Thursday, September 24, 2015

September Challenge from B'sue Boutique, Alexandra Sefton

Who am I?  What Will I Become? 

 These 3 antique brass stampings from B'sue Boutiques form the basis of a fabulous Sept. Challenge and Blog Hop for avid jewelry artists and lovers everywhere!  Brenda Sue Lansdowne at bsueboutiques.com sponsored this challenge for us.

We, the participants, were to use one or more of 4 pieces she selected to create a modern statement piece with a vintage flair, thinking outside the box and using these in different ways.  My favorites were the 3 above but I chose 2 to work with:


 Here is the first of 2 pieces I created using the big piece, cutting and filing it, and adding various filigree and rhinestone pieces to bling it up!  You can wear this cuff bracelet forwards or backwards.  It also has sparkle sections on the chain.




For my 2nd piece, I went over the top into the fantastic realm!  I call this Leaves of the Sea.  I used 2 of the same piece and connected them, with a heart piece that has a mermaid and seahorse on it.  For this I used my special layering technique of hand painting with pearlized paints.  After all that was sealed and attached, I added dangles, chain sections, and flatback swarovski crystals and tiny faux pearls.


What do you think of these pieces?  What would the woman be like who would enjoy wearing these?  I'd love to hear your comments!  Thank you for reading and leaving feedback.  Be sure to click on the links below to see all the other participants awesome jewelry!  Enjoy!!  <3<3<3







Want to see more?  Visit the other blogs participating in this blog hop at the links below:

Brenda Sue Lansdowne - Jewelry Making Outside the Box
Mary Deis - The Rose Sword http://theroseswordmdeis.blogspot.com/
Jann Tague - Clever Designs - https://janntague.wordpress.com/
Lori Beekman - B.Accessorized - https://baccessorized.wordpress.com/
Renee Hong - Fine and Dandy Jewelry - http://www.fineanddandyjewelry.blogspot.com/
Cynthia Wainscott - Exotic Peru Jewelry - http://exoticperujewelry.blogspot.com/
Dana Hickey - Magpie Approved - http://magpieapproved.blogspot.com/
Mary Beth Quigley-Spiker - Q Settings - http://qsettings.wordpress.com/
Karen Eaton - KJewelry Creations - http://kjewelrycreations1.blogspot.com/
Shari Gardner - SLG Jewelry Designs - https://slgdesigns.wordpress.com/
Alison Huie - Ally's Baubles - http://allysbaubles.blogspot.com/
Pamela Anger - Novegatti Designs - http://www.novegattidesigns.blogspot.com/
Carole Carlson - Beadsophisticate - https://beadsophisticate.wordpress.com/
Cindy Peterson - Howling Dog Jewelry - https://howlingdogjewelry.wordpress.com/
Marcia Tuzzolino - Aurora Designs - http://auroradesignsjewelryblog.me/
Charlotte Smothers - Sea Horse Ranch Life - http://seahorseranch.blogspot.com/
Catherine Shattuck - Victorian Rose Boutique - https://vrbrose.wordpress.com/
Clare Wells Nemeth - Papercrafting Magic - http://papercraftingmagic.blogspot.com/
Erin Whitacre - Shattered Time - https://shatteredtimejewelry.wordpress.com/
Lynda O'Mara - Lomara Creative - http://www.lomaracreative.com/
Ginger Hammond - Lynn Leigh Designs - https://lynnleighdesigns.wordpress.com/
Ingrid Anderson - Lilis Gems Artisan Jewelry - https://lilisgems.wordpress.com/
Deb Beechy - Beetique - http://www.beetique56.blogspot.com
Harry Wood - Oscar Crow - http://oscarcrow.blogspot.com/
Delyssa Maxwell - Past Time Fancies - https://pasttimefancies.wordpress.com/
Paula Gaskill - Lovely Layla Bugs - http://lovelylaylabugjewels.weebly.com/blog
Irene Hoffman - Heart's Dezire by Irene - https://heartsdezirebyirene.wordpress.com/
Alexandra Sefton - Imaginary Jewelry and Altered Art - http://wilywolverine.blogspot.com/
Leslie Carver - Adorn Divine Designs - http://adorndivinedesigns.blogspot.com/

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Build a Line Challenge from B'sue Boutiques, Alexandra Sefton, Part #3


It's finally here--The Final Reveal of my whole New Jewelry Line for the Build a Line Challenge Class I've been taking for the past 3 months from the incomparable Brenda Sue Lansdowne--our mentor,  teacher and wonderful guide through this amazing journey!

