January Art Elements --Inspired by the Moon

Photo by Mark Tegethoff on Unsplash

January's Art Elements challenge is sponsored by Lindsay Starr. Since the theme is the moon and is open to any media I had to give lots of thought to this. This is a theme that I have used in the past and loved. Just last year I made this pearl and pewter necklace which I love. It is available in my shop. challenge is sponsored by Lindsay Starr. Since the theme is the moon and is open to any media I had to give lots of thought to this. This is a theme that I have used in the past and loved. Just last year I made this pearl and pewter necklace which I love. It is available in my shop.

                                                                  Celestial Necklace by BayMoonDesign

This celestial necklace has a pewter pendant of lady with crescent moon and stars. The gorgeous necklace is made with gray blister pearls with hints of pink. The pink is highlighted by the use of tiny pink beads and small silver bead to give some additional sparkle.

The pewter starfish clasp is made by Green Girl Studio. The pewter moon and star pendant is by Inviciti. This is a lovely piece of art jewelry.

I had such fun with December 2018's Art Elements Scene Challenge when I made wire flowers for my daughter's garden. I enjoyed the project and my daughter loved the flowers. I felt so good about this project that I decided to make a wire moon for my patio door. I wanted it for decoration and as a visual caution to prevent folks from walking into the glass.

Photo by Stephan Herb on Unsplash

The Super Blood Wolf Moon lunar eclipse was big news in January 2019 and it caught my attention. After all, it isn't every year that this happens. Lunar eclipses can occur only during a full moon, and this one was extra special because it was also a supermoon.  A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon is full and passes into the shadow of the Earth. This causes the usually bright full moon to turn a dark, coppery-red. Depending on weather conditions, it may appear rusty, brick-colored or blood-red. Hence, this eclipsed moon is nicknamed the ”Blood Moon” in the media. It certainly creates more drama with "blood".

Photo by Josh Felise on Unsplash

I have to admit that the "wolf" part added to my interest. Why a wolf? Each moon has its own name associated with the full moon. In January, it's known as the "wolf moon".  According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the name was inspired by hungry wolves that howled outside of villages long ago.  My color palette was created with these visuals of browns, red, oranges, yellows from the super blood wolf moon in my mind.

Since I used 16 gauge wire in my flower project, I thought I would use it for this. I then switched my thoughts from the black wire that I used previously to copper wire. I love copper and I decided it would look great with my color palette so I used 16 gauge copper wire. There was my first mistake. I also used 28 gauge copper wire. This decision I am still wondering about. I might want to up thickness on that wire. I then gathered all of my quartz chips and clear beads in my color palette and strung them on the 28 gauge wire. I did this bead by bead by hand picking each one with care. I selected beads that I thought were the best size and color.  This took much longer than I thought it would.  In the beginning all went well but the more I wrapped the beads around the wire, the more I noticed structural problems. I didn't want to use heavy copper wire to shore of the design for artistic reasons. I used some Washi tape instead and it worked surprisingly well. I really had to force myself to finish this.   I am viewing this as a prototype of a future attempt. I have to regard this as a learning experience.  Any suggestions for my future attempt, are appreciated.

Photo by 🐣 Luca Iaconelli 🦊 on Unsplash

Grab a hot beverage and enjoy seeing what everyone else was inspired to write.

Guests:

Jenny

Melissa

Kathy (HERE)

Sarajo

Hope

Sarah

Rebecca

Divya

Anita

Rosantia

Cat

Evia

Alysen

Beth

Tammy

Art Elements Crew:

Claire

Laney

Caroline

Cathy

Sue 

Niky

Jenny

Jen

Thank you Lindsay Starr for hosting challenge.

We're All Ears :: January Inspiration :: Color of the Year 2019 Living Coral

Photo by James Thornton on Unsplash

The We're All Ears January challenge is for January 2019 is to use the Pantone Color of the Year 2019 --Living Coral. Living Coral is truly an energizing and vibrant color found in nature. PANTONE Living Coral calls attention to our underwater reef systems. Beneath the sea, this warm and vivid color is spell binding and vibrant. It is namesake of an endangered species in our oceans that we need to fight to protect. The reefs are important because they provide shelter to diverse ecosystems that are crucial. They are too beautiful and important to loose. I love snorkeling in the Florida Keys. My favorite spots are just down the road from where I winter in Key Largo, Florida.  I love to snorkel at the reefs that are part of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park which is made up of 70 nautical square miles. While many visitors view the park’s colorful coral reefs and teeming marine life on glass-bottom boat tours, you can get a closer look by scuba diving or snorkeling. The water is so clear that when canoeing and kayaking through the park's waters you can see the underwater world too.

