April 21, 2014

Workshop with Julie Picarello / Delavnica z Julie Picarello

  I've spent last weekend in Ljubljana at the workshop with Julie Picarello. She's such a nice lady other than a great artist!
  Prejšnji vikend sem preživela v Ljubljani na delavnici z Julie Picarello, ki je prav prijetna gospa in ne samo uveljavljena ustvarjalka s polimerno glino!

  First day workshop was Magpie Mokume - learning the mokume gane technique Julie uses in her work and making a cabochon. I was familiar with this technique already, as my first polymer clay book I've ever bought and read and tried to apply to polymer was Julie's Patterns in Polymer, but learning from the artist is a completely different thing. She showed us many tips you can not learn from a book.  
  Prvi dan delavnice je bil na vrsti Magpie Mokume - spoznavanje s tehniko mokume gane, ki jo uporablja Julie pri svojem ustvarjanju, in izdelava enega zaključenega kosa za nakit (npr. obeska). Njeno tehniko sem sicer že poznala, saj je bila prva knjiga o polimerni glini, ki sem jo kupila, prav Julie-jina Patterns in Polymer, vendar pa je učenje v živo popolnoma druga zgodba. Julie nam je pokazala en kup praktičnih trikov, ki se jih iz knjige ne naučiš. 

  Well, let's go back to the workshop - there are two difficult things in this technique: choosing the color combination and (the most difficult) slicing. Oh, slicing!!! The first day I was not able to get a single good slice ... :-( ... but managed to get some slices that were big enough to make two cabs.
  Če se vrnemo k delavnici - v tej tehniki sta predvsem dva zahtevna postopka: izbrati ustrezno barvno kombinacijo in (najtežji del) rezanje plasti. Uh, to mi je dalo vetra!!! Prvi dan nisem uspela odrezati niti ene popolne rezine... .-( ... a sem kljub temu dobila par rezin/plasti, ki so bile dovolj velike za dva zaključena kosa.


 I've alread used this one with a piece of shibori ribbon to make the brooch for the Shibori ribbon blog hop:
  Prvega sem vam že pokazala, saj sem ga uporabila pri izzivu Shibori ribbon blog hop:

  
  However, the second one is my favorite! I think I'll use it as a pendant for a necklace.
  Osebno mi je bolj všeč drugi kos - ki ga bom najverjetneje uporabila kot obesek za ogrlico.




  Even if the slices were everything but perfect, I really love the color combination used for it.
  Čeprav so bile rezine/plasti vse prej kot perfektne, mi je pa barvna kombinacija, ki sem jo uporabila, izjemno všeč.




  The second day we worked on a Button Blossom pendant. At first we've repeated the steps from the first day: mixing new colors, imprinting the patterns and ..... slicing!!! I have to say the slices of the second day were much more even than those from the first one. I was really happy with it!!! 
  Drugi dan delavnice je bil namenjen izdelavi Button Blossom obeska. Najprej smo ponovili korake, ki smo se jih naučili prejšnjega dne: mešanje barv, vtiskovanje vzorca in ... rezanje plasti!!! Moram povedati, da mi je tokrat rezanje bistveno blj uspelo in sem dobila kar nekaj skoraj popolnih rezin.   


  And I've also managed to complete the piece at the workshop:
  Na delavnici sem uspela tudi dokončati izdelek (no, verižico sem obesila doma):


My/Moj Button Blossom

  No need to say it was a great weekend and can't hardly wait for another workshop ...
If I get back my pictures, I'll show you some more.
  Ni treba posebej izpostavljati, da sem preživela čudovit vikend in komaj čakam na naslednjo delavnico. Če uspem dobiti nazaj svoje slike, vam bom pokazala še nekaj utrinkov ustvarjalnega vikenda.

  Girls from Izdelovalnica malih umetnin, thank you very much for organizing this event.
  Dekletom iz Izdelovalnice malih umetnin pa se zahvaljujem za organizacijo tega čudovitega dogodka.   

Be happy,
Bodite veseli,
Alenka
    

April 14, 2014

Shibori Ribbon Blog Hop

  Hello! Today is the day of  the Shibori Ribbon Blog Hop hosted by Tanya Goodwin of  A Work in Progress.  Tanya had some gorgeous Shibori ribbon pieces, which she decided to give to 6 beaders to play with - and I was one of those lucky winers!!!



  I've never seen a shibori ribbon before, it was a totaly new material for me, so I was hardly waiting to get my package in the mail. This is the piece I had to play with:




 Beautiful colors - but how to make it shine in a piece of jewelry? I've searched online and found so many fantastic embroidery pieces with the use of a shibori ribbon, but didn't have all the materials needed to try bead-embroidery.

