendant in amongst these pendants! 

Stay tuned to see what they grow into! 

Whee!! 

Ok! 

The top two creations will be with me tomorrow at the Women's Art Festival! 

The 20th Annual Women's Art Festival! Come join us at the Midtown YWCA in Minneapolis, MN (USA)!

Saturday, Dec. 15th only!

10am to 5pm.

There will be live music all day, an on-site coffee shop and art of all kinds and for all budgets!

P.S. The weather is looking rather winter-y and entertaining! Yes! I promise you, we will be there!
 It would be lovely to see you there!

If not, I'll see you on Monday!

Ciao!

Fini Friday! Flashy!

Hello Hello!

Welcome to Fini Friday!

I usually use these posts to show you either creations that are still growing or creations that have been languishing and have been (finally!) completed.  Today I'm going to show you creations on both ends of the spectrum!

Let's start with the completed creation!

You might remember this Fini Friday back in September, where I showcased a cat, sunstone and kyanite necklace that I was restringing.  I was not impressed with the crimps I had on-hand and so progress was stalled while more of my usual crimps were obtained.  They have been acquired and the necklace is finished!

Title: SunCat

Ingredients: Jasper, Sunstone, Lapis Lazuli, Kyanite, Bali silver, Sterling silver, lead-free pewter, steel cable.

The first photo is of the entire design and the second is a close-up of the wonderful cats, intriguing and flashy sunstone and gorgeous lapis lazuli! 

There are so many legends and meanings associated with the stones used in this creation, I'll just take you on a quick tour through them!

Sunstone: Thought to bring luck, increase optimism, strength and vitality, and to help harness the healing power of the Sun. 

Lapis Lazuli: Used as both a cosmetic and medicine through the ages, Lapis has been used as an aphrodisiac, to strengthen the skeleton, increase Divine awareness, cure insomnia and improve sleep as well as to ward off negative energy. 

Kyanite: Thought to never retain negative energy, Kyanite also helps to improve communication and intuition, clarity of thought, and help manifest dreams into action. Legend says it helps nurture optimism and open the mind to lighter, brighter and better ideas and perspectives. 

Jasper: Legend says that Jasper is protective, grounding, healing and stabilizing. It is thought to align all the chakras and balance yin yang energies. 

Silver: Though not a stone, Silver is thought to nurture intuitive knowing. All in all, a very positive creation, wouldn't you say? 

The next and last photo are three USB Flash Drives(part of the Flash Drive collection) that I've finished the embellishment and will continue to grow into completion as necklaces and etc.

I believe two out of the three flash drives will be necklaces and yet the drive to the farthest right may end up remaining a pendant.

The green colour that you see is alcohol ink that I dripped strategically onto and into the resin after painting it on the drives.  I absolutely love the effect!  The center drive arrived with that nifty swirl pattern and so I accented it with Swarovski crystal rhinestones and a subtle gold glitter pigment in the resin!  I'm quite pleased with how these turned out!

 More on the designs embedded in the resin and their meanings when the creations are complete!

You may see these at my next show! 

When is that, you ask?

Why, I've conveniently provided details about that very subject just below!
Take a look!

My next and final show of 2012 (it is so weird to type that!) is the 20th Annual Women's Art Festival! Come join us at the Midtown YWCA in Minneapolis, MN (USA)!

Saturday, Dec. 15th only!

10am to 5pm.

There will be live music all day, an on-site coffee shop and art of all kinds and for all budgets!

And with that, have a fabulous weekend! 

Ciao!

Fini Friday! Re-Creation and Dreamtime!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

I hope your week so far has been full of joy! 

I've both re-creations and a finished creation to show you this Fini Friday! 

Let's take a look at a small gathering of early Sprite Creations of earrings! Before:

 

And some of the Afters... 

Title: As Yet Unknown Ingredients: Glass, metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires.

