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Sunday, January 26, 2014

Creative Continuum of Seven Artists~January

Today is the first of Seven dates from now through July we will be posting work we made with goodie bags other Bloggers sent us.  Alicia had the idea that we each send out six packages with beads or focals and on the 26th of each month we reveal what we made with a certain participant's package.
I am honored to be in this group of Seven...these ladies are a creative bunch.  
Participating in this Event and their Package Month and theme are : 

Monique of A Half-Baked Notion  :  January ~ National Gallery of Canada

Moi  :  February ~ Round and Round 

Sally of The Studio Sublime  :  March ~ Contrasting Colors

Therese of Therese's Treasures  :  April ~ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Alicia of All The Pretty Things (and the brains behind this lovely continuing hop :-D )  :  May ~ Seasons

Cynthia of Antiquity Travelers  :  June ~ SomethingOld/SomethingNew/SomethingBorrowed/SomethingBlue

Emma of A Polymer Penchant  :  July ~ not sure if Emma picked a theme but I would say, Beauty!  



Monique sent us packages with two focal components and some wooden and glass beads.  The focals are polymer pieces she made.  The first is this darling bird silhouetted against a faux wood (polymer) background.




Monique sent me all the beads except the seeds.  The wood, the glass flowers, and the beautiful bird focal.  I strung it on green fireline.  My husband is The Bird Man, so it was very appropriate this is the focal I received.  I put the orange leaves on the side the little bird is flying toward...a hummingbird to the nectar.


I want to feature more photos but Blogger is being a royal pain and not letting me do much of anything.  It took 2.5 hrs to post this one photo.  Fingers crossed the next one goes faster.  (Monique, our "luck" with each other continues!)









The other focal Monique sent is an incredibly gorgeous polymer mosaic heart.
I do not like hearts.
But this ~ I LOVE!!!!!  I mean, really really LOVE.
(I do not like hearts but have a heart shaped rock collection.  Go figure.)


The Bug (aka Fish Kisser) and I are both arguing over who gets to wear it, so we will share...which is something I do not do with jewelry.  I give, but I do not share.  But I am trying to have a Big Heart with this and share.

I had a few chains in mind, but if I was going to make heart jewelry, it would have to be a bit tattered and pieced together.  So I made these cloth beads and wrapped wire and red and gold fire polish beads around them.  They will fray a little, shift a little, have that darkness and sparkle.

I wore it to a medical facility a week ago and all the nurses were asking to touch it.  Love that!








This was a really fun challenge.  I got the main project ~ the bird focal ~ done in a couple days.  It is exactly how I sketched it and I am very happy with it.  The heart floated around within sight for weeks, but when I decided on a look, it turned out so much better than I hoped. It has life in it.

Thanks Monique and Alicia!!!

Now please click on the names above to see what they made with Monique's gorgeous polymer art.




























18 comments:

Pepita said...

Two really interesting pieces, Christine, so many details to look at and enjoy! But the heart necklace is my favorite, the fabric beads are perfect and I would love to wear it too!!
Alenka

Therese's Treasures said...

Hi Christine,
I love both of your pieces. How cool is it that your first focal piece has a bird on it and it does look like a Humming Bird in flight. I love the heart Monique crafted it's texture and style I sit and just stare at it wondering how did she make it. I love your necklace that you created just for this heart, it has texture and color to match the heart's, it is no wonder that you and your daughter are tugging at it's heart strings :-).
Therese

NEDbeads said...

Gorgeous makes - I especially love your heart creation!! I would be in the tug of war too if I were nearby! ;) Can't wait to see what you pick out to send to the others, you have such a lovely sense of balance and color.

windrock studio said...

awesomeness!

Alicia said...

As soon as I saw the wood ring I thought 'Christine will bead-weave it' - LOL! Beautiful pieces, I love the 'nectar' speck of colour the miniature hummingbird is flying to. And how fitting you received that by luck, just as I got the heart with a dragonfly! And the mixed media you created for the mosaic heart is insanely beautiful - no wonder you know have to share it :)
Thanks for being part of the Continuum, the journey proves to be as enchanting as I hoped it will be :)

Maryanne said...

I love your two necklaces! Both focals are gorgeous and I love what you did with them. It's so nice that you're going to share ;)! Stay warm!!!

Bits of Learning said...

Christine, I love the flow of the first piece, the way the beaded wood ring resembles the sun shining on the bird inlay in Monique's polymer pendant. Beautiful!!
And the heart necklace has captured my total attention, the fiber wrapped beads balance the heart beautifully, I don't think I would share that necklace either!

AntiquityTravelers said...

These are both complete works of art Christine! That first one is like a woodland with your beading around the hoop like a sun - LOVE! it is your signature style, and it works so perfectly, beautifully in this piece! It is like a walk in the woods on a sunny day.

That second piece .... holy moly I like this one! I don't know why, but my mind takes me to Pompeii. The bits and pieces of life found in the ashes .... mosaics, beautiful jewelry they must have worn ... lost in a moment, in the fire, in the ashes. This piece just speaks to me! I can see why you two are fighting over it! BRAVO - love it

Monique (A Half-Baked Notion) said...

OMG, Christine, I have been in a lather of anticipation since your email last week (you tease LOL). This morning I am glued to my computer screen... I knew I would be excited and emotional, but WOW!

Your designs are such amazing examples of story-telling! In the first necklace, at first glance I thought you had incorporated quite a few extras, over and above what I sent. When I zoomed in and saw it was all seed beads in brilliant array... you are such an inspiration to me, Christine!

You KNOW I adore anything fiber/fabric, though I can't hit the mark like you have here... those funky beads, the pops of red scattered in: gorgeousness for a "broken heart"!

Thank you so much for giving my little birdie a forever home, and opening your "heart" to work with my mosaic piece :) I can't wait for next month!

Honey from the Bee said...

What fun! Love the heart necklace - "roughening" it up and not making super sweet was a great idea. I love that you'll be sharing it with Bug.

KJ said...

Great work Christine.

A Polymer Penchant said...

What a treat for the senses! My eye just dances around your first necklace. Indeed the bird flitting from the sun towards nectar, what a beautiful story it tells. Then your heart piece, rough and romantic all at once, I reeeeally want to touch it! I totally hear you on the sharing of jewelry. I didn't even borrow any jewelry from my mum on my wedding day! It's just not who we are i guess :) Beautiful work

Becky Pancake said...

Christine your first necklace is wonderful. The hummingbirds in search of the orange is a very creative addition. I also think that you did great on embellishing the large ring.

Bobbie said...

What a delicious combination of materials and textures you brought together in the first necklace - and then you push it to 11 by making it tell a story? Awesome. The heart necklace is (pardon the pun)just lovely! No wonder everyone wanted to touch it. So, so pretty!

Miss Val's Creations said...

Very cool Christine! I love how funky the piece is with the bird focal. There is so much going on! You really did that heart justice giving it that edge with the textured necklace.

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Liz said...

Love the seeming randomness of the first necklace. It really fits together with enough quirkiness to make it interesting but not shocking. I don't know if that makes sense.

The chain goes perfectly with the heart pendant. The texture is great and the flares of red bring it all together. Mmmmmm mmmm good!

LisaS said...

Love your necklaces! That mosaic heart is awesome...

Karin Slaton said...

I am not a fan of hearts either, Christine, but I totally love the piece you created with Monique's mosaic. It's one of my favorite of all your pieces...and did I mention I don't like hearts???