Me snorkeling

Pantone put together 5 color palettes that feature the living coral color. I often use them to help me make decisions on colors for my jewelry. One of the five palettes that I am most drawn to is --Focal Point. I love the combination of earthy colors that are combined here. I used this Focal Point palette to inspire a new pair of earrings.

I selected red ceramic pairs by Marsha Neal Studio. The vertical lines in them are the color living coral and reminds me of coral. Since these coral lines are surrounded by an even more vibrant shade I used the cooling color of golden lime. For my metal sterling silver seemed a perfect choice. The silver reminds me of the cooling Pantone color storm gray.

Coral Earrings by BayMoonDesign

I connected coral color ceramics with stacked Czech Glass lustered avocado spacers with 20 gauge sterling wire and added sterling ear wires. These are bold earrings in this seasons freshest colors. They are available for purchase HERE.
You can see additional earrings in my shop by visiting http://www.etsy.com/shop/BayMoonDesign.

Photo by Tomoe Steineck on Unsplash

Pollution, disease, invasive species, and unaware tourists all cause them harm. Coral reefs control the amount of carbon dioxide in the ocean, making them critical to the food chain.

There are ways that you can help protect coral reefs. Something that everyone can do is conserve water. This is essential because less water consumption means that there is less runoff. Less runoff naturally leads to less wastewater finding its way into the sea and affecting the coral reefs negatively.

As a tourist:
Avoid striking or touching a coral reef.
Don't fish or boat near a coral reef
Don't litter on the beach or in the ocean

Coral reefs provide food and shelter for a variety of marine life. They are also important for people who live near the water and rely on the corals for food. Corals are also used to produce medicine, generate tourist revenue, and serve as a barrier against tropical storms for some communities. All strong reasons, to care for them.

This is a blog hop, so please head on over to Earrings Everyday to check out the earrings that other designers have created.

Making Earrings Leather

I have used leather in my jewelry before but there are so many projects and kinds of leather to consider when you want to utilize or expand your leather crafting skills. It is a challenge picking out the leather and color.  I love to make and wear earrings so I decided to see what leather earrings  I could add to my collection. For inspiration, I looked through Pinterest to see what others have created.  It was easy to pick something a bit out of my comfort zone. I recently obtained some leather samples from Sun Enterprise so I decided this was a perfect time to create some new leather earrings.

Sun Enterprises is a leading manufacturer and supplier of leather, locks, silk and jewelry components. They are based in The Netherlands and ship goods across 55 countries and work extensively with jewelry designers, artisans, jewelry makers, goldsmiths , wholesalers and hobby stores. I was amazed by their huge collection of leathers and locks. It was fun looking through their online catalog and seeing all of the types, colors and sizes of leather. 

In the samples of flat 5mm Italian leather that I received I found a piece of pink leather with the saying "La Vie Est Belle" in silver.   I knew right away that this leather would make a great pair of earrings.  I used a "good" pair of scissors to cut 2 pieces of leather with a complete set of words and I punched some holes at each end of the leather.  I used punch pliers to cut tiny holes through leather.

                                                                       components used for one earring

I selected silver as my metal and used a pair of sterling silver ear wires, tiny heart charms, some silver chain, and some spacers. I found Czech glass among my collection that complimented the color of the leather.  These earrings are available for purchase HERE.

Loving Life Earrings by BayMoonDesign

The key to making these earrings is to attach the heart charm to the chain before starting. Then I used a piece of 6 inch, 20 gauge sterling silver wire to go through one of the holes in the leather. Next, I added the chain to the wire and added the other side of the leather to create the loop. The rest is easy to figure out.

5mm flat Italian leather from Sun Enterprise

I located some more 5mm flat Italian leather to create more earrings. I found 5mm the perfect size for these earrings. I used about 2 inches for each earring. What I really like about using this leather is that isn't very heavy. I am always trying to keep my earrings as light as I can. 