  This weekend I've attender a polymer clay workshop with Julie Picarello and for one of the cabs I've made the first day I've used just the right color scheme to combine with the piece of shibori ribbon I've got. And that was when this brooch was "born":


 ... and from a different angle ... 


   The cab needs some buffing to become more shiny, but I'm quite happy with the result.

  Thank you, Tanya, it was really a nice blog hop, I enjoyed very much participating. I'm pretty sure I'll take some more shibori ribbon to create with!

Now please  visit the blogs of the other participants and  see what they have done with their ribbon:
Tanya   (our host)









Therese  
 Be happy,
Alenka 

April 11, 2014

Waiting for ... / V pričakovanju ...

... a weekend workshop with Julie Picarello in Ljubljana!!!
... vikend delavnice z Julie Picarello v Ljubljani!!!




Tomorrow we'll have a blast!!!
Že jutri bomo pa zares uživale!!!

Be happy,
Bodite veseli,
Alenka

April 3, 2014

What have I sent to Lori ...

  When I found out that my partner in this year's Bead Soup Blog Party is Lori Anderson, I was absolutely happy and honoured. However, when I started to put together the bead soup for her I was stumped at first.  Lori is so versatile and experienced in jewelry making and I wanted to send her a challenging bead soup. That's the purpose of the party, right? To give our partner the possibility to work outside her comfort zone. Believe me, with Lori that was not easy at all to accomplish as she has already used almost any material/style/component.   
  Ko sem izvedela, da je moja partnerica v letošnjem Bead Soup Blog Partiju Lori Anderson, sem bila vesela in počaščena. Ko pa je bilo treba spraviti skupaj "župco" iz perl zadnjo, sem bila najprej popolnoma brez idej. Lori je tako vsestranska in izkušena, ko gre za izdelavo nakita, jaz pa sem ji hotela pripraviti izziv. Saj to je namen tega partija, kajne? Svojemu partneru dati možnost, da se sooči s takimi sestavnimi deli za nakit, ki jih običajno sam ne bi izbral. Lahko mi verjamete, da je pri Lori to vse prej kot lahko, saj je pri svojem ustvarjanju nakita uporabila že skoraj vse mogoče materiale/stile/sestavne dele.      


  Keeping in mind her usual style and colors I decided to go for a yellow-light green pallete and a more textured, matte finish. By the way, these are exactly the colors I see looking from my window right now. The second part of the soup is more orange-red. Here's the whole bed soup:
  Odločila sem se za rumene do svetlo zelene odtenke in bolj grobo, mat obdelavo. Mimogrede, to so ravno barve, ki jih trenutno vidim skozi okno. Drugi del komponent pa je bolj oranžno-rdeč. Tukaj je "župca" v celoti:   



  The yellow-light green part includes:
- light green polaris beads,
- yellow-orange polymer clay pendant,
- three polymer clay connectors (two circles and one weavy),
- polymer clay amphora-like clasp.
The polymer clay pieces are handmade by me, they are my own interpretation of a combination of techniques from Helen Breil's book Shapes and Iris Mishly and Hila Bushari Cosmic Ceramic Tutorial.
  Rumeno-zeleni del obsega:
- svetlo zelene polaris perle,
- rumeno-oranžen obesek iz polimerne gline,
- trije vezni členi iz polimerne gline (dva obroča in eden bolj valovit),
- amfori podobna zaponka iz polimerne gline.
Vse kose iz poligline sem izdelala sama po postopku, ki je moja lastna interpretacija kombinacije tehnik iz knjige Shapes Helen Breil in Cosmic Ceramic tutoriala od Iris Mishly in Hile Bushari.  
 


  The polymer clay heart pendant and coordinated beads were also handmade by me. You can recognize them from one of my latest posts.
I've included a key charm, it was just calling to be included.
  Srčast obesek iz polimerne gline in usklajeni perli so tudi moje delo. Obesek lahko prepoznate iz ene mojih zadnjih objav.
Dodala sem še obesek v obliki ključa, ki je kar klical po tem, da ga vključim. 



  And the last part:
- two spools of leather like cord - one in green and one in red - coordinated with the two bead soup color palletes,
- orange rainbow 4,5 mm beads,
- hollow glass beads in two sizes,
- red coral cube beads and 
- a pair of faux stone beads.
  Še zadnji del "župce":
- dva navitka usnju podobne vrvice - v zeleni in rdeči barvi, ki sta barvno usklajeni z ostalimi sestavinami,
- mavrične oranžne 4,5 mm perlice,
- votle steklene perle v dveh velikostih,
- rdeče koralne kocke in
- par perl iz umetnega kamna.



