Dia de los Muertos REVEAL!!! By Karen McGovern

I have been so excited about our Dia de los Muertos design challenge! I have seen sneak peeks of works created and am blown away! Can't wait to see more. I will start by showing my most recent design.

I began with a gorgeous labradorite skull cabochon. Labradorite is one of my favorite materials to work with--it's electric! This skull is so full of fire, I wanted to make something really dramatic and over the top with it, so I created a nature inspired Sugar Skull pendant I call "Madre Espiritu" or Spirit Mother. I set the skull in sterling silver and flanked it with two cast bronze leaves on sterling stems. A steel and brass flower sits atop the skull with a brass bee. A tiny bronze dogwood blossom sits on the bronze bail above and a brass rose sits below the chin.  

I strung it on a length of flashing rainbow peacock pearls that match the flash of the labradorite. A tiny sterling silver skull hangs from a 2 inch extender. I love her! She is listed in my shop, just waiting for the perfect home....

Now, show us your designs based on Dia de los Muertos, a truly extraordinary holiday full of tradition and  meaning. THANKS FOR JOINING US!!!

Click the link below to show us your designs, link to your blog and share this blog hop. If you do not have a blog, you can still post images of your work!!

Shrinky Dinks and Shoe Doodles: Adventures in Coloring

by Sherri Stokey

Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm still a child at heart so it should come as no big surprise to learn I'm still a big fan of coloring!  I hadn't picked up crayons for a long time, although I've been tempted by the whole adult coloring book craze.  I have so many projects in my head that I never have time to get them all finished and I couldn't see a real "use" for colored pictures.

And then someone reminded me of Shrinky Dinks.

I went out and bought a brand new pack of colored pencils and downloaded a couple free coloring pages and made this:

Which turned into this once baked:

Squee!!!  How cute is that!!  I'll bet at this point you're wondering what in the heck that photos of shoes is doing at the beginning of this post?  I'm getting there, I swear!  I got bitten by the coloring bug and decided to take it a step further and try doodling on shoes.  

Now you have to understand - I can't draw.  I can look at a picture and sort of mimic a shape, but I really have no talent for drawing and realism and shading are beyond my capabilities.  I embraced that and decided to go for fun and colorful doodles rather than anything that's supposed to look like "art" and came up with these:

How fun are those!?  I'm pretty "chuffed" (as my UK friends would say)!  I took a pair of white canvas shoes:

Cheap white canvas shoes, I might add (and I think that's what allowed me to go crazy without worrying about ruining a "good" pair of shoes):

Then I took a box of permanent markers and got busy.  I started with a skull couple:

I'm not all that happy with the way they turned out.  I think I was a bit hesitant with my drawing so the lines aren't as crisp.  I sketched the outlines lightly in pencil and then went over it with a marker and it was hard to trace the lines exactly.  I also wasn't happy with the decorative details on the faces because the area was so small and the markers (fine line ones) do bleed a bit on the canvas.  It got better when I started just doodling without sketching first like the flower and vines.  

To try to keep the two shoes sort of the same (although I wasn't making a matching pair), I decided I'd better do some on the other shoe and go back and forth so I drew a skull on the other one.  This one is larger so I could get more detail in the decoration and I'm much happier with it.

As you can see, I just kept adding stuff and filling in white spaces.  I did try to add similar elements to keep them cohesive (like the blue flower with a magenta center on both shoes, etc.).

Can you tell I'm a big fan of the Day of the Dead?  I'm pretty excited about the Dia De Los Muertos: A Celebration of Life Challenge by Karen McGovern.  It's easy to play along: create something inspired by Dia De Los Muertos and reveal your designs on October 25, 2016 using the hashtag #lmajdod (full details here.)

Dia De Los Muertos - A Celebration of Life Challenge by Karen McGovern

Can you believe it is almost OCTOBER? I. Can. Not. I live in South Florida so the only way I know the seasons are changing anywhere else in the country is by noting the menu changes at Starbucks. Salted caramel pumpkin spice EVERYTHING is on the board, so it must be AUTUMN! When the menu changes to peppermit mocha I'll know I need to start Christmas shopping.

For those of you that do have the privilege of living where the weather patterns are more than "Hot" and "Freaking Hot", I hope you enjoy the change in temps and colors! I miss that--I'm from Michigan and I do miss the explosion of color October through November...send me some pics, okay??

October is a fun month for me. My birthday is in October. I am a HUGE fan of Halloween, and October leads right into another of my favorite holidays, Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. 

Dia de los Muertos (November 1 and 2nd) is an extremely beautiful and meaningful Mexican holiday whose most famous feature is the creation and display of elaborately colored and embellished skulls called "Sugar Skulls". Coming on the heels of our Halloween, many confuse Day of the Dead with Halloween, but the two are completely different. Day of the Dead is a celebration of life, actually. Family members and loved ones who have passed are remembered with offerings of art and food--all in honor of these people's lives and transition through death. It's a beautiful holiday!


