JLynnJewels: May 2012

Monday, May 21, 2012

Creative NEWs from JLynn!

Happy almost Summertime!

It's that time of year for many of you with children...Dance Recitals, Sports Banquets & Tournaments, Proms, Weddings, Graduations and the coming and going of another season, as we transition from Spring to Summer! Officially - the first day of Summer is June 21st...but unofficially, it's Memorial Day weekend! For me, this time of year, it means beautiful gardens filled with Annuals and summer blooming Perennials...(this photo is from last year's garden choices) but this weekend we will be heading over to our local nursery to see what catches our eyes!

We can't forget thoughts of

Beach time, Fun in the Sun (and Summertime Reading)...

Along with BBQs...

and of course our backyard Firepit for Smore Time!!

SEASONAL NEWS...
For the business side, (believe it or not) I'm actually working on designs for the Winter months of 2013...including many colors to coordinate with the upcoming fashion trends inspired by the experts in Color...Pantone! But did you know that the Pantone Matching Series, recently introduced 336 new colors...bringing the count up to 1677 inspirational colors to play mix and match with??? I love Pantone and how it touches our lives in all aspects...including fashion, home decor, and of course...one of our favorites ~ Jewelry!

I never cease to get excited with colors! If you don't remember the beautiful mixes for the seasons of 2012...well here they are:

Bold, Bright & Subdued!

So be on the lookout for some sneak peeks for Winter and trends to come!

But now...I'd like to draw your attention to our newest additions...my mini link ART Tiles...a sweet size for creating earrings or to utilize in necklaces and bracelets. These two examples show our limited edition Heart Cut-out links in the 1/2" x 3/4" mini size. What makes these stand-outs is the workmanship I put into them...they are created with my own fine art decoupage technique and then intricately woodburned with bevel edges on the inside and out. It's a time consuming process - and done with three different pyrographic tools...but the result is simply beautiful (these are quick sellers...so if you don't see these in any of our marketplace stores, please contact us directly to custom order a pair in your desired color and pattern for $12.95 per pair).

This first examples is one from the "Summertime Dreaming" series which features a variety of designs in a variety of Pantone 2012 trendy colors, in this case a subdued Tangerine Tango with the Black Brass findings from Fallen Angel Brass Co!

And this design was created by Karen Vincent of Swallowtail Jewellery

So pretty with handforged dangles - again using Fallen Angel Brass.

LOOK for more designs from Karen in my upcoming "JEWEL of the Month" Designer Highlight!

But - back to the here and now...I've had an extremely busy two months personally - between my son's last semester or so of College and my daughter graduating from High School - it's been life in the fast lane with not much time for R&R! Although I'm definitely not complaining, as I wouldn't trade it for the world!

So, as I'm catching up on blogging, attempting to straighten up my office and studio...along with filling orders and designing - my mind is definitely in the current season of Spring into Summer - and I'm looking forward to the upcoming months of June, where we will be sharing many more summertime designs, new ART Tiles...as well as, a fun new venture...REVEAL coming in June!!!

Have a wonderful evening - and keep checking in for new "shares", some upcoming Tutorials and other news...;)
~JLynn

Saturday, May 5, 2012

We're Hopping today with ChocoLatte BROWN

WELCOME to the Crayon Color Challenge once again!

Our apologies that Blogger chose yesterday to have a major hiccup with some blogs...unfortunately, our Color Challenge Post "vanished" into thin air - but on the plus side, all of your lovely comments remained!

So if you were one of those that missed seeing our design yesterday,
we thought we would share ONE more time!

A special thanks to Sally - it was fun to be a part of of her Crayon Color Challenge and we are looking forward to "catching" up over the next couple of days. The purpose of the Challenge was of course to pick a monochromatic hue and design with it...and our color was...

BROWN

I love BROWN...because it brings to mind many favorite things...two of which are Chocolate and Coffee! I went through my vast collection of Focals, Gemstones, Artisan Glass & Ceramic Beads and found a beautiful and romantic set from Gaea with a glorious mix of browns.

The set had this beautiful Heart focal in it...it's a very deep dark chocolate color with a tad of that grunge black/brown/grey colors running through it. When I originally started designing, I had a Bracelet design in my head...however - I'm one that always goes with the flow and as soon as I started "playing" with the focal...along with a group of Swarovski crystals, Smoky Quartz and Jasper gemstones, and some Wire Lace Ribbon in a Mocca Brown...this pendant emerged with long fringe dangles. Since I was keeping with the Brown theme, it only seemed fitting to design with Vintaj Natural Brass chain and findings.

I love the Rustic and Romantic feel to this set...

All of the ceramic beads have that warm, old-world, Victorian feel to them and when I picked up the remaining ceramic beads from the set...I just had a vision of how fun it would be to have some asymmetrical links in between some chunky, classy etched oval chain pieces. The simple beauty of ChocoLatte is that when I started designins, I had nothing concrete in my mind...so it was fun to allow my emotions and hands the complete freedom to simply sit back and design.

I can't begin to tell you how much fun it was to "try out" different chain combinations and lengths with this piece. I had a variety of chain styles out on the design table to create multiple strands...however, in the end I decided to go with a simple double strand to frame out the top of the focal area...and then compliment that with a long single strand in between the links. If you have never worked with Wire Lace - give it a try! With the thinner pieces, you can clip them without worrying too much about raveling...and if you have the large Wire Mesh Ribbon lace - you can stretch it out to look like a wave. For this piece I tried both...but ultimately just wanted a bit of texture, so opted for the thin Wire Lace Ribbon as a petite accent.

Two coordinating beads in the set allowed me to create these lovely pair of earrings to compliment the ChocoLatte Necklace. Keeping with that romantic, old-world style feel...I added complimentary dangles as I did in the necklace, along with Key Charm dangles with the thought "Key to my Heart"

And if you are a fan of Gemstone Lore...

The two gemstones included in our ChocoLatte design set are:

~Jasper~

Is said to bring stability and courage to balance your emotions

~Smoky Quartz~

Is said to relieve sad feelings and stress, while building self confidence

And here's the complete set of ChocoLatte!