Nature Inspired Jewelery

Surprise double week posting!
Seeing as I'll be running away to San Francisco for the next two weeks it's likely that I won't even bother posting anything till the beginning of August so hence the additional posting for this week.
Celebrating the fact it's summer I decided to give crack at some summer themed jewelery. Here are the results.

Wind in the Willows Necklace

The main inspiration behind this piece is the children book, "Wind in the Willows." by Kenneth Grahame. The piece is handmade with glass leaf beads and green pearls.

A close up.

Dobet Gnahore Inspiration

An African inspired piece named after one of my favorite artists Dobet Gnahore. You can check out one of her tunes Samahani

The necklace was constructed with leaf shaped pearls, small red wooden beads and polymer clay beads that I created to imitate stone.

A Winter's Garden

Not summer themed but pretty regardless. I made this a few months back.

Close up

 

A Present For a Friend Part 2

Unlike the continuation of most films, this continuation is equal if not better to last week's post. The images below are the second part of my friend's gift. The dress was sewn and fitted by Shelley, another friend of mine. Due to hectic scheduling it took a while for all three of us to get to together to discuss things like fabric, measurements and finally fitting.  However once the ball got rolling it didn't take long before the dress was completed and I had the graphic image printed onto it. Despite being a few months late with her birthday present, I'm sure Eve thought it was worth the wait. 

A type portrait I made in Photoshop. And yes that is my friend's Eve face and name. To learn how to do something like this feel free to check out the following link: A picture is work a thousand words.

The overall dress which I thought turned out pretty well.

Here's the close up.

A Present For a Friend Part 1

There's a lot to be said when someone spends their time and effort into creating something that is solely for you. It is for that reason that when it comes to gifts or presents, I have more enjoyment giving and receiving gifts that are made. Some of my best received gifts included a crocheted hat from one of my best friends, and a painting from my sister.

Don't get me wrong, gift certificates and the like are pretty awesome too!

Anyways, the following images are of a decoupage box that I had made as a friend's birthday present.

Originally the box started out as a beer case and a cereal box. The transformation was an extensive process of cutting and gluing various European themed magazine clippings and black card stock onto the box.

However the hardest part was creating the lid. I can't even begin to count the number of cereal boxes that were sacrificed before I finally made one that fit to the shape of the box, and even then it's still sketchy. Tonnes of tugging and pulling is required to open the box especially if it has been placed in a warm room.

My guess is that the decoupage finish is the culprit, not my measurements!
Altogether the effort was well worth it. Despite it being months past Eve's birthday she finally has a box that  reflects her love for travel, and a customized dress.

The lid, despite being tedious to create I love how it turned out.

The bottom of the box which was the first side that I completed

One of the sides of the box

The custom dress with customized artwork will be featured next week so stay tuned!