Trinket #73 - A Feathered Nest

No, I didn't go with the Motif Monday theme today. I spent several hours working outdoors again and found all of the birds busy at building comfy nests in my trees and shrubs. Their diligence was the inspiration for these earrings.

This pair of ear fobs is made with light purple (almost gray) crackled glass beads, silver wire, and a bird and nest charm. Hopefully I will have some time again soon to make something other than earrings!

Trinket #72 - Felt Flower Hairpin Redux

I hate to waste things. Time, money, food - use it wisely and don't throw it away if you can help it. I had some supplies left in the felt kit I bought to take with me on my trip, so I decided to put them to good use tonight by making this lovely wine-colored hair pin!

I should be back in the swing of things tomorrow and hope to be able to sit down and put together something a bit larger and more special than I've been able to make for the past few days. Wish me luck.

Trinket #70 - Felt Flower Hairpin and Bonus

Another video blog - enjoy!

Trinket #67 - Red Turquoise?!

Yep, Red Turquoise. They look remarkably like a dark coral of some kind, but if you look closely, you can see the dark striations of hematite throughout. Something about these beads made me think "tropical", so I paired them up with a small, simple wooden bead. Quick and simple.

I've been wearing my Peridot Jasper earrings the past couple of days and have gotten tons of compliments on them, so I decided to replicate the design here in different colors and shapes!

Trinket #66 - Self Portrait Necklace

Self portrait is the theme of the week, and as that is a pretty sticky theme to try and translate into jewelry, I did the best I could. This necklace is based on a single strand and has multiple strands that branch off of it - symbolic to me of the many interests and paths my life has taken.

It is asymmetrical, but balanced - symbolic of the "mom" side of me and the "self" side. The pearls represent the parts of me that started off rough and undeveloped that have matured into valuable talents and skills.

The beads? Well, I just like them.

Today's trinket is modeled by my lovely daughter.

Trinket #64 - Always After Me Lucky Charms

The husband and I took a lovely drive into the Piedmont area of Virginia (Fluvanna County) today to pick up new chickens. The small flock that we had before (which I had grown way too attached to, by the way) fell victim to the perils of suburban life - two perished because of a dog, and the third to the extended 105 degree and up days of this past summer. The dog has since moved on to greener pastures and we're prepared to install misting hoses and fans outdoors this year if the excessive heat decides to make a reappearance, so there is a much-celebrated return of poultry to the Brown homestead this evening.

We took the truck on our outing, and the family generally operates by the rule that the primary driver of the vehicle determines the musical accompaniment of the voyage. Paul decided a great way to enjoy the green countryside and rolling farmland was with his rather extensive collection of Irish rebel tunes. All of those songs about dear old Ireland and its independence must have seeped into by subconscious because the bright green mother of pearl and silver clovers were the first things I grabbed from the supply stash when we got home!

Trinket #63 - Spring Green Cubes

I spent a good amount of time outdoors today prepping the garden beds for vegetables. Last spring and summer were so busy for me, I didn't really get the "itch" like I normally do - you know, the need to get out and dig and plant and prune. It has really hit me hard over the last two weeks and I'm eager to put that motivation to good use now. I want to be able to sit back and relax in July and August when the weather is 100+ degrees with air so humid you feel like you're swallowing it instead of breathing.

The roses are sending out their leaves, the trees have finally started to show some signs of life, and the day lilies and spiderwort are already about six inches high. Inspired by all of this tender foliage, I went for the green beads once again tonight. These bright yellow-green cubes (Peridot Jasper) remind me of the outside of daffodil flowers before they bloom. I may just wear them tomorrow to add a bit of glamour to  hauling mulch and spreading compost!

Trinket #61 - Candy Earrings?

My daughter says that these remind her of chocolate and banana. My husband asked if they were made from pieces of banana Runts. In reality, they are made from small wooden barrel beads and some gorgeous yellow serpentine chips. I'm really starting to love the serpentine, but I've heard from the delivery fairy (AKA FedEx Tracking) that I have a box full of semiprecious goodies arriving at my door tomorrow. In it are many different shapes and colors of mother of pearl, coral, turquoise, jasper, citrine, and more. Needless to say - I can hardly wait!

Also, as you can see, this is shaping up to be an earring kind of week. Earrings are quick and (I'm really pinched for time this week) and I wear them more often than any other sort of jewelry. I hate to make something only to have it sit around.

