The theme for the first Art Elements design challenge of the year was the moon. There’s a lot to work with in that theme, from astronomy to myth and everything in between. Where to start? What to focus on? I went a little crazy making things and I’m blaming it on the moon. There was a super moon at the beginning of the month. With an eclipse! Which also corresponded with what some call a “wolf moon.” All together, that’s a super blood wolf moon. So, yeah. I’m blaming it all on the moon.
As soon as the theme was announced, I put together a tray of art beads with moon motifs. I’ve had some of these in my collection for a while, just waiting for the right jewelry design idea. Sadly, many of them are still waiting because I decided I don’t have the right beads to complement them. I have a stupid amount of beads and none of them were the right combination of color, shape, and size for some of the focals. It’s incredibly frustrating to have an entire drawer of blue beads in dozens of shades that are not the right blue, or are the perfect color, but the wrong size. I know, #firstworldproblems.
This is the tray of art beads I pulled from my stash to get started for this design challenge. In the top row are ceramic lunar hares by Lesley Watt and my faux terracotta pentacle moons. In the middle row are a ceramic moon and star pendant and a triple moon raven pendant by Jenny Davies-Reazor, my faux antique ivory owl and accent beads, and a black bunny by Rejetta Sellers surrounded by my moon phase beads. At the bottom is a blue moon connector by Staci Louise Smith (with some possible accent beads).
One art bead from my stash that finally found its design was a teal blue polymer clay moon connector by Staci Louise Smith. This bead evokes for me the song Bad Moon Rising by Creedance Clearwater Revival. I don’t know why, but I hear these lyrics when I hold it in my hands. “I see the bad moon rising. I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes and lightnin’ I see bad times today.” Despite the ominous image conjured by those lyrics, the feeling I get from this moon bead is positive. Which I think means it is meant to be a talisman.
Blue Moon Rising talisman necklace. The focal for this necklace has a fabulous distressed finish in Staci’s signature style. My muse thought it needed a dagger or triangular dangle, which I created by wiring a trapezoid apatite bead with a dyed lava bead. The neckline has more of the dyed lava beads, blue crystal points, and apatite nuggets on antiqued brass wire.
Another art bead that found its way out of my stash and into a necklace was a polymer clay black rabbit by Rejetta Sellers. The rabbit has a crescent moon tattoo on its flank. To go with the rabbit, I made polymer clay beads representing eight phases of the moon, from new to full.
Night Hare necklace. The black rabbit focal is double sided (although the crescent moon tattoo is only on the front), which I should have taken into consideration when making the moon phase beads. If I had made them double-sided as well, the necklace itself could be worn two ways. Ah, hindsight.
The final necklace design for this challenge features a lunar hare pendant by Lesley Watt. A few years ago I ordered a small herd of lunar hare pendants from Lesley, in assorted colors and shapes, because I love them so. She probably thought I was a lunatic for wanting so many. (See what I did there?) The one I used for this challenge has a rust-colored finish that I forget what it’s called but it is awesome. It’s paired with earthy faceted mookaite jasper ovals and some Picasso-finish Czech glass leaves that all together remind me of a fall.
Harvest Moon Hare necklace. The russet reds of the mookaite jasper beads echo the rust color of the ceramic pendant. The glass leaf beads add hints of green. I am not sure this is “the” final design for this pendant though. As much as I love the earthy fall color palette, part of me thinks the pendant needs to be surrounded by complementary blues, maybe some turquoise, to make it stand out more? There’s still a round pendant in this same finish in my stash, so maybe I’ll try that combination for it.
The fact that I made three necklaces in a row for this challenge (all completed in the same weekend no less) is some kind of record for me. I can make earrings all day, every day, but necklaces? Not so much. I blamed the moon. And, then I made a pair of earrings just to show the moon that it does not control me.
The crescent moon pentacle beads in these earrings were created for a previous theme challenge. That theme was stars. I didn’t have a design for the earrings at the time of that challenge, but knew I wanted to pair the faux terracotta with turquoise. These long dangle earrings have a stack of turquoise, yellow calcite, and amber beads on dark oxidized copper wire.
