Monday 31 March 2008

Glass Moon - a painted suncatcher

Just last night I finished a new suncatcher. I make lot of suncatchers, usually from wire and beads, but this one was quite different. It involved painted glass, which is a technique I haven't used for quite a while. I used to do it all the time. This time though, I've not done it in the usual way. How you're supposed to do it is put the outliner on the glass then, after it has dried, put the paint in between where the outliner is, to look like stained glass with lead. I instead just painted onto the glass straight away, painting over the outliner in places and using it on top of the paint in others, to give it extra texture and colour.

I started off with a rectangle of glass, which was originally in this frame. I don't like to waste anything! I painted this glass with blue glass paint:

GlassMoonInProgress

then painted a moon onto that with white glass paint:

GlassMoonInProgress2

After I'd let that dry, I then wrapped steel wire around the edges of the glass to form a frame, and also something from which to hang this piece:

GlassMoonInProgress3

I then painted a tree onto the glass, painting over some of the wire. This wire forms a frame for this painting and also gives more texture to the tree. I also painted silver-coloured outliner on top of the tree to echo the colour of the steel wire, and add to the texture. This suncatcher measures 17cm (6.5") wide by 13cm (5") high.

Glass Moon - a painted suncatcher

It's for sale here.

Friday 28 March 2008

Jewellery at reduced prices


As if my jewellery wasn't bargainous enough, I've just reduced two of my necklaces. First is my Spidey necklace, which is either a stylised version of Spiderman's face or a ninja, depending on how you want to look at it. Click the image below for the listing:

Spidey Pendant

He's been reduced from $10 to $8 :D

Next is my Double Star Necklace, which features two stars, hung on black suede cord. As the soft suede cord the pendants hang on is adjustable, the pendants can be moved around so that the wire star sits on top of the other star, or so that the two elements are apart, however you want to wear it. Click the image below for the listing:

Double Star Necklace

That one's been reduced from $20 to $15 :D

Don't forget my other necklaces. They're not reduced but they are still rather good value:

Purple Heart Pendant Cobweb Pendant in pink wire with pink cord Arachnid - a double pendant Green Heart Pendant Steel Cobweb Pendant with pink cord

All available at sneddonia.etsy.com

Happy shopping!

Thursday 27 March 2008

New jewellery designs

Introducing my latest jewellery designs:

Arachlace

A triptych of copper cobwebs, hinged to each other with jump rings, hang from copper chain to make this gothic necklace. The repurposed chain the webs hang from is a darker shade than the new copper wire I've used to make the webs, so I've annealed the middle web to match this. The smaller webs I've left shiny to contrast with this. The whole necklace, including the webs, measures 45cm (about 17.5") long.

Click here for the Etsy listing

Arachlace

Rosie

Some spiders are scary. Not Rosie. She is a glamorous pink spider, hanging not on a web, but from a silver chain. Her dream would be to adorn one of your outfits. Like I said, she is a glamour girl :) I created this spider from pink-coated jewellery wire. She measures 6cm (just under 2.5") long by 5cm (2") wide, and hangs from a 44.5cm (17.5") sterling silver chain.

Click here for the Etsy listing

Rosie - a pink wire-wrapped spider pendant (365/9)

Purple Star

I made the main star for this necklace from silver wire and three beads in glass and Amethyst. Hanging from this pendant is a smaller star, a steel one, repurposed from another necklace. The large star hangs from two loops that are attached to purple cord.

Click here for the Etsy listing

Purple Star - a necklace

All these designs, and more are available in my Etsy shop

Wednesday 12 March 2008

I got a Treasury!

Wow. For the first time in, I don't know how long, I managed to get a Treasury on Etsy. Yay! I've featured some of my favourite items from fellow UK Etsians, in one of my favourite types of pattern, polka dot.

Click here to see it!

I got a Treasury!

Tuesday 11 March 2008

I've been tagged! Part 1.

The lovely Lost has tagged me. So now I have to tell you 7 random/weird facts about me. So here goes:

1. I have mild OCD (if it's possible to have a 'mild' form of it). Things have to be in threes, fives, sevens or thirteens. For example I'll say "Ooh I'll just eat three chocolates." Then I'll have 3. Then 5. Etc. :) Also, if I touch a part of me I have to touch the other side. So if I knock my foot, I have to knock the other foot in the same way. There are many other ways it manifests itself too.

2. I am worryingly forgetful. I'll go into a room and forget what I went in for, or open a tab and forget what website I was going to open in it.

3. Related to the previous post (and probably the OCD), I write a lot of lists.

4. I shop in charity shops a lot.

5. I'm pretty shy irl, which people often mistake for rudeness (I think, anyway. No-one actually tells me so.).

6. I'm very messy, but I love organisation - magazines into files, beads into compartmenty boxes, etc.

7. I love pear cider.

The rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. 2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. 3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. 4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here's the 7 others:

http://abibansal.blogspot.com/
http://thedevilswallpaper.blogspot.com/
http://illustratorjen.blogspot.com/
http://moocowhandknits.blogspot.com/
http://moopf.wordpress.com/
http://kezzaroo.blogspot.com/
http://lmdesigns.blogspot.com/

Why is it Part 1? Well, I've been tagged two other times, so I shall be posting more facts very soon!

Wednesday 5 March 2008

Batty Moon - a mixed-media painting on canvas

In the end, I didn't add bats to that sketchbook piece, but I did draw this, using charcoal pencil and normal HB pencil, to get an idea of how the painting might look:

MoonWithBatsSketch

So, using the above sketch and my previous moon painting as inspiration,

Sideboard - 5th March

I painted this piece, Batty Moon, using acrylics, silvery poster paint, liquid watercolour and blue glitter glue. It depicts a cloud of bats, silhouetted against a bright full moon, in a dark blue night sky:

Batty Moon

The dark colours of the sky continue over the sides of the canvas on which this is painted, as do the shimmer of the blue glitter and the bat detail, to give one continuous block of colour. This means that this piece does not need to be framed. This square box canvas measures 15cm square by just under 4cm deep.

Batty Moon

Find it for sale here.

Monday 3 March 2008

New designs - a full moon and a starry necklace

I'm working on a series of artworks at the moment, based on this piece:

Moon with bats

Each will have a full moon motif:

Moons in progress

Both the above sketchbook piece and square canvas are to have bats on, but the other piece is finished:

One of my favourite sights in the sky is when the moon is full, and the sky is cloudy. When the clouds part, and the moonlight catches on them, it looks magical to me.

This piece depicts a bright full moon in a cloudy, dark blue night sky. It was painted in acrylics, silvery poster paint and liquid watercolour. The colours of the sky continue over the sides of the canvas on which this is painted, to give one continuous block of colour. This means that it does not need to be framed. This small canvas measures 12cm (7") high by 18cm (5") wide:

Midnight Moon Midnight Moon

Find it for sale here.

I've also recently listed a new necklace in my Etsy shop. To create this long chain, I re-assembled a chain from another necklace. I then added the twisted steel wire and pink beads. The pink star beads were repurposed from an old necklace, and the round pink bead was from an old bracelet. The pink star pendant was from a keyring.

The chain itself measures 82cm (about 32.5") long, and the main star pendant measures 3cm (just over 1") high.

Find it for sale here.

Pink Star Chain Pink Star Chain