Our second challenge inspired by The Red Rose & the White Rose by Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh was set by Rebecca Anderson, a bit of genius jewellery designer IMHO and boy did she pick a fantastic but seriously difficult image. I've hummed and hawed and changed my mind over and over, tweaked and rejigged until I lost the will to bead! Much as I love being a part of the fab five I do feel the pressure to come up with something a little bit clever each time and as any of you jewellery makers know, creativity can rarely be forced but can sometimes be coaxed! In both challenges I've tried my darndest to use as many of the components as possible and not to bring in too many extra bits however this time I did sneak in the infamous rustic pearls, a bit of a hit this year with the (Facebook group) 'Bead Smitten'. I also like to make something for each challenge, I'm the only one of the group who no longer makes either components or jewellery as my primary beading income but I do like to try and fit in, so this time the chiffon roses are my contribution. There were a couple of firsts for me in this project - waxed linen cord, part of Lesley's stringing lot and what a fantastic medium it is to use... I can't believe I haven't used it before but I will definitely be giving it another go soon. My second first is yet to come - I plan to use some liver of sulphur gel on the silver beaded necklace to tie in the wire with Jo's lovely components.... as per usual I didn't quite get the time to finish so I'll let you know how it goes, My Mum has earmarked this piece for her Christmas present so fingers crossed I will get around to it.
A reminder of the stunning painting - image courtesy of - The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2012
A quick reminder of the components from - Lesley, Rebecca, Me, Jo & Bo!
I'm sure I'm not supposed to say this but we are revealing rather later than planned this time. It's that time of year for most of us, busy designing, making and running back and forth to the post office in preparation for the festive season, I'm sure it really does get earlier every year! Our apologies to the thousands... okay hundreds... oh alright tens of you who have been waiting for us to reveal. I hope it was worth the wait. xx
Necklace no. 1
I wanted to create something delicate for my main design, pulling inspiration from the subtleties and fine detail in the painting. I've used Jo's silver components and most of the accent beads along with the silk chiffon which I fashioned into a hopefully suitable MacIntosh style rose. It's quite a simple idea but rather time consuming to make as I decided to use silver wire and wire wrap each bead rather then string them all together.
This was the piece that took most of the hum-ing and ha-ing - should it be a bracelet or a necklace and which of Bo's ceramic pieces to use and then dilemma of dilemmas where exactly to put Rebecca's clasp for best effect. After about 30 different layouts all photographed and compared this was the best combination... I hope :0)
A lot of argh's, grrrr's, oh's a fair few hurumph's went into this, with finally a hurrah and a phew! I hope I have done the beautiful components justice, thank you BPB yet again for the beautiful contributions and inspiration. I can't wait to see what beauties lay in wait on your blogs....
If you would like to how the other BPB's have used the components and interpreted the challenge pop over to their blogs (& Bo's facebook page).... please follow the links below.
Lesley Watt The Gossiping Goddess blog
Jo Tinley Daisychain Designs blog
Teresa (Bo) Hulley Bo Hulley Beads facebook pageThanks for stopping by.
Claire xx
Oh Claire I love them both! The chiffon roses are just perfect - I'd love to know how you made them? The first necklace is my favourite as I love how you used the silver links I sent you. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Jo, I have to say they just spoke to me as soon as I saw them! If I ever get the time I will try a tutorial for the roses, don't hold your breath though as these things normally take me about a year to get to ;0)
DeleteBeautiful, love the rose and the way you used Jo's bars, x
ReplyDeleteThanks Bo :0)
DeleteBeautiful pieces! I really like the spacing and movement that wire wrapping creates.
ReplyDeleteThank you cassi, I have to say I'm not sure what possesed me to wire wrap all those seed beads as it was a labour of love but I'm pleased with the effect too. Just need to get on and LoS them before Christmas!
DeleteTwo absolutely astonishing designs Claire. The first necklace had me wowing out loud, with it's delicate lines, and balanced yet continuously interesting design, and then the second one showed up as I scrolled further dow the page. I just love it! I must say I really love what you did with the fairy silk ribbon. The roses are just perfect. How on earth did you make them?
ReplyDeleteThank you Malin for such a lovel comment, glad you like my designs, I know what I wanted to do as soon as I saw the image, the tricky bit was to make all the componants fit! The roses were made with a lot of trial and error and a needle and thread. When we have a better day for photography I will endevour some better photos and maybe even a tutorial xx
DeleteAbsolutely stunning Claire - we don't see nearly enough of your designs!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lesley, that's because it takes about 3 days worth of energy to make one piece. I get rather pooped! love it though.
DeleteReally beautiful! I love how the first necklace sweeps with the 3 strands - just wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm glad you like it, just seemed the right thing to do looking at the immage :0)
DeleteYou've done a fantastic job there, you've captured the romantic feel of the image perfectly!
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda for the lovely comment, I am quite pleased with it, rather tricky to photograph though. C x
ReplyDeleteI saw the first necklace in the design stage, and knew I wanted it, - (had to have it) hopefully it will turn up on CDay. - finished!!!! Julie you might have to work extra hours!!!! oohhh can't wait, I'm like a child at Christmas. I'm already choosing my outfit for Christmas Day to tone with the necklace. - No pressure Claire xx
ReplyDeleteJust wow Claire. It is such a shame that you don't have more time to design jewellery, your is absolutely stunning and I feel quite embarrassed at my bracelet and earring combo now! Chiffon roses are just lovely, you should definitely do a wee Smitten kit for them. I really love the way both you and Jo have used her silver links within a necklace, I never even thought of that. They give a lovely elegance, and I know they will add a lovely sense of movement too. There's so much to look at in both of the necklaces - simply gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThank you Rebecca! lovely comments much appreciated. To be honest I love being a part time designer. I had the shop for 7 years and churned out piece after piece. I would get months sometimes where I really struggled with ideas and then others where I couldn't design fast enough, a bit to much feast and famine for the brain. It's so lovely to now have the time to concentrate on one piece and spend as much time as I need over it, makes for a much less stressfull life! ;0) I only have to worry about getting the beads to you lot! xx PS I love your bracelet!
ReplyDelete