So, here at LMAJ we would like to challenge you to create something inspired by Dia de los Muertos. I have posted pics here of some of my past designs inspired by the holiday, along with a fellow LMAJ artist Staci Louise Smith. Staci creates amazing sugar skull beads and pendants! Use the month of October to become inspired, and perhaps to learn more about this holiday, then create something AMAZING. We will "reveal" our designs on Tuesday, October 25th, and encourage you to post images of your designs on that day (on the blog in the comments section and on our Facebook page) as well using the hashtag #lmajdod.

Top left - Alcohol inks on aluminum sugar skull pendant by Karen McGovern
Top right - Bronze clay sugar skull necklace by Staci Louise Smith
Bottom - Dia de los Muertos pendant in tribute to Frida Kahlo by Karen McGovern

It's not all pumpkins and bats--Dia de los Muertos is a holiday rich in tradition and love with nothing to do with our Halloween. Let's celebrate!

Sugar Skulls - It's the Season!

by Sherri Stokey

Some people are offended by skull art and put off by what they consider macabre, but in many cultures, skulls are viewed in quite a different light.  Revered.  Celebrated!  One of my very favorite traditions is the sugar skull, or Calavera, used to celebrate the Day of the Dead.

Mexico's Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, centers around a belief that the gates of heaven open for a short time and allow the spirits of lost children and loved ones to reunite with their families for a day.  How beautiful is that! Although traditions vary from area to area, the holiday is generally not a sad, sober one; it's filled with love and color, food and flowers, and is a time for friends and family to gather and remember loved ones who have died.  It is focused not on death but on remembering life.  If you're interested in learning more about it, you can find much more information and lots of great photos here.  

I just returned from a trip to Cancun (wonderful!!!) where I spent a disproportionate amount of time ferreting out skull/skeleton art.  I found full size Catrinas:

Little bitty pets:

Even a couple at a table next to us in a restaurant:

Several of us here at Love My Art Jewelry have been inspired by sugar skulls lately.  I've been making some micro macrame pieces:

Staci has been making some awesome pendants and beads:

Heck, Karen decorated herself!

Are you inspired?

by Staci Louise Smith

I have been wanting to do some posts like this for awhile, but like always, busy busy busy!  

I have a bunch of Sugar Skull focals in the shop, as well as some other focals similar to the sugar skulls, and I wanted to give you guys some idea of what you can do with them. 

http://www.stacilouiseoriginals.com/store

I had a few laid out on my desk, as I am prepping for a show this weekend, not sure what to do with them.  

At first I wanted to just add chain and a dangle and keep them super simple.  But it was too simple.............so I planned to add charms to the chain.  I wasn't sure how much to do charm wise, and was sort of thinking they needed chunky charms.

I hadn't finished figuring out that part, when Linda Landig posted a necklace she had made with one of my old bronze skulls, 

(you can purchase Linda's necklace here

http://lindalandig.indiemade.com/product/sugar-skull-necklace-brass-day-dead-pendant-orange-black-purple-sari-silk-0 )

and seeing her little dangles sealed the deal for me.  That is what my plain old necklace needed.  Just some simple dangles.  It really captures the Dia de los Muertos feel I think.

So I added my double dangly charms (flower beads by Lisa Peters Art- they were the perfect match!!!)

And I added my chain, and picked out charms to accent the colors in my skull, and voila!  I love the results!

(ceramic stars by Starry Road Studio)

So here are my tips when doing a charm style necklace- not quite a tutorial, but this should help if you tend to struggle with them.

1.  pick out way more stones and beads in a variety of sizes then you will use

2.  lay them out, spacing out larger beads, and filling in the spaces between them with smaller beads

3.  when you use a cable chain, like this one, only hang charms on EVERY OTHER LINK so they lay properly.  the links alternate directions and your charms won't hang right otherwise.  Also, be sure to keep the chain from turning.  I pick it up and make sure the chain is laying correctly so the charms are always added to the bottom of the link

4.  skip a few "hangable" links for each big piece.  I like to hold the piece up to my neck and look at it each time I add a bead to make sure they hang right

5.  Fill the links you skipped with tiny beads to create movement and fill the space without them bumping into the other beads causing them to lay inccorectly.

6.  Try to use beads of a consistent thickness.  if you use beads that are tooooo round they will stick out when you wear it and roll around.

And there you have it.  A simple necklace that is not too plain, not too much!  I haven't taken this one off yet and I cannot wait to design the others on my table.

