Yep, gonna say it again…it’s time for the AJE Component of the Month already! The month of September’s component was provided by Kristi Bowman-Gruel. You can find her gorgeous copper and polymer creations here in her etsy store. Since Linda was coming to Bead Fest again this year, she brought Kristi’s components for many of us to choose, and I chose this one:
The first thing that came to my mind was silk ribbon. I checked on etsy and found Jamn Glass and purchased these exact silk ribbons.
You can see I was going to use the silk ribbon, a lentil shaped bead of mine, two large-hole spacers and some knots. This is the bead I am going to use – I think it matches the colors of the silks well, but I will see when I actually get them if I am right!
When the silks didn’t arrive, I decided to try and come up with some other ideas. This next idea was going to use wire wrapping, either in annealed steel or patinaed copper. However, when I set out the beads I was going to use, I felt the colors were too dark and wouldn’t bring out my focal.
These are the beads I was going to use; while they are awesome, I felt the beads needed to be brighter and I just don’t have the right mix.
My last design used a pendant that would hang from a bail on the silks. I used annealed steel to make the pendant. When I actally made it, I found that the pendant would not stay centered when wearing it, and it just wasn’t pretty enough or did much for the focal. I took it apart and decided to wait for the silks.
So, when I get finished, I’ll be sure and post the final design. In the meantime, please head over to Art Jewelry Elements to see what the team members and our guests made with Kristi’s pretty pendants.