 

Title: As Yet Unknown 

Ingredients: Red Tiger Eye, Citrine, Bali and Sterling Silver. 

There are more re-creations but I'm saving them for future Fini Friday viewing! 

The last creation of this post is a necklace that's been languishing for some time and is now all grown-up! 

Title: Dreamtime 

Ingredients: Glass, leather(USA), Sterling Silver.

The idea for this necklace came through the beads. The round beads with the dots of blue and yellow reminded me of the traditional Australian Aboriginal art often seen on digeridoos and bull-roarers. Legends in Australian hold that dolphins are escorts to and from Dreamtime, which is thought to be similar to Nirvana, Bliss, Heaven and so forth. Hence the connection with the leaping dolphin pendant... The hand-knotted glass in rainbow colours also are in sequence of colours most often associated with the 7 chakras of the human body. This creation is finished in sterling silver (silver is often a colour linked with intuition) and a clasp shaped as an infinity symbol. This is one of the more spiritual of my creations and I'm pleased with how it has turned out! 

That's it for this Fini Friday! 

I hope you will join me (if you're in the area) tomorrow for the Shop Local event at Monthei Fine Arts Studio! 

Come browse through fabulous art and gifts in a more intimate setting in the heart of historic Uptown Minneapolis! 

We'll be at the Upper Carriage House from  9am to 6pm! 

314 Clifton Avenue, Suite 300 

Minneapolis, MN 55403
It would be lovely to see you!
Ciao!

Fini Friday! In a Creative Mood!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Fini Friday!

I hope this week has been fabu to you so far!

I've been busy creating this week, in between sorting and other things around the studio and have a few completed creations to show!

You might remember last Fini Friday when I introduced you to a few necklace-creations that were still growing... The base of these creations is a coated steel neckwire with magnetic clasp and I looked forward to embellishing that foundation with cut crystals and Mood beads!

And so I have!

We'll start with the most simple design first!

Title: Talisman

Ingredients: Blue Mystique and Fleur-De-Lis Mood beads, metalized acrylic, steel neckwire.

This evokes a feeling of a simple, yet significant necklace born in an more ancient, otherworldly time. A time when jewelry held mystical meaning as well as great beauty!

Playing with the cut crystals is where we're off to next!

Title: Rare Beauty

Ingredients: Hand-crafted Furnace Glass(USA), cut crystals, antiqued copper wire, steel neckwire.

I played around with different colours of the faceted crystals and wrapped them in gradation from darkest, smokey violet and ruby to lightest shadowy gold and crystal. The crystal colors accent the ribbons of colour in the hand-made furnace glass bead that is the focal of this necklace as well! YAY!

Title:  Playing in Turtle's Secret Garden

Ingredients: Turtle Island and Secret Garden Mood beads, hand-finished brass(USA), cut crystals, antiqued copper wire, steel neckwire.

Let's start with the Turtle Mood bead! I love this bead because it is three-dimensional! The turtle is swimming forward on one side and swimming with his head over his shoulder on the other!!! Neat! The brass bead-caps are hand-finished and made here in the USA.The cut crystals shimmer from verdant green to metallic silver with pauses at sky blue and dark smoke!  I wanted to play with juxtaposing the feel of the materials in this creation! Specifically, the steel neckwire and Mood beads are quite modern, yet the crystals, bail and beadcaps lend an older, more elegant ambiance to the creation. Very intriguing!

We've started a new month and that means new shows to tell you about (and new opportunities to see these creations in-person!)! 

Get a jump-start on your Winter Holiday shopping and support independent, local artists at the same time!!!

 

Shop Local 

Saturday, Nov. 10th Only! 

9am to 6pm  

Monthei Fine Arts Studio 

Upper Carriage House 

314 Clifton Avenue, Suite 300 

Minneapolis, MN 55403

Fini Friday! Re-working and Musing...

Hello Hello!

Welcome to Fini Friday!

I hope this post finds you well and ready for a fabulous week-end!

