A little side project...Upcycled Bamboo FencingTutorial

I have had so many things going on lately, that my jewelry has been put on the back burner.  I still make things in my spare time, but lately my spare time seems to be at night, after the kids are in bed and stopping in the middle of a project to take pictures for my blog doesn't really work well after dark.  So this post isn't about jewelry.  This is another little project I have been planning for a while.

I am adding some vintage surf themed flair to a bar here in San Diego and have been putting together a collection of wall art to bring it together.  When a friend of mine showed me a pile of rolled up, weather destroyed bamboo fencing, I knew I would be able to find a use for it.  I wasn't sure what, but then inspiration hit me while poking on Pinterest.  I found these images of cool surf prints from The Artwork Factory.

I like the simplicity of these silhouettes and the aged appearance of the wood planks.  I looked at my bamboo roll as a blank canvas and decided I could paint it.  I did some rough sketches to determine my design and get a feel for the image on a small scale

I took a wire brush to the surface of the bamboo screen.  It was already completely grayed from being in my friend's backyard for a year or more. I didn't measure the size of the screen, but you can see that it is bigger than a 3-year-old with crazy post-naptime big hair.

After cleaning it I watered down some metallic gold acrylic paint and with the first bulky, ratty old paintbrush I came a cross in the garage, I washed my bamboo in gold.  It brought back a feeling of the natural color it might have been, with just a hint of metallic reflection.  Then I got to work on making waves.

And I sketched out my surfer on a larger scale on a roll of butcher paper and cut out my template.  I found that the surface of the bamboo was too uneven to try to sketch it directly onto the screen.  I taped him in place and used a permanent marker to trace around the edges of him.  It is hard to get the lines really perfect so don't try too hard.  Once you start to distress it, you won't even notice anymore.

In hindsight, I might choose to paint the surfer first and then paint the waves around him.  The waves are more forgiving and can be molded to fit the subject.  It was kind of hard to make him fit just right on waves that were already there.  Also, you could adjust the scale of the waves to fit the surfer.
But, I made it happen

I sanded the finished product down for a distressed look, and washed the whole thing with brown acrylic paint mixed with antiqued gold metallic acrylic paint and thinned to a very watery consistency.  The effect is the same as you might get with a glazing material, but I was using all acrylic paints that I already had sitting around.

The finished product, at this point

I had read that I should use oil based paints to paint a bamboo screen, because the original finish is oil based and the paint I used was acrylic.  It scratches off easily, but that suited my purpose just fine.  The recommendation of oil based paint was for people who wanted to paint their screen and continue to use it outdoors.  Mine will get a wood frame and be mounted on a wall, in a bar.  So I will be applying a few coats of a clear aerosol sealer in a matte/satin finish to protect it from those who might touch it, but that should be the worst abuse it should encounter.  I hope.

So, in the next week I will roll it up to transport it and mount it on the wall in Johnny V, a bar, restaurant and nightclub in Pacific Beach, CA.  I will post a picture of it hanging in all it's glory, but feel free to stop by and see it in person!

Fun with Findings...

I had a customer contact me through my Etsy store,  interested in a pair of earrings I had for sale.  Some lovely Peru Blue Chalcedony Drops on long dangle gold kidney wires. 

I love Peru Blue Chalcedony, so these are some of my favorites.  It makes me happy when a customer takes an interest in something I really like, too.  I want to bend over backwards to share in how wonderful it is.  But this customer asked the unthinkable.  She wanted a photo of them modeled in my ear.

I see this a lot on other shops, where someone models their own jewelry.  Sometimes the photos are nice, but a lot of them aren't.  Weird clothes, bad make-up, odd facial expressions....no I did not want to do that.  Not even on a good hair day.  But this day was not a good hair day.  This was a play with the kids, clean house, do laundry, hair in a top-knot-and-not-the-good-kind, no make-up kind of a day.  At Dusk.  Not even natural light on my side and she wanted the pictures now.  How far did I want to go for good customer service?  She said there were other earrings in other stores she was considering and she wanted to make a decision.  Okay, suck it up.  Say Cheese.  I had my hubby take the photos outside and then I cropped my face to make it unrecognizable.  Surely I will not hear back from this customer, but at least I gave it my all, right?  NO, I am not going to show you the picture!

