Niky Sayers Artisan Jewellery

30.4.20

Bees! The April Theme Reveal!

Thank you all for joining us for this months Art Element Theme Challenge, I don't know about you but this was a much welcomed distraction for me! I, as always was hoping to make more but life happens and I got one project that I had wanted to do for a while done!

As soon as I saw this gold work bee in the Stitch magazine (June/July 2019 issue 119) by Georgina Bellamy aka that embroidery girl I knew I wanted to make it I just needed a push, and this challenge was it!

I can't follow instructions so mine is a little different but I enjoyed the challenge. Gold work is incredibly fiddly and the photos don't show how small this piece is, it's less then 2 inches (my hands make every thing look bigger)!

The piece in the magazine had a pearl for its back end but I was desperate to use this lovely lamp work bee bead by Stephanie White.

Here is the finished piece, it's a pendent at the moment but I think I will turn it into a brooch or maybe frame it?

Thank you so much for visiting, I can't wait to see what everyone else has created!

AE team:
Niky
Sue
Jenny
Jen
Cathy
Marsha

Guests:
Tammy
Cat
Alysen
Kathy
Sarajo
Kelly
Evie and Beth
Hope

28.3.20

Gnomes! The March theme reveal!

Well March has been a rollercoaster kinda month! With alot of home schooling I only managed to create this little fellow for the Gnome theme....

He's not finished and currently looks more wizard then gnome, but I like him!
He is made from air drying clay with glass eyes that I brought from eBay, wool hair, beard and eye brows and felt clothing and hat.

I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else has created as I am in much need of distraction!

AE team:

Jen

Guests:

Tammy.

Linda

Hope

Cat

Sarajo

29.2.20

February Theme Challenge Reveal – Letters

So I may have completely used the Art Elements theme (this month set by out wonderful leader Jen) as a complete excuse to buy lots of books and stationary!

These books are amazing (and only a small handful of the ones I brought, not to mention that I took books out from the library as well) It is safe to say most of my month was taken up reading and watching you tube classes on how to do calligraphy.

Or browsing (and buying) art supplies, I love that pens and inks are relatively cheap compared to the prices of silver, gold and designer cabochons!

I had so many idea of things I wanted to do....

a necklace made up of hand sawn words from silver sheet metal that would wrap around the neck and was set with beautiful stones in-between
dangly earrings from soldered wire that spelt out dream on on one earring and dreamer on the other
design my own coffee mug for work
write on my walls and frame it!!!
Paint my Childs cupboard in chalk board paint and practice chalk lettering (with the excise it was for him)
label everything
some form of book art

I have really enjoyed walking around this month and looking at all the beautiful word art/lettering that is out there, things that normally I would have missed because I was not looking!...

I love the name sign of this bar, with the little humming bird as the dot above the letter i and the weathered street sign saying gin and cocktail bar.

Even the opening hours on the door are beautifully designed.

I did not manage to create very much this month and have surrendered to the idea that calligraphy takes time and effort to get the hang of....

As you can see from some of the sheets I have done, I am trying and WOW I guess I have gotten to used to typing things up because hand writing is SLOW!

The difference between my first attempt and my most current practice. I am getting better just very slowly!

I did manage to do a quick water colour and attempt a design for my coffee mug....

I need alot more practice but who knew writing can be such fun!

Please do join in with the blog hop, I can't wait to see what every one has created....

Guests

Tammy

Art Elements Team

Jen

28.12.19

December - Art Elements Theme Reveal - Holiday Creations

I LOVE the idea of a handmade Christmas (Kirstie's Handmade Christmas is my favourite TV shows ever and I have learnt of soooo many crafts that I had never even heard of from that show!!!) Every year I try to make more and more things but don't ever really feel that I manage to make very much as Christmas is just so busy, but this year I started much earlier and managed to get a lot more done!

The biggest problem I had was trying to photograph every thing as there was just next to no day light and very little time before finishing a piece and having to package it up to post it off in time, so some things I made I have no photos of!

