17 October 2010

A Little Bird Called Hope

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all..."

~Emily Dickinson

Thank you to Lorelei for coordinating this fun little challenge.

The idea is simple...take the same {or similar} components from Michael's and create a piece of jewelry out of it.

If you watched me when I cook anything you would know that I don't follow recipes well. And I rarely read instructions. So I did what I normally do: substitute and replace some ingredients from the list. Here are the components that I picked up:


I didn't care for the carved wood cubes so I decided to bring in some wood rondelles that I had on hand. I chose a slightly different white chain, a little larger size. I fell in love with these little ceramic rondelles and used only the green ones to draw in the jade rounds, but these had a pop of red. Then I found these cool twisted/faceted red glass beads. When I saw the little bird in the Industrial Chic line, I knew I had to have her. And from my own stash I supplemented with red glass spacers and seed beads, green and black betel nut cubes, two vintage buttons, two antique copper plated branches I just got from Nunn Design. Oh, yeah... and a stunning flame-red egg that was custom made for me from Kelley's Beads. {It is my favorite of all the eggies she made for me!}

I have been wanting to use the egg for a long time. When I started messing around with the beads and pulled out the red, I just knew that I had to put that egg in there.

When I am designing I have a little trick that I use {maybe you use it, too?}. I call it "The Rule of Three." This is an actual rule that shows up in things like economics and medicine and mathematics. As a former English teacher we would use The Rule of Three to create an engaging pattern that had brevity. Bullet points with more than three bullets make your eyes glaze over. Think about how effective it is in storytelling... the Three Little Pigs or Goldilocks and the Three Bears or even the Three Musketeers... In writing groups of three are more satisfying and effective. Think the Three Stooges. Three is a magic number.

And since three is a mathematically a triangle, I like it even more {shout out to all the Tri Deltas out there!}

I call this necklace "The Little Bird Called Hope." Some patterns and the colors are all arranged by threes, sometimes in a triangle. See if you can spot it. Three white pearls. Three pops of red. Three flowers. I tried to balance everything so that the colors and patterns aren't right next to each other. That is a great way to play with asymmetry if you have never tried it before.

Here is where the hope comes in... Do you know Andrew Thornton? His writing grips my soul with its poetry and depth. He makes the most striking jewelry and has been published in many places. His family owns Green Girl Studios, components that are enchanting and magical. I have had the good fortune to meet him at the Bead & Button. I enjoy having a conversation with him. I never miss a chance to visit his blog. I love that he makes my mouth water seeing what he made for dinner, and it makes me chuckle picturing him hopping out on the side of a country road to admire a weed, and of course I really appreciate the thought that goes into each new creation he makes. Andrew brings joy to many of us. But he is going through something dark and terrible in the form of cancer. His bravery has touched my soul. But being a self-employed freelance artist means there is no such thing as a sick day. So I thought that one way I could help was to auction off this necklace in his honor and send him the proceeds.

If you would like to bid on this necklace, "The Little Bird Called Hope" please leave your name, email address and bid amount in the comments. I will leave this auction open for five days, ending at 11:59pm on Thursday, October 21st. And for anyone who bids and is not the highest bidder, I will draw a random name out of a hat and send a little something their way.

To be fair, I I will even send out a little something to a random winner of those that comment regardless of a bid. Please leave a comment, making sure that your email is turned on so that I can contact you.

Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your bids, if you so choose.

Please go and check out all the great results from the challenge by clicking the links below:

Jewelry by Lorelei

Mary Harding

Hilary of Fryestyle

For My Sweet Daughter

My Life Under the Bus

Kristie of DreamSomeDesigns

Linda Landig

Copper Diem

Andrew Thornton

TyneBodenNecklaces

Raida of HavanaBeads

Erin of Treasuresfound - you are here!

Molly of BeautifullyBrokenMe

Beading by Malin de Koning

AuntieAnnie

Gr8Findings

Deborah M Purdy

Spirited Earth

My Critical eye

beads by breul

Beads for Busy Gals

Cynths Blog

Nayas Organized Chaos

For the Love of Beads

Jamberry Song

Peacock Fairy

Elysian Studio Art

Designs by Debi

Enjoy the day!

38 comments:

My Life Under the Bus said...

Love the addition of the little bird and the amazing idea behind it ! I'll throw in my hat with $25.00. Good Luck !!!

Erin Siegel said...

Beautiful creation, Erin! Love the vibrant colors. How thoughtful of you to do this for Andrew. My thoughts and prayers are with him.

Lorelei Eurto said...

Fantastic! I love the pop of red, and that bird with Kelley's egg works perfectly! Great piece Erin! I love that you are auctioning the piece off, what a great idea!
A lot of people added the red, I love how it makes the other colors even more fabulous!

Unknown said...

Oh Erin how sweet are you! I have been keeping Andrew in my thoughts as well and have offered him support through this I think your piece will offer a little bit of hope for all of us! You know that I have faced this too and Andrew will come out the other side and we can all celebrate with him.
Hugs

KristiBowmanDesign said...

I agree the red really sets everything off in this striking piece. Beautiful job!

Shannon Chomanczuk said...

