Art Beads - not just for jewelry!

by Patti Vanderbloemen

Don't hate me for bringing up Christmas on November 16th...but...we have spent almost all of last week decorating our house for Christmas. Yes...in November....before Thanksgiving. Personally, I despise anything Christmas-related BEFORE Halloween. After that...it's fair game with me! Actually, I am hosting several get together's at my home beginning on Thanksgiving, and I have TONS of decorations that I have accumulated through the years. If it's not done by now..it ain't gettin' done!

The majority of my decorations are handmade. Some from craft shows I have attended through the years...but most have been made by me or my extremely talented mother. She has dabbled in all crafts - ceramics, lapidary, jewelry making, sewing, quilting, crocheting - if I have any creativity at all, it comes from my mother's genes (no disrespect to my Dad)!   

It is a CHORE to decorate: empty plastic bin after plastic bin, move the everyday stuff out of the way and pack it away, dust, arrange, rearrange, put the plastic bins away. It's a workout. But I must say, each year as I open the bins and pull out a special decoration, memories - sweet memories - flood my mind.

While I promise to end this post as it relates to the title - Art Beads - I thought I would share just a sampling of what I have uncovered this past week.

The Snow Babies collection - anyone else remember these? I believe the original "maker" of these gems is Department 56. I have probably a hundred of these hand painted lovelies - most are ornaments - painted by either me or Mom.

Some of my Snow Babies are not ornaments, but stand alone decorations.

My parents lived in Florida for at least 25 years. When I visited, I preferred to stay indoors as I absolutely despise the heat (sorry Karen - way too hot for me where you live!) So, during yearly visits, Mom would plan craft marathon sessions, and we would sit and paint ornament after ornament, while Dad watched football, golf, etc..

This little guy has such a mischievous face...

This one of Mary and Jesus is still one of my favorites that my mom painted - a dry brush technique. The eyes are perfect, which is why I know this is one of Mom's creations and not mine!

My favorite ornaments were made from light bulbs! Yes - light bulbs! Flesh-tone painted (Mom had to paint the eyes), lots of glue and batting, and felt...so cute!

Somewhere - there are matching reindeer light bulb ornaments...but I cannot find them...yet!

One of my trees - I have 3 - is decorated with about 20 of these quilted poinsettia flowers that Mom made just a couple of years ago.

Mom moved in with us five years ago - and her focus nowadays is quilting. I have gorgeous handmade quilts, place mats, and the most beautiful table toppers- for pretty much every single season! Yes...I am blessed!

On to the art beads!

For the past few years, I joined Sally Russick's Ornament blog hop. I loved participating in  this hop - swapping handmade ornaments made with art beads.  

Pam Ferrari gifted me these tiny little treasures a few years ago, made with her lampwork beads. Look at that angel on the left - a bead cone for the body!

Susan Kennedy combined one of her gorgeous handmade lampwork beads with Crystals from a chandelier for this ornament.

I sent Susan Kennedy this ornament, with a perfect holly-themed bead by Donna Millard, and a bit of metalwork by me. 

I was  attempting to recreate the striping on the sides of a drum with wire...for some reason, the song "The Little Drummer Boy" was stuck in my head when trying to come up with an idea.

Last year, my partner was Jenny Davies-Reazor - who pretty much does everything in the World of Art - polymer clay, ceramics, metalwork, bead work, etc. She asked me a series of questions related to my favorite things, and then sent me this sweet felted ornament (yes...coffee is my favorite beverage)!

Every evening - usually by 8:00 PM - I can be found on my sofa - I-Pad in hand.  This is "my time" to peruse Face Book, You-Tube, etc.  Very recently, the very talented Raida Disbrow of Havanna Beads posted pictures of the cutest Santa Lampwork Beads I have ever seen!

I had to have them!  Even the backs have Santa's fluffy hair - in glass.

I knew I was going to make ornaments....but I had no clue what to make. My mother suggested I create a bead frame...similar to this necklace I recently made.

I did not want to use silver, as these ornaments will be gifted - who wants to polish silver ornaments every year?  Not me. So, copper it is.

This "geometric style" frame is a smaller version of these bangles I recently made - very cool technique - squared sides in a circle.

