Out Of Wonderland

Lookie, lookie... there is something new on Kerry's blog... and it is jewelry related... YOO HOOO!! It has been a while, hasn't it? Too long. I was talking with Francie, over at JOOLZ, last week and she asked if I could pull together some new work for the shop. Surely!

There are a few designs I have had bumbling around my head for a few weeks now. I haven't had a chance to work on them though. I finally got to do just that over the weekend. I love the look of what I call "Vintage-Inspired" jewelry. Lynn and Lorelei jump to mind instantly as fabulous vintage-inspired designers.

Do you know what I am talking about? It is the look that has several components pulled together from odd places into one intriguing final piece. They are very asymmetrical, they use up miss matched shorts of chain, and they always, ALWAYS, have a fantastic focal front and center. I have had pendants on the brain for a few weeks now too. Ever since I bought a pendant from Jennifer Wood for my sister for Christmas. The pendant is HUGE and gorgeous. Could I make a BIG pendant?

Apparently, I can. I spent about 45 minutes on the focal in this new necklace. The base alone took more then a full rod of glass. That's a lot. I can make 4 nuggets from one rod of glass, so that tells you. I don't have a press large enough to make a cool shape in this over sized style. So, I spent a lot of that time at the torch hand-forming it into shape. I gotta say I am rather proud of the fact that I can sit and control molten glass and form it into a beautiful shape. *sigh* The color of the focal is off in these photos. It is made with transparent ink, which is a pretty purple/blue. My camera is on the fritz, yet again, giving me a hard time with graininess. Sorry. Hopefully, I'll be getting a new camera for my birthday in a few weeks.

Anywho... the other beads kinda made themselves after all the work on that focal. The seafoam colored rounds are pebble shaped to look like they might be a gemstone of some kind. But nope, they are glass! I have been playing a lot lately with size and shape, and that is where the long cone shaped bead comes from. I am feeling like BIG beads with a great shape are a good direction to go for me right now.

I had an idea on the name too. I can see a whole series of this style of jewelry. You know how I have my "Playground" series? Well, this is going to be my "Children's Book" series. This one is called "Out of Wonderland". Can you guess which book that is? Yep, Alice In Wonderland. I would love to hear about your favorite classic children's books!!