  That's it! I really hope Lori enjoys the soup and can't wait to see what she will create with these ingredients. 
  To je to! Iskreno upam, da bo Lori uživala pri kuhanju z mojimi sestavinami in res komaj čakam, da vidim, kakšni bodo njeni končni izdelki.

  Be happy,
Bodite veseli,
Alenka 

April 1, 2014

My Bead Soup is Here!!!


  Welcome to my second post about the 8th Bead Soup Blog Party! If you are not familiar with this event and want to know more, just visit the BSBP blog.
  Dobrodošli na moji drugi objavi o 8. Bead Soup Blog Party-ju! Če ne veste, za kaj gre in bi radi izvedeli več o tem dogodku, lahko obiščete uradni blog.

  My bead soup from my partner and our wonderful hostess Lori Anderson has arrived!!!
  Prispela je moja "župca" iz perl, ki mi jo je poslala moja partnerica v izmenjavi in hkrati naša gostiteljica Lori Anderson!!!   

  It was packed in this cute crocheted bag - made by Lori - with a vintage button. I'm sure I'll find another use for it! :-)
  Zapakirana je bila v luštno kvačkano torbico z vintage gumbom, ki jo je izdelala Lori. Prepričana sem, da bo torbica dobila še kakšno drugo vlogo! :-)




  When I've opened the bag I've found many small boxes with treasures hidden inside. Well, I was so impatient to open them that I've forgot to take the pictures ... :-$ 
  V torbici se je skrivalo kup majhnih škatlic s skrivnostno vsebino. Seveda sem bila tako neučakana, da nisem uspela poslikati škatlic in sem se kar zapodila v odpiranje ... :-$

  I'm pretty sure you are just as curious as me, so I'll show you what I've got from Lori:
  Ker ste verjetno tudi vi radovedni vsaj tako kot jaz, bom takoj pokazala, kaj sem dobila od Lori:



   - a gorgeous set of handmade lampwork beads (the bigger one could be a pendant),
   - cultured stick pearls,
   - jade and matching czech glass,
   - gold-tone pewter beads,
   - crystal and czeck glass for dessert.

   - čudovit set ročno izdelanih steklenih perl (največja lahko služi tudi kot obesek),
   - vzgajani palčkasti biseri, 
   - žad in ujemajoče se češko steklo,
   - zlato obarvane kositrne perle,
   - kristali in češko steklo za desert. 

   And more!!!
   In to še ni vse!!!


    - a beautiful recycled Lia Sophia pendant,
    - a gold-tone pewter clasp,
    - glass pearls,
    - a silver-tone pewter clasp,
    - gold-tone and silver-tone pewter and brass rings.

   - čudovit recikliran Lia Sophia obesek,
   - zlato obarvana kositrna zaponka,
   - stekleni biseri,
   - srebrno obarvana kositrna zaponka,
   - zlato in srebrno obarvani kositrni "vmesniki" in medeninasti obročki. 


  Woo-hoo, a lot of goodies to work with!!! And a really challenging soup for me!!! I've never worked with lampwork beads, cultured stick pearls or pewter beads (they are heavy!) ... I'm more polymer clay and seed beads, remember? So I loooove the soup Lori sent and I will absolutely enjoy this challenge!!! At the moment I'm just admiring the soup and trying to taste all the ingredients ... 
  Hura, veliko dobrot za ustvarjanje!!! Ta "župca" bo zame pravi izziv!!! Nikoli še nisem ustvarjala nakita iz ročno izelanih steklenih perl, niti iz biserov niti iz kositrnih perl (te so res težke!) ... Bolj izkušena sem s polimerno glino in malimi perlicami. Zato mi je zeloooo všeč župca, ki mi jo je poslala Lori, in sem prepričana, da bo ta izziv zame pravi užitek!!! Trenutno pa si samo ogledujem sestavine in jih okušam z očmi ...

  Come back soon to see what I've sent to Lori and come back on May 3rd to see what I will cook out of these tasty ingredients.  
   Če boste spremljali moj blog, boste kmalu videli, kaj sem jaz poslala Lori, vsekakor pa vas pričakujem 3. maja, ko boste lahko videli, kaj bom ustvarila iz teh sestavin.


Be happy,
Bodite veseli,
Alenka