Step by Step Copper Yosemite Acorn Bead

This is my Art Jewelry Elements post today.

I picked up a bunch of these Acorns while visiting Yosemite recently.

Originally I only considered making a mold of the top portion and making it in Copper,

then I decided why not make the whole bead!

So that's what I did.

Go to
 Art Jewelry Elements
 to see the rest of the story!

Kristi

I Heart Macro - the last of the roses

I'm sure these are the last roses of the season, we're having beautiful weather at the moment but the blooms have been slowing down considerably over the last month anyway.

I will certainly miss them!

Kristi

Crazy for Turtles

I've been looking for turtle molds for some time, I recently shared some small Turtle Shells I made with one mold I found and I recently found a bigger mold.

The smaller ones are perfect for earrings, this baby is a pendant!!



Large Turtle Shell Pendant

Good size bail for beads, leather, heavy wire, silk, sari ribbon or any kind of fiber.

1.5 long 1 1/8" wide

Here are the small turtles in case you missed them.

Cowabunga!!

Sorry I had to make a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle/Turtle Power reference in this post somewhere,

I do apologize! ;)
At least I didn't say "dude"!
Oh I guess I just did

Back to the serious stuff
I've also made some really rough ammonite pieces with great big holes,
I guess these would be considered donuts.

The patina gods were smiling today.

These were rolled out in somewhat of a round shape and then textured on the ammonite,

 gives them a very uneven and beautiful edge.

They are very roughly shaped at 1.5" in diameter, the one on the left a little smaller.

I may make a couple of these in to toggles!

I did the same with these below but put a jump ring hole instead of a big hole.

Love the rough organic shape.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

Artisan Whimsy Metal Clay Team Giveaway

A very exciting day today,

The launch of the brand new Artisan Whimsy site.

If you create Handmade Artisan Jewelry or Components of any kind this is your place to be!!

AND

The new Metal Clay Team within the site.

Today is the big Lauch Party.

I'm giving away a couple of items go to my Blog Post HERE and leave a comment to win!!!

Click

 HERE

to comment for your chance to win one of these beautiful Copper Components.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

WBW - Yosemite

I've been away for nearly 2 weeks and have lots of new birds to share.

We were in Disneyland then Yosemite for 4 days.

Birdwatching was not planned for the trip but of course I made it happen.

My first new bird was actually in Anaheim,

 I knew from it's mannerisms it was a flycatcher of some kind.

Here is a Black Pheobe!!

Then on our last day in Yosemite I finally captured the Acorn Woodpecker.

I'd been hearing them quite a bit then found a place where there were lots of photo ops.

The top bird was exhibiting alot of baby behavior.

They almost look like reflections don't they.

I didn't think I caught it in flight until I got home and began to look through all the pictures.

I had my camera on continuous mode most of the time

 so I didn't really always know exactly what I captured.

I honestly think I could have wandered this area all day and kept watching and taking pictures, these Acorns are a joy to watch!

I'll have more new birds to share in the weeks to come.

Kristi

52 Earrings

I haven't been sharing much here but I've still been contributing to the 52 Earrings a Year Flickr group.

I'm at 35, depending how you count the weeks there are 13 or 14 weeks left, I think I'm on track for 52!



White Turquoise and Snakeskin Swivel Earrings



Anything to help keep you motivated and goal oriented is ok by me.

Kristi

Turtle Shells and Toggles

I love how my little Turtle Shells turned out!!


Turtle Shell pair



And here are some Toggles I've been working on for awhile, I made the copper piece several weeks ago and finally got around to creating the handmade wire piece to go with them.



Sea Urchin Toggle





Flower Burst Toggle



Oval Tribal Paisley Toggle