The Bird Cage

Thanks everyone for your kind words and encouragement. Here is my latest necklace The Bird Cage. It took me a few days to nut out. I decided to TRY and make a rivet type of bird cage. In error I used a brass tube that was too tiny in the inner diameter for me to flair and use as a proper rivet. So after getting quite frustrated with myself and thinking I would just toss all the tube parts I had cut with my jewellers saw, I adapted the error and used wire to connect the tubes instead. Not as neat as the gorgeous bird cages I have seen made by the clever Jen Crossley's or Christine Atkin's but hey I am still new to all of this :o). I'm hoping Jen and Chris teach this one soon as I love the look of them and I love taking classes with Jen....to get to a class with both is my dream!!.

A bit closer.

It's quite fiddly and hard to make but I still loved the end result....hey and no ice resin in sight this time LOL. The bird inside does swing and heavy dangle at the bottom helps it stay level.

Just need to trim a few wire ends closer with my flush cutter I think.

Hugs

Annette In Oz

Etched Copper Cuff

I etched a design into copper and left it awhile.It has a rich red tone to it.I decided to keep this cuff simple so just used a gently bent Vintaj frame as a bezel and added a lovely blue butterfly image and then filled it with Ice Resin

View from the sides.

I'm so excited to say I've just sold 2 of my necklaces.I've never sold anything before and when I was approached by an admirer of my humble jewellery attempts on line I wasn't sure what to do....but decided to sell them in the end.I am chuffed someone likes my work well enough to ask to buy it and excited to think of others wearing my jewellery...it was made for wearing after all!!.So tomorrow "pardon" and "time keeper" are off to new homes and I have a little money more for supplies...AWESOME!!!!

I need some feed back here......uuuummmm who am I as a jewellery maker and seller....like I'm thinking "rustic CHIC" or "connected in time" as Annette In Oz is the whole me but who am I for making a tag or something for my jewellery.Any help greatly accepted.

HUGE HUGS

Annette In Oz

Steampunk etched metal cuff with birds eggs etc

Yes it's true I am in love with my gorgeous hubby and also a secret love affair that has started to bloom....he is called a Dremmel...an amazing helper and I think soul mate LOL. For those who don't know a Dremmel is an up market crafter/artist drill. It also has many attachments you can buy to make creating easier like a flex shaft, sanding discs etc etc. What was taking me hours to do by hand (esp sanding) takes minutes now. It took me ages to get one as I hesitated at the cost and then after I did get one for my birthday last week I wasn't really sure how to use it. Then yesterday I thought "just do it"....so I got it out and turned it on, attached the sanding disc and the rest will be history *grin*
Here is a newly completed etched nickle/silver cuff with an old watch bezel filled with bird image, 3 fresh water pearls and then resin on top. I also added some ever so gently bent metal wings and some cogs.

Off to finish a copper cuff before I have to go to work.

Hugs

Annette In Oz

Two More Birthday Cards

Another two gorgeous hand made cards came in the mail this week.There was this lovely ?coffee stained and sewn card from Marilena Stanton'

Then there was a wonderful construction card by Barb Porritt.

As you open the heart you push it back on a cs hinge and tuck the heart point under the butterfly.Love it.

Thanks Marilena and Barb :o)

hugs

Annette In Oz

Getting Glitzy Today

We have had some lovely cooling rain nearly all day today. Lots of lightening and thunder to scare my poor Jack Russel silly with too. I have to work tomorrow so today after I went into town I was going to make some more bezels but got side tracked in my glass beads box. In there I had some gorgeous hand made glass beads made by the amazingly talented Gail Hart in Tasmania. Gail's beads are sold in Galleries down south so you can just imagine the quality. I'd had them for some time but just didn't think I was good enough at making jewellery to do them justice. I also had no sterling silver till recently as well. So here is the end product...a far cry from my beloved junk jewellery I think *grin*. Hope I did your beads justice Gail?.

The black and white beads on the bracelet and the red one on the necklace are the ones made by Gail. I've used crystal roundels and sterling silver wire on the necklace and the bracelet. Here is the bracelet closer being modelled by my lovely metal bird friend.

and closer

The necklace on its own....the red is beautiful IRL just not as dazzling in the photos due to the lighting here which is crap.

And just a bit closer.

I'm not a posh person and don't go to high end places much but next time we decide to have a night at the Casino I know what I will be wearing. Oh before I forget I had my tiny dancer and Mz 6 older sister cuff on today and the lady at the Jackson's Art shop wanted to buy them....how cool is that?... but I'm NOT good enough yet to sell stuff. When I am I told her I'll come back and she can have first pick. Back to junking it tomorrow.

hugs

Annette In Oz

Some Simple Cards

Its really painful for me to sit and make cards these days but I have got three made by resorting to making easy quick cards.I just dry paint the bg cs with white folk art paint.Stamp in a corresponding ink to the cs all over.Run white card thru the Cuttlebug and drag the same ink pad over the surface.Cut this into a frame shape.Add image underneath and stick it to the bg with some ink stained gauze sticking ot at either edge.Add the flowers and stamped butterfly and done in 15mins.

and here is the same thing but in blue tones.

Lastly a simple stamped and coloured spring up card made for my lovely brother in law Steve.The pebble look is made by running black card thru the Cuttlebug and then painted with Golden paints to give it a rust look.Schminke gold dusted over the top. I love that dog stamp...it reminds me of our boxer dog "gidget" we had when I was growing up.Image coloured with water colour pencils.