I really wanted to create something “big” for this challenge. Not so much big in size, but more substantial in concept. I had a lot of “almost brilliant” ideas too. You know: “Something with a full moon, maybe clouds or star tracks, a silhouette of a howling wolf in the foreground, snow-capped mountains in the background.” Or “night sky with full moon, moon light reflected in water of ocean or lake.” Those grand ideas failed to fully fledge no matter what I tried. I couldn’t decide on the color scheme. I didn’t know whether to try a painting or a sculpture. Maybe the reason I couldn’t even get started on a single big idea was because I was overthinking the whole thing.
Sometimes when I am stuck like that, working on something else helps break the mental log jam. So I switched gears and made a few moon-inspired prototype pendants. And then I made a couple more pendant prototypes. And the next thing you know, I had a pile of pendants and the month was mostly over.
The first prototype pendants were mixed metal rectangles with a cat and full moon, in a combination of silver, copper, and brass. As the design evolved, some had crescent moons. They are all polymer clay coated with metal paints. I don’t have the tools or skills for metal work but I love the look. I could probably manage to learn to use a saw and hammer rivets. However, I don’t think a torch would be a good idea in my apartment, with cats who closely supervise my every move.
Mixed Metal Cats. The first step in creating these mixed metal pendants was to cut, texture, and layer metallic polymer clay. After the clay cured, it was coated with metal paints. The metal paints then got a dark oxidized finish. The center pendant was the first one I made, and you can see I decided to do away with the overlap of the cat and moon for subsequent pieces. I also reversed the copper and silver for the final pieces.
The next batch of prototype pendants were crescent moons with cat faces. Which evolved into crescent moons without cats. I experimented with different textures and colors for the moon, but all of the cats are black. Because they just are, okay. Some of the cats have a crescent moon on their forehead. Some don’t. Because I forgot to stamp them before curing the clay.
The yellow moon with stars texture was the initial prototype for these components. After realizing I didn’t love the stars for the background, I auditioned a couple of swirls textures, as seen in the other two pendants in the center. The pattern I chose for the final designs reminds me of the sky in Starry Night, especially in the pendant that has no cat face in the center.
The final batch of focals were a hybrid of the mixed metal rectangles and the crescent moons. They combine the background texture and colors of the crescent moons with the cat and moon silhouettes of the rectangles. I added some texture to the cats. They’re still all black. Deal with it: black cats are awesome.
These black cat pendants are polymer clay painted with Inktense blocks and glazed with liquid polymer clay. What will I do with them next? Put them on simple cording? Plain chain? Beaded chain?
The one piece I managed for this month’s theme that is not jewelry or a jewelry component was a small trinket box. So, it’s basically jewelry-adjacent. I covered a paper box in off-white polymer clay, added a molded moon face cabochon to the center of the lid, and then made some clay doodles and textures around the cab and base of the box. After the box was cured, I used Inktense blocks to add color. I haven’t sealed the color yet because I am deliberating whether to add a crackle distress or a simple semi-gloss glaze.
This polymer clay covered trinket box is about two inches diameter. It’s the perfect size to keep a few rings or small mementos.
I love covering things with polymer clay. When I first started working with polymer clay there was no object safe from being covered as long as it could withstand the curing temperature of the clay. Apparently, it is not uncommon to have this reaction to this medium. Some artists eventually graduate to making polymer clay vessels that have no paper, metal, or glass foundation. That’s one of my goals. But fist, I have a large-ish plastic tote full of paper boxes to cover. And assorted glass jars. Plastic ink pens. Altoid tins. Chopsticks. Wood photo frames. The cardboard insert from a pair of shoes. (Because, how cool would a polymer clay shoe-shaped planter be?!)
I got a little carried away making dots textures on the base of the box. I meant to leave the middle band (the fuchsia one) smooth to coordinate with the design on the top. Oh well.
While I wasn’t able to pull together a “big” design for this challenge, I did have a lot of fun with the theme. I am especially happy to have moved some art beads out of my stash and into jewelry designs. Thanks so much for visiting today. This design challenge is also a blog hop, so please visit the other participating artists to see how they interpreted the theme. There will be much magic made in a variety of media from fiber to paints.
