Friday Favorite #13--SBJewelry

I must admit, I did not discover SBJewelry on my own.  My BFF Marian discovered her first, and shared her wonderful work with me by presenting me with these adorable earrings one year for Christmas:

Dandelion Cutout Earrings



They instantly became my favorite 'go-to' earrings.  I was horrified when I lost one in the Houston airport!  But Marian, being the wonderful friend that she is, contacted Sasha and asked if she had another pair available.  She did, and she was very nice to replace them at a discounted price! (THAT'S amazing customer service!!)  Probably didn't hurt that Marian is probably one of Sasha's biggest fans and best customers.  She has since given me a locket similar to this one (mine is tear-drop shaped), just because:

 

Antique Style Oval Locket

 

And when I was going through a particular hard time when my Dad was dying, Marian sent me these earrings, just to brighten my day a little bit:



Tribal Hoops

 

I couldn't tell you how many pairs of Sasha's wonderful earrings Marian has herself. 

 

I really adore Sasha's work.  It's intricate and beautiful, but it's lightweight and easy to wear.  She creates some very interesting shapes and patterns.  Her pieces are beautifully cast from her original designs.  Sasha is a fabulous metal smith, and you can see how much she loves her work in her attention to detail.  I'm so pleased to share SBJewelry with you today.  Here are a few of my other favorites:





Flower Hoops

Small Sunflower Spiral Hoops

Double Sunflower Hoops

Ornate Tribal Hoops

 

I think all of Sasha's work is very interesting.  I hope you do, too.  Go have a look around her etsy shop.  You won't be sorry.  (Bonus!  She is having a sale right now on her lockets and her gold plated items!)

 

I hope you have a great weekend!  Thanks for dropping by!

Lisa

 

 

Marian's Vessel

This is a piece I made last spring for my BFF Marian's birthday.  I've mentioned Marian before.  She is truly my BFF.  We are so alike it's almost eerie.  She, too, is an artistic sort, so we have lots of common ground there.  She is quite dear to me, and no ordinary gifts will do for her.  I don't stroll into Bath & Body Works and grab a gift basket for her.  Oh, no no no. We like to make each other things.  Even if I purchase something, it has to be something artsy.  Something unique.  Something special.  Like our friendship. 

Her home is quite contemporary, filled with lovely objects and nice artwork, so I try to find things that would fit into her life nicely.  She loves the work of Dilly Pad (which I featured here) and the gorgeous porcelain vessels of  White Earth Studio on etsy, so I used those as inspiration for this piece.

This vessel was very fun to make.  While it might look like it was very tedious, it really was not.  Yes, it took several hours to construct, but since there was no "right" way to make it, it was also very freeing.  It's made of hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces of white Premo polymer clay.  I did not start with a sketch or a set idea of what I wanted it to be.  I just did what the clay told me to do. 

 Sometimes all you have to do is listen to the material you are working with, and it will guide you.  "I want to be a flower."  OK.  "I want to be a coil."  You betcha.  "I want to be a circle."  Anything you want. 

Once the pieces were all in place, I took a stylus and added little details to the work.  Then I put some glasses inside to brace it a bit while it was baking.  And kept my fingers crossed.  And said a little prayer to the Polymer Clay God.  And held my breath.  And in the end, it came out just right.

I loved making this project so much that I'm considering doing another one.  Perhaps this time I will use all black.....

Sometimes it is just fun to step outside of what you normally do and create something completely different.  Take a leap of faith.  You never know what you'll come up with!

Thanks for stopping by!
Lisa

OH--in case you are wondering, this piece is perhaps 8 inches wide and maybe 4 inches high.  Give or take a little bit.  It lives in New Mexico and I live in Nebraska, so I can't just pop over and measure it right now.  I WISH!

Cloth, Paper, Scissors

 

I have a subscription to Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine.  LOVE IT!  I find all the mixed media projects in its pages very inspiring.  I actually don't often make many of the them myself.  Mostly I'm just interested in what other artists do. 
 
When I received the May/June 2010 issue, however, I fell in love with the artwork of Serena Wilson Stubson featured on the cover and knew at some point I HAD to try that myself.  It took until the end of the year, when I needed an interesting gift for my BFF Marian for Christmas.  She had seen that issue as well, and also fell in love with these whimsical little painted paper collages, so I thought, what the heck.  Let's give it a try!

Since I am a hoarder of paper and paint and lots of other art media, I didn't have to look very far to find the materials needed to complete this project.  A canvas--check.  Tissue paper--check.  Scrapbooking paper---a million checks.  Paint, adhesive, and some chalk pastels.  Yep, got it all. 

My first attempt, while fine, ended up not being the right color scheme to fit Marian's taste.  It turned out far too yellow.  You can catch a glimpse of it here in the photo of my studio.  But, never one to let a not-so-perfect-first-try get me down, I grabbed another canvas and set to work making one with a cooler palette.  I was very pleased with the results, and I think Marian was as well. 

 

I love long skinny canvases.  This one measures 8x24 

Here is a detail view of the patterns and textures.

This was a very fun project to do. Serena gave a really great tutorial in the magazine.  If you are not inclined to create one of these great mixed media collage pieces yourself, but would love to have one nonetheless, you are in luck!!  Serena has a shop on etsy!  You can find her wonderful collages here.  I'll give you a peek at a couple of her pieces.

So, what inspires you creatively?  Do you enjoy browsing creative magazines as much as I do?  Do you like to wander the aisles of art and craft fairs?  Do you spend countless hours on etsy or pinterest?  You just never know where inspiration is going to strike!

Go create something fun!

Lisa