The next bead frame is for a very special lady.  I donate the proceeds from jewelry sales to Miracle Horse Rescue - a sanctuary that has been near and dear to my heart for over 13 years now.  Stephanie and her husband have devoted their lives to rescuing these animals in need.  So, I personalized this bead frame just a little, by soldering a little horse shoe (right side up for luck) to the top of the frame.

I just need to add my ornament hangars, and I am done!

Years ago at Christmas-time, I would be the one wearing the loud, Santa sweater with matching jewelry. Suffice it say, with age, my style has mellowed and it's all I can do to get out of my sweats these days But, I still love to use the beads - and ornaments are a perfect solution for me!

Thank you for hanging in there for my very long trip down memory lane!

Now...go make something beautiful!!

Patti

What to do with all that silver scrap?

by Patti Vanderbloemen

Recently, Carol did an awesome post on recycling some of her silver scrap into silver sheet (that post is right here).  I think it is an awesome idea...it is on my very long list of things to do!  I always save my silver scraps...they are thrown directly into this empty cool whip container on my bench.

That container weighs 2 1/2 pounds (yup - POUNDS)!!!  I knew it was accumulating - it has been quite a while since I turned in my scrap for credit at Rio Grande. However, I reuse a lot of the bits and pieces in that bowl. A tiny textured piece of sheet can become a bead cap, or even just a tiny accent on a back plate. The wire scraps are balled up in the flame for additional textural accents on pendants, rings, etc.  You get the drift.  With sterling silver so cheap right now - I am still going to wait before turning it in to get the most bang for my buck .  The price of silver has only smidged  (I know - not a real word...yet) upwards lately, so I will wait until it soars (or I use up all my scrap).

I have made a few charms from the scraps - melt down a few small pieces of wire/sheet into a ball, flatten it, stamp on a design, and solder on one-half of a jump ring for a bail.

But today, I thought I would show you how I make teeny weeny post earrings with some of that scrap.  Some of us - including me - have double, triple, etc. pierced ears, and tiny posts look great whether worn alone or in that second hole in one's ear.  

I tried to take good step-by-step pictures - I wish I had a third hand (on my body...not my bench). Anyway, take two pieces of equal amounts of silver.  I very roughly wind my silver into a coil - for no particular reason except in melts into a ball quicker than if left straight.  

I always use my charcoal block to melt any metal - it retains the heat better than a firebrick. That's my firebrick on its side - making it just a tad hotter in that area of my soldering station.  An oven effect, if you will.

Just roll your flame around the silver until it balls up.  Let it cool from red hot to gray before you move it off the block with your tweezers for quenching - otherwise, you run the risk of re-shaping that perfect little malleable mound of silver with your tweezers.

Quench and pickle.  Now is a good time to make sure the balls are the same size - they should be if you used the same amount of silver to melt in the beginning (I say SHOULD here, because my eyes are not perfect and I don't always pay attention to my measurements when prepping silver for melting!)  If not the same size - just remelt that ball and add a little bit more silver scrap.

I like to use my Peddinghaus hammer (link here) for flattening the balls into discs. It is just a bit heavier than my Goldsmith hammers - though any hammer works here.  

Then - stamp the little discs to your heart's delight.  My example below features a tiny little horse head stamp.  Now, before you solder on the earring post to the back of the earring, take your center punch and hit it once in the back of the earring where you will add the post.  This extra step provides two benefits.  1) It is so much easier lining up the earring post in my third hand when soldering - it sits right in that little divot.  2) It creates more metal-to-metal contact with the post to the earrings. The solder flows all the way around - into the divot -  providing a very strong, secure join. 

This is how I store my solder.  Each tin holds 3" - 4" pieces of solder wire.  Each tin is labeled "hard", "medium", etc.  I cannot remember where I first saw this tip, but I have been storing it in this fashion for years.

Inside each tin, I store a pro polishing pad (link here)- I swipe the solder wire to clean it completely, before I cut off the required pallions.  Both your metal and your solder needs to be clean before you hit it with the flame.