Remember, you too can make some "charming" necklaces using the components in my shop.  Lots of sugar skulls left.  I love taking the form of a skull and making it pretty.  So fun!

http://www.stacilouiseoriginals.com/store

Reason for the Season by Karen McGovern

Working seasonal. I used to hate to hear those words. So my other jewelry designer friends would contact me and ask, "what are you going to make for (insert holiday here)"? I've never been one to create jewelery designs based on a holiday or event. Its just not my style. While I do love the work created by others for holidays, I just could never wrap my brain around sitting down and creating earrings in an American flag pattern. Or tiny snowman pendants, or Easter Bunny bracelets, or whatever else you could think of for holidays. Although once I did make an epic steampunk-ish Peeps pendant based on a bunny shaped marshmallow Peep. That was pretty cool, and I ended up giving it away in a fun online contest.

Anyways, I guess what I believe is that if you're going to make the piece of jewelry around a specific event, it should be something that you really believe in, celebrate deeply, or find fascinating. For me that has been Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos. I am really interested and inspired by this particular holiday and festival. Ocurring beween October 30th and November 3rd, it is a traditional Mexican festival celebrating loved ones who have died. One of the central elements of the festival are sugar skulls. These are highly stylized, elaborately painted and decorated human skulls. They can be made out of just about anything. I found an shop on Etsy, Sweet Treats by Gwen, that sells the most delicious sugar skull sugar cookies I have ever eaten. I get them every year. This particular form of art is really fascinating inspirational to me. Sugar skulls are gaining popularity in the jewelry market as well. Lots of artist are doing them. Stacy Louise creates a beautiful line of copper clay and metal clay sugar skull pendants. You've got to take a look, they are gorgeous! I myself have started to delve into the sugar skull pendant world, and have created several that I'm very pleased with. My take on a sugar skull is to create a simple skull out of copper, aluminum, or brass sheet. I will etch the brass and copper, and texture the aluminum. From there I embelish with whatever I have handy. Steel flowers, lampwork glass, enamel copper discs, dangles and more. I'm really into sugar skulls at the moment, and I'm very happy to say that I will have one published soon. It's a tutorial, I can't say much about it right now, but I will let you know the moment it's available!

 

Stacie's GORGEOUS sugar skull necklace

A sugar skull pendant I recently created with a bee theme.

The point I'm trying to make is that here is so much more information about the history of holidays out there than we typically think of off the cuff. Christmas brings to mind snowflakes, Christmas trees and snowmen, but what about the winter solstice? Or even Krampus??? The true folklore and history behind many holidays is far more inspirational to me than what we have commercialized in our culture at this moment. So whenever I think of creating a holiday themed jewelry design, I usually take the time to do a bit of research about the true history and folklore behind the holiday. There's so much history and legend behind many of the holidays we celebrate. Thats were the real inspiration resides!

I know its only mid July, but you can't tell me that you're not already realizing that the holiday season is just around the corner. Especially if you are an artist who actually makes their living making art. We all need to capitalize on this time of year and we also want to create meaningful pieces that will go far beyond just simple gift giving. That's why I encourage all of you to do a little bit more research about holidays, find out some unusual festival or celebration that is now, or was historically held at that time. And then do something really creative with it.

 

An elaborate sugar skull cuff I created last year.

That being said, every year for Thanksgiving my family holds a hand turkey contest and we all create really amazing crap art! I doubt the finished works will ever hang in the Louvre, but sometimes the front of the fridge makes a far better display than some old museum.

 

My epic digital hand turkey.  Yes, I used my hand and then added the rest.
THAT'S SOME ART RIGHT THERE!

I guess what I'm touching on, without getting all preachy, is culture (although I did just post a picture of a giant vampire hand turkey destroying a city...). sometimes I think we forget about culture and history when it comes to holidays. We live in a highly commercialized world and it seems to me that some of the most important holidays have been reduced to really contrived and inelegant elements. Believe it or not, we have a pretty rich history here. It's worth looking into. It's worth transforming and interpreting into some amazing art. I encourage all of you to do it, and I hope to see your holiday art all over the Internets this season.  Do share your interpretations with us!

Happy Halloween

by Staci L. Smith

I have always loved Halloween.  The artist in me loves to dress up, and to see all the creativity put forth in peoples costumes.  I mean, making an awesome costume is an art all itself, right?

 

I also love to see what shows up seasonally on pinterest and etsy.  So I thought I'd share some of my favorites today.

 

Maybe these aren't totally Halloween, but they capture the spirit of the season, and I just adore them- Earrings by Two Trees Studio

https://www.etsy.com/listing/167078427/wherever-there-are-crows-ceramic-crows?ref=af_circ_favitem&atr_uid=10429765

 

This piece just spoke to me as the days get shorter, and the nights gets longer.  I reminds me of fall.  I just purchased a couple of her pieces, and I love them!

 

Elise Mahan Fine Art

https://www.etsy.com/listing/167410060/fine-art-print-aurora-borealis-and-the?ref=af_shop_listed_item

 

Marsha Neal has these adorable bat pendants, I bought a few last year and they were a hit!

