Creativity In A Nutshell

So guess what readers?! I got some new beautiful beads from Artbeads.com! They are so fantastic and I am so excited to make necklaces with them - which I will share with you all!

Look at all of the wonderful Czech glass beads they have! And I love the olivine swarovski beads... and, well, you already know about my weakness for brass...

Check out this lovely vintage style pendant:
What's the Plan, Stan?
I used it to create this fantastic and beautiful necklace - and here's a tutorial to show you how to make it too!
Check out some of the other lovely Valentines Day beads and findings over at Artbeads.com

Ingredients:

• 24 Dyed jade 6mm red rounds (I got these from Artbeads.com in their great beads for bloggers program, but they don't seem to be available any more)
• 24 Brass eyepins
• Brass chain
• Brass birds pendant
• Brass grape leaf drop
• Brass lobster clasp

Tools Of The Trade:

• Chain nose pliers
• Wire Cutters
• Round nose pliers

Process:

• First, start by placing the 24 jade beads on eye pins. Finish with a wrapped loop.

• Next, begin the actual necklace. For the first part, both halves will be the same:
• 1 inch chain, 1 jade, 5 chain links, 1 jade, 1 chain link, 1 jade, 1 chain link, 1 jade

• At this point, the sides are different.
• Right Side: 2 chain links, grape leaf connector, 3 chain links
• Left Side: 14 chain links ( you will want the left side to match the length of the new section on the right side - the number of links may not exactly match this tutorial, depending upon the size of the chain you are working with)
• From here on, the sides are the same again: 1 jade, 1 chain, 1 jade, 1 inch chain, 1 jade, 4 chain links, 1 jade, 3 chain links, 1 jade, 2 chain links, 1 jade, 3 chain links, 1 jade, 4 chain links, 1 jade, 5 chain links. End with the clasp.

• As a final touch, connect an extra length of chain, about 5 inches long to the link under the brass grape leaf connector, and the link above the corresponding jade link on the opposite side (the fourth jade link from the pendant)

C'est Fin!


Ohhhh Pssssst! Guess what? My earrings and necklace tutorials are featured in the Artbead facebook Valentine's Day Blogger Gallery of Designs
*I have received these products free of charge from Artbeads.com to honestly review in this blog. I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received*

• 
  
  13 Brass Eyepins
• 
  
  Antinque Vintage Brass-plated Pewter Leaf and Flower Hook and Eye Clasp
• 
  
  13 Red Czech Glass Roundels
• 
  
  Antique Brass Vined Heart Link
• 
  
  14 6mm brass jumprings
• 
  
  Brass cable chain

• 
  
  Chain nose pliers
• 
  
  Round nose pliers
• 
  
  Wire Cutters

Process:



Step One: First, place all the roundells on the eyepins. Then, end them with a wrapped loop.

Step Two: Now that your beads are ready, start by creating the pendant. Attach two 6mm jumprings to the Vined Heart Link. Then, attach a 6mm jumpring to the bottom. To this jumpring, connect about 1 inch of chain. Connect the end loop of the chain to the base loop of a glass bead section.
Step Three: Now it's time to move on to the rest of the necklace. I'll give you the pattern for the entire right side, then the left. Remember, it's an asymmetrical necklace, so the sides aren't going to match :)

• Connect one glass bead to the jumpring. Add a 6mm jumpring to the end, connected to 4 brass chain links, 1 6mm jumpring, 1brass chain link, 1 6mm jumpring
• Add one glass bead, then 1 6mm jumpring to the end, 4 brass chain links, 1 6mm jumpring
• Add one glass bead, 2 brass chain links
• Add one glass bead, 2 brass chain links
• Add one glass bead, about 1 1/8 inches of brass chain
• Add one glass bead, about 3 1/4 inches of brass chain, 1 half of the flower clasp

Step Four: One half down, second half to go!

• Connect about 1 inch of brass chain to the jumpring, add 1 6mm jumpring
• Add a glass bead, 4 brass chain links
• Add one glass bead, 1 brass chain link, 1 6mm jumpring, 2 brass chain links
• Add one glass bead, 2 brass chain links
• Add one glass bead, 2 brass chain links, 1 6mm jumpring, brass chain link
• Add one glass bead, 3 brass chain links
• Add one glass bead, 4 brass chain links, 1 6mm jumpring, 3 1/4 inches of brass chain, second half of the flower clasp

These fun Chinese inspired earrings are a gift for my friend Kali's 25th birthday! I first met Kali when I was working at Hallmark, and we've been good friends since then. I really hope she likes the earrings!


What's The Plan, Stan?

• I'm giving you these earrings too! Just follow my step-by-step tutorial and you can make them for yourself.

Ingredients:

• Two antiqued brass Chinese coin stampings
• Two Chinese character antiqued brass findings
• This is the closest I could find to the talisman I actually used for these earrings... Firemountaingems.com does not seem to carry the orriginal anymore :(
• Two gold plated earwires
• Two 6mm pale green glass beads
• Two gold plated fluted bicone beads
• Two small wooden beads
• Gold plated 22 ga wire
• 6 8mm gold plated jumprings
• 4 4mm gold plated jumprings

Tools Of The Trade:

• Chainnose pliers
• Roundnose pliers

Process:

• Create a wrapped loop using gold plated wire through two of the brass coins.