Copper and brown leather teardrops by BayMoonDesign

I made a very different looking pair of earrings using the dark brown leather with a thin black edging.  I added a pair of art beads by Humblebeads and used copper to bring the colors together.  This leather was thicker than the orange leather in the pair below so I used 20 gauge copper wire with this pair.  The pair below has thinner leather so I used 22 gauge bronze wire. 

Orange leather earrings by BayMoonDesign

This is a very light weight earring in this year's hottest color-- orange using the same technique.  I used a pair of art beads by Humblebeads.  I paired this leather with bronze.  

I look forward to working with more leather this year.  

Art Elements December Theme -- White

Photo by Charisse Kenion on Unsplash

This Art Elements December Theme is white.   There are so many shades of white.  Just consider the collection of white dresses above.  There are so many whites in the dresses-- a bright stark white like found in ice, the warm shade of egg-shells and antique linen in some of those dresses.

About the same time that I read about this challenge, I read one of the Crafty Hope blogs where she shares a look at her week.  At its end, she shares a few of her inspirations.  Her inspirations sometimes become mine.  In this particular blog,  Hope highlighted some Wire Whimsies by Fresh Bakes Designs that are great for gifts or decorating gifts. 

I decided I would make a set of white flowers as a gift for my daughter.  She has planter's on her deck that a set of these flowers would look cute especially when waiting for spring flowers.  I gathering my tools which included:
Wire cutters (not jewelry cutters)
wire straightening tool
round nose pliers
24 gauge wire
16 gauge black annealed wire
30 6 -8mm beads -your choice
Sealant for wire-I used steel and Renaissance wax

Next, I spiraled the wire right off the spool to prepare the wire. I cut a total of 7 feet of wire and rubbed it with steel wool and then Renaissance wax to make it suitable for the outside. Fresh Baked Design offers another way of treating the annealed wire.  I then took 5 feet of wire and made 8 wraps. I bent the wire at 90 degrees and straightened the curve out with my wire straightening tool for a stem. Then, used pliers to create the leaf. Nipped off the end to leave the stem piece about 12 inches long. The length is up to you. The total wire length for the frame was about 7 feet. The flowers ended up being 4 to 5 inches in diameter.

Using the 24 gauge wire, I wired the bottom of the flower spiral to the stem and wrapped the beads around the outer spiral. You can use the 24 gauge wire wrapped to wrap down the stem to add a touch of more detail and stability.  The amount and size of the beads you use will affect the stability.  Expect to use about 6 feet of this wire.  I plan to go back and do that.  I found stability a slight problem that I will correct and I think it will add to a whimsical look.

whimsical wire flower by BayMoonDesign

I really like how these are free flowing and a bit wonky.  I think it adds to the charm! You can also fiddle with the spirals to suit your needs. Or push them out a little so they have some dimension. I used white beads that had a blueish glow like an iceberg.  I plan to make a set of white wire flowers for me.  I have always wanted a night garden of white flowers.  I don't have a green thumb so I see this as the perfect solution for me.

Pewter ladies earrings by BayMoonDesign

I am happy to report that this month's inspIration finally pushed me use a pair of ladies in pewter by Inviciti.  They have been on my jewelry table for at least a year while I waited for a perfect background for them.  For awhile, I had planned to make a copper oval disk and use that as the background for the ladies. When I spotted these vintage white mother of pearl disk in my stash, I saw that they made a nice, bright background for the ladies.

Photo by Sarah Shaffer on Unsplash

Grab your favorite beverage and sit back and enjoy seeing what this talented group of artisans creates with white as the inspiration and the medium wide open.

Guest Artists

Alysen

Anita

Beth

Cat

Divya

Elaine

Hope

Jill

Karin

Kathy (here)

Lucy

Rozantia

Sarajo

Susan

Tammy



Art Elements Team

Caroline

Cathy

Claire

Laney

Lesley

Marsha

Susan

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Thanks for stopping by!  I love to hear what you have to say.  If you don't already follow my blog and facebook page, please do.  I am having a 20% off sale in my BayMoonDesign online store to celebrate my having surpassed a total of 700 sales on Etsy.   This is a great time to stock up on my handmade greeting cards and art jewelry.  Grab an end of the year bargain between now and New Year's 2019 Day.