Studio Saturday With Marie of Skye Jewels

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

This week's winner is Kiwiken! Congratulations, Kiwiken! You've won a Fused Glass Donut!

 Send an email to Cindy Gimbrone and she'll send your prize right over to you!

Welcome to Marie's Studio!

I have been working all week on this post. Taking pictures and getting something interesting together to share with you. It's not often we get to look into a specific artists process and see how they work or how they create. I will be sharing some of my process, but not all. If I give it all away you won't have a reason to come shop with me ;)

My studio has somewhat changed since the last time I posted. There have been a lot of changes in my life in general! I gave up the Den so my oldest daughter could have her own room. That was where my studio was and I had a lot of light even in  such a modest space. Emma has been a huge help to me since I was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast cancer in May. She deserved a space of her own. So my studio is now in the dining room, a much smaller and darker space. Can't take too many good pics in there, you would not see much for the darkness! Working on figuring something new out, but in the meantime, I work where I can and that includes the kitchen table where these pictures were taken...

I am working on something that has been a customer request for awhile now. Earring pairs tags! I am starting with these in a new shabby chic style! I have a few customers that love the shabby chic style and I have not had much to offer them so I have been trying to come up with something new to satisfy this need. 
The pattern is called Toile. It is from the original style of Printing a story onto fabric that was started by the Irish and adopted and made popular by the french in a place called Jouy, France. Hence the actual name of Toile "Toile de Jouy" These Toile images normally came in complex pastoral scenes and floral arrangements. The long sheets of fabric would be printed and laid out in fields to dry. Imagine the beauty!

These are the charms, all ready for a top coat!

Here they are drying. You can tell from these last two pictures that once I add the top coat they become more vibrant and the colour stands out more. 

Here they are along with the Raven charms I posted the other day. All done and some still drying! You know what that means, I should be taking pics and listing right away! It has taken a little longer than normal to get them completely finished, but that has a lot to do with this week being "meet the teacher" at school! That and my anniversary. Life goes on even in the studio! 

Here is a closeup of the finished Raven tiles! Looking forward to getting these listed and in my shop for you! The Shabby Chic/Toile earring pairs will also be listed...just have to decide how many pairs I will list to start.

So that is what has been going on in my studio this week and a lot of the rest of the time. Creating these takes 3-5 days with proper drying times. I don't want to send you anything that might not have had enough time to cure. They should not stick together if given the proper curing time. No sticky or tacky top coat and especially no streaks! These have a very smooth finish.

I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about what I do. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have and I will do the best I can to answer them!

Leave a comment and you win a pair of my new Toile Charms! I'll even let you pick your color!

Hugs,
Marie
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Ravens

Over the last few months I have had more and more request for Ravens! So finally here we are! I have created a series of Ephemera pendants for you to use in your jewelry creations that include these fabulous Ravens! These are in an unfinished stage, I have a lot left to do on these to make them listing ready, but this week is magic week! The week where things happen!

I could not resist these awesome images! I worked with Ella of Calico Collage to get this idea together. She makes about 75% of the images I use to create my charms and pendants. These of course I wanted to have in time for Halloween! I will be listing them in the next couple of days.

I want to remind you of all the wonderful ways you can use these. To start, I sell them un-drilled. This allows you to use your creative imagination to it's full potential! Some of you will choose to use them as they are and just add a magnet to the back or even add them to your scrapbooking pages! Very versatile!

My favorite way to use them is with Vintaj filigree! This adds a certain "je ne sais quois" to the pieces of jewelry I create. It gives a touch of romance and mystery! Perfect for these Ravens! The dark laciness of it...I love it! 

I have even seen some of you wrap them in wire! What a creative use of these small pieces! 

At anytime of course you can have them custom drilled at no extra cost to you. There is the simple top drill. Just look at the image to see if that is where you want the hole. You can also top and bottom drill to add dangles! What about each corner for a bracelet maybe? Or a little lower on the sides... I can even do three strand bracelet drill for some of these! 

One of the most used drilling options is the two top corners and bottom center. This makes the piece a focal with the possibility of endless dangles!

So many ways to use these! So look for them in the Skye Jewels Supply shop this week...

Thanks so much for another fun visit!

Marie

**Speaking of Vintaj, October's challenge just happens to be "Radiant Raven" what a coincidence! Maybe some of you will want to use these in your design?** 

Studio Saturday - Skye Jewels

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard.
The following week we choose a random winner.

