When I’ve read about what inspires artists and people who make things to be more creative and come up with new ideas, they often say, “Just getting in my studio and playing with my materials.” Unfortunately, I am terrible at this. I always feel the need to end up with something “Usable”. “Art for Art’s sake” is something I can’t quite do. Just sitting down to play with my new things or try out a new technique on a piece of paper that will just get thrown away is difficult for me even though I know that in order to get better or “find my style”, this is something I really should do.
So I’m starting Messin’ Around Mondays. I don’t want to say I’ll do it every Monday (because, let’s face it, that probably won’t happen), but I want to try it most Mondays. I’ll just take a look at the stuff around me on my workspace, or some project/technique I’ve been meaning to try, and play with it. Maybe I’ll make something Usable, maybe not (but, probably will until I can break myself of that habit 😉 ). As part of my desire to want to make more jewelry, today I made a bracelet, earrings, and a necklace. Here’s the little pile of goodies that was sitting in front of me that became the bracelet.
Hmmm….
I just got the “O” Beads at a newer bead store in town. As usual, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them, but I love circles and rings (and these are tiny so that’s even more fun). I’ve also been wanting to see if it was possible to use one of the Tim Holtz trinket pins as a clasp. Here’s what I ended up with:
Ta Da!
I used wax linen to string the beads and attach the trinket pin as a clasp. It lies a lot nicer than I thought it would which is nice, since I have a bunch of these pins! I’m also really interested to see how well it stays on and holds up. Always nice to try a new clasp out on a bracelet that isn’t very expensive. Who knows what I will play with next!
crafting{without}kids 