Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. This "Quick Takes" isn't so quick because there is so much going on!

2. CHRISTMAS!

Christmas break was fantastic. Nothing beats a family as amazing as mine, and I spent the month playing games, having late discussions, making and eating good food, playing with my little siblings, and basically just relaxing.

I did not sleep on an actual bed for eight nights of my break due to traveling and having guests over. It was so incredibly worth it!

One of the best parts?

50 people + 1 house + 1/2 week + board game marathons, good food, talent shows, charades, improv, engineering discussions, baby showers, fire juggling, late nights, dance parties, art lessons, robot wars, and more = MY AMAZING FAMILY!

3. Studio time-- also, I GOT A TORCH!

This Christmas break I had an entire week to spend in my little studio and made a lot of jewelry which will be appearing on my Etsy as soon as I get time to photograph the pieces here in my dorm.

But the best part?

I HAVE A TORCH.

Like, a propane and oxygen torch which gets to a couple thousand degrees and will let me solder, fuse, and melt metal.

I have been having so much fun experimenting and learning. This summer, when I have access to my torch again, I hope to come out with a new line of fine jewelry!

My first big project was developing a puzzle ring! These rings are SO fascinating to me. Expect more on this blog soon. :)

This ring's bezel is too big, but I'm soooo close to getting the hang of this.

I also have been perfecting the electroforming process that I blogged (and despaired) about several months ago. This is a tulip leaf turned copper!

I also made my own etchant with muriatic acid which makes life so much easier for my metalwork. This is a quote booklet I designed! It took forever but I love it. :)

4. Calligraphy

For Christmas, my grandparents gave me a dip pen for calligraphy. I'll be needing it for my illustration classes in the future, but I'm so glad that I got it early because I am experimenting with calligraphy!

 

When I was younger (somewhere between nine and eleven) I started learning calligraphy using my mom's scrapbooking felt pens. 

(My mom isn't very crafty, but the times that she has done crafty activities like scrapbooking and stamping with friends has really served me well by giving me access to awesome craft supplies!)

I had a cheap fountain pen with removable nibs that a friend gave me for my twelfth birthday, but after eight years of use the nibs were worn down. I hadn't really done calligraphy since the last Lord of the Rings poem illustrations I did two years ago.

I think that pointed pen calligraphy is going to be my new favorite thing. This is the first piece I made with that technique (from my instagram).

Pointed pen allows me to get the varying line widths and the cursive-style writing. I just need to practice more!

Also, nerdiness is important, even in calligraphy. This is a piece that I calligraphic with a broad nib. It's in Quenya, Tolkien's Elvish language, written in the Elvish script Tengwar:

5. Visiting a jeweler's.

My grandmother's wedding band was badly damaged recently, and they took it to a jeweler's for repair. This jeweler's isn't your ordinary retail place; they actually design high-end jewelry pieces.

AND I GOT A TOUR!

The family that owns the business was so welcoming and showed me around the entire studio, even letting me watch their mill, laser solderer, and 3D printer in action! And the main jeweler showed me the tiniest little torch head I've seen in my life. The flame is so small that you can only see it under a magnifying glass. I also got to see the inclusions in a real emerald with the magnifying glass!

They sent me home with some sample molds. This is SO AWESOME guys. Went I took at Metals class at my school, it was all with hand tools-- even for the advanced students. For lost-wax casting, students had to use a flex shaft to carve the one-use wax mold by hand.

This studio creates molds in a CAD software (3D modeling) to the customer's specifications. They then either mill a mold and inject it with wax (the left blue ring) or print it with resin in a 3D printer (the red one-- which was a setting for a ginormous stone and I got to try on the real ring!). The molds are then placed in dentist plaster, the wax/resin is melted, and the molten silver, gold, or other metal is poured in.

IT'S AWESOME. And look at how tiny and detailed everything is!

I had this puzzle box that my brother printed in my purse, since I was showing it to my grandpa during that trip. The jewelers were fascinated by it and it led to a really cool discussion about the different kinds of new technologies out there.

Since I love jewelry so much, and love it even more that I've seen a real designer's studio, I started looking around for jobs at jewelers' for the summer since I can't find any graphic design internships. I really hope my leads turn out. Working at a jeweler's would be an amazing experience.

