Christmas 2019 & New Year 2020/Vánoce 2019 & Nový rok 2020

'Hoop in Hoop' Earrings

What you are looking at here is work in progress when I was about to assemble a pair of earrings...

But to go to the beginning it all started with me working out colour scheme and making rough patches with the colours...

This time I did not have a picture for an inspiration (as I usually have), it was the idea behind; this was/is jewellery for February born lady. Birth stone of February is amethyst hence the purple colour. The white colour was introduced as a reference to unpolished stones that have some white in them so I added it too.


I was rather pleased when I assembled it all into what is on the right. But you know the nagging feeling when you think this is not there yet. For a few days that was me...

...until I made another purple 'viking weave' chain and extended the earrings.

Embracing the existing earrings with a purple hoop each, suddenly the earrings stepped into the next level; from something 'nice' to something 'noble', wouldn't you agree?






Enjoy this pre-Christmas time and see you next time. K-)

Inside Treasure

...and of course there is going to be some continuation of 'Two in One' project which I wrote about last time. When working on the loop earrings, there were little bits left lying around. And that to me means to use it, let my imagination run wild (or not) and enjoy the ride for a little longer...

 

This image says it all. Left-overs, cut bits of the chains, tools and working space.

On the right is something I would call a 'quick fix'. Chains wrapped around one another and attached to earring findings...

It was so quick that it almost asked me for a rethink. So I did...

It is funny how the mind works. Out of my experience, ideas from the past or memories pop up at the right time. This is what happened here.

A year ago, a leaf landed on my neck and I just had to take a shot and put it in my memory (post it on Instagram to remind myself :-).

Therefore, when dealing with the dilemma of the new earrings the leaf came in handy...

From the start, a wire or 'drawing' with wire was on my mind. Also remembering that this is for earrings. soon a few little leafs appeared...

With various parts put in front of me, all that was needed was to put things together. Thinking about two or three part earrings in different combinations, I ended with what you see at the top. The 'Inside Treasure' earrings and the beginning of something else. Pendant? Necklace? Who knows...

Have a great time and see you next time. K-)

'Two in One'

Hello everybody...

I have to admit I have not posted for a few months. Last time, I wrote about a 'Strap for Watch' which I really enjoy wearing. Between then and now, I kept working quietly when I copied an existing design to create another strap for another watch about which I will write next time...

Today, however, I will write about this pair of earrings  that came out as a follow up...

Having used orange and green wires for sampling for my watch strap, I also returned experimenting with few techniques. And what a joy it was...

Viking weave, French knitting with five pegs, French knitting using only two pegs, using different materials, a lot of thinking and allowing myself time to make the project grow on me (the way I like it) and...

I am introducing to you - 'Two in One' loop earrings that I cannot wait to wear and make in different colours if required...

Have a great time. K-)

Strap for watch

This is my watch that I have had for a long time. Do you remember 'Past Times', a shop specialising in gifts and retro style goods that closed in 2013 in the UK? This watch is from them. I loved wearing it but the original strap became very, and I mean very, tired so I stopped using it.

However, for quite a while I was playing with the idea of creating something myself. And it was not till last month when I was working on 'Mossy Bark' project that I spotted an opportunity...

...I took off the original strap (re-tired) and  placed the watch on top of the background I had made for the cuff (right) and an idea started to form...

Thinking how I would attach the watch bearing in mind that this watch needs to have access to the back to change the battery, the design started to get adjusted accordingly....

To cut the story short, I started working on a two-piece strap. Basically, replacing the original straps with my ones (below)...

Now, my next challenge is to get the watch assembled to the straps. I am aware that I can take off the bars that would hold the straps but to release it...

Well, I am not a watch maker or don't repair watches so to crack this one is the challenge. At least for now. Either way, I cannot wait to put things together and...

For more I will see you next time on my updates page...

K-)



Update: Saturday, 11 May 2019
Strap for watch

Last time I left you with a dilemma of how to attach my watch to my two-piece strap that I had crocheted as a response to a previous project ('Mossy Bark'). I called it a challenge. And I did try. Really, but...

I just couldn't set the two bars free so that I could subsequently attach the straps. In the end I forced a loose wire around three points of the bars and attached them to the straps. Therefore, I have found other way, not the way I wanted, but as long as it holds...

Originally, I wanted to use the extra space I had gained by the width of the straps and possibly join them creating square or rectangle as is so well observed in Art Deco style (the watch itself is inspired by Art Deco). In the end I liked the way the watch sits on the wrist so I just reserved to the edge curve of the straps and square negative space created around the watch to actually bring the style in.

To sum up, I finished with simplicity. I reached for small black beads (black because the original strap was black so to keep to the look) and threaded them into the watch and here we go. Here is the long overdue strap. All I am left with is to get a battery.

K-)

Happy Easter/Veselé Velikonoce

 

Mossy Bark

A few months ago when we were going through rather windy wintery days this bit of bark with a rather interesting moss patch fell right in front of me... Was it the contrast in the green and brown colours, was it the shape or was it the coincidence of this 'object' falling in front of me that made me stop and/in wonder?

To cut the story short, I took a quick shot and continued on my way when struggling with the cold and windy January day. Later on, as I tend to do, I processed the image in my head, reached for some yarn and started on my first trial...

...shown here are three stages; the base, the yellow bit and the green bit on top. To explain more, I decided to incorporate the background of the pavement in my sample which is what helped shape the outcome of my project...

I also realised how free my hand can be to produce what I had in mind when translating the bark and moss into the design. So I went for it...

When translating this to its wire variation, I simply watched the work grow right under my fingers...

What started as a little piece or bark with some moss on it ended as a cuff/bracelet that I am looking forward to wearing.

K-)

Floating Leaves A - LilacBlue

I was given a chrochet hook of 0.nothing size just before Christmas (2018 we are talking about). The hooks I used previously were already tiny enough so I wondered if and how I would be able to use this size...

I picked two colour wires associating each with a hook of a certain size and started crocheting my 'leaves/pigeons' (by that stage I refered to the samples as 'leaves' only but was still keeping in mind the idea or pigeons).

How interesting to see the difference in size when for both hooks the initial chain is of the same amount of stithes...

After having made a few leaves, I assembled them into a pendant visible in the intro picture. All I had to do at this stage was to add or create a chain (in this case I crocheted it hence this is a completely handmade piece) and voila! I am presenting you with 'Floating Leaves - LilacBlue' necklace piece, a fun to make and to observe its process.

 I do like when a piece emerges by itself, without much or my interference.


This is also when my initial idea of pigeons comes back in. Seen here in line, separate or in clusters, they also translate in a similar way to my jewellery.

In 'LilacBlue' it is in a cluster of thee smaller and in line of five.






K-)

 

New Years’ Eve 2018 & New Year’s Day 2019

A day’s difference...

Yesterday, the last day of a year, we woke up to a beautifully sun-painted day in my hometown Čáslav. Even though it felt cold the sun brought a smile on my face...

Today, the first day of 2019, the same scenery looks somehow different. This almost feels like the beginning of 2019 has left us with an outline only and it is up to us to spend the year painting it to perfection. So what is there to wait for...?

Happy and productive New Year! K-)