As it seems to flow in the Fall of the year... I've been struck by an urge to clear out, clear up and organize!  Along this line, I took a look at some of my personal jewelry that have been traveling companions for years now and realized that we may not be suited to each other anymore! Upon further examination, I determined that some of it can be repurposed and used in creations. Some of it will be moved on to more loving homes.

I stumbled onto some very early creations (pre-Sprite Creations, even!) in the midst of this sorting, which begat some musings on how my skills, techniques and styles have changes over the years of creation. A great many of these creations will be up for adoption after I tend to any design or material improvements!  Overall, it is obvious that while much has been refined, both through better materials, skills and techniques, there was an "undomesticated" quality to my early creations that I anticipate revisiting with future creations!

Well, enough of this reflection!

Let me show you one of these early creations, all grown-up and refined!

Title: As Yet Unknown

Ingredients: Clay Manatee, hand-dyed fiber (Idaho,USA), glass, lead-free pewter.

These next creations are part of my experimenting with a recently-acquired batch of steel neckwires closed with magnetic bayonet clasps. I don't often procure pre-made neckwires such as these as I prefer to create as much as possible myself and yet it is refreshing to play with different and easily embellished materials from time to time! 

Title: Cherries!

Ingredients: Lampwork glass, acrylic, steel and metal neckwire.  

These necklace-creations are in the still-growing/idea stage.. 

It is difficult to capture the wonderfully mysterious red-wine-purple colour of the faceted crystals on the left, but I intend to play with the smokey mystery they evoke! The focal beads are Mood beads and so will change colour with varying temperatures! I'm excited to be mixing the casual, pop-culture essence of Mood beads with the faceted elegance of the cut crystals, all woven (somehow!) around these very modern and simple neckwire! 

Stay tuned to see what these grow into! 

And with that...Fini Friday is Fini! 

Have an awesome weekend! 

Ciao!

Fini Friday! Woodland Critters Fini and Loot!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

I hope this week has treated you well so far! 

I've a finished creation and shinies to show you today! Whee!!! 

First up is the finished creation!  If you remember, I was working on creating a bracelet with leather and a collection of "Forest Critters" buttons on Wednesday.... I'm pleased to say that there were no set-backs today and the bracelet is fini! 

Title: Forest Critters 

Ingredients: Leather lacing, plastic buttons

I'm so pleased to be able to use the porcupine button as the clasp! Just slip him in-between the forest brown and green leather lacings on the opposite side and voila! He'll keep his compatriots (Deer, Owl, Fox and Beaver) securely dancing around your wrist! Very fun! 

I traveled to a Gem show this past weekend and have some of the loot to show you today! 

I've ideas for the chalk Turquoise skulls to the left in the photo. I'll probably whip up a few pairs of earrings for Halloween and/or the Goth at heart. It was also suggested that the beads look like owls when turned upside down...so you can bet I'll be playing with that as well! 

I'm looking forward to working with all the fabulous chain shown here! I'm particularly pleased to be able to debut the matte black leaf chain at the far right. This is a new finish for this type of chain and I've ideas for it already! That piece of metal that is reminiscent of a shepherd's hook is a bookmark blank!  Now to attach shinies!!! YAY!!!  I'm really looking forward to creating Steampunk and Neo-Victorian wares with the rectangular beads with the scroll designs.  And sparklies in the middle are just fun!  Stay tuned to see what grows into completion with those!!  Woohooo!!!

So there is a little bit of what I have to celebrate!  I hope this weekend brings much for you to celebrate, too!

Speaking of celebrating... I and Sprite Creations will be helping the Downtown Saint Paul Artists celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Saint Paul Art Crawl Oct. 12th, 13th and 14th in the 3rd Floor Atrium of the Lowertown Lofts Artist Coop! 

It would be grand to have you celebrate it with us! 

Whee! 

Ciao!

