June Blog Carnival - Using Other People's Work in our Designs

This month, the members of the Starving Artists Team are talking about using other artists work incorporated within their own.  This is an easy topic to talk about as I love supporting other members of my team and using components they have made within my designs.

Copper is a metal I have been using a lot of lately, especially with the price of silver - copper is a wonderful alternative - it is warm, fun and adds a beautiful dimension to any piece.  An example of this is the ear wires from BlueDressDesigns.  The glass flower caps were also from Jen.

One thing I adore is lampwork beads - they are hard to resist!  I have a few favs that I have bought over the past couple of years, namely Melissa's Beads in which I incorporated within this necklace

and Bead Up A Storm in which this one is about to be made up into a piece I have created with Precious Metal Clay (PMC)

Speaking of PMC - this piece was created using Beadles lampwork beads for inspiration - the lampies compliment the turquoise stone beautifully.

 Or how about these cool zombie beads that I made up into earrings from Pink Beach Studio

 My latest love is looming - the pattern is the integral part of creating a loomed design, this snow leopard cuff was designed by the talented BeadsBeadingBeaded

So a big thank you to those who are willing to share their art and their skills which add that finishing touch to many a design!

Other members of the team who are participating in this months blog carnival are:

Island Girls Jewelry

Galadryl

Jewelry Art by Dawn

J3Jewelry

AMDesignsbyAngela

The FamiLee Jewels

April Blog Carnival - Colour

The Starving Artists team monthly blog carnival is here again with the subject being colour in your work.  This is particularly important to me, especially at the moment with my venturing into looming and designing patterns.  I use Miyuiki Delica No 11's - and absolutely love the myriad of colours that are available to you within this range, the various shades and hues in each colour is amazing.

Last night driving home, the sky was ablaze with various shades of blue, purples, pinks - the way they merged together was breathtaking and inspiration for a pattern design such as this.

Colour gives a pieces perspective, it can either make or break a design.  I'm not partial to any particular colour, I love them all - whether bright happy colours or subtle shades, they can all reflect a mood. These patterns are an example of that:

My first piece I created on the loom was full of colour - although predominately an aqua blue, the other shades defined the piece.

So how does colour influence you?  To find out how other members of my team are influenced, check out their blog posts!

Musings of a Northern Girl

Island Girls Insights

Bead Sophisticate

J3Jewelery

The FamiLee Jewels

March Blog Carnival - Who inspires you in your work

This months blog carnival subject is who inspires you in your work.  This is an interesting topic for this month as over the years there has been many talented jewellery artists who have inspired me.

When I first started, the first book I bought was "bead on a wire" by Sharilyn Miller, her simple steps to create exquisite pieces led me to my first love of playing with wire, beads and my tools.  Other amazing  artists such as Delia Stone and Perri Jackson inspired me - especially as in my early days, I found they were approachable and willing to help you if you had a question.  You should check out their tutorials if you haven't already done so.

Wishing to expand my horizons, an incredibly talented Holly Gage posted some pictures on our forum of her metal clay creations, I found a studio in my local area and signed up for a class, and was hooked.  At the time it was only Precious Metal Clay (PMC) but then copper and bronze clays became available and our fabulous teacher,  spent many hours studying and playing with these mediums so she could pass her knowledge onto us.

One medium I always vowed I would never do although held great admiration for those who were able to conquer it was seed beads.  The combination of being able to create "something" out of those itty bitty seed beads and using a needle and thread just blew my mind - however, late last year one of the most talented  and gifted artists I have ever met introduced me to "looming".  Erin Simonetti convinced me to try and make a cuff as I was housebound after having major surgery. Through her encouragement and enduring motivation and the ongoing support by those within her beading group, I was able to conquer this "fear" and created my first cuff.

I am now in the process of designing a cuff that will incorporate my three loves - my passion for jewellery has been revitalised and I'm truly grateful to those wonderful inspirational artists who lead by example, not only by their work but their capacity and willingness to share their love of their art with those of the like of me.


To find out who others members of my team have have been inspired by check out their blogs ...

J 3 Jewelry

Islandgirl's Insights


Beadsophisticate