 Brenda has so generously shared her vast experience and wisdom with us, and been such an inspiration to the other 55 classmates and me.  It's been fun, it's been agonizing-- sometimes I thought I'd never come up with 5 cohesive pieces for a new line at different price points with my theme of: Imagine the Colors of Nature, using components from Brenda Sue's shop.  I've learned more than I even realize at this point!  Just like life! Over the next few days and month, I will be listing these pieces for sale in my etsy shop and at craft shows!  Be sure to visit often and watch for special offers from me on Imaginary Jewelry on Facebook.

 The photos above show the first part of my colorful metal line, with a necklace and earring set, and 2 brooches that can be converted to necklaces and also can be worn in different directions!  These and the following photos show how I layered color after color on metal for the first part of my line (big new learning experience for me!).  The 2nd part of my line includes adjustable bracelets, rings and accessories such as key rings, etc.   The whole line incorporates pearls and nature elements as you can see!


This photo shows 2 big oval necklace and earring sets, in the same hand-painted on metal style, with pearls, crystals and nature elements.


Here are some smaller necklaces at lower price points, with all kinds of earring possibilities: owls, cats, birds, butterflies, flowers, leaves, etc.


Here are 2 "feather" or leaf necklaces showing the different ways to wear them.


This is the 2nd part of my line showing different varieties of adjustable bracelets and rings, with lots and lots of dangles, in pearls, swarovski crystals, charms and so on.  The first photo shows how you can order a bracelet at 3 price points:  many dangles, medium and just a few!  These bracelets can be stacked with others too for a stylish look! The adjustable rings and bracelets are so comfortable because they are a complete circle and don't pinch your skin.


These are my hand-painted blue leaves in an adjustable bracelet, adjustable ring and earrings.  Each can be purchased separately or as a set.


Here are some of the varieties of  adjustable finger rings that I will be offering.  These are in gold or silver, with owls, cats, swallows and so on--and just for fun a Steampunk gear, key and lock ring!



Next are the silver and antique brass key rings with choices of words and dangles in different colors.  These can also be bag charms or put on backpacks or belts!


And finally, here are some fancier necklaces:  first The Flying Swallows necklace with swarovski crystals and pearls, which can be done with different colors of crystals and pearls.


 Next, three Falling Leaves necklaces in different colors and metals, with pearls, crystals, etc.


And last, my fave:  The Swirly Gig Necklace in antique brass with swarovski Capri blue crystals and teardrop pearls.

Hope you enjoyed the show!  In upcoming blogs I'll go into more detail about the pieces and what I've been learning.  Be sure to leave me comments here so I can do a Happy Dance!  And the links below will take you hopping to the other 55 participants' lines of incredible creations.  Live large and love living!  <3<3<3



Visit the links below to see all the wonderful people participating in the blog hop:

Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques : Jewelry Making Outside the Box
Marcia Tuzzolino : Aurora Designs
Jann Tague : Clever Designs by Jann
Judy King : Apt to Wander Studio
Cynthia Wainscott : Exotic Peru
Carole Carlson : Beadsophisticate
Lynn Stinten : Dragonzwench
Marica Zammit : Bead Lovelies
Catherine Shattuck : VRBrose
Michaele Collie : The Vintage Gem
Mary Craig : Jewelry Alchemy
Lee Koopman : Strega Jewelry
Erin Whitacre : Shattered Time Jewelry
Monica Casady : MJCasady Copper Works
Leila West : Leila Nicole Designs
Cindy Peterson : Howling Dog Jewelry
Leila Belcher : Leila Bee Designs
Gloria Allen : Wings and Beads
Pamela Anger : Novegatti Designs
Tammy Adams : Paisley Lizard
Lynda O'Mara : LOmara Creative
Elizabeth Hildreth : MadScientistsDesigns
Dana Hickey : Wind Dancer Studios
Janet Calardo : Jan Lea Designs
Maria Clark : Sweet Willow Designs
Lori Beekman : B. Accessorized
Jennifer Kroeger : Relic Charm
Amy Jorgensen : Hoarder's Corner
Ingrid Anderson : Lilis Gems
Louise O'Shields : Desire Divine Jewels
Susan Killam : Killam Creative
Nike Bottalico : Nike Bottalico
Susan Bowerman : Woodside Wireworks
Jan Peters : Stylized Vintage
Gina Hockett : Freestyle Elements
Linda Anderson : From the Bead Board
Teresa Shurter : TreeZ's Treasurs
Melissa Latimer : Smithed Up
Nadine Edris : Moondance Jewelry
Lori Meyer : Parisienne Girl
Jennifer Merrill Williams : Artists of All Stripes
Denise Lussier Poirier : Jewelry by Denise
Renee Allen : Small Stuff Design
Autumn Adams : Autumn Dawns
Elizabeth Owens : 1996 Shabby Lane
Sandra Ballard : Mama San's Mojo
Coral Law : ab:coraldesign

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Wait for it--look for it!!