Fini Friday! An Unusual Balance!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

I've a whole bunch of the unusual to show you today! 

I took a break and a brief trip to some of the woods on our property this afternoon. What glorious colours!!! I had to share them with you! 

How is this an unusual balance? I'm not certain how many others besides me are blessed to be able to travel to the woods on their breaks and breaks are, of course, part of the balance of "work" and play! 

The remainder of this post is devoted to the finishing of a creation that is unusual for me and that has languished too long in mid-growth! Here are the materials.... To the left is a new tag that could be used to attach to a cow, bull or steer for identification (with a wire-wrapped Wild Heart Swarovski Heart in Jet Black), black velvet ribbon drapes across the middle and a Fairy and her Serpent pendant are to our right. I love using materials that are meant for something other than jewelry, so the use of the cow identification tag is not unusual for me. The Fairy and Serpent pendant is not my usual style and came to me in a batch of nifty beads and materials from another artist! I decided to challenge myself and design something with these two companions  and the their overt sensual nature than re-gifting her to someone else. 

In keeping with this challenge, I decided to modify this pendant so that it was became the bar portion of a toggle-and-bar clasp, with the identification tag being the toggle.  Here's the back of that pendant, showing the wire-work that turned this into a bar portion of a clasp. 

Next is a close-up of the focal-clasp all complete!

And finally, the necklace in all it's completed glory!

Title: Sensual Balance

Ingredients:  Cow Identification Tag (plastic), Swarovski Crystal Wild Heart (Jet), Velvet ribbon, metal, copper wire.

There are so many delicious details in this necklace creation and I'm so pleased with it!

So, there you have it, a Fini Friday all finished!

Have an excellent weekend!

Ciao! 

P.S. Want to know where I and Sprite Creations will be "in person" next?

Oct. 12th, 13th and 14th, we'll be at the Saint Paul Art Crawl in the Atrium of the Lowertown Lofts Artist Coop! 

This is the 20th Anniversary of the Saint Paul Art Crawl and it would be lovely to have you celebrate it with us! 

Whee! 

  

Fini Friday! Precision & Play

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Fini Friday!! 

I hope your week went swimmingly and your weekend looks peachy! 

I've been busy this week with various projects and cooler weather preparations around the home. This also means that on the warmer days, my motivation to complete indoor tasks was not high! Hee! 

I'm pleased to have a few very-patient-and-finally-finished creations to show you as well as a charming little fellow that I found on one of my Walkabouts this week! 

First up are the finished creations that have been set aside for some time now. As might be guessed upon sight, the designs and materials were gathered at the same time. 

Title: The Gritty Beauty of Industry 

Ingredients: Glass, Acrylic, oxidized Sterling & German Silver (Sterling Silver earwires).

This is one of the new experimental designs using oxidized Sterling and German Silver metals. I'm sure I'll almost always prefer the shiny, yet there is a certain enchantment with the oxidation pattern and the gritty ambiance it lends to the design. I'm quite pleased with the juxtaposition of that feeling and the precision shapes and crisp white and clear colours.  There is much to admire about this creation!

 

Onward to the next creation! Title: Fire Geometry Ingredients: Amy Fill Glass, Swarovski crystals, Acrylic, antiqued copper wire, Surgical Steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).   I personally selected and purchased the sunflower yellow and flame orange spiral beads from Glass Artist Amy Fill. She is no longer creating art beads and so these are truly one-of-a-kind! I love the concept of the unlikely marriage of precise shapes and the very organic nature of fire! 

And now, that charming little fellow I picked up on Walkabout!

I believe that's a hand-blown glass whale! The colours are so delicate! A beautiful peach fluke and fins accent a clear body and little round eyes! I'm not certain what he's destined for, but I knew he had to come home to the studio with me! 

So there you have it! 

The fini of Fini Friday! 

Ciao! 

 

P.S. Want to know where I and Sprite Creations will be "in person" next?