6. 2014 in Books

Farewell, 2014. This is my year in books. It is one of my shortest booklists ever, with giant blocks of audiobooks (and podcasts) representing long drives and homework hours for my art and design classes. 

I'm a little bit hard of hearing, and I've never been good at understanding people during phone calls. 

Last year, during my Drawing I class, we were allowed to listen to our headphones. I started listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks. I started off listening to books I've read already, and over 2014 I worked up to listening to new books. I still have a hard time hearing and retaining all of the information, but I can proudly say that I've listened to The Great Gatsby without having read it first and I followed along just fine! Listening to books is a very different experience, but I enjoy having something entertaining/intellectual to do while drawing, and my listening skills have been improving dramatically. I can now follow along with conversations in our noisy dining hall without getting headaches!

It's so interesting to go back and revisit these titles and the real-life stories I experienced over this last year. My hope is that over this next year I will have the energy to savor some classics I've always wanted to read. Which of these books have you read and do you have any recommendations for 2015?

7. LOGOS

 

 My painting from my first freshman art class, Fresh Aire, is on the front cover of my university's journal of undergraduate research! The painting was intended as a technical exercise for class, but I took the opportunity to explore the theme of synesthesia.

7.  It is January and school has begun!

Last semester was a rough one. Despite having amazing friends and great activities every which way, by the end of the semester I lived each day simply to see it done and mark off items on my "to-do" list. It was a variety of things: having 27 hours of classes a week (plus homework), getting behind on work for my Shoppe, and (most predominately) some very bad experiences with a certain professor.

On the face of the matter, I did well. I'm maintaining a good GPA. I took calculus for the sake of learning calculus and expected to barely pass the class, but thanks to help from my professor and a math-teacher-in-training-friend, I got an A! (Plus it's really fascinating, sooooo...) I was active at my campus ministry, found some time to hang out with friends, and even stayed on track with laundry. In Color Theory, I painted pieces that I am fairly proud of, and in my Literature gen-ed called Heroic Quest I finally had a chance to study and discuss some deep philosophical pieces.

Outward appearances aren't everything, though, and I was restless, overwhelmed, and disillusioned. Praying, thinking, tinkering, reading, writing, and drawing-random-things-in-my-sketchbook took a backseat. Several of my classes were unfulfilling and in many ways a colossal waste of time and money. (My parents ruined me for school by teaching me to love learning; I would much rather get a B in a class that I learned a lot from than a perfect grade because I wasn't challenged). I even became irritated at good friends because I have a hard time saying no and felt a lot of pressure to always be doing things. Put me in a group setting and I will talk to everyone-- but the biggest thing that I learned from last semester is that I need alone time to refocus. (Also I need more than five hours of sleep to keep from panicking).

My biggest goal for this semester is to allow myself to unapologetically take time for myself. It is the times that I feel I should be doing everything that I need to step back. I'm usually not the kind of person to spend five hours on Netflix when I am overwhelmed; I am the kind of person who will just do more things. Jack of all trades, master of none, and a very discontent Jack at that. There are a lot of very good things in my life right now, far outweighing my legitimately stressful problems. Isn't it possible to make the most of every opportunity and also stop to smell the flowers?

On My Workdesk Wednesday #3

This is WOYWW #270 (and the third time I've participated) and if you want to see the workdesks of other artists and crafters, check out the linky here!

My workdesk this week is once again the dining room table. Last week, I was making new graphics for my blog and editing photos. I've still been doing that, but a couple days ago I had some beautiful free-time to spend painting.

The picture above shows the very start of a drawing that I inked and watercolored. I'm still working on getting a blog post up about it, but for the meantime, here's a progress picture from my Instagram:

Whoah, Instagram pictures look weird when they aren't two inches big on your phone!

The painting is an illuminated-style illustration of some quotes in The Silmarillion (the history and mythology of the world that The Lord of the Rings takes place in). The whole theme of the piece is about how much the Elves love starlight. 

I've haven't only painted this week, but I haven't been as productive as I want. I'm actually writing this post on Tuesday night because all of tomorrow (Wednesday) is going to be spent in the studio.

Tomorrow is my last full day to spend in the studio before I leave for school.

I'm excited for another year at college but so sad that my summer is nearly over. I've been busy, and also took two summer courses, and time really flies.

