A Busy Busy life!

So I just realized my last post was a month ago.

And what a month it has been.

The fires really shook everyone up, and the winds are back. Malibu burned again over Thanksgiving weekend. I can't believe that there is anything left to burn. Once the fires here in my county subsided, it took a few days for the smell of smoke to go away and even longer for the ash to stop falling. Actually, on foggy days, it still smells like wet campfire.

I was blissfully unemployed for a while, and that ended rather abruptly.
I started doing a little freelance work for a local photography studio; Photo Aqua in Encinitas. I decided that it would be fun to go back into retail for the Christmas season* and I got called in to an onsite freelance position.

Needless to say, my jewelry production has been low. I have managed to purchase some yummy new beads and make a stunning Connemara Marble, Amethyst and Copper bracelet.

My mother and sister have now begun selling my jewelry at in home parties. So I need to get back into making more. And yes I am paying them. :)

Ohh, I have plans in the works for the next collaboration project with Ruth another member of EJA

Thats my update, I will have pictures soon!

*if you ever hear me say that it would be fun to work retail for the holidays, hit me!!! the hours are killing me!

San DIego is on fire

Here is a shot of the sun at 3:30 this afternoon.

Ok, I know, it is a lot about the fire, but, have you seen the news?

I have, I live here, I have been in all of the areas affected, and I still cannot comprehend the extensiveness of it.

I sit here in the safe cocoon of my home and try desperately to fathom what 500,000 people displaced means. I think I count as one of that number, as we were given a voluntary evacuation notice yesterday, that wasn't lifted until earlier tonight.

I stare out at the post apocalyptic skies and the ash covered ground and realize those ashes may have once been something important to another human being. How does one deal with that realization?

As I try to not fear for my home and my safe place, I know that a huge number of people, people I may know, may have passed on the street, shared dinner at a restaurant with, are without their own safe place tonight. They may not know until days from now if they even still have a home.

The winds, fueled by the desert winds called the Santa Anas, are hot and dry and fast. I have said before it is literally like walking out into a huge blow dryer. They seem to have slowed down today, regardless, you are looking at miles and miles of brush and palm trees that haven't seen moisture in weeks.

Because of this, there are firefighters that haven't stopped working for over 40 hours. 40 hours!?! I am not talking 40 hours of hanging out at home either, this is hot, dangerous and physically challenging. I want to go volunteer to give them hugs or back rubs or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Those of you who know me, know I have some sort of reverse fetish about touching people I don't know, I HATE IT. I am in awe of their ability to think beyond themselves and go into heat and smoke and danger for a complete stranger.

But do you realize these men and women are going into burning homes and taking pictures and mementos out and putting them on the lawn in an attempt to save something for the family whose home was destroyed?

There are hundreds of families that will go home to nothing but a pile of rubble, and find a stack of family pictures that they didn't have time to grab on the way out, on their lawn.

What about this; out of over 100,000 acres burned, less than 1000 structures have been destroyed. That includes barns, garages and commercial buildings. This amazes me, someone is doing something right.

I go outside for only a few minutes at a time, the air is hard to breathe and the sky is unsettling. That once comforting campfire smell has taken on a new memory for me, and it can no longer be comforting, as I know it is not just wood, but homes and lives that I smell burning.

When it is not you that is affected it is really hard to quantify the news reports. I am scared, but how would I feel if I was one of those people that had to leave at 4am in the pitch black with no electricity and embers landing on their cars on the way out of the neighborhood.

reflecting on Heritage

reflecting on Heritage, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

Aged Celtic knots etched into copper then enameled in blue and green.

entry for the October EJA giveaway contest.

Every few months, the Eclectic Jewelry Artisans hold a jewelry design competition with a theme. Our theme this time is "Reflection" and this is my entry.

To vote for my earrings, please visit:
www.EclecticJewelryArtisans.com

Click on Mailing List and enter your choice for the best "Reflection" in the note. (IgnisDesigns)

***When you vote, you will be entered into our free giveaway drawing!!!***

Leaves! leaves! Leaves!

I have been fascinated by these leaves for some time now, I finally got some at the last gem show. Then my mother picked up Alaskan Cottonwood and Aspen while she was in Alaska this summer. I love how each one is different, just look!

The first ones I made for my sister's wedding, it was a Faerie theme, so each bridesmaid had a leaf necklace. Then came the 24k gold Aspen leaf with aventurine and carnelian. Next was a Sterling Silver evergreen leaf with Thai silver and several different semi precious stones, then was the Copper evergreen leaf with some handmade lampwork beads I made in ivory, turquoise and silver, mixed with goldstone and turquiose, lastly a gunmetal oak leaf with picaso marbel and rose quartz. I simply love them.