Back pain or not at least I got them done.Now off to make some more jewellery ( I can stand and do that :o)) before I have to scoot and get Tim from school.

hugs

Annette In Oz

Mail Has Arrived

What lovely birthday mail came my way this last week.In amongst it were four hand made cards.This sweet blue and lemon one was from my Mum.She does make her own cards but bought this one as she didn't have time.Blue,lemon and white is a lovely colour scheme.

This lovely Paris themed purple and black card was made for me by Sue Gregory.

Riki Showell hand stitched this gorgeous pattern to make a big flower card.She is ever so patient.

And last but not least was this devine creation from Louise Monagetti

Thanks everyone for making my birthday special.

hugs

Annette In Oz

My Dream House

I've been having a great time making my bezels by hand.The circular one was the hardest one I tried.Below is a house bezel that I've placed a gorgeous vintage child into.I gave her a key to her house and then filled the bezel with resin.The wings are attached with tiny screws and nuts.On the back I've used metal stamps to stamp "dream house" into the brass base.


and closer.

I have 6 small bought brass bezels that I'm hoping to make some more tiny dancers with next....my troop of Annette In Oz dancers LOL.Will see how I go anyway as the problem with my back is worsening unfortunately.

hugs

Annette In Oz

Pardon!

Oh my goshie this one was HARD yet as I look at it now it looks so simple.This time I tried to make a circular bezel by hand....that was the hard part.How to get the ends to stay while I got the solder down had me stumped but after three days of trying I finally got it yeha.Its not a perfect circle but I tried and conquered *grin*.

Bezel has a cute vintage image of a lady looking like she did something she wouldn't normal do.So "pardon" was her dictionary word.I gave her a crown and then filled the bezel with ice resin.

The old chandelier glass has "smile" under it.

Will play with another hand made bezel in a different shape tomorrow.

hugs

Annette In Oz

Patience Necklace

Don't know how I managed to get this one done today with grossssery shopping(yes I know it has a "c" in it but I just think its a gross job LOL), washing, ironing and just about to go to work but manage I did.Today's necklace is another hand made bezel soldered to brass base.Tin type image of a lady in the bezel, one of my Aunt Betty's old buttons at the top of her nestling on fibres, with the word "patience" on it and a brass pen nib at the bottom.I imagined she would wait patiently for days to hear from loved ones hand written letters in times gone by.Bezel was filled with ice resin of course.

and a little closer to her.

I'm REALLY enjoying my creative splurge at the moment.If I keep going I'll have a necklace for every day of the year LOL.Shame I have to go to work but that darn mortgage doesn't pay itself.

hugs

Annette In Oz

Steampunk necklace-The Time Keeper

Grant had a disused fob watch that the clock had stopped working in.So I snaffled it LOL.I pulled the innards out and filled it with ice resin, added the image with some watch bits and pieces stuck on it and the words "time keeper".

Here it is closer.

I had the great pleasure in dragging the talented and lovely Sarah away from her baking duties, to come to Bunning's with me to show me the things I needed, to help make my jewellery better.I now have a much anticipated Dremel at last, that Grant will put away for my birthday in a few weeks.I'm excited at that and can't thank Sarah enough for her help....thankyou, thankyou, thankyou Sarah.

We had some creatures visit tonight.There was a persistent dragonfly trying to get inside

and a lovely northern small eyed snake trying to catch something in the leaf litter outside.

I've had a few ice resin mishaps this last week.I had ice resined some bezels and had some resin left over so I scrapped it over some old paper.There was no more room on my desk so I put the resined paper on my chair.I went off to watch some Tv and then came back and sat to look across the bezels forgetting the resined paper till I stood and realized I had ice resined my bottom!!!Its not that easy to wash off and I had to sit awkwardly for ages till it wasn't sticky anymore LOL.AAAhhh life its never dull.

hugs

Annette In Oz

More Necklaces

It was a lovely cool 25 degrees here today.A rarity I can tell you but perfect for getting creative.I've got two necklaces done today.The first one is a rectangular bezel with an old tin type in it, some little buttons nestling on fibres and a dictionary piece with the word tedious above the tin type.They are all encased in ice resin...I ssooo love that stuff.I made some links and added some of my iridescent beads that I had forgot I even had.

and closer to the ice resin filled bezel.

The next one is quirky and fun.I made a heart shaped bezel and soldered it to a brass bass.I was going to put a vintage image of a couple kissing in here but my daughters(whom like wacky images) wanted me to use this spooky eyed lady.Again ice resin used over the image.It hasn't got any white flecks on it in real life so I think the ones in the image below are from the scan bed.Sorry about that.

Keeping with the wackiness of the front I couldn't resist doing this for the back LOL

I think I shall try to photograph the next necklaces as the colours seem washed out in these images from the scan bed.I'm glad I tried a different shape for my bezel making and think there will be more heart shaped ones to come....maybe minus spooky images LOL.

hugs

Annette In Oz

Spider Spoon Necklace

Wahoo...finally I got to make some more jewellery today.I've wanted to make a spoon necklace for ages so I gave it a go....I love that you can use the back and the front of these.I'm not sure why I used the metal spider LOL but I think I had been thinking wicked thoughts about someone at work *grin*.The spider has patina on it to darken it and its web is the soft downy fluff from our native Kapok tree up here.I've used sterling sliver to make the wrapped lace and Swarovski crystals part.

Here it is closer.I was worried the feet would break on the spider when I bent them around the spoon but they were fine.

If you flip it over this is the back where I've added words and then encased them in the lovely ice resin I got from Jen Crossley

Closer to the back.

This whole last week I have been making and filling bezels with ice resin and its all felt good.I'm not the best jewellery maker but I do like trying and I'm conquering my soldering at last.Will load some more as I get them onto chain.

hugs

Annette In Oz