Anyway, my point was that as of Tuesday I don't have a picture of my real workdesk. I'll try to update this post with a snapshot at the end of the day on Wednesday. But I do have a picture of a piece of jewelry that I made for someone who wanted a black-and-white medieval-style necklace featuring the Evenstar pendant. She is doing a cosplay of Lyanna Stark from Game of Thrones.

Here's what I came up with (pic from Instagram):

I really enjoyed making this necklace-- I just kicked back and listened to Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (fantastic YA fantasy novel to listen to, it was interesting and didn't require much concentration) and played with beads and wire for a couple hours.

So... This has been a peek into what I've been working on since last Workdesk Wednesday. I'm looking forward to glancing at everyone else's blog and seeing their workspaces later this week!

On My Workdesk Wednesday

This is WOYWW #269 (and the second time I've participated) and if you want to see the workdesks of other artists and crafters, check out the linky here!

This Wednesday, my workdesk looks like:

Yup, it's not my workdesk at all!

It's actually the dining room table, but we call it the game room table on account of the fact that the only time we eat here is when guests or over or when we have desert while playing a game. My family is addicted to board games. This morning we are setting up for a tournament of Catan and Ticket to Ride with some of my brothers' friends.

Last night I got the itch to do some design work, so today's workdesk consists of my laptop!

(And by last night I mean that I sat down at eleven o'clock to check my email, got sidetracked with ideas, and didn't go to bed until one-thirty.)

I haven't updated the graphics and code on my blog since... well, I made the graphics in 2010 and did some fiddling with the code early last year to make it a bit cleaner. You'd think that someone who is starting her Graphic Design studies this semester would have kept her blog design better updated. My problem is that I have wild ideas that I never have time to implement, and that I don't want to change the graphics all the time because it's best when people actually recognize my blog if they come back.

Last night, though, I decided that enough is enough and I wanted a cleaner, more professional look. A few hours later and we have...

BEFORE AND AFTER SHOTS! Yes! My blog's design is finally updated! 

I'm a little sad to get rid of the fairytale swirlies on the side of the blog, but the background image I used to get the swirlies there wouldn't load on all computers (and on one friend's computer, the swirlies covered up the text because her monitor is a strange resolution). Plain colors are safer.

My idea was to create a more modern, streamlined, and brighter look, without going all-out minimalist. Plain white backgrounds work really well on some blogs, my my blog has always needed a little more flair and color than that.

Keeping the Faerie logo as-is was a tough decision. I made it the same year I got my graphics software, the same year we moved to our wonderful house, and the same year I started my sophomore year of high school. FOUR YEARS AGO. Gosh, I'm old.

The way that the Faerie is sitting is just... awkward to me. However I couldn't bring myself to redo it since I like to think that my little Faerie has got a little big of brand recognition. Instead, I created new swirlies and flourishes for the Fearie to sit on.

Hopefully by the end of the day I can reflect the design changes in my Shoppe and start getting it together on my artist's website.

Also, this Wednesday, I made my "workdesk" so much better.

I FOUND A COMPUTER MOUSE.

This little unused wireless USB mouse was floating around in my Dad's office. Guys, for the past four years I've been using the trackpad on my computer exclusively. (Except for when I pull out the tablet pen). I wear my hands out pretty quickly every day, what with art, jewelry, and typing stuff for school, so using the trackpad can get tiring-- especially when doing design or photography work.

Using an actual mouse yesterday and this morning has been so nice. And my midi sketchbook is perfect as a mousepad.

My actual workdesk is a HUGE FREAKIN' MESS.

But, hey, a clean desk is the sign of an empty mind.

There aren't any big projects on the desk because I've just finished everything up, and I'm waiting for more sheet metal to arrive to work on my next round of custom orders. But I think that the variety of tools and supplies here show you that I've been busy making jewelry using about twenty million different techniques.

Last Wednesday, I shared my experiences with electroforming copper jewelry. I haven't perfected the technique or anything (3/4 of the leaves I've made so far are ugly wrinkly little things) but I did make ONE solid copper leaf and turned it into a necklace.

Below is the leaf I just finished yesterday. I ran it through Liver of Sulfur to oxidize it and then sanded it down to create the brownish look. I can't make jewelry with this one, though, because I hadn't treated the leaf properly before electroforming it and the piece is really weak.

