Finding Your Creative Muse

Carol Dekle-Foss

How do you deal with your creative muse? Can you summon it instantaneously and just begin working on your art? Or is it elusive and fleeting and require moments of solace and peace to show its face? I believe everyone has creative ability, and that some have no idea how talented they actually are. I think it's just a matter of slowing down, unplugging from all the chatter and listening to your inner muse.

We all have our own ways of invoking our creative force as well, be it lighting candles, playing music that lifts our spirits, or even well placed crystals or natural elements collected from a cherished family outing. What helps you to be creative?

My creative muse and I, well we have issues. Sometimes I have self-doubt about myself and my ability, and also, at times the need for perfection overrides my passion to explore and create. But...when I do create something that makes my heart sing, or if I get a compliment while wearing one of my pieces, well those moments make me feel validated as an artist, and give me that extra nudge to create even more.

If you are just starting out designing jewelry or you are trying to create and are in a rut, I invite you to look past your fears and self doubts. Don't worry about perfectionism, and start being open to what your muse is saying to you. Also, just enjoy the creative process. Grab a pencil and paper, and start drawing to see what happens!

I recently discovered or I should say rediscovered what makes my creative muse come out and play. I read that it's a good idea to draw out your jewelry designs. I never fully grasped this concept until I saw this image. I'm grateful to Erin Prais-Hintz for posting this drawing of her necklace and showing one of her creative processes. This picture made me have an aha! moment and helped me realize how to rekindle my inner muse. Thank you again Erin!

I take a journal everywhere now. I have one in my car, in my purse and also by my nightstand. You just never know when creativity will strike. Sometimes I will be driving down the road, working out, or just daydreaming and my mind will drift to a design I am working on. I immediately grab my journal or whatever I can find and start to draw.

For example, I was recently giving my chickens some treats and noticed my roosters tail feathers flopping in the wind. They were long and wispy, so I tried to capture them here in these earrings.

 He is a damn fine rooster isn't he? Such a sweet thing too, not aggressive at all. Although at times I would like to ring his neck for being so loud and annoying!

Here is another example of how drawing out designs was helpful. I have this mound of leather samples from my previous job and wanted to make bracelets from them. The problem is they are only 2.5" by 4" in size. TIP: If you are looking for leather, you can try furniture stores to see if they have any discontinued pieces.

So, while enjoying a cup of coffee this morning, I drew out this design. Drawing it out really helped to see what it would look like and also helped with the actual size because of the graph paper.

Here are a couple more designs showing how drawing helped with the overall creative process. 

The dragonfly necklace was at first supposed to be a ring and then by drawing it out I realized I should make a necklace instead.

I have no idea why the heck I keep creating with swirls and flourishes!

Etched nickel bracelet.

Necklace made with a raku bead from Star Spirit Studio.

 These earrings were originally going to be round! I didn't like how they looked on paper and changed the shape.

This Pleiades necklace took me about 4 drawings before I came to this design.

I would like to share this special box. It was a project in our last metal smith class. I etched the hand drawn image on copper, then fire-kissed it with a light torch flame. The location, Ruth's Pond, is special to my family, particularly to my mom. She passed away in 2004, and it was her favorite spot to go and have fun. I made the box as a tribute to her. She would have loved where my creativity has taken me and sometimes I even think she is here helping me along. I also engraved the inside with her actual handwriting. Hopefully my family will appreciate the box and cherish it as a family heirloom.

I hope this post will help you find and embrace your creative muse!

Some of the above designs are not listed on my website because I have been prepping like a madwoman for the American River Music Festival, my biggest event of the year.

 Over the last couple of months, I have been more focused on creating than marketing. My website has suffered. After the festival, I plan to find new ways to drive traffic to my site, and will share any that work. Stay tuned!

DIY Trendsetting: Leather Tassels

by Barbara Bechtel

Tassels are all around these days in jewelry trends.....Around last fall, I began making my leather tassels and today, I'm going to show you how!

My tassels are made of reclaimed leather, but after you try this easy technique, you'll see it's easily applicable to fabric or a vegan option like pleather or ultrasuede!

Product note: While you can purchase leather sheet from craft stores, I encourage you to source your local upholstery shop for leather scraps or purchase some leather that is reclaimed. My leather comes from Modern Fabrics, where I buy my leather. It is reclaimed leather from the furniture industry and this company purchases and resells it as it would otherwise end up in a landfill. For $20, you can get a whole box full that will last you for years making tassels and other things! Please note, you want the remnants...the other leather listed on their site is for full hides so that link is the one you want.

Supply List:
* Pieces of leather (about 2-3" x 3-4" pieces) They will be different sizes but depending on the thickness of your leather and the size/length of your finished piece, you'll want to gather a bunch of rectangles to play around! Start larger and work your way smaller as you gain confidence.
 
*extra tiny leather rectangles (about 3/8" x 1 1/2") for embellishing and making a loop.

