What's Old is New Again - Artbeads Bloggers Challenge

This latest Artbeads challenge really spoke to me.  I immediately had an idea which would incorporate a polished shard of fossilized walrus ivory from St. Paul Island, Alaska.  I have quite a collection of this lovely material from a local native man that I met a craft show several years ago.  His relatives on St. Paul live a subsistence lifestyle and make a portion of their income from collecting and polishing this naturally shed ivory.  Vintage glass beads were also on my mind.  I went the the Artbeads website to select some lovely brass items to complement the ivory and glass.

In the vast Findings category at Artbeads,  there is a section called Links, which is where I found and fell in love with antiqued brass diamond deco elements.  Now to find some coordinating brass beads.  There were a couple of lovely choices in the Beads category.

I wrapped the ivory shard with some brass filigree from my stash and suspended it from a brass ring (also from Artbeads Findings category).  I added a rusty antique skeleton key and a few vintage glass beads in pink and green.  Keeping with that color scheme and working in a asymmetrical manner, I continued to add beads and brass elements up both sides of the necklace.  This necklace had to be long to balance the large components that I was using -- it would have looked silly at 18" or even 20".  The final length is about 26".  The measurement from the top of the circle to the bottom of the ivory is another 4 1/2" -- this necklace makes a statement! 

Laying the necklace flat, I was able to capture some of the details a bit better:

A close up of the ivory section of the piece.  Here you can see the beadcaps I found on the Beadcaps page at Artbeads.  They are embracing an olive green vintage glass bead.

A better view of one of the beaded segments and the yummy diamond deco pieces:

And one more shot of the whole piece which really showcases the warmth of the ivory and brass:

It's worth mentioning that shopping for this piece at Artbeads was made quite simple by one's ability to shop by material.  I could go directly to the Base Metal category and find matching components so easily.

Disclosure: Artbeads invited me to join their blogging community. I receive these products free of charge in return for honest reviews. I have not been paid for doing this.

Wholesale Order Complete!

I've been fortunate to have a few steady customers for my ivory and jade jewelry.  The line I offer these customers is what I refer to as "production" work.  There are patterns I can easily repeat, thereby making the resulting pieces quick to produce and quite affordable.  They are all combinations of fossilized mammoth ivory, jade, garnet, black onyx, sterling silver and gold filled.  These items do well with the tourist market.

One of these steady customers is Three Bear Gallery, in the Denali Park area, owned by artist Shane Lamb and his wife Erin.  They recently opened a store in downtown Palmer too.  I suspect they will split this order between the two locations.

Erin placed an order the other day requesting it for May 1 delivery.  Here are a few photos of the completed order.

Yes, these are laying on a big white garbage bag.  I feel the need to explain.  I have a rolling art table in my studio. It's covered with the plastic bag because my mixed media and stamping projects can get messy and I don't want to ruin the table.  It's sort of located behind the area where I do most of my jewelry work.  The art table seems like a good staging area for my finished jewelry before it gets tagged and put away with the rest of the finished stuff.

And you need to understand that my "studio" is extremely tiny, measuring only about 10' x 16'.  Every square inch counts.  It's amazing what I have crammed this little space.  Rick keeps threatening to add a 2nd story, but he's only joking. I think.

Freeform Beadwork Necklace

I received a call a few weeks ago from a customer who had purchased one of my freeform beaded necklaces at the Half Moon Creek Gallery -- we're talking 3 or 4 years ago!  His wife loves it so much, he wanted to surprise her with another one, in a different color scheme.  Would I make one??

I replied hell, no "I may have something in my inventory that would suit your needs."  He doesn't have to know that this "new" one is equal in age to the one he purchased so long ago, right?

To make a long story short, here's the necklace.  I met him in Anchorage today (I do a lot of business at the coffee shop in the Barnes & Noble!).  He took the necklace, I took the cash.  I headed straight to the shoe store, if you must know.

In the center of the focal part of the necklace is a highly polished shard of fossilized walrus ivory.  I purchased a whole bunch of these beauties from a local native man who has connections on St. Paul Island.  I drill several holes in them to secure the beadwork.  Well, I used to.  I don't think I have much patience for this type of work anymore.

Ancient Ivory

For the past 12 years, I have sold many pieces of jewelry containing ivory. The ivory I use comes from a reputable source who manufactures beads from fossilized mammoth ivory. It is not raw ivory harvested from living creatures, resulting in the death of the creatures. Mammoth are an extinct species, and are not protected by US Wildlife Law. See this link for more information.

Much of the ivory jewelry I sell is represented on my website, Orion Designs, and not in my etsy shop. It has a wide appeal to Alaskans and visitors to the state who are looking for a "piece of Alaska" to take home with them. The jewelry is very wearable, mainly because of the neutral color of the ivory beads.

This bracelet is the only ivory piece I have currently listed in my etsy shop. It is classic in styling, yet quite modern. By combining the ivory with Bali sterling silver beads, the past and the present meet in this very wearable bracelet.

Creative Muse

My creative muse was here for an extended visit last week and I shamelessly took advantage of her presence. I made a series of earrings that I'm exceptionally pleased with. The more difficult part was the photo shoot, but that went surprisingly well also.

If you read my previous post, you can see that the view from my work area this time of year is composed of much white -- ice and snow. This pair of earrings exemplifies what I was feeling as I gazed out that window.

You all know that I have a serious problem with collecting pearls. These are probably the most luxurious ones I've ever purchased. They measure a generous 11 mm across. The luster is spectacular and there is a hint of pink when the light hits them from a certain angle.

Sigh.