And, for the past year or so, I keep a very small amount of flux in a resealable plastic jar at my soldering station - this happens to be a seed bead storage container.  Flux dries out so quickly - it is a pain to keep opening and closing the large jar during a project (not to mention the number of times I have completely forgotten to put the cap on the jar at the end of the day, only to come back 10 hours later to flux that is hard as a rock). This way, the large jar keeps the flux in the right consistency, and if the small jar dries out - I add a touch of water to reconstitute the flux, or rinse it out and start with fresh flux.

Flux the earring, place the post in the divot created with the hole punch, and line up the third hand to hold the post in place.  This can be a fiddly process - I always seem to be holding my breath at this point, so as to not disturb the post! :)

I tend to pic solder - it is simply easier for me.  Just ball up a pallion of solder, it will attach to your warm solder pick like a magnet - and then place the ball of solder right next to the post.  You could just place a pallion of solder in this position as well - but I am creature of habit.  That tiny little red circle in the picture below (click the picture to zoom) is where I place the solder.

Now, the thickness of the earring, in my example, is much greater than the thickness of that ear wire. So, I start by heating the charcoal area around the earring, thus, heating up the metal.  I used Medium solder, so it's melting point is lower than the melting point of the sterling silver (Easy solder could also be used - I just happened to grab Medium). 

This part goes VERY QUICKLY. After the solder has melted, I wait a few moments before even trying to remove the earring from the charcoal block.  Then, quench and pickle.

The soldering action will anneal that post.  To harden the post, I line it up in my flat nose pliers, hold on to the earring, and VERY GENTLY twist - not even a quarter turn of the pliers- to the right.  You can actually feel that earring post instantly harden.

Then, oxidize (or not), throw them in the tumbler for half an hour, and done!

Little bitty earrings!

Yet another design that is hard to photograph...

Are these too small for you?  Solder on half a jump ring to one end (I do this BEFORE I solder on the earring post), and wire wrap some beads into the loop.

I know that not everyone likes post earrings.  Personally, I have very long hair and I love wearing posts as my hair tends to get caught in the french ear wire - style.  It's nice to have options!


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A final note on earrings posts.  Yes - you could use 20 gauge sterling wire, cut the post to length, make sure it is 100% absolutely flush before soldering, round the ends, and- using your flush cutters - carve a tiny groove in the end to create a "stop" for the ear nut. I have tried this method and it is too frustrating to get everything perfect. So, I buy the ear posts already made - a pack of 20 - enough for 10 pairs of post earrings - for under $5 at Rio.  Here is a link to the posts that I use (click here).  They come in different lengths.  I tend to use the 1/2" length, as I can get a better grip on the earring when attaching the ear nut - it's a personal preference.

Photo credit: www.riogrande.com

And these ear nuts/clutches fit perfectly on those posts (link here).

Photo Credit: www.riogrande.com

Anybody want to share their ideas for reusing their silver scraps??  I do have a few scraps left! LOL! Would love for you to share your ideas, too!

Thanks for dropping by today - now go make something wonderful!!

Patti

The Art of Photography

by Patti Vanderbloemen for Love My Art Jewelry Blogspot

With the premiere of Handmade at Amazon, there has been quite the buzz "out there" regarding product photos. Natural light versus artificial light; the use of props versus no props; neutral background versus white background; watermark versus no watermark.  The topic changes daily and can and always will be frustrating.

I have absolutely zero training on photography.  It has always, and will continue to be, my least favorite task (actually - listing jewelry on my site is my least favorite task).  But, it has to be done! And taking a good picture is art, in and of itself.  While I am no expert, I have learned what does not work for me.

I have taken my share of LOUSY pictures.  Following are some images taken very early in my selling days. I knew the pictures were bad, but I did not know how to make them better.  I tried an all white background.  OMG, the editing I had to do to remove all the shadows... the gray and yellow tinge in the photos, even though that background was white.

Back in "the day", I used Photoshop Elements for editing. For me, the editing required on the all white background just made the jewelry look "edited".  And it took forever!

Then I tried scrapbook paper.

Let's face it - frosty white lampwork with a white background...ugh.

I used a piece of purple scrapbook paper with silver splashes. Still did not like the picture, but the beads looked a bit better.

Then I tried taking pictures in natural light - a huge disadvantage for me, based on the time of day the picture had to be taken and where the sun is blaring.  

I tried a "natural" background - my flagstone sidewalk outside my basement studio door. Horrid, in my opinion.  The shadows in this picture - and the glare from the sun shining on that sterling ear wire...