I love your colors and the egg with the bird is so pretty.
Shannon

Jan Thomason said...

what an amazing gesture.
i don't know Andrew Thornton's work but will visit his website after i submit this comment.

the best i can do at this time is to pray for him - and i pray that you raise a lot of money for him to help with his medical bills.

sincerely, jan vermillion-thomason
polkadotbarn@gmail.com

Jan Thomason said...

changed my mind - i would like to place a bid of 60.00 - that's the best i can do

jamberry_song said...

Lovely! It has a decidedly eastern and Bohemian influence to it. Really fun and artsy, love it!

Marie Cramp said...

Wonderful necklace! I think you are doing a wonderful thing and many of us are honestly trying to help Andrew! SO I am going to throw a bid in too, just because :)
BID $35

CraftyHope said...

Wow, the pops of color you were able to add to the beads picked out really make the necklace!!
I'm just loving seeing what other beaders are making with simple additions to the beads Lorelei chose for us. . .this is so much fun!

Spirited Earth said...

i love love this piece..the red pops are just perfect..the painted beads are soo cool.
thanks for auctioning off this necklace.
$30. for my bid

Anonymous said...

What a great cause. I absolutely adore your necklace. I bid $30.00.

Deborah said...

Beautiful piece! The auction is a great idea.

Yeli said...

I love how you made the challenge work into this lovely creation. I myself chose to be challenged by following all the rules. I had to try and deal with that chain :)
It's so nice what you are doing for Andrew. I will blog about what everyone is donating towards helping him later on.

Holly said...

What a beautiful necklace! I love how you used the red to pull out the green :) And it's so wonderful what you are doing for Andrew...

peacockfairy said...

Great job! I love the addition of red, the bird, and the egg! And what a great idea to help Andrew out!

Rebecca said...

This is SO PRETTY Erin! Love the bird, love the egg - what a stunning shade of red. ANd those ceramic rondelles! Makes me wish (even more!) that we had Michael's over here. You have made such a pretty necklace! And I thoroughly applaud you for holding it up for Andrew - I can't imagine how awful it must be to have a) the worries of illness PLUS b) the added worries of how to pay for the privilege of it....seems back to front to me. SO I bid $75. Go on, somebody outbid me, it's such a truly worthy cause!

Unknown said...

Oh Erin you always Deliver you truly do!! What a Raving ravishing Necklace! Just Love this. Really love this cant say it enuf...ox

Linda Landig said...

What a beautiful necklace and a beautiful way of reaching out to support Andrew. I love the little bird!

Elysian Studios said...

I just discovered Andrew's blog today, and I am inspired by his story. You have taken a very fun event and made it even better by showing love and compassion! I love your piece and it's simple sincerity. Thank you!

Amy F said...

I always learn so much about design from your blog and your pieces. That three rule was great!

rosebud101 said...

Erin, as always, your elegance shows through in what you make. Your fire shows through in the colors that pop! Great job!

Christine said...

The red makes your necklace come to life! Everything about it is beautiful!! I have to remember your "Rule of Three" - it makes so much sense!

Janea aka Naya said...

I've been drooling over that little bird at Michael's but didn't know how to use it. I love how you combined that with the green ceramic beads! So darling.

Andrew Thornton said...

I am humbled by your generosity! Thank you so much! You're an incredible friend and I am grateful for our time together... even if the majority of it has been online. Thank you!

The piece you've created for this challenge is absolutely wonderful. I love the play of contrasting colors and textures. Your work is poetry! Thank you for sharing it with us!

Cristi Baxter Clothier said...

Awesome design, Erin! Love it!

My Life Under the Bus said...

Hi Erin ! You asked about the paint I used on the chain. I had an enamel paint pen. I soaked the chain then wiped it off right away it is somewhat like nail polish and doesn't need a coating. Thanks for stopping by!

Jenners said...

I love what you came up with ... and, as always, you have such a big heart by doing the auction for your colleage/friend.

fanciful devices said...

so gorgeously inspired. may just be my favorite of all the bloghop. shh, don;t tell!

Courtney Breul said...

I love your necklace! And, aren't Kelley's eggs just divine? Your use of color and texture are wonderful. Where did you get those great rondelles, the ones with the flowers on them? YUM!

Deborah Boschert said...

Sister Tridelta checking in! Holla! The necklace is fabulous and your concern, dedication and generosity toward a needy friend is an inspiration.

Pretty Things said...

No matter what components you use, you make things sing.

beautifullybrokenme said...

As always, your necklace is just stunning. I love the bird and the egg, and the added color pop makes the whole piece come alive. Beautiful!

Cynthia Thornton said...

Wow, Erin, this is so thoughtful. THe piece itself is so lovely. Thanks so much for your generosity!

Silver Parrot said...

Delta love! And speaking of love...I LOVE that red egg with the green bird in this necklace. Great job, Erin!

Raida said...

What a beautiful piece! Love the use of the bird with the lampwork egg. Thanks for sharing.

Cindy said...

Erin, I knew I would find your piece to be nothing short of stunning. And better yet, you've created a beautiful art necklace to help a friend. You're the best!

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