 

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/167379227/ceramic-bead-halloween-bat-handmade?ref=sr_gallery_7&ga_search_query=halloween+bead+handmade&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=all&ga_facet=halloween+bead+handmade

 

Diane Hawkey has some great ravens and this set in her shop!  Always nice to find another Poe fan.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/164867998/edgar-allen-poe-pendant-the-raven?ref=shop_home_feat

 

 

Also, more then Halloween- I love the tradition and artistry that goes along with the Day of the Dead.  Diana P of Suburban Girl Studio did a blog hop with art beads for Halloween / Day of the Dead themes.  You can check out the list, so you can hop and see all the fun creations everyone made here.

 

However, I loved this particular blog by Linda Landig- not only was the piece she made great, but she did a beautiful write up on the Day of the Dead celebration.
 

I really think that Linda's piece below captures the spirit of the Day of the Dead.  It is festive and fun, and she put a lot of tidbits in there that mimic the traditions.  Just love it!

 

I also found this amazing necklace below.......

 

necklace by Wink Artisans

 

 http://arteabla.ning.com/photo/day-of-the-dead-necklace

and

http://www.winkartisans.com/ (this link has a whole bunch of sugar skull related handmade)

 

And............. I'd also like to show off the Day of the Dead piece that I made for the blog hop. I am pretty excited about it- since it features a new 3-d bronze skull that I am working on.

 

you can read more about this piece here

http://www.stacilouiseoriginals.com/2013/10/halloween-day-of-dead-blog-hop.html

 

Have a great day- eat some candy, be nice to the little kids and enjoy the creativity!!!!

 

 



October - Beyond Pumpkins and Ghosts...by Karen McGovern

October is a great month.  The weather, for most of us, is finally getting interesting.  Trees change color.  The air is crisp, and so are the apples.  Events like hay rides and visits to orchards compete with corn mazes and beer fests--AND my birthday is in October so, yes, the month ROCKS.

 

October's leading lady is, for me, Halloween.  I've always loved Halloween.  The opportunity to dress in costume is an artist's dream.  I also love the history, folklore and mythology surrounding events in October/November.  It's more than just carved pumpkins and bed sheet ghosts, you know.

 

One of my favorite events of this season is Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos.  This traditionally Mexican holiday is celebrated just after our American Halloween, on November first and second.  The holiday is a celebration honoring family and friends that have died.  One of the central figures of the holiday is the sugar skull.  A highly stylized skull decorated with lavish embellishments, flowers and more.  They are beautiful!  I have several artist friends in all media that have created amazing interpretations of the sugar skull theme, one of my favorites is by my good friend Georgette Pressler of Devious Body Art.  Georgette is an amazingly talented body painter.  She turns the human body into stunning works of art.  Her Muertos works are just breathtaking--as you can see here.

 

 

Another favorite artist who specializes in Day of the Dead works is an American gal named Krisztianna.  She creates jaw-dropping sculptural works she calls Muertitas.  She makes them for every season, sculpted from Styrofoam, hand painted, embellished and simply STUNNING!  Check her out and get ready to be amazed.

 

 

For jewelry designers, October is a buffet of inspiration.  Fall colors in glorious peak, so we reach for agates and amber, amethyst and tourmaline.  Copper, brass, all those rich colors--yum.  I have never been one to create "holiday" jewelry, but this year I decided to try my hand at designing a sugar skull inspired series of work.  First, I created a necklace for Nunn Design--I'm part of their Innovation Team--and I used a hand cut skull I created from etched copper, embellished with Nunn's brass floral stampings, crosses, twig connectors, charm and beaded chain.  LOVE IT. 

 

Next I created a matching over-the-top cuff for Plum Gallery in St. Augustine, FL.  I created it from textured aluminum overlayed with a brass dragonfly wing.  In the center is a hand cut skull in etched copper, embellished with brass, sterling silver, steel leaves and more.  I rather like it, in all it's dramatic glory.

 

 

Finally, I wanted to create a more subtle design, so I made a jasper necklace in copper, sterling and aluminum.  A tiny sterling silver skull is held in place with a dimensional brass flower.  I really like this design.  Finally, I've made a bracelet that features a brass cup holding one of MaryAnn Carroll's gorgeous enamel copper discs, the tiny sterling skull and the brass flower, with a white stick pearl accent.  Definitely a favorite.

 

Red creek jasper pendant, brass and enamel copper bracelet with pearl accent. 
These designs are available NOW, so contact me if interested!!

For those of you that do create "holiday" work, what themes have you explored outside the "normal" holiday imagery?  I'm considering expanding on this theme, perhaps to try a winter solstice series.  There are so many wonderful seasonal themes that go artistically beyond snowmen and candy canes...that really interests me.  How about you???