But she did write back.  She liked them, but they were too long.  She wanted to see the stones on shorter wires.  So I showed her shorter, but they were too short.

She wanted to see sizes in between.  I didn't have them.  I thought about ordering some, but how long would they take to get here?  By the time she bought earrings from someone else, perhaps?  I had to come up with a plan.  I took the long ones and cut them down.  But then I had an idea.  I have been making my own French hook style ear wires in all different sizes.  Could I make a kidney wire?  I could sure try!  My first attempt wasn't half bad.  Can you tell which one it is?  The picture above will give you a hint on some you can eliminate.

I know, the lightly hammered finish probably gave me away.  But this was my first attempt, using craft wire, and I think it didn't turn out half bad.  I hammered it just enough to strengthen the wire, or else it felt a little to pliable.  And that is the one she picked!  I made hers with 14K gold filled wire and they really do look lovely.

So THANK YOU, V!!!  For pushing me out of my comfort zone, saving me money on buying future kidney wires, and helping me to further hone my craft.  Thank you also, for asking me to model these too, on a day that I had my hair down and make-up on.  I can now feel better that you know I don't always look like that first one.  NO, you can't see that picture either!

Busy Beading Bibs

The end of summer has been busy!  Busy with work, busy with kids, and busy with jewelry making.  I have had a hard time finding quiet moments to steal away and blog!

My Etsy store has surprised me this month, with lots of activity!  Necklaces seem to be popular going into fall, especially bib necklaces.  I have found an affinity for dangling stones that gently cascade to form a focal that hangs and adjusts easily to look great at different lengths. 

It works well with a few simple stones.  Casual, easy, simple.

But it also dresses up well.  A simple change of the shape of the stones and it's classy, a little elegant and chic.  I really like the double tier and the shape it forms at the nape.

It kind of caught me off guard how popular these would be.  I have had requests for custom pieces and am trying to come up with some other similar designs, to mix things up a bit.

These are what I came up with today.

I think they are fun and although they are a statement piece, they are still understated enough that they wont overwhelm the rest of your look.

Baubles of Blue

I got these interesting blue beads in a wholesale lot of different strands.  I bought the lot for the other strands, these were just a surprise in the bunch.  Although similar in color family and the fact that they seemed to mostly be faceted rondelles, they were all random sizes, mottled in color, irregularly shaped but somehow they all belonged together.  Their "flaws"  brought forth a feeling of antiquity and their deep cobalt blue hues made me think of Old Mexico. 

Living in San Diego, I used to take frequent weekend trips across the border to enjoy the Baja Peninsula, it's cuisine and it's culture.  Fresh fish tacos in San Felipe have forever ruined my ability to enjoy the ones here.  There is just no comparison to the walk up taco stands in Mexico, a cold Pacifico with a Mexican Lime, and camping on the beach.  The whole experience combines together, along with wandering through shops and admiring pottery, talavera tiles, hand blown seeded glasses, all vivid with color, predominately cobalt blue.  And Mexican Silver.

The color of these beads and their textures and just overall appearance made me think of all of this and I wanted to make something that spoke to my old memories.  I had these great antiqued silver bead caps, and I have been getting these nudges from someone that I need to make a bracelet, so I did.

I made a chunky bracelet with these lapis blue beads dangling off a silver chain.  I still have a collection of smaller ones I had originally intended to cluster around the base of the bigger ones, but I quite liked the look that these had on their own, and the way they cascade around my wrist, casually falling where they like.

And I even broke out my hammer, mandrel and steel block and made a toggle clasp!

Everywhere I look these days, I see HUGE earrings.  Big huge hoops, or really long dangle earrings that come just about to the shoulders.  Some seem like they might be hard to wear, but I like the idea.  I think small earring look nice, but it seems that when I actually go looking for a pair to put on, I skim right past the itty-bitties and look for something that swings.  I was looking on a blog of ways to display jewelry, but found myself looking at the jewelry instead of the displays.  Several of the long pairs of earrings inspired me to pull out the beads.  I studied the shapes of the designs I saw and came up with my own with what I had on hand.

