¡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
Linzi Alford : Magpie in the Sky, Spoil Heap Tales
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
Robin Reed : Artistry: Handcrafted Bead Designs
Ingrid Anderson : Lilis Gems
Louise O'Shields : Desire Divine Jewels
Susan Killam : Killam Creative
Mary Katherine Deis : The Rose Sword: Artisan and Vintage Collectible Jewelry
Nike Bottalico : Nike Bottalico
Susan Bowerman : Woodside Wireworks
Kristy Le : Kristy Le Trendy Jewelry Designs
Jan Peters : Stylized Vintage
Mitzie Crider : Needful Luxuries Occasional Blog
Gina Hockett : Freestyle Elements
Linda Anderson : From the Bead Board
Alexandra Sefton : Imaginary Jewelry and Altered Art
Melida Boman : The Journey of Pens and Things
Teresa Shurter : TreeZ's Treasurs
Melissa Latimer : Smithed Up
Renee Hong : Fine and Dandy Jewelry and Art
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
Kat BarronMiller : Midnight Kat Productions Art Jewelry
Sandra Ballard : Mama San's Mojo
Coral Law : ab:coraldesign
Love your theme! Can't wait to see your creations! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! They are a work in progress, that's for sure! :)
DeleteLove your creative staff Alexandra :-) Interesting theme you chose there. Lots of B'sue components that you can choose from for your theme.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing more in the next blog hop!
Marica xx
Glad people have a sense of humor about our aides and muses! Thanks for your comments! :)
DeleteWonderful, wonderful, wonderful!
ReplyDeleteVery kind of you Melissa! :)
DeleteLove the jewelry you showed and the theme is wonderful!!! Can't wait to see how it emerges! Be Blessed!
ReplyDeleteWow--thanks for your sweet words of encouragement! Blessings for you too and all of us. :)
DeleteI love the color explosion of your pieces. They are so much fun! I'm looking forward to seeing your line develop. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your enthusiasm! I'm not sure how colorful my new line will work out to be because I'm going to be liking the metal colors--but we'll see! :)
DeleteLove the cha has, if that's any indication your line will be beautiful and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the line!
ReplyDeleteI love the cha chas too! Have made many and a bunch have sold, but my new lime will be 100% different, so we'll see..... Thanks for your sweet words! :):)
DeleteGreat blog. Love the top picture. Great theme! Love your creative team!
ReplyDeleteHaha--creative team! Thanks Lynda! <3
Deletelooking forward to seeing your design line .. Jann
ReplyDeleteThanks Jann!!
DeleteGreat blog, like that you love strong colors, pleased to meet Ms. A.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words! I do love strong colors but my new line will be quite different, so we'll see if I can pull it together! :)
DeleteI like all the detail you add to the jewelry
ReplyDeleteThanks! It takes a lot of hours to make those cha chas, and my new line will supposedly be simpler and different--but we'll see! :)
DeleteThose are some serious cha cha bracelets! Love them and I may need to consult with you about color. Great intro!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nadine! I love the polymer beads with many colors so I can have lots of stuff in the dangles! We could talk about color for hours! :)
DeleteYour sense of color is well-developed. Your pieces have harmony and a delightful energy. I look forward to seeing your new line.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tammy--I'm a bit worried about my new line because it will be completely different! I'll just have to wait and see how it comes together. Thank you so much for saying my pieces have harmony and energy--I didn't know that! :):)
DeleteSo pretty, and a lovely concept.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lori!
DeleteThanks Lori for your comments! :)
DeleteAlexandra CHICA! Wowee! Love your style; you are: FUN! I so look forward to seeing your finished line! My daughter Chelsea is a Spanish Major (Japanese minor) in her senior year of college.
ReplyDeleteHaha, Sandra! My daughter has an English major with a concentration in Japanese like your daughter! She went to Japan for school the spring semester of her junior year. I wanted to learn Chinese, but she said Japanese is somewhat easier to learn because the vowels are more like Spanish. Thank you SO much for saying you liked my style and that it is fun! I have always hoped it would be but selling on line, you don't get much feedback as to how peeps felt and why they bought what they did. We've gotta talk more GF! :)
DeleteAwesome! Where did she study in Japan? My daughter was in Osaka. She wanted to stay her entire senior year, but had to come back to finish her Spanish major here in CT. And yes, she didn't care for Chinese either! Great to connect!