• Connect two 8mm gold plated jumprings to the earwires.
• Using another 8mm jumpring, connect the large coin charm to the 2nd of the jumprings

• Using a 4mm gold plated jumpring, connect the talisman charm to the 2nd 8mm jumpring.
• Create a dangle: place the green glass bead, then the gold plated bicone on a headpin. End it with a wrapped loop.

• Using a 4mm gold plated jumpring, connect the wrapped loop of the dangle to the 1st 8mm jumpring.

C'est Fin!

• Earrings for Alex
• Bali Silver Earrings Tutorial

Lately I have been preoccupied with... you guess it Birds! This fascination started when I noticed the increase of swallow charms, particularly in brass and copper jewelry. They're everywhere! At first I was a jewelry snob, "If everyone is doing it, it simply isn't for me" But then... I have to be honest, I fell in love with the simple, understated beauty of these birds.
I wonder what it is about the symbol of a bird that we all love and cling to so much. Maybe it's the idea of being free. Maybe it's desiring the ability to fly (away from, or to, something or someone.) Maybe this stage in my life just needs some birds. I don't know.
Whatever it 'means' I do intend to play around with some metal birdie charms, however there are other ways to add some birds to your jewelry art.



What's The Plan, Stan?

• I'm going to list a few non-traditional bird jewelry project suggestions. As I get to try them out myself, I will tell you about them in follow up blogs. Please, let me know what you think, or give suggestions for some cool bird jewelry.
  

Some Birdie Ideas:

• Feather jewelry is all the rage. You don't get any more bird-like than with beautiful feathers. Peacock feathers are especially beautiful, but they are also all over the place. Stop in your local crafting store (like Michaels) and see what they have for feathers. You may be surprised by the huge variety of feathers available. Are you worried that your new-found treasures were delivered via less than Kosher means? There are some farms, which will sell/give away bird feathers, which have been found, not... em... plucked. Peacocks will actually molt their long plumage (in the fall I believe). Do some research - and remember, if you sell your feather creations, it's great to mention if your feathers were found vrs... em... plucked.
• Paint it, baby! We all have artists inside us. Ok, well mine likes to jump up and down a lot and loudly proclaim it's existence, but the point is, you can create your own little painted charm, and cover it with Diamond Glaze, Glossy Accents, ICE resin or some other products. A couple weeks ago I made these cute bird charms with tiny water color paintings and scrabble tiles. I'm still learning how to use Diamond Glaze, but I think it's a great area to explore in creating jewelry.
• Go for the gold! Or copper. Or silver. Whatever! If you are going to use bird charms, like the majority of jewelry and bead artists out there, try to make your unique. I know it is tempting to see a necklace using that traditional flying swallow (see above picture) because it's beautiful, has classic lines etc... but then what are you? Just one in a million. Use different metals! Use different kinds of birds! Use dancing birds! Be unique! Or don't. The choice, my reader, is yours.
  

C'est Fin!

Bead Artist Showcase
Your work could be right here! Submit your own bird jewelry ideas to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

Brass is all the rage these days. But, did you know there are all kinds of brass and brass finishes? As I said in my previous post, What Are All Those Metals Anyways: Brass is an allow of copper and zinc, so it's generally darker and not as brilliant as copper. The more zinc, the darker the brass. The more copper, the redder the brass. It tends to be pretty hypoallergenic.



What's The Plan, Stan?
I'm going to walk you through the process of making these simple, but really beautiful earrings, using gold finish brass butterflies, while also giving you a little information about working with brass stampings.

Ingredients:

• 2 Gold Plated French Earwires
• 2 Gold Plated 1 inch eyepins
• 2 5mm crystal quartz rounds
• 2 12mm Gold Finish Brass Butterflies
  

Tools Of The Trade:

• Needle Nose Pliers
• Bent Nose Pliers
• Round Pliers
• Wire Snips
  

Process:

• The actual process for making these earrings is really easy:
• First connect the eyepin to the butterfly. 
• Add your crystal quartz round and finish with a wrapped loop.
• Connect your earwire.

Some Extra Information:

• Gold Finish Brass is not actually gold plated. The brass has actually been treated with a chemical to make it bright and shiny - like gold. Vintaj brass has been treated with a different solution to make it look tarnished and antique. There are a wide variety of finishes in brass, and all of them are fun to work with.
• Although brass does tend to be hypoallergenic, I used gold plated findings and earwires for added protection.
  

C'est Fin!

Bead Artist Showcase
Your work could be right here! Submit your own brass earrings to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

More Similar Fun Stuff!

• Just What Are All Those Metals  
• Monday Madness: Weekly Earring Project 2
  

More Stuff on the Information Highway:

• Art Jewelry Forum 
• Want to try working with brass wire? 
• Making Jewelry With Brass Components