It's only 2 days now until the final reveal of my all-new jewelry line with many choices for you!  The end of the 3 month B'sue Boutiques Challenge class that I've been taking approaches!!  And are you wondering what all those little pearl dangles are for?  NOT for cha cha bracelets--haha!  You'll just have to come to my final Blog Hop and see all my beauties!!

Be sure to visit www.wilywolverine.blogspot.com on Friday and after!  You can also follow the links at the end of the blog post to hop to all the other wonderful participants' new lines!  And be sure to read Brenda Sue Lansdowne's blog about this Challenge--she is our FABULOUS teacher and mentor who shared so much time, wisdom and experience with us.  Or you can visit her shop of  fine quality goodies all made in the U.S.  (bsueboutiques.com)

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Build A Line Challenge from B'sue Boutiques, Alexandra Sefton, Part 2


Greetings from Freddie, my green helper, the Endangered N.W. tree octopus!  He says this 3 month Build a Line Challenge from B'sue Boutiques has been, and is a roller coaster!  Ups and downs, tearing hair out, doing the happy dance, it's all been happening for me and the lucky 54 other wonderful jewelry designers who are doing this challenge with Brenda Sue Lansdowne--our incredibly funny, kind and generous teacher.

Are you ready for the 1st big reveal?  I  have a terrible fear of heights, but I jumped way out of my comfort zone and learned to do assemblage jewelry, colorizing metal and so much more.  Here I have some of the pieces from the new line I've designed:  Imagine the Colors of Nature.  In the next month, the first of these pieces will be appearing for sale in my Etsy shop.


Yes, that IS a different theme than I blogged about last time! As anyone familiar with the creative process knows, you don't always end up with exactly what you imagined in the beginning.  And as Bob Ross said, "there are no mistakes, just happy little accidents," or in my case, happy BIG accidents!

In the next two weeks I will blog more about how I created these pieces. But for now, you can see that there are 2 parts to my line:  (1)  The Nature Brights Line: copper, silver, gold and brass assemblage pieces and hand painted metals with: leaves and flowers, birds, dragonflies, and butterflies. Some pieces can be adjustable to brooches, many will have matching earrings as an option.  (2)  The Mini Cha Nature Line: incorporates the same nature elements as above,  but in adjustable bracelets and mini rings with leaves, pearls, birds, mini lockets, flowers and more.  I have many other colors planned--a lovely denim blue, teal, magenta, pink and much more to be seen at the final reveal!


This is my first time learning and experimenting with colors on metal and assemblage jewelry!  I had so much fun using patina paints and lumiere paints with their "halo" colors and pearlescents--almost a leafing effect when you mix the colors.  It took some time to figure out which colors worked well together but eventually I settled on the colorway for my line.

March 20 is our final Blog Hop and I will have surprise pieces for the rest of my new line that no one has even seen yet!  On that day, you will be able to see my complete line of delicious colors and mini chas!!



I'd be delighted if you'd leave comments for me--and have fun hopping on to see the other participants' new lines by clicking on the links below.  Live large and enjoy!!!  <3<3<3



Visit the links below to see all the wonderful people participating in the blog hop:

Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques : Jewelry Making Outside the Box
Marcia Tuzzolino : Aurora Designs
Jann Tague : Clever Designs by Jann
Judy King : Apt to Wander Studio
Cynthia Wainscott : Exotic Peru
Carole Carlson : Beadsophisticate
Lynn Stinten : Dragonzwench
Marica Zammit : Bead Lovelies
Catherine Shattuck : VRBrose
Michaele Collie : The Vintage Gem
Mary Craig : Jewelry Alchemy
Lee Koopman : Strega Jewelry
Erin Whitacre : Shattered Time Jewelry
Monica Casady : MJCasady Copper Works
Leila West : Leila Nicole Designs
Cindy Peterson : Howling Dog Jewelry
Leila Belcher : Leila Bee Designs
Gloria Allen : Wings and Beads
Pamela Anger : Novegatti Designs
Tammy Adams : Paisley Lizard
Lynda O'Mara : LOmara Creative
Elizabeth Hildreth : MadScientistsDesigns
Dana Hickey : Wind Dancer Studios
Janet Calardo : Jan Lea Designs
Maria Clark : Sweet Willow Designs
Lori Beekman : B. Accessorized
Jennifer Kroeger : Relic Charm
Amy Jorgensen : Hoarder's Corner
Ingrid Anderson : Lilis Gems
Louise O'Shields : Desire Divine Jewels
Susan Killam : Killam Creative
Nike Bottalico : Nike Bottalico
Susan Bowerman : Woodside Wireworks
Jan Peters : Stylized Vintage
Gina Hockett : Freestyle Elements
Linda Anderson : From the Bead Board
Teresa Shurter : TreeZ's Treasurs
Melissa Latimer : Smithed Up
Nadine Edris : Moondance Jewelry
Lori Meyer : Parisienne Girl
Jennifer Merrill Williams : Artists of All Stripes
Denise Lussier Poirier : Jewelry by Denise
Renee Allen : Small Stuff Design
Autumn Adams : Autumn Dawns
Elizabeth Owens : 1996 Shabby Lane
Sandra Ballard : Mama San's Mojo
Coral Law : ab:coraldesign

