Taking care of loose ends

I am embarrassed to say I have had "parts" (meaning partially constructed jewelry components) buried on one of my work tables ... oh, I'd say for a few years now .... that were in need of finishing.

I had soldered all these buttons into nice neat little glass boxes and soldered bands around other buttons.  Pretty wonderful "parts" in themselves, but that's as far as it got.

Last week I went to a used jewelry sale put on by the Livonia Senior Center not far from me.  I bought a necklace made of chain and small pearl beads for $1, took it apart and had more than enough to put all my parts together and make 2 necklaces.  I think they look pretty wonderful worn together as well.

Now on to the next UFO (unfinished object) ....

Charms

Today I'm catching up on a few commitments I have made. These are for a charm swap. The one pictured above is a portable time machine with tiny golden glass spheres in the copper wrapped glass tube. It also has a working spinner and is just under 1 1/2" long. The one below is shown from the front and the back. Both sides of the charm are glass and it's 1 3/8" in diameter. Photos enlarge.

New Vessels in the making

The egg shown above has just been added to my ETSY shop. The quote inside reads "No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings" by William Blake. This egg has wings and inside contains a bird with tiny gold and glass spheres. The metal has a gun metal finish and the 20" chain has a lobster claw closure. Size of the egg is 1 1/8" X 1 3/4" Approx. 3/4" deep.

I have been working on a new series of vessels for a few days. In the past I have felt a little limited working with a realistic color palette for the eggs. I have decided to start a selection of fantasy eggs ... these will be Fairy eggs. They will be available in a wide variety of colors complete with a tiny fairy inside. I should have those available in a few days.

Bird Cages

I am working on my Elfin stock for The Renaissance Festival. While these Elfins are still in the somewhat alien looking stage, I had to share the birdcages I have made for them. There are made out of little metal containers for make up I have been saving. A bit of wire soldered on, Spanish moss and little eggs complete the birdcages. The cages are 1 3/4" tall (not including the ring on top) and 1 1/4" in diameter. Click on the image to enlarge and see more detail.

Secret Keepers

Welp... I'm on to another idea for my vessels. This morning I was messing around a bit and came up with this. Usually an item is first made and then a title is made according to. Instead this time, I have a title that really appeals to me and I made a piece to work with that. I think I am on to an interesting concept here. I will most definitely expand upon this idea. The inside of this piece holds tiny glass spheres, golden glass balls, stars, golden metal thread and charms including a lock and key. I might add some beading or additional embellishment where the chain and the piece meet, I'm still working on it. It's glass and wire wrapped on both sides, giving a rather interesting glimpse into your inner most secrets. SOOOO many possibilities!

Picture enlarges for more detail. This particular piece is 1 3/4" in diameter by 1/2 "thick, with a gunmetal finish. I think I'd like to try some smaller sizes as well.

"Teach me to fly"

Just finished up several of these infant faces. they are a bit smaller than the adult faces I made awhile back. Seems to me I made some larger ones of this face also, but I can't find them. So, either I am losing my mind or it's time to do a bit of cleanup and organizing... or a bit of both. I have also put it on the web site and listed in my ETSY shop. A far cry from an impressive selection right now, but it is a start. I am

thinking I would like to make some with a bit of an asymmetrical design to have more or a collage than jewelry effect. Still not claiming to be a jeweler. These are wearable collages. 2 1/2" X 1 3/8" size of face including wings. Overall size is 2 1/2" X 3"

http://www.ingriddijkers.com/Vessels.html

The Vessels are finally on the Web Site

I finally have some of the Vessels available on the web site. It has taken an incredible amount of time to get them to this point. As John Lennon said "Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans". How true that is. This is the first heart shape I have tried for these vessels and it's far more difficult than the others. I really didn't expect that. I believe I will be making very limited quantities of these as I don't enjoy making things that are "difficult". So far my favorite of the vessels has to be the eggs, but that might change as I get working on the different faces that I have. Those are going to be fabulous and a lot of fun to work with. That's what I plan to work on next. This heart has one of my favorite quotes by Shakespeare, "When I saw you I fell in love and you smiled because you knew". The heart is 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" and about 1/3" deep. Apiece of glass is soldered with lead free solder on the back encasing charms and tiny glass spheres. As with all the other Vessels, it hangs from an Opera length (30") chain with a lobster claw closure. The rest of the Vessels can be viewed here ... more to come.