Guests:
Jenny
Melissa
Kathy
Sarajo
Hope
Sarah
Rebecca
Divya
Anita
Rosantia
Cat
Evia
Alysen
Beth
Tammy <– You are here!
Art Elements Crew:
Your creativity is mind boggling, Tammy – it’s such fun to read your blog posts!
Thank you so much, Barbara. I truly appreciate your visits. 🙂
Love, love, love all the pieces your created with your stash of beads. I truly love the polymer clay beads you created – the first set of the “metalworking” moon beads are fantastic! I also love the crescent shaped beads too! I love your work!
Thanks so much, Beth.
I love it all, but, and neither Ponder nor Gundel are making me say this because they don’t need to, black cats are awesome, fabulous, wonderful and special (of course all my others were as well, but there is something about black cats, hmmm), so yes, those pieces you made are also awesome and fabulous and and and … especially the textured cats. I love them so much!! <3
Thanks so much, Cat. My current cat companions are white and orange, but they agree that black cats are awesome.
I second that your creativity is amazing and how fun it is to read your posts! I LOVE your jewelry, especially the piece by Stacey. I LOVE your faux metal cats pendants – I really thought they were metal! And your box is fantastic! I’d love to know how you are going to apply the crackle (if you do) – and what color you’d paint over it? And I think the box is a “big thing” too!
Thanks so much, Susan. I still haven’t finished the box, but I think I will use one-step crackle and then a dark navy wash.
I need to go back and read properly because I saw the header picture and fell in love! well cats and moons what isn’t to love? Those polymer clay cat crescent moons are ACE! off to read the beginning of the post now 😉
Thanks so much, Laney. Bonus points for reading through twice. 🙂
Your necklaces are beautiful. It is always good to do something with art beads and you have a great collection. Your polymer clay work always amazes me. I love your cat pendants. I am thinking yellow beads and gunmetal chain perhaps.
Thanks so much, Kathy. My collection of art beads makes me very happy.
If I were not already a fan of your work, I am a fan now. Your pieces are so diverse yet put together. And I really enjoyed the way your have written this post. It is honest, witty and very funny.
Thank you so much, Divya. It’s so rewarding to receive feedback like that from an artist whose work and writing I so admire.
You always seem to go a little crazy with these challenges, and I love it! that first necklace is so much lovely! But, my favorite thing of the bunch is your box. I love all the texture and the worn feel you gave to it. And, I remember back when I thought I could do polymer clay, I collected all the things to cover too. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be for me, but I can’t wait for you to share your artist take on all of those – a shoe form huh? 😉
Oh, and lunatic…good one!
Thanks so much, Hope. Yes, I do tend to go overboard with these challenges. There are so many things around the house that need cleaning or tidying but working on the challenges is much more fun.
You accomplished so many pretty things!! I love the box and all the art jewelry and components but my absolute fave is the Blue Moon Rising talisman necklace. It just jumps off the page at me!! Lovely;-)
Thanks so much, Cathy. I love that moon focal from Staci and am pleased I finally found a design for it.
Black cats are awesome! 🙂 Still miss my little ones…
I always look forward to see what you created! I so enjoy reading your blog post, can relate to the “struggles” you have to overcome and am amazed at your creations! All you work is wonderful but when I saw your night hare necklace I had to squeal! It just makes me happy seeing it! 🙂
Thank you so much, Claire. I’m so thrilled about your reaction to the night hare. It sort of gets overlooked compared to the blue moon, but I really like how it turned out.
What fabulous designs! Love the bad moon and your polymer work is beautiful, especially the covered box!
Thank you so much, Caroline.
I’m always astounded at how much mileage you manage to get out of a theme. Also, black cats are awesome. I have two. I love all cats, but only adopt black ones. In fact, my old lady, Lucy, is helping me blog hop and enjoyed your post the most. I really loved everything you came up with this month, but my heart belongs to the black cats and the trinket box is pretty darn amazing. Looking forward to seeing what you do in upcoming challenges 🙂
Thank you so much, Jen. I’ve been lucky to have several black, or black-and-white cats over the years. My current cat companions are white and orange with white. I adore them, but would also love to add a black cat or three to the family. Alas, my lease only allows for two cats.