Now I just need to go find some baby maple leaves that are a little prettier as stand-alone pendants.

There's no better way to start the morning than with tea! 

Especially when you get to use your mom's china. I love my giant mugs but sometimes cute little teacups add just enough flair to your day to make it wonderful. (Particularly when you've just finished reading two retellings of Beauty and the Beast and "Be Our Guest" is firmly lodged in your brain).

Now that my blog is (mostly) updated, I've moved on to editing photos. A few of my friends were gracious enough to model for me, despite the fact that I kept sticking the lens in their faces or at their necks and constantly having to apologize for the awkwardness!

Yup, this is the only picture I've fully edited just yet. I promise that not all the pictures have truncated heads... lol!

I'll probably spend the rest of the work day inside or on the porch, editing photos and glancing over my old calculus book (I've forgotten so much and have to get up to scratch for next semester). I hurt my foot (again), this time during Taekwando, so walking around doesn't sound much fun.

It's such a RELIEF to have my summer classes over. Here's to a glorious two weeks of real summer vacation. I've already devoured two books, played six or seven board games with my parents and brothers, watched movies with my little siblings, and hung out with friends. Next semester will be great but I'm soaking in the rest of summer. :)

Well, this turned out to be much more than "What's on Your Workdesk" (it's more like "What's on Your Workdesk Plus Lots of Ramblings) but oh well. :D

Tea and Jewelry

In the midst of studying for the four tests I take today (yes you read that correctly!) I was pretty productive this last week! Here's a quick look at my latest projects. :) 

(Also I need help naming posts, apparently. I was going to name it "New Finished Projects" or "Updates" and then decided to be boringly descriptive and name it "Tea and Jewelry"... oh well. Please tell me that other bloggers have this problem, too!)

New in the Sketchbook:

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.' - C.S.Lewis

I'm working on a series of small sketches and illustrations for the wonderful Regina Doman. It's actually an old project that didn't go anywhere before-- she's bringing it to life! Regina Doman is the author of some wonderful fiction novels (such as the Fairy Tale Novel Retold series) and fellow fans of hers have been very instrumental in my life.

During her travels, Regina will do "Fairy Tale Tea Parties" in which she will give talks and sign books at small tea parties hosted by fans. The illustrations are for a tea party booklet!

This is a work in progress shot from my Instagram account (which y'all should follow for more behind-the-scenes of making art and jewelry) with a couple more of the sketches.

 New in the Shoppe:

Here's a peek at the newest listings in my Shoppe. I made some pieces for custom orders, too.

Bluebell Chainmaille Bracelet-- I'm especially proud of figuring out a brand new chainmaille weave! (Well, brand-new to me!)

Aurora Rhinestone Pearl Earrings -- designed to go along with my Princess Aurora circlets and cuffs

Blue to green ombre chainmaille bracelet

This bracelet took quite a bit longer than most pieces I make using this weave, since it is too tiny! It's more feminine and elegant, and of course I made this with my all-time favorite color pairing: bright, non-tarnish sterling silver, and a huge variety of shiny blues and greens!

Autumn Red flower spray leaf hair clip -- that's a really long name for this piece but at least it's descriptive. 

Here's the same hair clip on a lovely model!

Mint Green chainmaille flower bracelet. I LOVE combining the ultra-modern, sleek look of colorful enameled wire with the historical look of chainmaille and the whimsical fun of my signature leaf flowers!

Golden Galadriel Star Flower Earrings-- with green crystal dangles

Rustic Celtic Copper Cuff

OK, so this one is a bit of a cheat-- it's not a new item in my Shoppe. It's been up for a couple weeks. But during a fantasy-themed photoshoot, I photographed this stunning model wearing the copper cuff from Eowyn's Jewelry Set. The gown was handmade by a friend of mine, and the sword is a replica of Glamdring-- Gandalf's sword from the LotR movies!

Summer Greens Enchanted Forest Earrings. The Enchanted Forest earrings seem to be a favorite-- they are at once elegant and elven. I normally make them in solid colors, but these various shades of green just called to me. Also, can I geek out about this photograph? I don't know how I got the sunray to be "just so" but I'm loving it!

On My Workdesk Wednesday

I'm staring a new, regular blog feature: Workdesk Wednesday.