My studio at the time was in my unfinished basement, complete with two light bulbs screwed into the ceiling - translated as DARK. Then I bought two very cheap photo lamps, and I made a trip to the local garden center and bought a slab of granite. I used this setup for years.

I was still not happy, as the granite began to take on a green tinge in my eyes, but I did not know what else to do, so I just kept using it.

But, the pictures still look "blah" to me.  It's like the beads were blending into the background. I wanted to focus on the jewelry - not the background

I started to add just a fringe of a prop in the picture - a tiny cluster of white flowers in the back, on this photo, thinking it would help. It doesn't help.

The violet color of these beads was just lost.

Then, about 2 years ago, the unthinkable happened. I lost my camera - lost it! It was an old Sony Cyber-shot with so many attributes that were perfect for someone struggling to take photos who knows nothing about photography: automatic macro shots, automatic exposure, etc. I used that camera for at least 5 years.  How do you lose a camera when you don't take it anywhere????  So, after searching EVERYWHERE in my house, I bought this camera - also a Sony Cyber-Shot (link here).

When I received the camera, I thought for sure there would be no learning curve involved - I mean, it was still a Cyber Shot, right?  Wrong.  It took at least 2 months before anything was in focus, half the item would be out of range - it was awful.  But, I finally figured out what angle to shoot the photos, how close I could get to the object, etc., and then found my old camera. Isn't that how it always goes? Just for grins, I tried to take a photo with the old camera, but this old dog could not go back.

Anyway, still not happy my photos, I determined I had two problems: the lighting was still wrong, and that granite background had to go. After researching and trying to find photo lamps that would not impart a horrible shine on my jewelry, I found these lights (link here).

These are entitled "soft-boxes" - there is a piece of sheer white material covering the light bulbs, which help with the ugly shadows in pictures when a straight-on bulb is used.  Now, although these lights are considered portable and lightweight (note the cute bag in the lower right corner of the picture), they were a bit cumbersome to fit together. But, I now have a dedicated studio in my new home (still in the basement, but so much better than the old basement), I never take them down. The stands are also adjustable in height - which comes in handy when I have to take a picture of a necklace on my mannequin. So, problem Number 1 solved.

Problem number 2 was the backgrounds. I did a lot of research, and found the perfect background for me where the background does not deter from the jewelry- an 18% Gray Card. The 18% gray card, combined with the photo lamps, provides the correct exposure regardless of brightness - every single time I snap a picture. And most importantly, the colors stay true. Here is one link to an 18% Gray card on Amazon - I have purchased several different "brands", including these.

The following is a snapshot of my photography setup.  I still use the granite for height - the gray card sits right on top. The table is an old - and I mean at least 20 years old - craft/cutting table that I used to use for sewing.  With the 2 lights facing each other, the shadows disappear.

Now when I take pictures, at least the copper looks like copper and the silver looks like silver.

I still use a hint of prop in the picture sometimes.

Like this small cluster of sea shells...it was the only way to photograph this ring upright!

Most importantly, colors stay true.

Nowadays, the only picture editing program I use is Picmonkey (www.pickmonkey.com).  If you do not want all the advanced features - it's free (with advanced features, it's $4.99/month). Three editing clicks: crop, re-size, automatic exposure. Done.

I am no expert on Watermarks. Technically, what I do is not a watermark at all.  A watermark is a visible embedded overlay on a digital photo consisting of text, a logo, or a copyright notice.  Its purpose it to identify the work and discourage unauthorized use. I just slap my name, the year, and the © symbol.  I only do this for name and "year made" reference (for my use) . It's hard enough to market one's work - and the name Vanderbloemen does not slide easily off one's tongue, or remain in one's memory. So, it's mostly for name recognition in the hopes that someone sees my photo and tries to find my shop! 

Like all art, photography is subjective.  Some people are drawn to an all white background - if taken correctly, it is beautiful! I have seen some phenomenal images of jewelry using tree stumps, driftwood, seashells, and, feathers - you name it.  I do not believe there is a right or a wrong way to take a picture - this is just my way.

If you have any tips on photographing your jewelry, please share in the comments! Would love to read new tips!!

Patti