Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Christmas Sweaters

Momma's Earrings
My mother takes full advantage of having a jewelry designer at her beck and call.  Today, she saw some of the pieces in the next phase of my controlled marbling tutorial, the black and red pieces, and asked me to make her some Christmas-y red and green stripedy (see, Jules, I get it honest!) earrings in the upside-down teardrop shape that I call the "hot air balloon" cut.  

Dutiful daughter that I am, I dropped everything and proceeded to make my Momma some red and green earrings.  

Now, other than her E-reader, which we forced on her (the one she would hurt you over now if you tried to take it from her,) there isn't much about my Momma that is "modern."  She is very old-fashioned, from her hair-do to her clothing to the furniture in her house.  Striped earrings, and in a funky shape?  Nuh-uh, I know her and I know better, or thought I did.  

North Pole Snowflake Earrings
The times, they are a-changing, though.  Apparently, she went out last week and bought herself a (gasp!) Christmas themed sweater!   Just the thought sends shudders through me.   She has never done the Christmas sweater thing!  Never!   What is happening here?  What's next, a turkey loaf for Christmas dinner?  It's that senior citizens group she plays cards with on Tuesdays.  They're a radical bunch, those women... drive themselves everywhere they want to go, wear red hats and purple clothes in public... you know the kind...

North Pole Snowflakes Teardrop
Well, there was nothing for it but to hunker down and create something to match the Christmas sweater.  Since I was marbling, and wanted to stay in the marbling frame of mind, I decided to blend some custom Christmas red and green and a snowy white.  

I don't like to use regular white clay because it is flat.  Instead, I add a few drops of white alcohol ink to Pardo Translucent.  It is much softer and has a sweet luminescence.  Marshmallows come to mind when I look at it. 

I blended the colors and marbled a batch, but the earrings looked too abstract and modern.  This is a pair I decided to leave that way.  I love these, but they aren't Momma and no matter what she says, she wouldn't wear them.

Ribbon Candy Earrings
Then the light bulb went off over my head and I decided to stamp the rest with a snowflake texture sheet and highlight the stamping with a whipped cream colored acrylic paint (custom blended using eggshell and white and the teeniest touch of yellow.)  

Yep, I did good.  She saw these and almost choked up.  She said "Those are EXACTLY what I wanted!"

They remind me of Scandinavian sweaters or the Fair Isle sweater patterns.   Maybe I'll let my fingers do the walking through the internet and see if I can find a Christmas red and green Fair Isle patterned sweater.  For her, of course, not for me... I don't do Christmas sweaters.  Nope, not me.  

Now it's back to the studio to work on the red and black, which frankly, aren't coming together as I had hoped.  I'm going to sort through my waxed paper wrapped stash of blended clay to get some inspiration for more color combinations.  












9 comments:

elisabeth said...

Beautiful work!

m.e. said...

Aren't mothers always right? :D
The snowflake stamped earrings are Festive-Fantastic!
m.e. :)

Unknown said...

Really nice!

Unknown said...

I'm with your mama - great earrings. I love the stamped design!

JuLee said...

Yep ... mothers can be strange. At the age of 75, after she got a teddy bear during a hospital stay, she decided to start collecting them. It has become hard all these years later to find a unique one for her collection (see is 93 now)
I think I like the simplicity of the orginal non-stamped earrings. The stamped are a little toooo festive for me. But the simplier ones, just perfect.

Unknown said...

Hey! I resemble that remark about the senior citizens since I have recently become one!!! Seriously, I love this design. It reminds me more of Christmas wrapping paper than a sweater but the end result is the same. Festive, cheery and a very Merry Christmas sort of feel! That's also the joy of being able to make your own jewelry... you might not go out and buy jewelry that would have such a limited wearing timeframe, but you can make them and feel festive without the guilt!!!

Jeanne @ Gems By Jeanne Marie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jeanne @ Gems By Jeanne Marie said...

Beautiful, Lynda! It's so nice that you have your mother around to inspire you!

Not sure if my previous comment showed up - I had to correct a typo. :)

Diva Designs Jewelry said...

Thank you all so much. My Momma and I appreciate your lovely comments. She is a real character, but my best friend, and we have a blast creating and critiquing each other's work. It's all good! :)

Arlene, I swear I wish we lived closer together. I would be at your house more than your relatives! Everything I wrote was done with tongue firmly planted in cheek AND my Mother standing over my shoulder laughing while I typed. I razz her all the time about the Red Hat Society. She says when my time comes, she's going to gag me, kidnap me and take me by force to the meeting. LOL