This necklace was one of the hardest pieces I have ever worked on! The opal was on a base of sand stone and it kept crumbling away as I was fitting the bezel. Half way through the top half of the opal broke off and I almost gave up, but the stone ended up looking so much better with out the inclusions at the top so I filed it round and kept going, and I am glad I did as I really love this one.

This one I kept! Its an Andamooka opal with a trilobite on the back, handmade chain and I intend to make a trilobite clasp to finish it off.

There was so much more things I made but I think I will need to invest in some kind of daylight lamp and a better camera as the photos did not make the cut!

I can't wait to see what everyone else created....

AE team:

Lindsay

Sue

Guests:

27.11.19

Art Elements Theme Challenge - November - Fossi

Thank you all so much for joining in with the November theme challenge, I am so excited to see what everyone has made.

November started off so promising, I had so many ideas. I gathered all of my fossils and stuck them all onto my wooden board....

(Please excuse the awful photos, day light is a distant memory!) I had plans for necklaces, hair pins, scarf pins, crinoid/glass earrings, etc.

I set about making my fossil moulds....

I then made lots of little silver clay fossils, I spent hours sanding the backs flat, the sides neat and I then fired them in the kiln and....

Melted them into blobs (I should have just used the torch but I thought the kiln would be easier)! At this point I gave up for the day and the next day my boiler leaked through my floor and flooded my neighbour downstairs so I had to have the boiler and water switched off for almost a week, 7 days of no running water and no heating and a hotel stay killed all my mojo so I only managed to make one of the pieces I had planed on (you can't win them all)!

Opals are a complete pain to photo so I also made a little clip so you could see the colours.

Please do take a moment to see what the other participants have created -

AE Team

Jen

Sue

Guests

Cat

I hope you all have a wonderful day x

31.10.19

Art Elements Theme Challenge, October - Eyes

This month our October theme - eyes, was chosen by the wonderful Laney Mead and I have had such a roller coaster of emotions making my piece!

I had these elements blue tacked on my wall for so long, but I never got around to making the piece as I was, well ....scared! This has been the most complicated, the largest and the most expensive piece I have made to date and I was rather worried I would mess it up.

I never normally draw designs but I thought this might help keep me calm! I was hoping for a magical talisman kind of look?!?!

After two solid days of sawing soldering and hoping, it worked!!!

I still need to make some kind of chain and I may well add more LOS and some more texture as I want it looking older and well loved!

But I'm really happy with how it turned out. It has 14mm amethyst, wolf eyes by Laura Mears, a Tiffany stone, some petrified wood by Designer Cabochons and some touches of gold, plus there is a 14mm moonstone on the back....

With a hand sawn wolf and a cast silver Crinoid star.

Thank you Laney with out your challenge I never would have got around to making this piece!!!

AE Team

Susan

Marsha

Claire

Cathy

Jenny

Niky

Jennifer

Laney

Guests

Dawn

Hope

Beth & Evie

Kathy

Michelle

Tammy

Cat

Elaine

29.9.19

September Theme Reveal – Foliage

It's time again for the Art Elements reveal and this months theme, chosen by the amazing Caroline was foliage. I started off this month with out any idea of what I was going to make and then I got inspiration form the life book summit, there was a wonderful lesson by Dar James that shows how to create a beautiful water colour and gesso painting. I did not like the idea of freehand drawing lots of leaves so the neat freak in me made me cut our some templates....

Then with the help of Dar James I created these.....

Now none of these are finished yet, so lots of works in progress! The green one was my first attempt but I did not like the bold neat lines so I made a couple more attempts, I am thinking I will use the light one and the green to practice on and the bold red one will be for best. Think more detail and the words Hello Autumn in some kind of beautiful lettering!!!!

The little leaf templates ended being used in this piece that I started ages ago from the lesson by Laura Horn, again still not completed but I'm getting there!

I'm defiantly in autumn mode at the moment as I have been photocopying, laminating and cutting out lots of these watercolour leaves to use in our seasonal tree at work, to help our residents with dementia.

Another project I have been working on but have not finished is this little A7 water colour book with goddess focal by the amazing Leslie and matching draw string bag.