... a few of my favorite things............
by Kelli Pope
I paired my own hand-hammered and antiqued copper components with my FAVORITE aqua patinated components from our own Shannon LeVart aka MissFickleMedia, and added one raku bead.
When I went to "check his work" :) I saw that piece, and exclaimed, "What did you do?" meaning, of course... this is gorgeous, I love it, how did you do that?......... He, on the other hand, heard..... what the heck did you do to ruin this piece? He said it was a mistake. He'd hammered other components on top of it, before realizing he was marking this one. What a GREAT mistake!!! I saved it for quite some time wanting to do something special with it. When I finally decided to use it as the center piece of a bracelet, I knew before I finished, I wouldn't be able to part with his precious "mistake". I wear it with everything, and am guessing it will never be found as an "old" favorite at the bottom of my jewelry box.
...............I can see Julie Andrews on the mountaintop, spinning, and hear her singing, can't you? Come on, sing along with me........ Patina on cop-per and cer-amic be-eads, hand-hammered silver and long, blackened dangles, new jewelry FedEx packs tied up in string, these are a few of my fa-vorite thingssssssssss!!!!!!!!! :)
Do you have favorite handmade jewelry pieces that you've worn for years and years, or do you go through stages, and sometimes find old favorites at the bottom of the jewelry box? I tend to go through phases, myself. Most of my customers think I must have lots and lots of jewelry. But honestly, I don't make much for myself. What happens is, during a jewelry making session, I will occasionally make a piece, that I know I can't put a price tag on, and part with. This necklace was one of them . Currently, my fav.
I paired my own hand-hammered and antiqued copper components with my FAVORITE aqua patinated components from our own Shannon LeVart aka MissFickleMedia, and added one raku bead.I get compliments on this one wherever I go.
This next piece was a little different. See that copper rectangle in the middle? During a very, very busy week, I asked my husband to hammer some of my components. Just those that needed basic hammer marks, or hammering for strength. (Unfortunately, after many, many attempts, I could not get a great pic of the rectangle, itself, but it has this BEAUTIFUL swirled pattern, that appears almost like ancient writing, or script.
When I went to "check his work" :) I saw that piece, and exclaimed, "What did you do?" meaning, of course... this is gorgeous, I love it, how did you do that?......... He, on the other hand, heard..... what the heck did you do to ruin this piece? He said it was a mistake. He'd hammered other components on top of it, before realizing he was marking this one. What a GREAT mistake!!! I saved it for quite some time wanting to do something special with it. When I finally decided to use it as the center piece of a bracelet, I knew before I finished, I wouldn't be able to part with his precious "mistake". I wear it with everything, and am guessing it will never be found as an "old" favorite at the bottom of my jewelry box.