Saturday, June 16, 2012

ToolBox Challenge

So, welcome to my first jewelry challenge slash blog hop :D 

This was an open challenge and invitation to all,  to reach outside of their norm... and I saw an early pic of one of the pieces so I know just how good that can be... jaw dropping amazing.

The challenge was to take a piece of 'his' world and use it 'ours'...raid the toolbox, tackle box or hardware store and use something that you found to make some jewelry (tools and fishing line don't count since we use them all the time anyhow ;) lol)

I WAS going to do a Father's Day challenge to make a piece of jewelry for men... because I suck a making jewelry for men and I know a lot of others have that trouble too....BUT...

.......I suck a making jewelry for men and I know a lot of others have that trouble too ;) I didn't give a lot of design and work time for this challenge, issuing it towards the end of May, so I didn't want something TOO hard, wanting to go with more  quick and fun :)


I had plans for several different pieces.


I procrastinated as usual.


I finally chose what piece to start with...

this is my piece of  'his stuff'.
 A piece of brass hardware for a drawer... knob not included ;)


I found a bunch of cool brass pieces along similar lines a year or so ago, and they've just been shifted from drawer to drawer ever since. Figured this was the perfect chance to use at least one of them.


When I picked this out of the 'bin o' brass', I immediately thought it would be awesome bent into a curve and made into a bracelet.


But... when I hauled it out for this project, I saw a small bib-style necklace instead...

..So I procrastinated some more, idly picking through beads and findings, searching for what would be 'right' for it.

Inspiration cemented itself when I discovered one odd-man-out Czech Glass cat bead. All the other beads formed pairs except one that had a bit of red in him... that went nicely with my brass :)

Once I had it all put together and was trying to decide on the clasp....  I suddenly got hit by the urge to make it a bracelet after all... SO, I bent the brass and tada!!  A wrap bracelet :)

czech glass cat, wrap style bracelet, brass, tollbox, challenge
Kitty-Cat Love


There is a red glass heart with a black Czech  glass dangle on the left side, and a black glass heart with a red Czech glass dangle on the right.

The wrap is red and black spider web lace that I've braided , then added a piece of red faux suede that had been strung with a few black seed beads.


You'll notice there are no other pieces here... just the one.

The combination of procrastination and lack of final inspiration ( tons of ideas and supplies, though), delayed me on them... but I'd planned on at least doing one more small piece this afternoon. Crunch time designs seem to work not too badly for me, especially earrings.. and since that was what I was planning on...

.. but alas... 'twas not to be :(

While at work I had a 'duh' moment that left my fingers tips not in the mood to create. It's midnight now and they're feeling better, but it's time to type and post now. For those who want to know what happened, lets just say metal that has been heated to 375 degrees all day long should never come into contact with bare skin. Before you get worried, I should like to say that I've been doing this for far too long, and burnt myself far too many times that I now barely even wince.. and my fingers didn't even blister... and they should have, trust me... lol But nope...they were just a bit tender for a while. At the moment, aside from still having a slightly 'dull' feeling to them, they're fine.. no sign of them having grabbed a hot metal door. Aren't I lucky? lol

And don't think that my procrastinating over this challenge meant I wasn't making anything.. no..I got some work done on my Chaos Kit challenge stuff done too.. not as much as I'd like, but... I'm getting there lol

So, now that you've seen me transform a piece of kitchen/bathroom hardware into a bracelet, go check out some of the others. There's only ten more participants, but I'm thinking of having another toolbox challenge in the fall :)  So keep an eye out for the right bits of 'his stuff' to make your own and share with us on the next round :)

~
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Marlene Cupo says she'll have her post up but won't have photos of her piece... her computer had a very brief affair with a power surge during a lightening storm, and while she has access to another computer, her camera doesn't. She'll be hopping along with us though, and as soon as she gets her pictures up, I'll share them here too :)

 Oh.. and a little something none of the participants knew about... everyone that signed up who remembered to make something and get their post up in time...will be entered in a little draw for a prize :) 

Marlene counts since she let me know in advance about the problem and will still be blogging.

Hop on & enjoy!

~ Skye

17 comments:

  1. I love it! I wouldn't say that it is for a man but I love how you went from a piece of hardware into a rich piece of jewelry.

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    1. I suck a men's jewelry and none of the men in my family wear anything aside from wedding rings and watches lol I went for a feminine piece made from hardware ;)

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  2. What a great piece - love what you've done with it!

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  3. Gosh! You're very talented being about to bend that piece of hardware. I wouldn't even have a clue where to start!

    Thankyou for running the blog hop. I enjoyed making for it :)

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    1. lol I started by grabbing a can of mushrooms out of my cupboard and using it to bend the brass against... then I placed it against my wrist where I imagined it would sit and carefully kept pressing inwards until it felt right ;)

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  4. OK that is one fantastic bracelet, and dare I say even though I am not a cat lover, I would wear this one. BTW got a terrible pic of my "oddball" piece up and it does not compare to all he other great entries!

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    1. Marlene...I don't think my piece compares to the other entries so far ;) I'm still in awe over the fishing lure jewelry :)

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  5. Very kool idea! I have a bunch of odd ball stuff in a box and this gives me some ideas :-) thanks!

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    1. Skye ( Ooohh deja vu... had me take a second look when this notice popped up in my mailbox ;) lol ) I'm going to host another one of these in the fall, so keep an eye out ;)

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  6. BTW, Skye, I did manage to get a very poor quality pic up on my blog, and posted it. Will try to improve it once I have my computer back. Thanks again for a super fun challenge!

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  7. A really cool piece and all from a drawer pull - AMAZING how the creative mind works! The cat bead is purrfect too. Colors are up my alley, kinda a bohemian vibe, my fav. Thanks for hosting this challenge I had fun. ( I procrastinated too, did mine about 9pm last night) Sorry to hear aboutt the burns, when I worked in glass I had cuts all the time and yeah I became immune to them too. Can't wait to see what else you come up with!

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  8. LOOOVE this! The piece you used is WOW WOW WOW Cool!!! Thanks for hosting!!

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  9. I love how you've used brass and created a stunning, very modern bracelet with soft textures and beautiful Czech beads! This is brilliant, and truly jewelry art at its finest, Skye! I love the colors, materials, and design. It all comes together so well :)

    I'm having so much fun in your jewelry challenge and hop!Thanks for letting me in (I was up & had links to all at 10:28, a little late, but some really lucky numbers! ;)to share in the creativity and fun.

    Namaste,
    Rita

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  10. I just read to leave my blog url on the challenge blogs. Thank you!! :) http://toltecjewels.blogspot.com/2012/06/toolbox-challenge.html

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  11. Ooooooh! Very pretty! I love the creative use of brass hardware! Dyanne - deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot. Com

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  12. Wow! You really transformed that piece. I would have never thought of using a drawer element.

    Wonderful!

    Ambra

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  13. I was a day late, but finally posted a picture of my piece. I can't find the battery charger of my camera so I took the picture with my iphone.

    I like your piece a lot and will check out the other blogs.

    Inge

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