Ever late! Today I am joining in with Erin and Marcie's Challenge of Travel Blog Hop. The challenge was to select a region of the planet that you do not live on and choose an nation within that region to learn a little about and inspire a creation, or you could choose to have one selected for you (Which is what I chose to do).
The country selected for me was......
Egypt
My first thought was YES I love Egypt, ever since I was young I have been fascinated with Ancient Egypt, The Pyramids....
The Sphinx....
The Hieroglyphics....
And, oh the Jewellery, beautiful gold and luscious turquoise, Thick wrist cuffs and beautiful beaded collars..... And then I lost all my confidence, so off I headed to ETSY for some inspiration....
I really wanted to make that beautiful beaded sphinx cuff in the middle, but I left it too late and could not find any where that stocked all the right colored seed beads (properly because I did not know where to look) So I though I would take a look at Egyptian inspired components....
Oh, look at all those pretties!
But again I left it too late to get my hands on any of these treasures so I thought I would try to make my own Egyptian focal with what ever I had in my magic draw of stuffs I have forgotten all about file away for later use!
Attempt one was to make my focal out of polymer clay maybe add a splash of paint to high light the design etc, so I drew out my design on the clay to use as a mould, seems its alot harder to draw on clay then you would think and even harder to draw small things to cut a long story short polymer clay attempt failed, then at the back of the draw I saw some metal clay, fantastic I though as this stuff shrinks!
Hmmmm the back of the pack on the bronze clay may well say that the stuff can be touch fired and will take 7 mins, but it can't and it dose not! It crumbled to pieces even though I fired it for twice as long??? Ahhh well on to the copper clay, and this is what I finally ended up with this bracelet.....
And this necklace....
I had a little mishap with this piece but I think it adds to the ancient feel, though I do need to add a touch of Liver of shulpher to darken the silver a little (gold was beyond my budget unfortunately and I quiet like the look of the silver and copper together).
I really enjoyed finding out about Egypt and was surprised to find out that I had even eaten Egyptian food (falafel) without knowing it was Egyptian!
Thanks to Erin and Marcie for the challenge and you may well see more Egyptian influence on my blog (I so want to try making that cuff)!
Please check out the others that joined in with the fun
Have a great day and happy traveling
Your pieces came out great! And there were some stunners in the Treasury you posted too!
ReplyDeleteLove the pieces.. Very Egyptian :) great job
ReplyDeleteNiky, Lovely pieces. I love learning about other countries.
ReplyDeleteJust love your pieces! They look ancient like they were dug up from a tomb. Great job!
ReplyDeleteNiky I just love your pieces. Your copper pieces are great and the one on the necklace looks really rustic and ancient. I love the links on your bracelet!
ReplyDeletelove the copper pieces - awesome!
ReplyDeleteI love what you made, the two copper focals are just so right, and ancient looking too. You did great!
ReplyDeleteThis was such a great hop, not only for the amazing jewelry created, of which yours certainly qualifies, but for the great trip around the world. Congrats
ReplyDeleteHi Niky,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed learning a little more about Egypt. Your bracelet and necklace are so pretty and I love the pendents that you made with copper PMC. Beautiful!
Therese
I love what you did, capturing Egypt perfectly!
ReplyDeleteLoved learning about your research and passion for Egypt. Interesting experiments with the clay. I will definitely take note. Your end results are very nice and very successful! Can't wait to see if more designs develop from your Egyptian influence.
ReplyDeleteNiky! Your two pieces are equally GORGEOUS! I love the mix of copper and silver. YOU made those focal? Wow so talented. REALLY love them both!
ReplyDeleteFor all the mishaps, your jewelry turned out to be real stunners! I'm extremely impressed with the results! I think you lead me on with your story about how badly things were going! ha! Lovely, lovely work!
ReplyDeleteAwesome effect with the broken area.It looks so cool and authentically old.Love and Hugs Tanya
ReplyDeleteWow, for plan, let me see, E - this looks pretty amazing! I'm glad you worked your way there and I think the anke is stunning as it is. perfect!
ReplyDeleteNiki, your pieces are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteOMG, Niky, am I to understand you have a newborn less than four weeks old and you are making jewellery?? You must be Superwoman, girl LOL. (Leo is such a cutie; more pics please!)
ReplyDeleteNot satisfied with making something easy and relaxing, you undertook a new craft involving fire and metal. Your pieces are both gorgeous, but I confess the "damaged ankh" looks so authentic, like something buried in the sand and unearthed by an intrepid explorer ...
I've always learned much more from my mistakes than from my easy successes, Niky. If that is the case with you, perhaps you'll quickly become an expert in metal clay design. Your chosen nation was one with much iconic inspiration, but you have managed to honour Egypt with unique and fitting designs, Congratulations!
Both pieces are gorgeous! I love that you made a lot of your own components. And the 'mishap' on the necklace--well I thought it was supposed to be that way, sort of like an ancient relic dug up from a tomb. Love it!
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