Trinket #60 - Huginn and Muninn

As you probably noticed, my plain white backgrounds didn't last very long at all. Full color is back today with these quick earrings. The focal point of the trinket is the brushed bronze raven on each. Think of them as Huginn and Muninn, Odin's little pals. Added to the bottom of the earrings for a bit of interest and movement are some Serpentine nuggets. The gem's metaphysical properties are thought to help find lost wisdom and to provide enlightening energy - another nod to Odin.

I have a fondness for crows and ravens that began many years ago after watching a film about a study done to measure the birds' cognitive capacity. Needless to say - it was off the charts. Adolescent ravens will hang out in "gangs" and hassle the older mated pairs for their own amusement. The male of the mated pair will chase off the hecklers repeatedly, sometimes without eating for long periods, just to protect his wife. Sounds more like human society than I feel comfortable with.

For years after seeing this film, I kept a crow call in my purse in the event I saw a lone bird and wanted to try and offer it something. Apparently, if you befriend one, even though it has spent all of its life in the wild, the bird will still bond with you. I keep my hopes up that someday I'll have a tasty piece of bread, or a Cheeto (like the study found ravens and crows are quite fond of), and can make a feathered friend of one of these intelligent beauties.

Trinket #59 - Early Spring Necklace

"If I had one wish..." is the theme of the day. The only wish I could think of was that the fierce wind today would take it easy on the trees. They are trying so hard to unfurl for springtime, but the crazy transitional-season weather here in Virginia means that we could have one week of spring, one week of winter - repeated for two months at a stretch.

Today's 40 mph "breeze" finally settled down after a huge rainstorm blew through. I hope the trees in the city are happy and that they all managed to stay standing with the gusts that exceeded those sustained wind speeds! Thankfully, our giant old sycamores are tough and fared well. I'm even MORE thankful this evening that the neighbors' sickly, hollow maples did not fall on my garage! Hey, I appreciate the little things.

This necklace is made with silver chain, glass beads, a silver leaf, and some headpins. To me, it's symbolic of the buds and tiny leaves just beginning to appear on bare branches. It was another quick trinket, and I've been toying with the idea of speeding up the photography process, too, by shooting everything on a simple white background. I don't know, it's a little boring compared to what I'm used to. What are your opinions out there in blogland? Plain white or staged backgrounds?

Trinket #58 - Feng Shui Earrings

I had a problem today. Instead of having nothing at all that seemed to inspire me, I had too much! I told myself early on in this project that I would not buy more supplies until what I already had on hand was dwindling. That day came much sooner than I expected, so I headed to the craft store and picked up more chain, ear wires, and a handful of various bird charms. My new stock more than doubled when we visited my mother-in-law this afternoon and she presented me with a bag of goodies that included a fantastic box of lapidary beads, some mother of pearl beads and pendants, and lots of other cool stuff.

True to my frugal roots, I plan on making this haul last a long time. I'm getting back to basics, cleaning up the clutter, and celebrating sleek lines and simple designs. I'm letting the chi flow...

That brings me to today's trinket - a pair of earrings made from jadeite beads, clear glass seed beads, silver head pins, and two of the fancy new ear wires.

Trinket #56 - Quick Sick-Day Earrings

Yes, this trinket it pretty much a phone-in because I've been tending to a sick five-year old all day after getting very little sleep last night. You know what counts? That I did it anyway! No excuses.

This pair of earrings is made from a couple of Peruvian beads that I've had since 1996 (they've been hanging around in the Junk Box!) and some red nylon cording. They hang from gunmetal ear wires.

Trinket #54 - Sideshow Choker Necklace

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, step right up and see with your very own eyes! Two of natures most lovely creations, Garnet and Amber, are together on the very same stage - bound for eternity in antique bronze wire.

Okay, off of my barker's box for a moment. I have had gypsies on the brain since yesterday's post (which prompted more than an hour of drooling at homemade vardos on the web.) That train of thought always takes me to the same station - the traveling circus. I'm not quite sure yet, but I may be onto a theme this week. I made this trinket with the Bearded Lady in mind - something feminine, yet strangely masculine at the same time.

Trinket #53 - Traveler's Ring and Earrings

I stopped in the bead shop on my way home after class today because I was running out of wire. Instead of my usual silver, I picked up two spools with a lovely antique bronze finish to change things up a bit. There is just something about that color that reminds me of what you might find in a Gypsy's vardo rolling across the countryside somewhere.