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Build A Line Challenge from B'sue Boutiques, Alexandra Sefton Part 1





¡Hola! I'm Alexandra Sefton of Imaginary Jewelry and Altered Art, and I'm tickled pink to share with you the first Blog Hop of the Build A Line Challenge from B'sue Boutiques.  Here in Part #1, I get to reveal my secret theme for the Challenge and tell you a bit about myself and why I chose to do this 3 month master class with 57 other wonderful jewelry artists.

At the end of the 3 months, and in the 3rd Blog Hop, we will get to reveal the 5 finished pieces of our new line!  Before I tell you about my theme, here's a bit about me:  my career was teaching 5th-6th grade and then High School Spanish, but now that I'm retired I finally get to find myself and my passion, which is creating beautiful jewelry and altered art pieces.  It seems I'm a student now, and there's no end of fun, new friendships to be found, and  new things to learn.  Most of what I've learned about life, I've learned from my cats (LOL).  Many wonderful fur buckets have come and gone through the years, but here is my current creative staff: the big black and white guy is Edward ScissorPaws and he's a big talker and purrer.  The little one is Moki, and the green one is Freddie my 8 armed muse!









When you go to my Etsy shop you'll find that I LOVE colors!  I could eat and drink them all day and all night.  Most of my jewelry is made with artisan lampwork glass and polymer clay, lots of crystal bling, Czech glass, and  other elements.  Here are some favorite things I've made, including my specialty: cha cha dangle bracelets.






So--my theme is: Time to Imagine--Nature.  With this new Challenge, I wanted to create a metal nature line that would incorporate different metals, lots of birds, leaves, flowers, trees, squirrels, foxes and so on.  My greatest passion, at the root of my being, is the natural world God has created for us.  I love to walk, imagine and explore the outdoors, and see all the plants, flowers and wildlife. Here are some of the wonderful components, mostly from B'sue Boutiques, that I might
be using. (www.bsueboutiques.com) I hope this line will make people happy and want to fly with the birds!  Thanks for reading!  <3



Visit the links below to see all the wonderful people participating in the blog hop:

Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques : Jewelry Making Outside the Box
Marcia Tuzzolino : Aurora Designs
Jann Tague : Clever Designs by Jann
Judy King : Apt to Wander Studio
Cynthia Wainscott : Exotic Peru
Carole Carlson : Beadsophisticate
Lynn Stinten : Dragonzwench
Marica Zammit : Bead Lovelies
Catherine Shattuck : VRBrose
Michaele Collie : The Vintage Gem
Mary Craig : Jewelry Alchemy
Lee Koopman : Strega Jewelry
Erin Whitacre : Shattered Time Jewelry
Monica Casady : MJCasady Copper Works
Leila West : Leila Nicole Designs
Cindy Peterson : Howling Dog Jewelry
Leila Belcher : Leila Bee Designs
Gloria Allen : Wings and Beads
Pamela Anger : Novegatti Designs
Tammy Adams : Paisley Lizard
Lynda O'Mara : LOmara Creative
Elizabeth Hildreth : MadScientistsDesigns
Dana Hickey : Wind Dancer Studios
Janet Calardo : Jan Lea Designs
Maria Clark : Sweet Willow Designs
Lori Beekman : B. Accessorized
Jennifer Kroeger : Relic Charm
Amy Jorgensen : Hoarder's Corner
Ingrid Anderson : Lilis Gems
Louise O'Shields : Desire Divine Jewels
Susan Killam : Killam Creative
Nike Bottalico : Nike Bottalico
Susan Bowerman : Woodside Wireworks
Jan Peters : Stylized Vintage
Gina Hockett : Freestyle Elements
Linda Anderson : From the Bead Board
Teresa Shurter : TreeZ's Treasurs
Melissa Latimer : Smithed Up
Nadine Edris : Moondance Jewelry
Lori Meyer : Parisienne Girl
Jennifer Merrill Williams : Artists of All Stripes
Denise Lussier Poirier : Jewelry by Denise
Renee Allen : Small Stuff Design
Autumn Adams : Autumn Dawns
Elizabeth Owens : 1996 Shabby Lane
Sandra Ballard : Mama San's Mojo
Coral Law : ab:coraldesign