* strong glue. (I use E6000) Make sure your glue is labeled to glue leather. This is a great reference for glue. I would not use a tacky or fabric glue as it will not hold.

*Sharp Shears (use a dedicated pair of long, sharp fabric shears) They will make nice, long straight cuts that will give you the nice fringe you're looking for here!

*metal ruler

*sharpie or marking pen

*wooden clothespins or clips (to hold your tassel while it dries)

*optional: waxed thread or linen and beads for embellishing.

I made this really high-tech diagram for you to see how you'll be cutting your fringe ;0)....You can mark all these lines with a marking pen if you're nervous. NOTE: The heavy black line above the dotted lines is for reference. You're not cutting this line. Normally, the dotted lines I freehand cut and the solid line I mark as a guide to make sure the fringe is even....but once you get the hang of it, you won't need to mark much.....

 Cut your fringe like above. Don't use tiny scissors! You want long SHARP fabric shears to make nice straight cuts.

This is the small tab rectangle you'll use to make the loop and will also form the core of your tassel. Fold this in half, securing it with a dot of glue at the base.

Place your loop at one end of the fringe, add glue and fold over. Draw a line of glue along the top edge and begin folding, taking care to keep the fringe, straight, tight, and even along the top.

Keep folding and adding glue and rolling....eh? starting to look very tassel-y.....

Once you reach the end, secure with a clothespin and let dry for several hours.

Practice making a bunch because it's fun and addictive!!!! Once dry, you can add another small rectangle around the outside of the top to add interest and a little extra security (as in the finished picture of my necklace above) or add a little strand of waxed linen (as in the grey tassel above).....

If you don't like to use leather, consider trying this with fabric, faux leather, or ultrasuede!

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! Enjoy!

Loving Leather

I'm not one to notice "trends"...but I notice what I like and lately I'm seeing more and more leather used in jewelry making.  I like it...it gives a natural and kind of bohemian feel.

Michelle Verbeeck has some beautiful examples of leather jewelry at her customleatherjewelry.com website.

I love how she has incorporated words into her designs with and without metal.  Note to self:  learn how to do rivets!

Mary Jane first showed me leather bezels like this one from aosLeather on Etsy.  We're going to try it with cloisonné if I ever get a piece sent to her (Sorry Mary Jane for being a slow poke!)

Melinda Orr whose talent and eye for design is amazing also uses leather to advantage as you can see here:

There aren't many left it seems...but if you are lucky enough to live near a Tandy Leather store...stop in.  The variety of leather styles, colors, textures is amazing.  I won't get into the "correctness" of using leather.  It's not for everyone obviously.  But we can all admire beauty, no matter it's form.

it's a new book blog celebration

mary jane dodd

by lorelei eurto and erin siegel

remember making bracelets from threads as a child and teen - friendship bracelets, macrame with beads?

well, the concept has grown up with us and here is a book full of projects that inspire using leather, cording & fibers... 

beadingdaily.com is hosting a weekend celebration replete with a generous giveaway that includes playing over at polyvore.com... 

stop by and get to hear from the authors, contributors and talented participating designers... there are 4 of us here at lmaj who are involved - you will be able to hear from barbara, staci and stacie and i! all of the links are at the kick-off site...

kick-off: beadingdaily.com

book available here and here

ebook available here

Praise for Designers

by D'Arsie Manzella


I thought I'd give a big "You're fantastic" to all the talented designers who create art jewelry! Besides constantly producing new and innovative arrangements, you are skilled in multiple techniques and are able to form a style all your own with your creations. I am in awe of your patience and devotion to making the world a more beautiful and meaningful place through personal adornment. When you use handmade beads and components - well that is just the cherry on top!

All this appreciation for jewelry designers has been brought about as I sit at my shipping table (notice I didn't say beading table) and struggle with color, wire, and placement to exercise my skill at jewelry design. My muscles are aching! I am a bead designer by trade but in joining this group I have been inspired~

Here are some of my resulting efforts...


Antique copper findings, beads and crazy cool dyed agate found at Michael's. I know there are no art beads here, but wait! There's more...



Here I start incorporating my art beads! A variation on the same theme featuring beautiful enameled rounds from GardanneBeads and rings filled with antique glass seed beads that I found long ago in an excellent thrift store score.

I'm so excited to be able to use some ceramic sparklers made by our very own MaryAnn Carroll!
I love the way they look like small pools of ocean with a drop of sunshine underneath. The white wire was an experiment, I'm totally in love with it! So fresh...


And something earthy made for myself. I cut out the leather, scratched the lines in with my triangular file and rubbed it all with olive oil which darkened all the exposed leather underneath.
I completely winged these, as I've not done a lot with leather before.
A trip to the local fabric shop had me digging in a giant bin like an overeager prairie dog to find all the pretty leather scraps. I was thinking of the Call to Create challenge for this month when I worked on these. The song inspiration is the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts".

Since it is such a thought provoking challenge, I think I will be making more than one piece within the theme.


Have a fantastic spring day!