Premier bijou en pâte d'argent - First Silver Clay creation

YES!

I've done it!
My first precious metal clay piece.

Nothing broken, nothing burnt off.

It's a ring— well I guess that does show clearly...

It was inspired by last week's Thursday Swet Treat: "Passion's Fire Word Art - Light the Flame". You tell me fire, I think... Salamander.

So this is a tiny salamander lazying on top of a ring imprinted with flames.

The first two photos show it before firing.

The next ones show it after a few minutes firing and a few dozen minutes hand-polishing and antiquing it. Antiquing it was meant to set off the flames and the salamnder— unfortunately, it also shows off a few flaws and the odd ominous crack...

So I'll keep this one for myself and keep working on the design and on my modelling skills.

But remember: you saw it here first.

Ouiii!!!...

Ça y est !
J'ai terminé ma première création en pâte d'argent.

Même pas cassée. Rien d'explosé ni de brûlé.

C'est une bague. Mais bon, je suppose que ça, ça se voit quand même...

Je l'ai créée à l'inspiration du thème de la semaine dernière sur le blog Thursday Swet Treat, "Passion's Fire Word Art - Light the Flame". J'ai cherché parmi les symboles liés au feu : le phénix, d'abord, maispas de phénix sous la main... alors j'ai repensé à ma petite salamandre.

Et donc, ce que vous voyez, c'est une petite salamandre sur un anneau enflammé...

Les deux premières photos la montre avant cuisson.

Les suivantes la montrent, après quelques minutes de cuisson, et plus d'une heure de polissage à la main et de traitement "antique", dont le but était de faire ressortir les détails, mais qui met aussi bien en valeur tous les petits défauts et un petit "cheveu" qui fait que je préfère la garder pour moi. Plus prudent.

Mais je vais continuer à la travailler pour mettre en vente une version améliorée. N'oubliez pas : vous l'aurez vue ici en premier !

Key-Word Bracelet - Bracelet Mot-Clef

I've just finished and listed (on Etsy) this bracelet that I first created two weeks ago for the Thursday Sweet Treat.

I improved it's wearability and practicality while trying to preserve the simplicity meant to set out my bad pun...


Je viens de finir et de mettre en vente (sur Etsy pour l'instant, mais bientôt sur DaWanda aussi) ce bracelet que j'ai créé il y a deux semaines sur le thème "the keyhole of imagination" (le trou de serrure de l'imagination).

Cliquez ici pour voir toutes les autres oeuvres inspirées par ce thème si stimulant : Thursday Sweet Treat.

Depuis, je l'ai repris pour le rendre plus pratique et plus joli à la fois. Enfin je crois...

Merry-Go-Round - Sprrrrringtime!!!

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month's theme:

Spring.

Photo exhibition today!

Cherry tree, rosemary, daredevil lily-of-the-valley, lilac, "le Désespoir du Poète" (in the foreground), and chives & parsley.


Because to me, spring means blooming (I could spend hours day-dreaming, lying on the grass, flat on my back, under a cherry-tree in bloom), budding (the buds are all as different as the leaves and flowers shall be)... and messy (so many things to see and do - so little time to blog about it!).


I love the surge of energy, the infinite scale of green hues, the tender blades, the dark buds, the dandelion galore... and (last phot but one) what I only know by its nickname: "the painter's despair", because it moves with the lightest breeze.

I get all this when I go to the country, but I also keep up a little sample of spring on my miniature balconies (in the last photo).


And so I am bubbling over with projects and plans and schemes.


Right now, I am working on my newly established business (not that I am selling any more of course) and on new techniques.


Today, I spent hours browsing along the alleys of our huge Spring Fair (flea market cum antique / flower / regional food market).

I must have been there for about three hours there
and only managed to cover about a third of it...


Crawled back home carrying old books (a French translation of Mrs Minniver, a German one of Ivanhoe, an early 20th cent. map of the North of Scotland etc.); about ten yards of vintage, unused tea towel fabric (to make sturdy tote bags); antique, handcut crystal (not for any chandelier of mine, but to make unique jewellery with, of course!).

Thursday's Joy of Dancing

My contribution to this week's Thursday Sweet Treat, and two other photos I considered.

All taken from the ferry crossing to Blaye on a spectacularly cloudy, sunny spring day.

"Dances with the clouds"...

Quelques photos prises depuis un ferry qui traverse la Gironde entre Lamarque et Blaye, pour participer à un "tour de table" créatif sur le thème Joies de la Dance.

Voir le lien ci-dessous, pour admirer les autres créations sur le même thème.

Contactez-moi si vous souhaiter un exemplaire sur papier "archive" ou photo...

Again, you should really check out the
Thursday Sweet Treat blog to see all the particularly amazing art and craft inspired by this theme.
The blog is kept by Natasha — you can find her own art in her Etsy shop, Doodle Star and you should definitely look up her other blog: Creative Nachos.