I wanted to pair up this wire with some sort of exotic jingling coins, but settled instead for these lovely Tiger's Eye chips. The ring was made by weaving and stitching the wire-wrapped stones together and then attaching them to a basic wire ring backbone. The earrings were made by simply "trapping" each stone with the wire and wrapping the finished strand of four to receive an ear hook.

My lovely daughter is the recipient of this set - she's even modeling for this photo!

Trinket #52 - Harmony Earrings

It's another Motif Monday, and this week's theme is "create a life that really matters." That's pretty deep as far as artistic prompts are concerned. Still, it got me thinking, which is exactly what was intended, and helped me not only find inspiration for today's trinket, but inspiration for achieving some of those goals I was talking about yesterday.

For me, a life that really matters is one that is harmonious with all things around it - physically, emotionally, and spiritually. What does that mean? It means that I will strive to take myself out of environments of discord. The word "discord" itself even refers to a musical lack of harmony, though it is more commonly used as a synonym of conflict, struggle, controversy, antagonism, argument, quarreling, and contention. None of those are things I enjoy spending time around. I'm sure the same goes for you.

The trinket that came about as a result of these thoughts is one that combines several different elements that work together in harmony. The hematite spheres hang from silver chains, and the pair is then encircled by silver wire.

Trinket #51 - Onward and Upward Earrings

After a long period of introspection, I've rewritten my goals for 2011. I don't feel the rush to do this at the New Year because, well, they're not resolutions, just things I plan to make happen before the year ends. This is a pretty big deal for me, so today's trinket is symbolic of those goals. I'm sure I'll share a few of them here before the year is out, but I don't want to jinx myself by airing them before I get on track.

These quick earrings were made with a pair of swallow charms, a bit of chain, and ear wires. Five minutes!

Trinket #50 - Garnet Cluster Earrings

Pretty self explanatory trinket today. These earrings were made with some of those delicious-looking garnets that remind me so much of pomegranate seeds. I popped them onto some gunmetal wires and DONE. I'll likely be keeping these for myself because, oh boy, I could really use a little of the boost they offer.

The Gemstone Dictionary provides this description of the metaphysical properties of garnets:

"A garnet gemstone worn as jewelry or simply held in your hand (or pocket) helps to expand your awareness of the world around you and all the spiritual energies contained there in. They are the perfect stones to aid in helping you to manifest your desires and needs into reality. If you are working The Secret (Law of Attraction), keep a garnet with you any time you are attuning your mind to the things you are manifesting. It not only helps you keep your mind on your goal but also helps to speed the process.

If you find yourself feeling down in the dumps and having a hard time getting going, try meditating or wearing a garnet. The garnet gemstone can bring out your passion for life and for living, bring you closer to family and friends. It restores your vitality and passion for life giving you extra energy and stay ability. Don't turn to stimulants like caffeine, absorb the healing energies of garnet to increase your energies and sail through the rest of your day."

Trinket #48 - Aquamarine Earrings

This was one of those three-in-one days. You know, the days that feel like they are 72 hours long instead of 24? That said, this was a quick trinket that used the first things I found in my toolbox - some silver wire, glass seed beads, and faceted aquamarine acrylic beads.

Time is tight these days (the ultimate test of a 365-day project) but I can still manage to squeeze out a trinket in 15 minutes or less. Think you can't make something everyday? I think you're wrong!

Trinket #47 - Full Moon Ring

It's not technically a full moon just yet, but lady Luna sure looks lovely today. I had lots of errands and kid-shuttling to do all afternoon that was made much more pleasant by seeing the moon bright and glowing during the daylight. My tribute to that little bonus of the day - this moon ring.

This is another of the FIMO beads that I made back in December, only much smaller than the one used previously on the Full Moon necklace. It is set with two small silver seed beads on silver wire. I'll be wearing this one tomorrow with my pearls and glass!

Trinket #45 - Tacky Gold Hearts

Nope, I didn't go with today's creative prompt for this trinket. It's Valentine's Day, and (in my opinion) that called for something tacky. Isn't that what everything Valentine's Day is about? Gaudy, garish, glitter - all of those G-words!

In honor of the holiday, I decided on these quick gold wire heart earrings with faceted jet beads. I am a little ashamed of myself, but hey - another trinket done!