jewelry

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As always I have my eyes open everywhere I go for the supplies needed to carry out my random inspirations. Sometimes I don’t even know what to call what I’m looking for so how will I know where I might find it? The hardware store is one of my favorite places to find crafty supplies.

This week I was surprised to find an incredible array of beads, feathers, colorful fibers, threads and wire in a most unlikely place, the fishing department of L.L. Bean. Although their website, or my purchase, does not show the amazing variety I saw in the store, Google images can provide you a taste of what’s available in the world of fly-tying supplies. If you are a beader, spinner, scrapbooker or almost any kind of crafter, check out your local fly-tying supply shop, you’ll find a treasure trove of new inspirations you’ve never seen in your regular craft store.

feathers for tying flies

And this one I did find at the hardware store. Ultra thin transparent velcro. I’ve been looking for it at craft and sewing suppliers because I want to use it for closures on doll clothing. Cost with shipping for a small amount online would be around $10, a little steep for something I’m not sure is exactly what I need. $2.xx at the hardware store? Definitely worth a try!

ultra thin transparent velcro hook and loop clear

And yes, I do have projects in mind for both of these finds.

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Most of the time when I work with polymer clay, I’m making something with or for or at the direction of my kids. Occasionally they let me make something I want to make. As we were using up some older clay I got the idea to swirl leftover bits of colors together to make some beads and buttons.

This squarish bead in black, jungle green and bright leaf green is one of my favorites. I drilled a hole through it after baking and strung it with a few glass and silver plated beads with the round part of a toggle clasp at the top. It would make a nice stitch marker for large knitting needles or perhaps a zipper pull for a sleek jacket. It could even work as a pendant I suppose.

square green polymer clay bead pendant or knitting stitch marker or zipper pull

Sometimes I make things I really like but I know I’m unlikely to use. This is one of those items. If this makes your heart sing, let me know and I’ll send it to you.

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These are some of the things I made for the brown paper packages pay-it-forward. I tried to make something that would fit each person or something that we had in common. For some reason I ended up making jewelry for all three of these friends. Maybe because I like to make jewelry but I don’t actually wear it much myself. I have one left that is a little more difficult so I am taking my time.

This one is a charm bracelet made for Peggie from Maine living in Texas. I put some shells gathered from Maine beaches, a real acorn, some blue beads that reminded me of blueberries and a silver dragonfly—some of my favorite things about summer in Maine.

Maine themed charm bracelet

A rosy glass pebble backed with a handcolored print of a fairy sprite and embraced by curliqued copper wire went to Jen of Dahara Dreaming. I know she makes jewelry too but she also does pretty much every other craft I do as well!

glass pebble and copper wire pendant

And this hematite and howlite pendant was made for Carla, a fellow member of a fabric co-op I’m in. I don’t know her as well so I thought I’d stick to something black and white. I originally made a similar necklace several years ago and was never pleased with it but I liked the combination of materials so I decided to try again. I was much happier with this version. The three sets of beads swing from a wire ring suspended in the middle of the hematite oval so the whole piece moves freely.

hematite oval and howlite beaded pendant

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There are a number of traditional signs of spring – crocuses, robins, etc. Since we’ve lived in Maine, one of my personal signs of spring is the appearance of fiddleheads. These are the tightly coiled baby ferns coming up through last year’s blanket of left over leaves. In our old house we had lots of woods surrounding the house and most years we had lovely swathes of ferns spring up in the dappled sun under the barely budding trees.

fiddleheads just coming up

Now that we’ve moved to a house in town I thought we’d left behind this fascinating miracle of spring. I was so excited to discover these tiny fiddleheads just barely peeking out of the dirt at the edge of the trees. Those tall green leaves are some sort of bulb, maybe daffodils?? Usually the fiddleheads are green but I’ve seen them in a coppery color occasionally too. In the above picture you can see the combination of light green stem and light brown tiny feathery parts that will open up into green fronds.

I chose to incorporate a background of a fully opened fern frond which I made by drawing with colored pencils on shrink plastic. I then formed the copper wire into various sizes of fiddlehead shapes and glued them to the baked shrink plastic rectangle, finishing with a small loop of leather for a bail. I like the combination of copper and green with the dark background. I wish I could have taken a clear picture with the sun shining through the pendant to show the full effect but my photography skills were not up to the task. So I’ve photographed it on an envelope for scale.

fiddlehead pendant made of copper wire and shrink plastic

edited: I did it. Here it is in the sunny window!

fiddlehead fern copper wire and shrink plastic pendant

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