Unfortunately there are people out there selling "dipped" leaves that are not actually dipped leaves but made using the lost wax technique. While I still believe they are beautiful, some leaves I bough on ebay recently are NOT real dipped leaves. I wish people were more honest. There is no way to really tell when you are looking at the skeleton leaves, but the solid leaves have a void in them from where the real leaf was and you can usually feel it when pressing on both sides of the leaf. If it is completely solid all the way through, you do not have a real dipped leaf, you just have a very pretty cast leaf.

The Great Revealing! The "Del Mar" Series

Drum Roll Please!!!!

So when three different artists are given the same materials to work with, how similar do you think they'll be? If you guessed not at all, you are right.

In my collaboration with Cindy Gimbrone aka the Lampwork Diva, which I do feel she has earned as a title by creating her gorgeous spiral beads... and Laura Bracken of Bracken Designs, no title but that doesn't mean she isn't a designer/ multi-tasker extraordinaire.

Here are my final pieces, I have titled them Del Mar, Of the Sea. I made a necklace a pair of earrings and a chunky bracelet.


























Cindy's piece is stunningly simple, Laura's is very intricate. Follow the links to their blogs above to see.

In my previous post you will see the gorgeous lampwork beads that Cindy sent included were some of her spirals that can be found on her website
I included 3 different enamels 2 circles and one rectangle I have similar pieces available in my etsy shop

The Great Revealing! Part II

Here are some extra images of me modeling the lovely pieces:

Collaboration! What happens when artists get together?

I am finishing up a collaboration project with two other artists, Cindy Gimbrone andLaura Bracken,we will all three be working with beads from Cindy and Enamels byME! The final pieces will be posted tomorrow.

In the mean time, here is a sneak peek at the beads we all started with.

Let me tell you about my very first artist collaboration project.

I had a rough start with collaborating as an artist. I remember being in probably 1st grade, maybe kindergarten, and having my very first art collaboration. Being from the Sesame Street generation, my FAVORITE word was co-operation. So when my teacher told us we'd be co operating during our art project I was very excited.

Then it began...

We were to draw snowmen. We sat at a circle of tables and each had our own colors and paper. She had us draw the head of the snowman...

Then pass the paper to the child next to us...

HOLD ON JUST ONE MINUTE!!!! I had plans for that snowman, I got the special color of blue to draw his coat. I was not happy, but I still wanted to do this co operating thing.. so I stayed quiet.

Then we drew the body on the snowman head we got from the kid before us. The kid before me wasn't so good at circles, so I had to be a little creative to make the body look right...

Then pass the paper to the child next to us...

NOT AGAIN!!! I had just spent a bunch of time on that one... This time, I was not able to keep quiet. As most people who know first graders I went from quiet to hissy fit.. no in between.

I was NOT going to share my work with other kids and I definitely did not want other kids touching my work. I felt betrayed by my teacher, betrayed by the kids next to me and betrayed by Sesame Street. This co operating thing was NOT fun.

After learning the hard lessons from Mrs Seeweepegaham, lets see how well I do this time. :)

Treasury love

Treasury love, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

I finally got a treasury on etsy.com ! It takes a little skill and a lot of patience.

I was able to showcase some of my favorite pieces by several jewelry designers.

http://www.Ahna.Etsy.com
http://www.JJBoz10.Etsy.com
http://www.peldyn.etsy.com
http://www.ntroske.etsy.com
http://www.BrokenTeepeeDesign.etsy.com
http://www.AncaNY.etsy.com
http://www.gypsydesignjewelry.Etsy.com
http://www.Baxtershouse.Etsy.com
http://www.sojourncuriosities.Etsy.com
http://www.deliasdelight.Etsy.com
http://www.CercaTrova.Etsy.com
http://www.studiobijou.Etsy.com
http://www.Dichroicdazzle.Etsy.com
http://www.GibsonWireCreations.Etsy.com
http://www.asilomarworks.Etsy.com
http://www.BeadJewelryShopgirl.Etsy.com

Featured Artist!

Featured Artist!, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

This month I am the featured artist for Eclectic Jewelry Artisans (EJA)
www.eclecticjewelryartisans.com/
Store Name: Ignis Designs

E-mail: Bridgette@IgnisDesigns.com

Describe your style:
Very eclectic. I love color and I love learning new techniques, I combine them and come up with my jewelry. I also make jewelry boxes and cards. I learn by doing, so I will take a class to learn the basics then take those basics and experiment until I get what I want.

What is the first piece of jewelry you made that you felt ecstatic about?
The first piece I have ever felt ecstatic about was a fine silver cloisonné pendant. It is a night scene with a tree in the moonlight. The pendant was dark blue, brown and green with a yellow moon. I finished it off with glass beads from all over the planet in blues and greens. The colors were just beautiful. I gave it to my mom for mother’s day.

