Thursday, 31 July 2014

AJE Component of the Month - July

Another month has flown by and it's COM reveal day!

Things are getting slightly more organised in the new studio and I'm enjoying getting back to making.

This month, we were treated to a beautiful dichroic glass cabochon from Francesca Watson.


Just look at all of those beauties! There's something about dichroic glass that really gets me so I jumped at the chance to play.

Francesca works in a range of mediums and her work is stunning... check it out here http://francescawatson.com

This is the cab I chose... I remembered to take a picture!!!!


So I got to work on sketching out some ideas. The cab is larger than anything I have worked with before, and everything I came up with as a pendant design seemed too big. So I decided to make a brooch. I cut some porcelain flowers and fired them unglazed, made some silver headpins and dug out my box of seed beads.


I glued the cab on to some stiff stuff and bezelled around it with size 11 & 15 seeds in green.


Once the beadwork was finished, I put the flowers on the headpins, folded the tops so that they were secure and formed a loop on the opposite end for securing them to the brooch. They were sewn in and a brooch fitting glued on. The back was finished with some ultra suede.


I've had great fun working with my cab and would like to say a big thank you to Francesca for her beautiful component!

If you'd like to see what the rest of the team and guests have made... follow the links :)

Guest Designers
Carol Briody - cbriody.blogspot.com
The AJE Team
Caroline Dewison - blueberribeads.blogspot.co.uk
Susan Kennedy - www.suebeads.blogspot.com
Melissa Meman - melissameman.blogspot.com
Jenny Davies-Reazor - www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog
Francesca Watson - www.francescawatson.com


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16 comments:

  1. Deb Fortin31 July 2014 at 11:09

    What a grand idea to make a brooch with your cabochon.I never think to make brooches with large stones/beads/cabs.
    Bead stitching is not something I do, so I am always amazed at how pretty the results are. I've tried , I have three small samples of peyote stitched tubes. NOT. MY. THING.

    Your porcelain flowers are so dainty and I imagine being unglazed they have a matte toothy texture that is a wonderful contrast to the slickness of the glass cab.

    Your finished piece looks like a tiny vase with posies to wear on your lapel.

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  2. Francesca Watson31 July 2014 at 13:14

    Caroline, I'm not sure I have words for how this brooch makes me feel - wow. This is really so beautiful, and those little posies are so sweet. The whole piece is elegant and utterly unlike anything I would have thought to do with this cab. Thank you so much for playing along this month!!

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  3. Jill31 July 2014 at 14:51

    Beautiful, thanks for sharing

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  4. Unknown31 July 2014 at 14:58

    Okay, that's just brilliant! I love how you think outside the box and really make each piece special. Well played!! :)

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  5. jessememan31 July 2014 at 15:32

    Oh my gosh, how totally sweet is this! Love the tiny flowers and the seed bead bezel!

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  6. Marianne Baxter31 July 2014 at 17:29

    I love what you did with this cab. Those flowers are a brilliant addition that added the perfect touch

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  7. Becky Pancake31 July 2014 at 19:55

    Hi Caroline. Your brooch is lovely. The white flowers compliment the beautiful cabochon very well. They add a feminine touch.

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  8. Karen Totten31 July 2014 at 19:56

    You never cease to amaze me in your interpretations. I just love this - absolutely adorable!

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  9. Empty nester at last31 July 2014 at 19:59

    Soooo cute! I love the flowers and I would never have thought to make a brooch out of a cabochon . Excellent job!

    veradesigns.blogspot.com

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  10. Jenny31 July 2014 at 21:39

    OK - you are so outside the box on this one! FAB. I love watching your mind work. Its gorgeous, Caroline!

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  11. Caroline31 July 2014 at 22:03

    Thanks all for the lovely comments! They've really made my day x

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  12. Carol Briody1 August 2014 at 00:07

    Now just how cool and cute is this idea!?! I love it! This is something I'm definitely going to try out! Lovely!

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  13. Shai Williams1 August 2014 at 19:40

    What a gorgeous brooch! I love brooches and I am sure hoping that they make a come back.

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  14. Ann Schroeder2 August 2014 at 14:12

    Oh my gosh this brooch is so sweet. I love it. Really beautiful and special. Well done!

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  15. Unknown3 August 2014 at 14:02

    I am blown away. This is such an amazing brooch!!! I love the flower Headpins!!!!

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  16. SueBeads4 August 2014 at 17:50

    I LOVE it! What a great idea - so pretty and I love your flowers!

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