Monday, September 22, 2014

Infer - #127-130: the book necklace and bezel earrings

To-date, these may be my favorite pieces.  I feel like that really sums it up and there is a possibility that they may never see the shelves at Homecrafters Emporium or a trade show table at Dena'ina or an Etsy listing.

Very importantly, I have discovered the wonders of alcohol ink and intend to always have it in hand when working with metal pieces from now on.  The quick and easy transformation from bland craft store metal to badass multidimensional jewelry is almost instantaneous and there is so much room for design freedom.  I absolutely am in love with the stuff and pictures do not do the results justice.




So I had the bezels figured out for paper and resin earrings but I also wanted to try another new technique and make myself some book paper beads, as I read about in my absolute favorite jewelry book, Wild Jewelry.




I picked Stranger in a Strange Land because it was an old favorite and I didn't mind taking out a few pages for the cause.




Getting them all rolled and formed was a process but so worth it for the results, which I LOVE.  I am going to be rolling up everything into beads now.  I framed these with metal filigree cones and finished with a double ringed chain and matching set of earrings.





Multipass - #121-126: the eclectic bunch

The makings for these pieces basically came down to spreading out materials that I had been wanting to use and seeing what came together.  A variety of objects are used and that is how I prefer it.



First up is a necklace with bone and wood beads on the leather strand and faux bone pieces for the pendant.  The earrings are also bone and placed on fish hook clasps.




Next is another revision of one of my favorite necklace designs using a wire wrapped cork capped with rusty washers which were rusted by me using white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide.  
(Also see: #42 and #46)  For this necklace, red ribbon was used to frame the cork pendant and the strand is a combination of plastic pearls and copper colored chain.




I wanted to make something besides just necklaces with my spread of materials, so I constructed a bracelet from a strip of craft store leather which had already been colored and texturized.  The clasp is made using an overalls clasp and some found clip art has been decoupaged.  The earrings were made from extra cutoffs of the main cuff and accented with overall clip buttons.




This last necklace is one I am fond of because it brings together such a variety of materials, is fun to talk about, and is an eye-catching statement necklace.  Here I started with a new and unused flap that is manufactured for toilet tanks and I painted it with a mixture of red, brown, and black acrylic paint.
I then glued in place a piece of moose antler, a vertebrae bone, and some vintage metal findings. Attached to the flap is also a strand of circular beads and a metal necklace chain.  I just really enjoy how this piece turned out.







Pela - #117-120: the seashell set

This was a fun set to put together, particularly because the bulk of it was inspired by items which were gifted to me for jewelry and craft purposes.  I love when people want to give me items to work with because often they will be things I may never have considered using before, which then leads to further inspiration and project ideas.  This also has implications when I make custom orders.

I received a box of a variety of shells and other lovely things and decided I need to make another sea inspired set since the last I had done so was for #79-80.  The pendant is two attached shells framed by wire-wrapped sea urchin backbones with attached bead charms which I put together that consist of wooden beads and cloth wrapped wire. The earrings feature the same elements and the ring has another attached shell.  For the bracelet, I attached a resin octopus pendant and more shells to a metal cuff.









Vatic - #115-116: the witchy set

For this set I continued the theme of the previous two necklaces by snipping shapes from a sheet of aluminum.  In this instance, it was a circle and two ovals, and I have to say that pulling on leather gloves and getting heavy metal snips in hand for cutting through metal sheeting like it's butter, is not without its aesthetic appeal. Or maybe I just enjoy working with hardware store stuff when it comes to making jewelry.

I chose some prints from a Halloween themed cardstock book for the decoupage and strung beads which were designed to appear to be bones.  Synthetic black feathers were secured to the back of the necklace pendant and each of the pieces was sanded and sealed.





Thursday, September 11, 2014

NOVEMBER SHOWS

Defunct Decoup will have a booth at both the Holiday Food & Gift Festival and the Arts & Crafts Emporium in November.

Both shows will be held at the Dena'ina Center in Anchorage, Alaska and the booth locations are shown below.

Come check it out!





And don't forget to come visit my area on the back wall of Homecrafters Emporium in Anchorage, available through December!




Divvy - #114: the shoe stamp necklace

With a similar design as my first go with aluminum sheeting jewelry, I made a rectangular cut for a necklace pendant and decided to go with a lighter paint application while still using the same technique of blotting with sponge brushes, as done in #113.

The focal point would be a steampunk stamp, some decoupage, and mixed metal embellishments on the chain and dangling from the pendant, which included plastic pearls framed by wing nuts, springs, a domino charm, and a piece of donated vintage jewelry.









Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Enchanted - #113: the Red Riding Hood necklace

As I mentioned on Defunct Decoup's Facebook page yesterday (which is where I will often preview pieces prior to blog posts), I am currently wanting to focus on working with different types of metal sheeting for jewelry and have started with aluminum because it was the easiest to find so far.

I wanted to add texture to the metal and am considering etching in the near future but due to lack of harsh etching chemicals and a lack of a working area with good ventilation, I decided to come up with an alternate method for achieving an aged and distressed appearance to the aluminum sheeting.

It involved scratching the aluminum with a wire brush and then applying a mixture of craft stain in metallic colors as well as turquoise, brown, and black acrylic paint applied sparingly with a sponge brush.
After sealing and drying, I then sanded and slightly rounded the sharp corners with 60-grit sandpaper and smoothed with 220-grit.






Once the metal was prepped, it was then just a matter of adding decorative embellishments, punching out a few holes, and stringing the charms and chains.








I love the results!!



Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Osteo - #109-112: the skeleton set

Continuing with the seasonal plastic skeleton bits...

SLK was an inspiration for the tail piece of the necklace.  I love the way she wire-wraps cloth into necklaces like it's the most natural thing.  I used some cuttings from some seasonal decorative netting as well as a strand of beautiful brown ribbon that looked like old blood.  This was incorporated with what I had lying around within arms reach at the time... skeleton bits, craft store wood bobbins, donated rusty wire, tassels, E6000 adhesive, and metal accessories.

The set includes a necklace, a pair of post earrings, a brooch, and two rings.






Lament - #107-108: the dollface skeleton necklaces

I have really missed posting here the last few weeks and used to be excited to write up new projects as they were finished. But then the projects started to snowball a bit as the Artist Palooza (my first live jewelry showing) date got closer and I couldn't keep up with writing the details of everything I made.

So the show was four days ago and the time between my last post and the show was spent on making quite a few new jewelry and craft items, but I decided that I didn't want to do a retrospective post and am just going to move forward with all the new projects.

But here is what my booth at the Artist Palooza looked like...


And I have also now updated my Etsy store as well as established my space at Homecrafters Emporium in Anchorage (9900 Old Seward, on the back wall)...


Onward...
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I originally wanted to do these necklaces with some kind of whole animal skull but couldn't find any small enough to suit the pieces, so I went with some of my previously decapitated thrift store barbies as a source of heads for the seasonal skeletons.  And the season is definitely a motivating factor for these and likely for the bulk of the pieces I'll produce for the next two months.  This is my favorite time of year and I always stock up on certain things that can only be found in stores during Halloween season.

I consider these fun statement necklaces that may appeal to those with a dark sense of humor. Ahem.


Aside from the skeleton bodies and barbie heads, the cow skull pendants and the skull beads in their hands are made from actual bone. The knife and key are jewelry charms and the shoes are barbie accessories. The smaller chains are for standard jewelry and the main neck chain is industrial decorative chain I have repurposed for jewelry. The skeleton chests have also been stuffed with red ribbon.






Feels nice to be back.