Studio Saturday- the Keys to my Creativity

Welcome to Studio Saturday. Where each week we share our creative insights, ask for comments and randomly choose a winner the following week.
White Iris Designs is last week's winner, she'll receive a set of Heather Powers' Monet disk beads . Please email us your address by using the suggestion box and your beads will be sent right out to you.

The last time I did Studio Saturday, I was in the middle of working on the prototypes for my new steampunk and hardware inspired Steam Stone line of components. Since that posting a month and a halfish ago, I have finished up the series, listed them on my website, and presented them to the public for the first time at our local bead show. Below, you can see part of my bead show display.Once all the designs were carved and molded, the hardest part was coming up with a brand new color scheme. I had some real specific ideas, and was inspired by a movie called City of Lost Children. I really wanted to showcase some new metallic glazes, rusty finishes, and new textures. It took many firings and tests, but I am very happy with my final palette of glaze choices, shown below. You can read more about my thought process on the color inspiration on my blog, and see the inspiration for the entire line during my series of posts called Steam Week.

So now that I have the designs and the colors, the next part is the really fun part: designing with my new components! I would show you my actual studio space where I am collecting all my fun new components and beads and supplies, but it is mostly just a pile of cool stuff on what was once our kitchen table. Not much to see there. So I will show you a few things I am excited to incorporate with in these new designs.
One of the things I am really excited to start playing with again are the gorgeous natural brass findings from Vintaj. The color of the brass is so warm and rich, it is a beautiful mix with my new metallic glazes which resemble a mix of gunmetal and bronze. I think the brass fits the steampunk imagery that I am seeking as well. I am particularly excited about the key and lock charms shown above, and some of the art nouveau and art deco designs like the Sparrow's Compass circle component.
And with the price of silver being so high lately, it is a great coincidence that I am seeking non silver and non precious metals that are not so shiny and new, like brass. I am also enjoying pewter and copper lately. Another exciting addition to my design studio are vintage and vintage reproduction parts like the keys and watch parts above from Ornamentea. I love the mix of metals in the watch parts and the dark iron like sheen of the keys. I am really having fun playing with non traditional jewelry components and metals like these keys and gears, finding new ways to use them and incorporate them into some new jewelry.

So I have shown you these new colors and metallic inspirations that are opening doors of creativity in my mind, and I would like to know about the metals that inspire you. Are you purely a golden gal? Do you adore shiny silver? Or do you like more antique silver and pewter? How about brass, copper, or gunmetal? What metals are your favorite metals to bead with?

Please leave a comment on this post in the next week and next Saturday, we will pick one winner. The winner will get the two new Keyhole Steam Stone charms shown above. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!