Beauty of Bone

I adore Mexican sugar skulls. The vibrant colors are whimsical and fun, but the ability to embrace such a pivotal part of being human is what speaks to me most. Our bones are the building blocks of the human structure, and they are what we leave behind when we leave this plane. So, imagine my joy when I walked into a little bead shop in Hilo, Hawaii and saw these colorful calaveras (Spanish for skulls).

Colorful Calaveras!

 I've been carrying them around with me since that fateful day in December, and finally had an idea this morning for how I would like to play with them.

Work in progress

We’ll see how things turn out.

The Long Way Home

It's been far too long since I have posted anything on this blog. For shame!

Life is a bit of a whirlwind right now, but the one constant is the creative impulse. I've been making making and making some more. I even tried my hand at starting an Etsy shop. At the moment, here is where things stand:

I love paint!
I spent the better part of the summer with paint on my fingers (and clothes!) and I love being back in touch with this medium. When I wasn't able to carry my paints around, I worked with oil pastels. While I very much miss making batiks, paints and oils are more portable, which is what I need right now.

La Rosa, acrylic on canvas

Olas, acrylic on canvas

Metal Rocks!

On one of my recent trips I made a ring out of silver from start to finish. It was such an amazing experience. 

Ring in progress!

I really want to work with metal more. I picked up some silver wire and beads, which will hopefully appease my metal needs until I get settled enough to set up a metal working space. 

True love never dies.

While I've had the great please of picking up some new art/creative tools, my little seed beads are still number one in my heart. When things were really turned upside down recently, I turned to my beads for my deepest form of artistic meditation. There's something about taking such small, almost insignificant things, and turning them into earrings and other things that really makes me feel that art can transcend the physical plane. And knowing that those little seed beads can become something so much bigger, allows me to believe that so can I.

Expansion

I have been wanting to have an online store for a long time now. I had hoped to use this blog to jumpstart it, but I just haven't been able to keep it up. That said, I am always on Facebook for one reason or another, so I decided to launch an art page there. You can see all of the new pieces I've completed on that page, and if you would like to purchase anything, you can contact me from that page to do so. It's not as glam as Etsy, but it works for me right now. 

The link to the page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/sunRaycreations/226959264486

If you click the like button on the page, you'll be updated with any new pieces that I've completed on your Facebook timeline. I'll will try to post things more regularly on this blog as well, but the Facebook page will likely be the most up to date.

Sneak Peek!

Here's some of what I've been working on.

Complicated Rainbow

esperanza en el corazon, acrylic on canvas

Dancing Tree, oil pastel on canvas

Red Door dangles with carnelian stone embellishment

For more art, check out the Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/sunRaycreations/226959264486

Cheers!

Thanks for Traveling with Me

Hi all,

This will be a short post, but I just wanted to thank everyone who stopped by and gave me feedback on my Lesotho pieces. It felt very good to create them, and I will probably do more pieces in these styles in the future. I would also just like to give a big "hip hip hooray" to all of the bloggers who participated in this blog hop. I had the chance to check many of the pages, and the work is just stunning. I was especially taken by the pieces from Micronesia, as that is where I currently call home. It was pretty cool to see how other people view this part of the world.

Many of you asked about the crayon batik piece I made, so look for a post on that soon.

Crayon Batik -- Sneak Peek

Hope all is well and creative :)

In the Light of Day

As promised, here are my travel challenge pieces in some more natural light.

Thanks for checking in, and happy travels!

Challenge of Travel Blog Hop

Ahoi hoi beaders and jewerly enthusiasts,

Over the summer, I joined my first blog hop. I couldn't resist jumping in on it because of the topic: Travel. I love to travel and find most of my jewerly inspiration from the things I see on the road. The challenge, hosted by the lovely Erin of Tesori Trovati Jewelry, was to select a region of the planet that you don't live on (I chose to up the ante by chosing a region I had not traveled to) and choose an inspiration nation from within that region. There was also an option to have a nation chosen for you. I went for the latter, and was gifted with the beautiful nation of Lesotho.

(I apologize in advance for the photos of my jewelry pieces. It was late when I took them and the lighting was not good. I will repost better pics when I have some daylight to work with.)

Lesotho Flag
Source

 

In my research, I found out that Lesotho is known for its beautiful landscape, but not really for its arts and crafts. The one item of note that did keep coming up, however, was the Lesotho cone hat.

The Cone Hat
Source

Since the cone hat was such an important image (It is on the flag!), I decided to try my hand at crayon batik incorporating the image. I used the fabric I made to create this cuff.

Cone hat!

While Lesotho is not known for its arts and crafts, it has its fair share of artisans. Commonly used materials for jewelry are wire, clay, and plastic beads. They also have a penchant for using bright colors.

Vibrant Colors
Source



I love the brilliant colors in this photo, and chose to capture some of that vibrance through this wrapped wire and bead necklace.

And again here in these wrapped wire earrings.

And lastly, the Basotho blanket is another prominent image connected to the country of Lesotho. The blankets feature simple yet striking circular patterns.

Basotho Blankets
Source

These beautiful swirly blankets served as inspiration for my last piece, a circular bead pendant.

Well, that's all she wrote for me. I greatly enjoyed my time with Lesotho. Most of the pieces pushed me in new directions with my jewelry, which always makes me happy. Here is a list of all of the other blog participants. Please check out their blogs!

