The Results Are In

So, after all this messing around and experimentation, what have I got to show for myself as far as finished pieces of jewelry are concerned?  Well, I had to stop with the experiments long enough to find out how these components would perform and here are the results:

 

 

These charms with nail polish... 

 

 

Turned into these earrings.  I added faceted Czech glass rondelles in a mottled purple/green color at the top, some brass chain links and then the charms at the bottom.

 

 

 

I used alcohol inks on these brass link pieces...

 

 

...and added fuchsia Swaro crystal butterflies to this pair...

 

  

 

 

...and faceted green glass brios to this pair...

 

  

 

 

...and swirled yellow/clear Czech glass flowers to this pair.  I really like that once you've put all the work into the components up front with the custom colorization, you don't really have to do much to jazz up the final designs.

 

 

 

 

These were some of my very first experiments with nail polish...

 

 

 

 

...and the addition of some green shell disks and pink lampwork beads turned them into this.

 

 

 

 

This pair... 

 

 

...turned into this with som lavender Czech glass wheels and some brass seahorse charms.

 

 

 

 

These were my favorite of the first few pieces I did...

 

 

 

...and here is the final version with faceted green chalcedony rondelles on top and abalone shell disks on the bottom.  I'm tempted to keep these for myself!

 

 

 

 

I knew I was on to something when I saw how well these pieces layered together...

 

 

 

...and when I found the deep berry glass beads in my stash...

 

 

 

...the results were really exciting.  I've got to find more of these components and try some other color combos on them.  The Gem Faire is coming in two weeks and there have been some great metal component vendors there in the past so it should be a good opportunity to stock up.

And, just to show I haven't completely lost my mind over my own stuff, here's a pair of earrings that I made using some etched copper butterfly disks that I purchased from Orrtec on Etsy:

 

 

In addition to etching the butterfly design onto dapped copper disks, she added some color as well - I'm thinking possibly via mica pigments mixed into paint or gel medium because they have a subtle shimmer to them.

 

 

 

I added turquoise disks and purple jade rondelles and some bright copper spacers.

 

Now, I have got to stop playing around and get going on some of the challenges and blog hops I just signed up for.  Working to a theme or rules or external inspiration source is not really my thing - I usually let the beads do the inspiring and they tell me where they want to go and what they want to do (not that I am a slave to the beads...uh, no...not that) so participating in these activities should be interesting.  Stay tuned to see if I can actually get the projects finished on time AND whether or not they are frightfully awful LOL!

 

KJ