Oct. 12th, 13th and 14th, we'll be at the Saint Paul Art Crawl in the Atrium of the Lowertown Lofts Artist Coop! 

This is the 20th Anniversary of the Saint Paul Art Crawl and it would be lovely to have you celebrate it with us! 

Whee! 

Fini Friday! Cats and Cases!

Hello Everyone!
Welcome to Fini Friday!
I hope your week has been grand so far!
I have a bit of news about additions in the studio and a new creation to showcase to chat about in this blog post!
Let's start with the studio additions!
I acquired new-to-me display cases as I was on Walkabout on Wednesday!
These will need to be cleaned up, possibly have the display fabric changed and etc. I'm very much looking forward to playing with these! Here is a group photo!
And a few individual cameos...
 
I love the white-washed wood and all of the character in these! They are somehow more organic and approachable in their not-perfect condition!

And now for the new creation!
Title: All About Cats
Ingredients: Jasper, Sunstone, Lapis Lazuli, Kyanite, Bali and Sterling silver, cable, lead-free pewter, metal.
I love all the little details about this, including that cat-and-mouse-clasp! This necklace has been languishing for years as I fought with the balance of a simple and stunning yet not boringly repetitive design. I wanted the carved cat to be the unequivocal center of attention, yet surrounding her with gemstones that had their own brilliance and beauty was in order so that the entire creation glow with elegance and understated beauty. I think it does! 
 One little note about this piece... it is not quite Fini. I'm in the midst of restocking the crimps I tend to favor using and so used another type to (almost) complete this necklace. They reminded me of why I choose to use the type I do and so I'll be re-stringing this necklace with my favorite crimp when those come into the studio! 
Just one of those fascinating little peeks into an artists' life and all the details and work that we do to create the best art we can! 

And so! There we are - all Fini for now! 
Have an excellent weekend and I'll see you on Monday! 
Ciao!

Fini Friday! Growth Spurt!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Fini Friday!

I hope your week was good and the week-end looks to be even better!

Today is a good, old-fashioned Fini Friday post where I have a finished creation and a creation that experienced a growth spurt after languishing for a long while to show you!

Let's begin with the finished creation!

You may remember this past Whimsy Wednesday where I introduced some bead-frames I was playing with... One more earring creation grew out of that experiment, which is below!

Title: Ruby Jewel, Framed.

Ingredients: Czech glass, lead-free pewter, metal, gold-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic).

 

I love those Czech glass window beads and the idea of a frame within a frame and so forth! Also, aren't those luscious colours? Mmmmm! 

Onward to the newly-grown creation! The inspiration for this necklace is Australian Aboriginal culture. The dots-as-design style is something that can be seen on digeridoos, bullroarers and other items unique to this culture and can be seen on the round red beads with dots of cobalt and sky blue as well as sunflower yellow. 

Dolphins are said to be messengers to and from Dreamtime, which roughly translates as Nirvana/Heaven/Divine Unknown in other cultures. Hence the beautiful dolphin pendant at the center of the necklace creation! 

Each of the jewel-shaped glass beads represent both the colours of the rainbow and also colours commonly associated with each of the seven chakras of the human body. So, there is much meaning, myth and magic woven into this creation already! 

As you can see, the creation still needs a completion in terms of clasp or a way to secure it around the neck. I'm also considering painting the dolphin pendant with hand-coloured resin...I'll ponder it! 

One more update around the studio before the weekend commences! 

 

Here is where I'll be tomorrow! 

Fall Art Festival 

Saturday, September 8th Only! 

10am to 4pm City Center Market 

122 North Buchanan Street Cambridge, MN (USA)

Hope to see you soon!

Ciao!

Fini Friday! Myths and Charms!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

I hope many of you are well on your way to celebrating Labor Day Weekend (if you're in the U.S.A) or simply celebrating your weekend! 

I've a little bit of a follow-up on the the charms that were gifted to me at the beginning of August! The story of how they arrived in my world is here. 