http://www.ingriddijkers.com/Vessels.html

Finally getting somewhere

I am finally getting to the point that I can put some of the Vessels on the Web Site and offer them for purchase within the next few days. I have figured out a pricing system that is fair and reasonable for these pieces. Turned out to be a difficult process as they will end up varying quite dramatically from each other as I plan to eventually come out with a pretty vast selection. This has taken months and months to get them to this stage and I am very excited about sharing them. This image shown is the back of a moon vessel. The quote inside reads "On gossamer nights when the moon is low and stars in the mist are hiding, you may see the fairies riding".

The shell must break ...

The quote inside this egg reads "The shell must break before the bird can fly". Unfortunately, the scans don't show the contents of the egg very clearly. A photo would be so much better, but I can't take a photograph to save my life. I have to rely on scans for virtually everything. I just loathe taking photos. Why is it that what you see is NEVER what you get? I have no patience for trying to adjust camera settings to trick the camera into taking a photo of what I am actually seeing or adjust the lighting so that the camera picks it up correctly. As I said I have no patience for it at all. If I could afford it I would most definitely hire a professional photographer, so until that time I will continue to cram everything in the scanner. But, enough of my venting my frustrations .... The egg is 1 3/4" X 1 1/4", depth is a little more than 1/2 an inch. The overall size (not including the chain) is 2 1/2" X 4". Inside the egg are very small clear glass balls, the tiniest gold glass balls ever and a white dove. I am just in love with the bird nest and eggs charm hanging at the bottom. I am working feverishly to get these on the website and make them available for purchase. I was hoping to get to that point by Thanksgiving, but I don't know if I can do it.

But one moon

Today I made my first Moon vessel and am rather pleased with how it came out. I need to run out to the Wholesale house and get more of the chain necklaces. I rather like this chain, very simple and doesn't take away from the work. So. seeing as I am out of chain right now, this is probably a good opportunity to get working on a logo or header for these. I also have to start working on display and packaging. I suppose the display aspect can wait as I really am not planning on doing any kind of fair or show before the Renaissance Festival next season. The moon is 1 1/4" across and a bit less than 3/4" deep. These images are not very clear, but the little treasures inside the vessels are floating around loosely and you have to move them around in order to read the message inside.The quote inside the moon reads: The moon looks upon many night flowers; the night flowers see but one moon. -Jean Ingelow-

Everything from an egg

Opened up the kiln early this morn- ing, so excited to get out all the new "parts" I have been working on. This is the first of the "Vessels for the Journey" pieces I made. Had a heck of a time getting the perfect shade of Robin egg blue. Fortunately, I have a robin egg I found over the summer that I had saved especially for this project to match the color. Was very helpful as an aid for color matching. This is merely the egg without any of the added bling. I just love the simplicity of it. I will of course make a more elaborate version with additional dangley charms and beads. In the glass encased back of the egg I added the quote "Ex ovo omnia" by William Harvey. Translated from Latin "Everything from an egg". I also fired many parts for other shapes, including a moon, heart, Venus of Willendorf, adult face, and an infant face. I have ideas for many other shapes, but this is what I am starting with. Has taken a VERY long time to get this project to this point. I can't wait to get to work on the rest of them. The size of the egg is 1 1/8" X 1 3/4" and almost 1/2" deep.