Where do you draw your inspiration?
From nature, although it isn’t instantly obvious when you see my work. I’ll look around and see color combinations and recreate them in my jewelry. Think about it this way, if you were to draw a leaf up close, you wouldn’t just use brown or green.. There is orange, purple, black, blue and yellow along with the green and brown.

How long have you been creating jewelry?
For at least 15 years. I have been enameling for 2 years and doing lampwork for just over 6 months. It is my stress relief, because these two take total concentration on the task at hand, it is my few hours where I cannot possibly be thinking of anything else, be it the laundry, work or anything else.

What is your favorite piece and why?
My favorite piece is almost always my newest piece. It is a Necklace made with colorful tourmaline chips and 4 of my lampwork beads. The lampwork beads are bright pink with fine silver accents and dark purple with fine silver and copper accents. The necklace is finished off with a sterling silver ginkgo leaf pendant and an over-sized sterling clasp. The ginkgo leaf looks like a whale tale which I love.

Creative Glass Guild of Etsy~ Trivia Contest: August 26th

The Creative Glass Guild of Etsy (CGGE) would like to announce our Sunday Street Team Trivia Challenge! On August 26th at 4pm PST (7pm EST, 10pm UK), CGGE members will host our FIRST Sunday Street Team Trivia Contest.

This is a fun trivia contest featuring questions written by CGGE members about the CGGE team and members, it’s kind of a meet and greet, AND you will have the chance to win some AWESOME prizes!

We will be giving out a total of 3 glass prize packages!

The first place winner will receive a fused glass slider pendant donated by lisahammer,a stained glass butterfly donated by creationsinglass
AND a fused glass bubble sushi dish donated by glassprimitif

---

WHOA! If that is not enough,
the second place winner will receive a stunning pendant donated by Smokeylady54 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6137282

AND the third place winner will receive another stunning pendant donated by Aardvart http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6130707 .Here are the details for this contest:
1. August 26th, 4pm PST (7pm EST, 10pm UK) , in the Etsy Promotions & Critiques forums
2. To play, you must be an Etsy member, signup here: http://www.etsy.com
3. CGGE members are not allowed to participate, but we welcome you to join in and chat in the thread while the contestants are searching for the answers!
Trivia Game Instructions: It’s easy! We will be posing a series of questions to the thread every few minutes. The first person to respond with a correct answer to the thread will receive 4 points, the second person will receive 3 points, the third person will receive 2 points and any other people responding with a correct answer will receive 1 point. At the end of the game, I will tally up the points and announce the top three winners. PLEASE REMEMBER TO POST YOUR ANSWERS IN THE THREAD TO GET YOUR POINTS COUNTED.

Goddess Beads

IMG_2915, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

My first few sculptural beads. They will be available at my upcoming show this Sunday the 12th at Carlsbad Art in the Village.

lampwork and thai silver

lampwork and thai silver, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

Lampwork and silver

Lampwork and silver, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

Lampwork and silver

Lampwork and silver, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

Ignis' Wire Competiton entry

IgnisWire, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

The Wire Competition by EJA – Your Chance to Vote and Win!

Here's your chance to vote for your favorite wire project by the artisans of EJA and your chance to win a free gift bag that will include hand made jewelry and other goodies!!

Just visit eeja.org/wire_com/wired.html and fill out the form. On July 25th, we will draw a lucky e-mail address from those that have voted. One vote per person. Voting on an item will sign you up for our newsletter that will inform you of future sales and other prize drawings.

Thank you,
Team EJA

EEJA.org

IMG_2556

IMG_2556, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

The color of MONEY by AncaNY

The color of MONEY by AncaNY, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

Cool treasury of EJA members.

Etsy front page

Etsy front page, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

So I have made it a few times to the front page of Etsy.com. It is always exciting to log onto a public website and see your art first thing. Here I am, bottom left corner with my fellow members of EJA. ww.eeja.org

Wedding Jewelry

Now this isn't a traditional wedding, but man was it fun creating all the jewelry for this one. The bride was pretty specific about her wants but was open to seeing several options.

In the end I created 7 necklaces, 5 pairs of earrings, 7 tiaras, 2 men's circlets, an arm band, and 6 floral headpieces.






The bridal party was a series of colors:









Orange/green,













Green/blue,













Blue/purple,











Purple/pink












It was a bright beautiful wedding.












Everyone looked great!

IgnisWire

IgnisWire, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

Having fun with swirls, copper wire and opaque glass.

summersolstice72

summersolstice72, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

FREE JEWELRY!

Free Handmade Jewelry Give-Away!!