I started off simple, and classic with gold and bright blue turquoise.  I used a pre-made hammered matte gold connector and went with my longest gold dangle kidney wires.

The next pair I also used turquoise, in a slightly more green tone.  I added a vintage rough-cut clear glass bead and a pale blue crystal the color of Peruvian Chalcedony.
Then I decided to break out my hammer and hammer out the wires to give a more organic look

Flattening the end of the wire eliminates the need for a headpin, as the wide, hammered part will block your bead from falling off.  It also has a unique look, and sets the design apart from your average beaded earrings.

And then I broke out my Fluorite, a favorite gemstone of mine.  I love the colors, that range from a deep ocean blue, to the palest of mint green.  The ones in this color range remind me of tropical waters and it just soothes the soul.  Fluorite comes in deep amethyst purple, too, and anywhere in between, but I favor the blue-greens.

I alternated the fluorite with Brazilian Aquamarine and Blue Dragon Veins Agate, with gold spacers and topped with a gold glass pearl.  With the 38mm Kidney wires these touch just past 4 1/4 inches, just about at my shoulders.  Just perfect!

Let's get Hammered!!!

Oh, I have found a new love!!  Or perhaps I have lit up an old flame.  I have always love hammered metals.  I mean REALLY love.  I like hammered decorative accents in my home like bowls, platters and lamps, and I love hammered jewelry.

I fondly remember silver hammered continuous hoops in high school.  I don't think I ever took them out and I think I wore them until they had no more love to give and they broke.  I have picked up some other hammered things over time, but nothing compared to my first hoops.

Then, I started noticing a lot of fake hammered marks in things.  Metals given a texture to look like hammering, but not actually hammered.  Hammering must be a long arduous task if someone needs to come up with ways to fake it, right?  Surely it must involve skills, a torch, red hot metal and some medieval protective gear.  And skills passed down through generations of artisans.

Or it might only require these:

She is at it again, that crafty sister of mine.  My birthday is coming up and she is helping to foster my creativity and push me out of my current comfort zone.  She gave me my birthday present a month early, while she was visiting.  A ball peen hammer, a book and an anvil.  I shamefully admit that I haven't looked at the book yet.  But last night I picked up the hammer...

Oh happy day!  Could it really be that easy?  Now this is just practice on some gold craft wire

 And here I created a hammered paddle headpin for the stones

 and hammered random findings and I have ZERO experience, but imagine what I can do with some dead soft sterling!!  And after reading the book, of course!!  I see a lot of hammering in my future. 

Oh, and despite the title of this post, I do not recommend hammering while hammered, or you may smash a finger or two.

A Little Sunshine

Summer is in full swing, and seems to want to prove it by giving us lots of sunshine and a nice heatwave.  I love the few really hot days we get here at the beach each summer.  They help remind me how almost perfect the temperature is the rest of the year.  Lately, we are getting sunshine in big doses and it has me thinking of yellow. 

I got out my beads several days ago, knowing I wanted to use yellow, but I had no idea what I wanted to make.  I grouped different beads together and then put them away, then got out more and just couldn't make up my mind.  It happens like that a lot.  Or I will have so many ideas for the beads I have that I need to think on it a while so I make the right choice.

I liked this combination of Yellow Jade rondelles, man-made tree resin Amber, and these vintage layered gold nugget beads in the end, but didn't know what to do with them.  I stared at them for a while....

I had a little inspiration for a long necklace, but somehow as I worked, what evolved was nothing remotely like my vision.  It's funny how your hands take over sometimes and what you create seems to be of their doing and not your own.  I took my kids to a birthday party this morning and donned a girly cotton sundress.  I was thinking about what style of necklace I felt like wearing today...a little retro maybe...but not too much.  I came home and made this during nap time. 

So it didn't turn into a long necklace, more of a chunky statement necklace.  But I liked the outcome.  I hope you do, too.