DeleteLove the colors in your work. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteThanks Carole! We'll see if my new line has much color--just don't know at this point! :)
DeleteSo much colour, I'm not so brave. I love the top right bracelet you have it calls to me.
ReplyDeleteI think I replied on your FB page, but thanks so much for your nice words. I love that bracelet too!! :)
DeleteCute little staff members you have! ;) Such lovely bracelets .. I love charmy-dangly bracelets! The new theme sounds marvelous; nature themes are my favorites.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you like my staff and dangly bracelets! Thanks so much for your comments. :)
DeleteGreat theme. I love birds especially along with flowers, and trees, and bees, and butterflies, and, and, and ....
ReplyDeleteThanks Autumn--I love birds and, and, and too!! :)
DeleteGreat blog and theme! Can't wait to see how your line comes together.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Micheale! :)
DeleteLove all of your colorful jewelry. As a nature lover I am looking forward to seeing your creations. ~Ingrid
ReplyDeleteHooray for nature lovers! Thanks for your comments! :)
DeleteAy que bonito, me encanta todo lo que escribiste....u tus fotos, tambien! Tu arte es bien hermoso, no puedo esperar a ver mas! Sigue escribiendo y mostrando el mundo tus bisuterias, y gracias por compartir con nosotros todos aqui y en la clase HOW PRETTY, I love what you wrote and your pix, too. Your art is beautiful, I can't wait to see more! Keep writing and showing the world your jewelry (costume jewelry) and thank you for sharing with us here and in the class.
ReplyDelete¡Mil gracias por tus palabras lindas! ¡Me agradece que te gustan mis photos y mi blog! Le doy gracias al Señor que te conozco, ¡qué mujer fabulosa y preciosa eres! <3<3<3
DeleteAs always I love your wonderful sense of humor and the beauty of your color blends and bead choices. God has so blessed us and it's Awesome to see your interpretation of Creation, really.
ReplyDeleteWow--Teresa--thank you so much for your beautiful words of encouragement! It's so true that God has blessed us with all that we have, even the air we breathe! I'm so thankful to be alive! :)
DeleteWill be anticipating a view of your line in the next blog hop, Alexandra. Nice blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your great words! :)
DeleteLoved your blog. You made it enjoyable to read and the pictures really added to it. Freddie is a hoot! Your bracelets are really beautiful and they do look like they took a really long time to create. looking forward to seeing your new line of jewelry.
ReplyDeleteJanet--thanks so much for your comments! Glad you liked Freddie--my daughter thinks I am so strange, but I thought some peeps would think it was funny. Maybe he can help me with Steampunk. LOL. :):)
DeleteAlexandra, the color and nature theme is great. Loved the size and boldness of your pieces. Looking forward to the reveal.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your enthusiasm! Don't know yet how big my line will be--still need lots of time to fiddle with it! :)
DeleteCute fur babies! Can't wait to see some finished pieces. :-) ~Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing your nature -inspired pieces ! Linzi
ReplyDeleteTime To Imagine sounds like a great theme!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Susan
Wonderful concept and your jewels are colorful, as well as gorgeous. I'm looking forward to creating with you.
ReplyDeleteLove your cha-cha bracelets! And the poster you made, along with all of your babies. Time to Imagine--oh the possibilities!! Gina H
ReplyDeleteColorful nature? Sounds very perfect for Spring. Your collection will sell very well.
ReplyDeleteAlexandra, you are a talented designer of both art and jewelry! That poster is amazing. I smile every time I see it. Your bracelets are my favorite. I can't wait to see how you incorporate the animals into your jewelry.
ReplyDeleteHi Alexandria :)
ReplyDelete~ I am just finishing up my hopping as I was not able to hop when we all posted. Your two assistants are rather dapper and I bet they keep your studio in tip top shape! A line revolving the different aspects of nature is always a win-win in MHO! Best of Luck while creating! Looking forward to seeing your finished line!
See you in class!
xo Liz