Your designs are amazing! I love seeing the variety that you created… so many cool things! (And I happen to love black cats, so those pendants make me very very happy.) Lovely work! 🙂
Thank you so much, Jenny. It seems there are more than a few lovers of black cats in this hop. Clearly we have good taste. 🙂
Everything is gorgeous, your color choices make me hungry, they just look so delicious! I love the moon box! I am just like you – a torch is not something I need to learn how to wield! I will continue to stick to media that don’t take special equipment or fire. Your metal and seated swirly tile moon cats are so cool! I’m glad you found the challenge theme so inspiring, and that you had this much energy to play along!
Thanks so much, Lindsay. I had more time than usual for this challenge because I work for one of the government agencies that was closed for over a month. Working with clay and beads kept my mind off the chaos.
I’m in awe of how many things you created for this theme! Wow! I do love the necklaces, all of them and your polymer clay pieces are pretty amazing too, especially the box!
Thanks so much, Melissa.
What do you mean, you didn’t make a ‘big’ piece?? ALL of your pieces are worty of the Big One!! My faves of course are the Black Cat Crescent Moons and the Mixed Metal ones. And your trinket box is WoW-a-bunga, the colors, style … all come together to make the One!!
Thank you so much, Alysen. I can sometimes get so focused on an unmet objective that I fail to see what’s been accomplished.
I’m smitten with how prolific you’ve been! The Talisman necklace is definitely my favorite but then I like the beads with the phases of the Moon, too – what a great idea! The last batch of black cats and crescent moon is awesome and that vessel is so precious! And I enjoyed reading your post 🙂
Thank you so much, Rozantia. This was an unusually prolific month, in terms of total number of pieces made, but it’s partly because I was not allowed to go to work for most of the month. I was happy to use my time productively. 🙂
Wow! Where to start?
1. Staci’s pieces def. have a talismanic feel to me too. Gorgeous!
2. I want to cover things with clay! I think crackle for sure. That moon face box is adorable.
3. Cats. BC they are awesome. I love the silhouettes, and the cat heads have a Cheshire feel to me!
4. If Van Gogh had had a cat he would have done the same – black cat, swirly background, moon…
Thank you so much, Jenny. I am definitely leaning toward crackle for the box. It just takes me a while to commit to a step like that because it’s not reversible if I don’t like it.
A delightful assortment of pieces from start to finish! Your trinket box is beautiful, and I might just steal the look for one that I’m thinking of making for my mom…
Thanks so much, Anita. I am glad my box design gave you inspiration.
You were incredibly productive with this challenge! It was thrilling to see what you kept imagining and creating. Your necklaces were lovely – a perfect incorporation of beads and art pendants. That first moon shaped pendant was beautiful. And then all those polymer pieces!! Wow – you did a great job interpreting this challenge. I really liked the mixed metal effect you achieved with the clay. Well done!
Thanks so much, Sarah. It was a great theme and quite fun to explore different looks.
Oh my Gosh! Wow where to begin? You created so many amazing things! I love the trinket box and your polymer clay pendents are wonderful, the colours are just perfect and then there is the lovely harvest moon necklace, the mookaite jasper beads are just right with the pendent such a great match but that first necklace just sings to me!
Thanks so much, Niky. I’ve convinced myself I will keep the blue moon necklace because of how it speaks to me.
Tammy, you always get so inspired by these challenges! I’m always amazed at how many wonderful things you manage to create. Your necklace with Staci’s pendant is so lovely. That autumnal lunar hare necklace with Lesley’s pendant is just wonderful too! I love seeing all of your polymer clay creations, but I think the mixed metal cats are my favorites.
Thanks so much, Sarajo. The mixed metal look is fun but a but time-consuming. I think it might be quicker to do actual metal work, But, as mentioned, no torch for me.
Oh my… I love everything you made! Those black cats are adorable. I’ve never worked with polymer clay, but it looks so interesting — and the finished products like yours are beautiful. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work in future challenges.
Thanks so much, Rebecca. Polymer clay is a great medium with endless possibilities.