43/52 Bird a week challenge - Sweet Nature

I've been seeing open rings, or double headed rings for a while recently. They've caught my eye, but I'm not even sure what their proper name is...  Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to try and make one.

The idea is that the ring band doesn't close and on each end, you add a certain detail.  These details then sit between the fingers and the ring still sits securely on the finger.

For my ring, there obviously had to be a bird for my bird a week challenge.... and then I thought of a sweet little flower. I think birds and flowers are probably the sweetest things of nature, and thus I called it "Sweet Nature". It would make a perfect gift for someone with a sweet nature.

The joy of a double headed/open ring is that the size is somewhat adjustable.

Do you know what these styles of rings are called?  Are they only double headed when it is two "heads" you put on the ends ie like snake heads or something like that?  What name do you think accurately reflects it?  Hmmm..... and while we are all thinking on that...  take a look at what other birds have been created this week by following the links below:

Mystery footprint

I spent my studio time today making some photopolymer plates for a commission.  Photopolymer plates are used to create the impression/texture/pattern in silver clay, a bit like a rubber stamp.

The commission is to make another animal tracks bracelet, but the customer wanted specific animal tracks included, not the ones that I used before.  Her choice includes elephant, rhino, buffalo, owl, etc.... Here's my original animal tracks bracelet:

I write on the reverse of each square, which animal made the foot print  - so it's a learning tool too!!

The bracelet is a gift for the customer's daughter who is graduating with a master's degree in animal science. She gave me the list of animal tracks she wanted, but helped out finding one of them.  Here is the track that she supplied: 

Any idea what animal made it?

I'll be working on the bracelet this week, so I'll post photos of the finished product when it's done.  Go on - have a guess at the mystery print .......

Go with the flow

It's good sometimes to go against the tide and cause some ripples, but then other times, you just need to go with the flow.  The thought of going with the flow always reminds me of our dealings with immigration officials.  And we've dealt with quite a few as we went from UK citizens to green card holders to US citizens.  With officials like that, I often had to remind my husband to just shut up, don't try and correct them or say it doesn't make sense or isn't logical..... just go with the flow.

And so this new necklace is a reminder to go with the flow...just keep on swimming with the current at certain times of your life and don't try to cause disruption all the time.  Save those times to go against the current for when it's really necessary and will have some effect!
 

Hope you like my little fishy and his colored water.

Merry Go Round - what's your favorite colour and how does it show in your work?

It''s time for another ride on the merry-go-round! Jump on and join a group of 8 artists/crafts-women as they link around the world and tell you a little about their lives in art and craft.

This month's question is : What is your favourite colour and how does it show up in your work?

And my answer is:

LIME GREEN! 

Hugh the Chameleon - "show your true colors

This is a perfectly timed "merry" question for me!  As you know - most of my work to date has been with silver - and silver is not my favorite colour!  I've tried different ways of adding color to silver over the years and while some have worked fine - like "Hugh" -  they haven't been quite "it" and I've still craved bright colours.  But recently I've been working more with coloring anodized aluminum to get that spark of colour in my work, either with aluminum on its own, or combining it with silver.

Fresh leaves

Spring

I just love bright colours and if you've ever been to my home or met me - you'll know that I surround myself with a lot of color...so silver is in that way quite limiting. I started working on anodized aluminum at the beginning of the year...and my success was slow to start with.....but now I'm finding lots of new ways and techniques to work with it.  The colors it produces are so vibrant.

Garden seat

So yes, lime green is bursting out of me! It just always makes me happy when I see it.  I am so attracted to it.  So it is coming through now in my aluminium work...watch this space... you will see more and more...

Bangle  - work in progress

Faux bone bangle bracelet

If you want to learn about the other members of the merry go round and how they use their favorite color, please click on the links below.  We live in all different places around the world, so time differences may impact when we all get our blog post up.

What's your favorite color?

Mitsy at ArtMind - http://artmind-etcetera.blogspot.com
Kim at Vilt a la Kim - http://viltalakim.blogspot.com
Sara at Crafts of Texture - http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com  
Fabienne at Easterya Jewellery Creations - http://easterya.blogspot.com
Mariana at Florcita - http://www.florcita.eu/
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent - http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com
Lily at Lily Pang Art and Design - http://lilypangart.blogspot.com