It is inspired by the WOYWW link-up over at the blog Stamping Ground, but I'm going to use it as a personal challenge to keep this blog updated on a weekly basis!

(You should check out WOYWW to see the workdesks of other artists and crafters!)

Every Wednesday, I will take a picture of the workbench in my garage studio at home, or my dorm room at school, or one of the tables at my school's studio.

So, what have I been up to this week?

What's On My Workbench:

What's this? A gigantic power supply running electricity through an acid bath?

Ooooooh, yeah. After learning how to etch and oxidize copper using all sorts of chemicals, I just had to keep going. This technique is my largest monetary investment into supplies... so I'm really hoping it works well. I'm having some hiccups right now.

I'm learning how to electroform organic materials! This means that I will be able to literally turn real leaves into copper. Well, not literally. What I'm literally doing is plating them in a nice, sturdy coat of copper.

I can then take the copperized leaves and patina them in various colors to make jewelry. I'm also looking for a way to create a sparkle dip that doesn't look cheesy, so I can make the leaves a little iridescent.

Hiccup #1: I can't skeletonize the leaves very well. I've been boiling the leaves in baking soda, soaking them for a day, and scrubbing gently with a toothbrush, but all I've managed to do is tear the leaves apart. If anyone has ANY tips, please let me know!

Hiccup #2: The conductive paint is taking some trial and error, as I can't seem to get an even coating and only parts of the leaves are turning copper.

Hiccup #3: The rectifier I bought online was defective and I had to return it. I'm borrowing this one from my dad's work but it's only for a couple days. They recently got an upgrade to a stronger power source, so maybe I can buy it from his boss?

(edited)

Dragonfly Wings, Rhinestones, and Fairy Garlands

I found this post in my drafts from earlier this spring! 

When I was little, I used to think that dragonflies were the fairies' cousins. They are so quick and beautiful, with sparkling, flitting wings... I actually got the idea for this necklace while sitting out by the pond watching some dragonflies hover above the water!

It's a stylized version of a dragonfly, though. Very Art Nouveau. The tassle thing is new. I've never used anything like that in a necklace before but I like it!

Copper is so beautiful to work with and so deliciously creamy when paired with pearls.

(This necklace is on my Shoppe).

Here is the necklace, along with other assorted jewelry I've made, on one of my lovely models.

This one's called the Woodland Fairy Garland! I made a necklace similar to this for my friend Laura's Entwife Costume that she wore to a Lord of the Rings ball-- pictured below.

So, the new necklace is not a new idea, but I do like it better the second time around. The vine-like branches are studded with iridescent Czech glass leaf beads and I made a flower pendant as a centerpiece.

This little fella is just something pretty. It wasn't inspired by anything but shiny beads. I think I'll name it after something related to stars, though. Think it looks like a shooting star? I'll go with that. :) This is a Shooting Star pendant.

These two beaded necklaces were not as complex to make (although I'd forgotten how long it takes to string a necklace instead of using chain!) but that doesn't mean they are boring!

I've found myself wearing smaller pieces like these quite often; more will be appearing in the Shoppe. Sometimes the simple things are the most elegant.

Also this necklace was featured in the Saint Louis Post Dispatch. :) Here's the link to the story! I thought it was funny that they chose this necklace set, because it was far simpler than the other ones I brought by their photography studio. However, I think they chose it because it's more conventional than the all-out costume fantasy jewelry I lean towards.

EDIT: I wrote this in the spring, but I wanted to let you know that this summer I've made more variations on this beaded double-stand leaf and flower necklace. Here is one, in more busy summer sunset colors!

Another Aurora Circlet! This one already sold, but I usually have one or two in stock. These pieces are frequently made to order in any case, so I can adjust band size and colors and such.

Here it is, modeled by a beautiful friend:

You can see more pictures of various Aurora circlets I've made here on a masterlist of all posts containing the circlet and it's variations!

And here is another piece that I completed recently; an arm cuff (now sold) inspired by the same Entwife jewelry set.

That's all for now, I'm busy with classwork but keep in tune because this summer I will be working on jewelry full-time in the midst of my summer classes!

EDIT: Hi, now it's me from the summer, aka NOW! I hope you enjoyed this peek at just a couple random jewelry pieces! Love, Shaylynn. :)