Wednesday 28 January 2015

From Tiny acorns (of ideas ).............

Hello everyone- hope everyone enjoyed Part One of the Build a Line Challenge Blog Hop, kindly  sponsored  and tutored by Brenda Sue of B'sue Boutiques, there was a lot to read  but it was lovely to see everyone's ideas blooming. Looking forward to  Part Two.

I found some old photos of early jewellery that I made today and realised that they are the beginnings of the idea that I am now expanding upon so I thought I would share them with you.


This is a piece I made when studying silversmithing at adult evening classes quite a few years ago. I was a struggling single parent to a young child and had to rely on my neighbour to babysit so I could attend. It was hard work dragging myself out of the house on those dark winter evenings when I was already tired. But totally worth it for the confidence it inspired and the people I met there  and the silversmithing qualification after a year.

This was a supplementary piece for my end of year assessment- the copper  ( was plumbers pipe cut open with snips and hammered flat - I couldn't afford to buy silver even back then when it was  just£11 for a 10cm square! )   ovals are hand cut and rolled through a rolling mill with leaves. You can see the photo section under a glass lens bubble- looks like an interesting idea?



 Here is a bracelet I made using bezels with photos set under krylon triple thick spray- waaaaaay before I discovered ICE resin. The krylon worked ok  but did become tacky  with age and then got dirty.  But you can see the idea was brewing....  The photos were from an image that I still use now and it remains one of my favourite photos- the woods and river with reflections (was first up pic on previous blog post)


Here is a close up- you can see I still hadn't discovered how to use headpins and was still constructing my own with a loopy end! 

Why not share some of your journey in a blog post- would love to see?
 Please leave me a comment so that I know you visited :D
 Linzi X



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Thursday 22 January 2015

Build A Line Challenge from B'sue Boutiques, Linzi Alford of MagPie In The Sky, Part One

This is my favourite place in the woods, 5 minutes from my home.
 The primeval greenery and reflections in the water are inspirational!


This is ME! Totally NOT asleep- just engrossed taking photos.
Pic Credit Danny Fowler

I'm Linzi Alford of MagPie In The Sky, and am "proper chuffed " to be here with you for the first of three blog hops that will be the Build a Line Challenge from B'sue Boutiques.
 
Firstly a bit about the challenge, (click to read  Brenda's Blog post about the challenge- opens in a new window)
 The challenge is really an education from Brenda Sue of B'sue Boutiques where she will give us all (and we number nearly 60 from all over the world! ) the benefit of her considerable experience in the business  . There will be 3 Hops that span three months .
   All of us will be working hard to create a line of jewellery and have a coherent thought process . Coherent ? Me ?
   At the end, we will reveal a complete line of jewellery with a minimum of five pieces all individually designed and constructed from start to finish by US .


So let me begin by talking about ME - a bit about myself and my background, and why I decided to be part of this challenge.
I am from the NW of England,  Miss Potter country for those who have seen the film- I live on the edge of the English Lake District ,beautiful lakes and mountains.
I am lucky enough to have been making jewellery for 6 years now and  write regularly for UK  jewellery magazines.
Am EVEN more lucky to have had my first jewellery making project book published.  <insert shameless plug HERE  >

I am also very appreciative to be part of the B'sue Design Team  and have written a few tutorials there if you look next time you are on the site.
I love nature inspired pieces but also like the weird quirky and Steampunk too. I am a notoriously messy worker- like to be surrounded by LOTS of stuff - sometimes my 3 cattens "help" by rearranging things for me. Without me even asking. Occasionally onto the floor- see previous post the Importance of Putting lids on - a cautionary tale!
hard at work! photo credit Danny Fowler

Here I am sat at my GINOURMOUS desk


As a designer I think we are NEVER done learning- and Brenda has a LOT to teach us. So I decided to participate in the Challenge to give myself a boot up the backside and get on with making some jewellery lines to sell. 

So without further ado- this is what I am working on for the Challenge.
 I am developing an idea that I have used before- but always intended to expand a LOT on as there is so much scope for it.
Here is a bracelet I have made in the past- this one is called Dappled Light - using segments of my own photographs under resin and components from B'sue Boutiques.

Dappled Light Bracelet .Photo credit Danny Fowler

So.. here are some photos I have been cutting up ..................



 Looks like something is occuring here ........................



To see what I make remember to come back in a month for Hop 2!

And now please go and see what everyone else has been up to, remember to try and leave a comment  so we can all see who has been visiting ! 

Here is the list- Get Hopping! 


Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques
Marcia Tuzzolino
Jann Tague
Judy King
Linzi Alford
Cynthia Wainscott
Carole Carlson
Lynn Stinten
Marica Zammit
Catherine Shattuck
Michaele Collie
Mary Craig
Lee Koopman
Erin Whitacre
Monica Casady
Leila West
Cindy Peterson
Leila Belcher
Gloria Allen
Pamela Anger
Tammy Adams
Lynda O'Mara
Elizabeth Hildreth
Dana Hickey
Janet Calardo
Maria Clark
Lori Beekman
Jennifer Kroeger
Amy Jorgensen
Robin Reed
Ingrid Anderson
Louise O'Shields
Susan Killam
Mary Katherine Deis
Nike Bottalico
Susan Bowerman
Kristy Le
Jan Peters
Mitzie Crider
Gina Hockett
Linda Anderson
Alexandra Sefton
Melida Boman
Teresa Shurter
Melissa Latimer
Renee Hong
Nadine Edris
Lori Meyer
Jennifer Merrill Williams
Denise Lussier Poirier
Renee Allen
Autumn Adams
Elizabeth Owens
Kat BarronMiller
Sandra Ballard
Coral Law



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Monday 19 January 2015

Icy Words (are so lightly thrown)- terrible misquote there 

Happy New Year to you all !

 My New Year's resolution , amongst others (ie lose weight for impending wedding) is to blog much more often! Really !
 Thought I would begin in my first post of 2015 by sharing some wintry inspiration photos that I took on a walk  in my local churchyard- there is definitely a jewellery idea bubbling around the "Icy Words " photo!

The Priory Church 

Fab patina on the outside of the stained glass


I do love the church yard here and have taken many photos, even my 9 year old daughter likes to wander around there although her interest is mostly conker motivated!

My main piece of news for this month- am delighted to say that as a member of the B'sue Boutiques Design team I am participating in a blog hop-   Build a Line Challenge. This is a 3 month challenge with fab prizes for the winner but more that that will be an amazing education freely give by Brenda Sue - who is using her many years of experience and jewellery-making to host this event. The first blog hop is THIS FRIDAY 23rd January, so please check for my post then and you can see what the nearly -60 participants have come up with  for their ideas!
For more info click the badge below ! 


B'sue Boutiques
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