January Blog Carnival - what is your favourite material and why

The subject for the the Starving Artists team blog carnival for January is What is your favourite material and why.  At first I thought this would be an easy subject to write about until I had to actually decide what my favourite material was. Here are some of the materials that I use - I'll let you decide ....

Stones have a major influence on most of my designs.  When I pick up a stone, it tends to talk to me.  I love the colours and the depth within a stone as each one has its own story to tell.  I'll select the type of wire that I will use and other materials that I may draw upon to enhance and capture its beauty.

 
I have also incorporated Swarovski crystals within my work - more often as an accent to a piece.  The intensity of each colour, elegance and flawless cut speak for themselves - my favourites are 4mm bicones.

Another material that brings out the visionary artist within me is metal clay - whether it be precious metal clay (PMC), bronze or copper clay - each one lends itself to being moulded and sculpted into wonderful individual designs.

Resin is another material I bought a couple of months ago and after sitting and pondering on what I was going to do with it - I bit the bullet one afternoon and made my first pendant - I was hooked and now look for objects I can incorporate within its glossy embrace.

Towards the end of the year I started to use ribbons and leather in my creations incorporating flowers featured with stones and wire.  This unusual mixture is complimentary to each other - enhancing each medium, each piece stands out on its own whilst on a whole, they come together beautifully.

Recently I was introduced to the world of looming which meant using seed beads which is something I thought I would never do.  I always wondered why someone would want to utilise thread, needles and those itty bitty seed beads to create a piece was something that alluded me until I gave it a go, it was oddly empowering to to overcome this fear and I'm now planning my next piece.

Each time I discover a new material - it quickly becomes a favourite, now you know why it was difficult to pinpoint one!  So which one do you think is my favourite?

Check out the favourite materials of the other members of the team

Galadryl Design

O'Refined

Island Girl

The FamiLee Jewels