I've finished embellishing them and they are ready to show you! 

A group shot first...

  I hand-painted each of the charms with various colours and then painted on the differing, hand-coloured resins. 

Below are close-ups of each charm... 

This is has the working title of Blue Sky Eagle and was painted white with a bit of black and then sealed with blue-green tinted (non-toxic) resin. I love the fine glitter effect of the pigmented resin and the very ethereal effect it gives! 

The second Eagle/Hawk pendant has a working title of Earth Eagle and has a bit more detail to it.... 

I painted the Eagle/Hawk a beautiful copper-y colour and meticulously applied an ebony black to the wings to give a bit of depth and distinctive marking to those wings. I also hand-mixed and painted the rocks or earth below the glass marble a darker, rich brown. The resin is tinted with a fine gold glitter and I love the beautiful sheen it gives! 

The last of the gifted pendants is the skull. 

This one was more challenging and I think it's look is distinctive. Working Title: As Yet Unknown

  This, too, was hand-painted with many colours and sealed with a blue-green tinted resin. Perhaps one could describe the style of the pendant now as Tribal? 

Let's wrap up this post with that new creation I mentioned at the top of the post! This is a creation that has been languishing for long enough that it warranted a complete redesign! 

Working Title: For Brigit

Ingredients: Amber, Fire Opals, Carnelian, sterling silver, Swarovski crystals, lead-free pewter, Artistic Wire, leather, metal.

Brigit or Brigid is a Celtic Goddess known for her skills in all things poetry, blacksmithy (or craftsmanship) and healing. These diverse accomplishments often lead her to be described as a Triple-Goddess or having a triple-aspect. That redesign included a move using mainly cable as a stringing material to leather and wire. Leather seems a natural fit, since that is something most blacksmiths and craftsman of yore would wear as protective gear. Wire and metal in the design also seemed appropriate for the same reason. The redesign was also simplified a great deal, which shows off the gemstones to good advantage. Amber is said to be sacred to Brigid and the Fire Opals and Carnelians continuing the flame-y feel to this necklace are a nod to both the black-smithing, but also to perpetual flame, which is held to be sacred to this Goddess. Her main temple in Kildare, Ireland has such sacred flames attended to and maintained by nuns. I had a lot of fun playing with wire in this creation and am very pleased to have both completed this creation and completed it in a better manner than the original idea! 

And so! 

It is time to celebrate the weekend! 

One little note of where you can find me next week! 

 

Fall Art Festival 

Saturday, September 8th Only! 

10am to 4pm City Center Market 

122 North Buchanan Street Cambridge, MN (USA

Until Monday, then!

Ciao!

Fini Friday! Repairs and Reclaimation!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

I hope your week has been excellent and your weekend looks to be even better! I'm pleased with my progress this week as I've finished several creations that have been languishing for some time! Let me show you!

These cloisonne beads (the elongated pyramids with the orange flowers) have been in my bead stash for quite a while and I felt the call to create something with them today! (Hence the reclamation of them as materials in a finished creation and my time and creative energy as well!) These are some of the beads used in the finished creations, just below! As I was playing with the bead colour combinations, I found two that I really, really liked! So, I created both! Cloisonne is a process of forming small containers on the surface of the artwork (in this case, the beads) by soldering together metal (gold, silver, brass, etc.) and filling in those containers with gemstones or enamel. Enamel is the "filler" in the beads you see here. For more information on cloisonne, click here.

Titles: As Yet Unknown 

Ingredients: Cloisonne beads, Swarovski crystals, gold or foil-lined glass, metal, gold-plated surgical steel earwires (hypo-allergenic). 

This final photo features two bracelets that I was commissioned to repair utilizing stretchy cord!  I don't often play with this cord and so it was fun to experiment a bit with this type of material!

So there you have it!
Fini Friday is Fini!

Have a fabulous weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday!

Ciao!