Monique Urquhart  ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.ca  Burkina Faso

Niky Sayers   silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk   Egypt

Therese Frank  www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com  Kenya

Joan Williams   www.lilrubyjewelry.wordpress.com     Mauritania

Sherri Stokey   http://www.KnotJustMacrame.com     Senegal

Regina Santerre   http://reginaswritings.blogspot.com    Seychelles

Raida Disbrow   http://havanabeads.blogspot.com    Tanzania

Kristi Wodek   http://livedinlife.blogspot.com    Zimbabwe

Sally Russick    http://www.thestudiosublime.com    Brazil

Melissa Trudinger    http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com     Mexico

Tracy Stillman    http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com    USA

Sandra Wolberg    http://city-of-brass-stories.blogspot.de    India

Tanya Goodwin   http://pixiloo.blogspot.com   Japan

Susan Kennedy    http://suebeads.blogspot.com    Japan

Beth Emery    http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com    Japan

Lisa Cone    http://inspiredadornments.blogspot.com   Japan

Tanya Boden   http://fusionmusebangkok.blogspot.com   Japan

Inge von Roos   http://ingetraud.wordpress.com   Laos

Erin Prais-Hintz   http://treasures-found.blogspot.com   Nepal

Dee Elgie   http://cherryobsidia.blogspot.com   Phillipines

Carolyn Lawson   http://carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com   South Korea

Lisa Stukel   http://carefreejewelrybylisa.blogspot.com   Sri Lanka

Elly Snare   http://themagicsquarefoundation.wordpress.com    Thailand

Shelley Graham Turner   http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com   Austria

Mallory Hoffman    http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com   Bosnia Herzegovina

Paige Maxim    http://www.pmaximdesigns.blogspot.com    France

Jenny Davies-Reazor    http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog   Germany

Sharyl McMillian-Nelson    http://sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com    Greece

Evelyn Shelby    http://raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com    Iceland

Holly Westfall    http://silverrosedesigns.blogspot.com    Ireland

Rebecca Siervaag   http://www.godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com   Ireland

Toltec Jewels    http://toltecjewels.blogspot.com     Ireland

Lee Koopman  http://StregaJewellry.wordpress.com   Ireland

Laren Dee Barton    http://larendeedesigns.blogspot.com     Italy

Cindy Wilson    http://www.mommysdreamcreations.blogspot.com   Norway

Kathleen Lange Klik    http://ModernNatureStudio.blogspot.com   Poland

Shaiha Williams   http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com    Portugal

Jennifer Justman    http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com    Romania

Elsie Deliz-Fonseca    http://ladelizchica.blogspot.com    Spain

Lola Surwillo    http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com    Sweden

Kim Hora   http://www.kimmykats.com     Switzerland

Leanne Loftus    http://firstimpressiondesign.blogspot.com   The Netherlands

Patti Vanderbloemen    http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com   The Netherlands

Marcie Carroll   http://labellajoya.blogspot.com    Turkey

Marlene Cupo   http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com  Federated States of Micronesia

Ine Vande Cappelle   http://jewelsbyine.blogspot.com   Fiji

Tammie Everly   http://ttedesigns.blogspot.com   Guam

Alice Peterson    http://www.alice-dreaming.blogspot.com   Kiribati

Elisabeth Auld   http://www.beadsforbusygals.com   Nauru

Susan McClelland   http://mistheword12.wordpress.com     New Zealand

D Lynne Bowland    http://islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.com    New Zealand

Denielle Hagerman    http://somebeadsandotherthings.com     New Zeland

Rebecca Anderson   http://songbeads.blogspot.com    Papua New Guinea

Mischelle Fanucchi  http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com   Samoa

Kari Asbury   http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com    Solomon Islands

Cece Cormier   http://www.thebeadingyogini.com    Tonga

Emma Todd   http://www.apolymerpenchant.com    Tuvalu

Debbie Price   http://greenshoot.blogspot.com   Vanuatu


Happy Travels!

Fun With Paper

During my travels this summer, I saw lots of jewelry that used recycled materials. One of the most versatile materials for this is paper. I've tried making paper beads in the past and failed miserably. I decided to give it another go, but this time making flat spirals. I am in love! Here is a sampling of what I've been working on.

This simple pendant is made from old catalogue pages and super thick black wire.

This lovely is also from catalogue pages. I've sewn the pieces together with embroidery floss. To finish this piece, I'll attach it to a short chain.

I love how this pendant turned out! It's a combination of paper, embroidery floss, hemp cord, and wire.



This little one is the first piece I finished. It reminds me of a pocket watch.


Have you ever worked with paper?

New Old Stuff

I have been threatening :) to load some photos of new bead work, and honestly just haven't had the brain for it in a long time. But, I'm back on now, after a lovely 2 1/2 months traveling in South East Asia, with some old new stuff to share. Some of these pieces I made for the last Jambo Arts exhibition I participated in, and some were commision pieces. I have recently signed up for a Travel Challenge, so will be posting some pieces from the challenge soon soon. Here's to creative inspiration!

These lovelies were inspired by a pair of earrings I saw on Pinterest.

I love this mandala style earring. I always come back to it.

These funky fans are made from recycled soda can :)

Wire worked rings are so much fun. Love spirals.

This little darling puts a smile on my face every time I see it.

This pendant was inspired by a copycat project I saw on New Dress a Day



This is a commision piece made for a friend. I'd never worked with buttons before, but I will definitely be doing it again.

 Well, that's all for now. I would love any feedback you have on these pieces. And if you have any questions, I'm always happy to answer.