Eclectic Jewelry Artisans will be holding a drawing on the Summer Solstice (June 21, 07).

You read right, free handmade jewelry will be given away to three lucky winners on June 21, 07 – the Summer Solstice. No purchase is necessary. All you need to do is sign up for our mailing list to be entered into the drawing. Visit http://EEJA.org and click on “Mailing List”.

Kilkenny Butterfly

kilkennybutterfly, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

I am being very picky how I use my Kilkenny marble beads from Ireland. I cannot replace it until I go to Ireland again, and that may be a while. But when I got this Thai silver butterfly I knew it would be one of the items. Using amethyst beads & chips, thai silver pendant, bead caps and clasp. I created this gorgeous Kilkenny marble necklace.

Kilkenny Marble is from Kilkenny Ireland, the city of Kilkenny is known as the marble city because many buildings in town are made from this stunning black marble quarried nearby.
The stone is a black limestone with stark white fossils veining through it.

1, 2, 3 BOGO!

bogosmall, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

yes that is right! a Buy one get one half off jewelry sale from the members of EJA.

Just in time for Mother's day. Buy one gift for mom and get mother-in-law's gift Half off`!

or get yourself something half off!

purple5

purple5, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

I found a bag of buttons in my mom's sewing bins. This silver one one stood out. I knew it had to be used in jewelry, and I made the perfect 2 strand necklace with the button as the clasp.

I have no idea how old, but the rest of the buttons seemed to be from the 1980's.

theworld

theworld, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

Original enameled copper earth pendant with wood 7 Shell beads from the Philippines.

Art Enamels

sea, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

I have several "Art" jewelry pieces that I am not currently listing for sale. I thought it would be nice to share them anyways. Art pieces are the most fun to create.

This piece is titled "Sea" Two rough cut panels of copper layered with several different colors of murano enamel, within each layer there are a few "chunk" pieces, giving an incredible depth to the piece. I really enjoyed making this piece, I even made a ready to wear pendant to match, it is listed here.

IgnisDesigns.etsy.com

dafodil

dafodil, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

This is the last of my Enameled Silver Daffodils. I made three total, each a little different. The first sold to a summer bride last year, the second was simple, just on a sterling silver chain. This is the last and the most decorated of the three.

I love it. :)

Green banana deception!

So, I still shop there, but I do have to note the nefarious behavior of the VON's grocery store in my neighborhood.

They have sneakily installed a GREEN light above their banana display.

I had been wondering why my carefully picked bananas seemed to get over-ripe in just one night. We hang them on a banana hanger, we don't have an overly warm house. It didn't make any sense.
Then finally we noticed that they seemed to get darker yellow as we got to the check stand.

That is when my boyfriend saw it! the single green light above the banana display. Tricking you into believing that they are just turning yellow, the perfect time to get bananas!

I feel used and dirty. and I don't even have my barely ripe bananas to comfort me. Thanks a lot Safeway corporation!

Self promotion

ignis-postcards, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

So, I am working harder to get myself out there. More people need to be wearing my jewelry.

That's me, striving to make the world a more beautiful place! :-)

I am trying to come up with better ways, to promote my self. Good photography is important so I can accurately show the work. Nothing is better than being able to touch and try on jewelry, but that isn't always an option.

This postcard has a sampling of my work, I feel it accurately represents my work. Each piece is unique, so it makes it difficult as I have usually already sold something that has made it out for advertising.

Well enjoy,

Bridgette
Ignis Designs

Shameless Self promotion

So I made myself new postcards. They are pretty nice I think.

LIfe Path, amazingly correct...

Your Life Path Number is 11

Your purpose in life is to inspire others Your amazing energy draws people to you, and you give them great insight in return. You hold a great amount of power over others, without even trying. You have the makings of an inventor, artist, religious leader, or prophet. In love, you are sensitive and passionate. You connect with your partner on a very deep level. You have great abilities, but you are often way too critical of yourself. You don't fit in - and instead of celebrating your differences, you dwell on them. You have high expectations of yourself. But sometimes you set them too high and don't achieve anything.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

What am I working on now?

So I have all these unfinished pieces... I have always worked on so many items that I cannot finish them all, I go back to my mother's house and find projects from when i was 12 in the garage.

Now, these aren't the product of artist block.

Some just don't need to finished- like the unicorn rug-hook project I found last time I was up there. Some just aren't ready to be finished, like a garnet necklace I am working on, I am sure is waiting for me to finish an enameled pendant for. Some are paused while I learn a new skill that I can add to the piece.

here are a few unfinished pieces:

fun sites to visit

so I am learning the ropes at Style Feeder.
Want to see what I like?
I can't resist a little flash animation
:-)

my wists | clone this