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This week we visit the studio of

Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp of Skye Jewels

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This week's winner is CRAFTYHOPE! Congratulations! You have won win a ceramic pendant and bead bundle from Gaea Handmade! Send Gaea an Email with your address and she will get your prize out to you soon!

I have been asked so often to see my studio, I figured this was the perfect time and the perfect place!

So Here it is!

 I can't begin to tell you how hard it was to get this photo, getting the angle right and the placement for the camera... The space is what you might call "small" or "petite" lol but you get the idea.

 This room has dual purpose. I am first and foremost a jewelry designer and I am also an avid scrapbooker. At least I used to be... funny how beads have taken over my life and left little time to create with paper.

I spend about a week getting clean enough for pictures! Now it will be a challenge to keep it usable so I don't end up working like this...

 ...again!

Yup! You are seeing this right! When I run out of room on my work benches I end up working on the floor. I can't help it! I NEED to be surrounded by beads to be able to fully feel the inspiration take over! Those are my knees...ouch! I am getting too old to work like this. Maybe someday I will have a better space to work in.

Where do you end up working that is out of the ordinary? Do your beads take over and push you out of your studio or are you a meticulous artisan?

Leave a comment answering any of these questions and you will be entered for a chance to win an assortment of Skye Jewels wooden pendants selected especially for you, for your jewelry designs!

 

Photo Credits for the studio photos go to Angela Durocher

Thanks for stopping by...

Marie   

Creating Art Beads from the Unexpected!

 A few thoughts about Art beads. Are they only the beautiful clay and glass pieces that those amazing designers sell in their shops? Of course not! You can make art beads yourself with fun or basic materials. Use unusual things or just a little wire you have laying around...

One of my favorite designers and dear friend Jody Engelmann did just that with these amazing little hearts! She used bronze wire and what looks like double headed copper head pins to create these amazing and unique art beads.

 She even took it one step further and created a matching toggle! So a double whammy for Art beads in this stunning bracelet! Please take a moment to visit her Shop and Facebook to see more wonderful designs!

Another long time favorite of mine is the creator behind Fanciful Devices! Creativity without borders! I would love to be able to come up with some of the ideas they do! Absolutely wonderful!

The earrings named "Deserving Your Love" are made with stunning Mesh flowers! Now that is truly creating Art beads with unusual things! I can honestly say I would never have thought of that myself! I love the intricate folds that must have come so naturally in the mesh, I love even more that the earrings are asymmetrical! 

Last but not least, the amazing Erin Prais-Hintz! I just love how she turned a link in this chain into an art bead. That's all you need! Seriously! She wire wrapped delicate little pink crystals to a link in this chain with wire! Amazing and unexpected detail!

 If you look at the whole picture you will see she did the same to two more links in this necklace. What a beautiful, simple yet out of the box creative result!


So what will you make into an Art bead? What unusual products will you try to turn into an Art bead? Leave us a comment, we would love to know!


Thanks for stopping by...


Marie


All pictures in this post were used with permission from the artists. Please do not reproduce these ideas, but use them instead to inspire you to create something new.

Thinking Outside the Box part II

You should remember my last post about Thinking outside the box. If not, you may want to go HERE and read it first, before you start on this one. 
For part 2 I am honoured to share the designs of two wonderful designers. I challenged them to use my components thinking outside the box, look at them in different ways, and see what they could create that is slightly out of the ordinary. 

Here is what they came up with...
Donna Martin Bradley was the first one I asked.  I asked her to use one of my large 1.5 inch round pendants, in a different way.

She turned it into a fantastic large Bracelet focal, instead of using it in a necklace! Fantastic results! With Spring coming soon, it's a great time to start thinking about making your summer jewelry!

The use of woven ribbon inside the chain is always a wonderful extra touch. You can find Donna on Facebook on her STRANDED BEADS page! Her beautiful designs are also available on Etsy! 


Next I asked Diana Ptaszynski. I thought it would be fun if Diana could make some earrings. 


Here is what she came up with...

Great idea to mix and match different charms and make the earring asymmetrical! I love that she incorporated her own handmade sea shell charm and bead links.

These look fun and beachy! You can find Diana on Facebook on her SUBURBAN GIRL STUDIO page! Her Fun original jewelry is available in her Etsy shop.


It was a complete coincidence that both designers used Ocean inspired pieces. I did not pick the components, so it was fun to see that they went so well together!


To get your own fun, quality Ephemera pieces, please visit my More Skye Jewels shop and shop around or feel free to request something special! For more ideas on how to use them you can also visit my Skye Jewels Blog.


Thanks so much for stopping by!


Marie