Little Light Barred

She's Always There

Whenever I have a question, need a tutorial, inspiration or simply want to touch base with the jewelry world there's one place to go. It's a place but it's also one person and her name is Pearl. 


She is the Beading Gem's Journal http://www.beadinggem.com/

The reason why I'm sharing this today is because we discovered each other with the Etsy Circles and caught up a bit. Here's Pearl's shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/beadinggem 

She asked about my owl necklaces and suggested that she could put one up in her Reader Gallery. This is a place where she showcases inspirational creations by different artists. You'll find it here: 

http://www.beadinggem.com/2009/05/reader-gallery-of-inspirational-jewelry.html


Pearl's web site is an inexhaustive wealth of jewelry knowledge that every jewelry maker should have in their favorites! 

Barred Owl Felted Necklace

Better pictures this morning!

 Also known as the Bard.

 

"hoo, hoo, too-HOO; hoo, hoo, too-HOO, ooo"

Chickadee Kinda Day

 I did a little beading this morning.

 I had a bird on my mind.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/novembrin

I made them in appreciation of this little guy.

Pearls At Work

Bless my husband, he's at work trying to get stuff done. Of course that's in between the women that he works with asking about bracelets. Colors, sizes, types, ideas, not quite his thing but he's a real trooper. Thanks everybody!

Mourning Dove

Finished Copper Swift

The other week Charlene took my Chimney Swift home to drill press the holes for me. I got it back, in the mail, taped to a bookmark looking as though it were flying through trees, always the artist! I still needed to file the edges and polish it up.

After getting it all shiny I started loading head pins. I had some nice crystals in black, gray and clear that I felt were appropriate for a swift. Next time I'll break out of realistic colors, but for now I wanted the real McCoy.

I'm still not great at making the loops but at least they're consistent.

I like these kinds of projects. The hardest part is sawing out the shape and that's just because the blade doesn't always cooperate. What bird should I do next???

Beaded Raptor Charms

Necessity is the mother of invention! If you don't have the charms you want, make them yourself. I want to look for thinner wire though. Someone mentioned gauge 32 and this was 28. I had trouble getting the wire through the third time to hide the end. I'll definitely be buying more colors of seed beads!

Bald Eagle

American Kestrel

Osprey

I have this sorta rule for myself, I don't use birds in my art work unless I've seen them. Trust me, it's been a treat to see every one of these birds. Honestly, the American Kestrel was the most interesting, the black spots on the back of their heads look like large eyes. This made him, at first, look almost like an owl. Very cool. All these birds can be seen from time to time at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia.

http://www.fws.gov/heinz/index.html

Note for Amy - very cool, used here is more appropriate.

Beaded Eagle Charm

I can't believe I got these pictures downloaded, my Internet has been very intermittent. Anyway, I needed raptor charms which the craft store was out of. I checked for charms on-line but wasn't finding what I wanted. So I made my own. I've made 2 so far with a third in the making. What's nice is I can make specific birds instead of just a common shape.

I'm quite excited about this!

Don't worry Charlene, I still want any charms you might find in your area!!!

Copper Chimney Swift

I had some sheet copper left and Charlene's coming tomorrow. That means she'll take this piece home and drill press it for me. My son just informed me that I shouldn't bother asking my husband for a drill press since they are expensive.

This is the equipment Charlene hooked me up with. I had trouble with my saw today, I kept breaking blades.

This is the template side...

and this is the underside.

I started filing...
but I may wait to finish when I get the piece back.

I'm going to hang some crystals off his wings. Check back!

I Love Towhees!

My dear teacher friend and I take walks during the summer when she's off. We go to local parks, arboretums and refuges. This past week was our first of the summer and we were blessed to be yelled at by a Rufus-sided Towhee. I don't normally like being yelled at but by this guy it was OK!

I wanted to commemorate our visit with a bracelet.

Everyone At The Feeder

I tried not to leave anyone out. This bracelet represents most of the birds that come to my feeder. Don't worry I have a list!

From the above picture, left to right:

1. white-breasted nuthatch
2. house sparrow
3. cardinal
4. house finch
5. gold finch
6. grackle
7. tufted tit mouse
8. european starling
9. hairy woodpecker
10. red-bellied woodpecker
11. blue jay
12. wren

I have to pick up a toggle for it but that was a lot of fun!

Family of Cardinals

This bracelet is called Family of Cardinals. I thought the three strands would lend itself to this.

Trust me, I have more Cardinals in my backyard than I know what to do with. They are all year residents. My step mom in Florida has to sprinkle her Cardinals with the hose everyday. They yell at her if she doesn't.

Copper Wren

My girlfriend hooked me up! A metal saw, bench pin, files, sanding pads, I had never worked with this stuff before. She had sheet copper and the drill press, I sent her the shape so she could drill the holes and I cut it out. I filed, sanded and buffed. How much fun is that!

Next it needed wire and beads. I think I spent more time figuring that out. It's done though and ready to hang.

Name That Bird

The Name That Bird game is the fun new game I play with my family. As much as they hate seeing me approach with a new bracelet to test them with they also like getting the bird right.

So what do you think it is???

Yellow Warbler

I go to the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge to see these guys.

I thought today I'd show you my process. You may have noticed I use a washcloth to keep my beads in place. For me this works well. I've even been using the edgings and stripes of this particular washcloth for measuring, rough measuring!

Finished bracelet.

Mourning Dove

My dad loves these guys he calls them love birds.

Chickadee

These little guys are practically landing on you if you don't fill the feeder fast enough.

I found someone else doing beautiful jewelry recently and she has good tutorials. Her name is Jenny Hoople and she does a lot of hand tying beads to silk thread. Her blog is at: http://jennyhoople.blogspot.com/

Indigo Bunting

One of my favorite birds.

I think I'm just gonna keep going here and see where it takes me.