Vessels for the Journey

I have been working on this idea on and off for awhile. It's been very difficult to focus on anything for quite awhile now with my Father having been so ill, but this morning I decided to do a little work. Didn't go all that well, but at least I made a little something. This is basically what I have in mind for the "Vessels of the Journey Collection". This is a rather poor scan of what I came up with, but it gives the basic idea. The face is made of fired clay and is hollow in the back. The inside is collaged and has charms floating loosely in it. The back is then covered with a piece of glass to encase these objects and is soldered shut. I plan to expand on this concept by adding many differently shaped vessels.

The photos open to much larger and more detailed images of the piece. The collage work on the inside includes the printing "Within the heart of the universe, lies the void of eternal space", a silver key, a star, a ring of balance, tiny gold glass spheres and very fine antique brass angel hair. The size of the face is 1 1/2" X 2". Overall size including the beading is 2" X 5 1/2". This makes for a rather large piece, but I rather like the size. I have also made clay faces about 1/2 of this size to make smaller pieces. I am planning to make a 1/2 moon (based on the poem "My Father's Moon"), the Venus of Wallendorf and a heart shape. Many more shapes come to mind, but I think I will just start with those. I have had so little motivation for the past several months, but will try very hard to get this whole concept off the ground.

Another prototype

Still working on ideas for the Journey pieces. This might be a slow transition to what my goal is for these. I want to incorporate more elements and perhaps go for an asymmetrical look. It's getting there, but still needs a lot of exper- imentation. I have made such a mess with pulling out all sorts of stuff and have worked myself into a very small work area now. I always do this. However, I think I need to pull out much more in order to see more options as I am working. Kind of winging it for now, but perhaps some preliminary sketches are in order, might keep things a bit more organized.

"Once imagined from afar"

I am experimenting with a different idea. The mermaid pendants just aren't going to cut it. Instead I will focus on "Journey Necklaces". They will be an elaboration of the belts that my Elfins wear. And even though they will be worn around the neck, I don't really consider it jewelry. Don't claim to be a jeweler. They will be wearable mixed media collages. This is the first prototype and while this is very simplistic in comparison to what I have in mind, I think this will be a good item that I truly enjoy making. These will be a more specialized type of piece that will have a lot more substance and lend itself well to the development of new ideas. Not including the chain that the piece is hanging from, it is 5 1/2" X 2" wide.

Mermaid Pendants

I have been very busy getting ready for the Festival. We will make one last trip out there on Saturday to finalize all the last minute details. Opening Day is August 18th. I always like to come up with a new item every year and I have just come up with these mermaid pendants. They are 1/2 inch by 5 1/2 inches, including the beading. I am rather pleased with them and plan to expand on the idea. I think some fairy, dragon and unicorn ones would also be appropriate for Festival.

Odds and ends

Just finishing up some odds and ends and thought I'd post a few more images of the charms that we were working on. I am rather pleased with how they all turned out and have a lot of fun pins and necklaces now. The next plan is to adapt them into pieces that can work with my figures. I have been (on and off) working on new collage dolls that will be richly embellished. It has been a challenge but I think
that soldered pieces are the missing element I have been looking for. There are a lot of possibilities working with these materials and they should be able to be adapted as embellishments for my figures quite easily.

Glass House

My sister, Tricia is still in town. We have been having a blast and soldering up a storm. After having made quite a few soldered charms we decided to each make a glass house. This ended up being a far larger challenge than we both had anticipated. We were deciding between making a house to be used as a tea light holder or a box. We decided on the box as it was something we both figured we would actually use. We had no patterns or pictures to go by so we had to figure it out by ourselves. Not a big deal really, but we both have never done anything like this before and
had nothing to use as a reference. While we both used virtually the same images, it was surprising how different each of our houses came out. However, I only have photos of the house I made to show. We both have decided that this is the last Glass House we will ever make, but we also agreed that it was indeed a good learning experience. Dimensions are 5 1/2" X 4" by 5 1/2 " tall. For more photos -
http://ingriddijkers.com/glasscollagehouse.html