Art is everywhere...

Well, I have an obsession of photographing whatever looks beautiful to me. Above is a photo of my sterling earwires ,headpins,wire etc. in a cup of water after oxidization. The image looks like a doodling with ink pen on paper to me... ;)


Derya

Art is everywhere...

How cool is this?

Click to have fun!

I stole this from Elizabeth's James' blog. *giggles*


Luve,
Derya

How cool is this?

Experience with your art –Part Two-

If you’ve been following me here in my blog, you probably know how much I love using unusual/unexpected materials and techniques in my designs. I’m always amazed by realizing that; the possibilities are really endless! All you need to do is ‘really look’, ‘think through’, ‘try,try,try’ and not be shy about trying! Not everything I try works out perfectly, but what to lose, et least I tried…

In the photos you see above, my latest pieces made with dyed silk rods. I’ve made a brooch by using those and several different embellishments before, and was very pleased with the results, so I decided to work more with those. Something about silk rods, I’m not sure what exactly it is. But, they look like wool fibers, and have a little luster on them. They are organic, and easy to work with, you can do whatever you like with them in different mediums in art!

The necklace has another interesting material, which is copper wire taken out from ‘video speak wire’ (that’s what it says on the box). It was initially plastic coated, but with my endless curiosity I ripped off the plastic to get a good look on what was inside. It was several strands of thinnest (like hair) copper wire. I played with it, shaped,bend, curl etc., and the pendant came out that way! Like it wasn’t enough torturing to the ‘video speak wire’, I’ve oxidized it as well. I loved the combination of the natural color silk rod with blackened copper and gold vermeil (24k gold over sterling). It is certainly not a big piece, but has such variety of different colors and materials…

Keep trying, it is fun! ;)

Derya

P.S. The necklace will be up in my shop soon, but the rest is available to pucrhase!

Experience with your art –Part Two-

I got stood up and ate sundried tomatoes pizza!

This is something that's happened to me for the first time in my life; Not only I got stood up, but by an Etsian (another Etsy seller)! :P Through forums she found out that we live very close and contacted me. We decided to meet. Normally I don’t meet people in person, which I met online (you never know!), but Etsy sellers has an exception for me. I mean, what are the chances somebody who spends his/her days doing artsy/fartsy stuff is actually a serial killer?

Anyway, I went to the café we were supposed to meet, Café Tutu Tango (really cute, great food, great art by the local artists hanging all over the place). Waited and waited for about an hour, called and left a message to her phone, nope…I thought she’s forgotten. Finally I’ve ordered the pizza I’ve been craving all that time -sun dried tomatoes,cheese,garlic, and basil- and coffee. They serve the pizza on an artist palette board, what could be a better treat to an artist?

Then I got a call from her right after I left the cafe, apparently she put our meeting on the wrong date. She was apologizing hundred times, although I wasn’t really upset or angry about the whole thing, at all (was still high from the pizza). Well, we are human and things happen. I think there are much more important things to be upset about in our lives, so… I've shopped at one of my favorite stores (to get over the shock! :P), and stopped by at the 99 cents bargain store to buy only one thing, and left with 20 things as always. Ha!

Oh, the end of the story? -We decided to meet next Monday ;). Well, I have a soft side for Etsians...

Love,
Derya

I got stood up and ate sundried tomatoes pizza!

Experiment with your Art

I'm always constantly looking for new interesting/unexpected metarials to use in my designs to make them even more unique. So far fabric, paper, paint, industrial felt, silk rods etc. were in the details of my jewelry work. My last favorite one is 'fused plastic'. I did some other form of art pieces with this technique, but didn't really use it in my jewelry designs. I usually play with the plastic shopping bags, because they are the most available ones in my home, and they are free and they are so ugly begging me to change them! ;)

Somehow, I just really like how plastic becomes something else, totally different, all deformed and ruffly... As you heat it, it also hardens when it cools, so it is durable too, and waterproof! My new necklace and brooch came out after that fun experiment; eco friendly, up-cycled, green, sophisticated, and elegant pieces made out of trash... :P

If you have art pieces that are made out of up-cycled or any different unexpected metarials, please put a link to the comments, I'd love to see them!


Derya

Experiment with your Art

Teeny little excitements!

Saturday- Initially we went to shopping for my husband, because he needed some new things to wear. At the end of the day we returned home with two dresses! :) What can I say, I think it was my lucky day! It was an outdoor shopping place that had a lot of stores that I didn't know before, and most importantly had Anthropologie , which I adore! I bought one of my dresses from there, in a color that I don't usually wear, but somehow I found it really cute and give it a go. You can see it here . It didn't stop there for me, and the second dress I found was from maxstudio, which I never shopped from before, but their dresses are really cute!

During the week- I've kept working on more new designs, and listing and listing... I also decided to make a little collection of couture designs, that'll have necklaces and earrings made with precious metals like sterling silver and 24k gold vermeil, and top quality precious gem stones of different kinds. I've been working on my first piece of the collection for a while now, and it is finally up in my shop. The name of the necklace is 'bloom', see the photos above!

I've been also working on some designs by fusing plastic bags, I had really beautifully interesting results, but I'll post about them tomorrow!


Derya

Teeny little excitements!

My designs in a row! :)

My designs in a row! :)

Poppies and Honeycombs...

I'm so excited about these earrings! I think they are cute, yet sophisticated with a touch of nature and color... They are made with hand painted vintage lucite discs and antiqued sterling silver. Poppies and Honeycombs are up in my shop!


Derya

Poppies and Honeycombs...

Weekend

A fun weekend with great food,meeting new friends, also having an old friend visiting from our old location WI....

Saturday we met them at Sunset Beach in a Mexican cantina called Taco surf. It has a really good menu, I had a hard time deciding what to order as a Mexican food fan. There was also a band playing, and people dancing, so it was a little loud but we still had fun! Then we decided to go to the Huntington Beach which was about 5 minutes drive and settled in Savannah Restaurant for some delicious deserts right on the beach...

Sunday towards noon we met with the same group for lunch (breakfast for me!), with the addition of another couple from my husband's work that I just met, at PJ's Abbey in old town Orange. That family owned restaurant was actually used to be a church, I found it very interesting. It had a big beautiful stained glass window that I had to take photos of for sure! The food was sooo good, if you live close buy, just go and try!...

Derya

Weekend

New Pretties.... :)

My new pretties are up in the shop, for you to adore hopefully as myself! ;)

I'm very inspired especially for the last week long, can't sleep right at nights, I had to get up and at least note something I had in mind or sketch... My husband wakes up at 5am every morning to go to work, I usually say goodbye to him and then go to bed! I think this is a disease goes along with artistic people! Being extremely messy is also one its symptoms...


Luuuuve,
Derya

New Pretties.... :)

Polyvore....my new addiction.........

Do you know about Polyvore? I just found out about it through a friend about a week ago, and since then I've been playing like a kid day and night! It is shortly about creating sets/collages that'd include mostly fashion items or any kind of decorative elements. As you start your collage, you can search whatever it is your are looking for on the little window at the right side of the page, and add it to your set! Basicly, it is like making the collage on the computer instead of on the table at your home. It is hard to explain here, so go to the website and just take a look, free to join! ;) Above, the photo is one of my sets I've created...


Derya

Polyvore....my new addiction.........

Fresh Designs

Ohh, it is been kinda long I didn't post anything, I feel guilty somehow! ;)

Last week has been busy having guests during the week and also in the weekend, oh those days were a lot of fun! We mostly spent our time at Laguna Beach, checking out the shops, trying new restaurants, having a barbecue party (sish kebabs, yummy!) and one night at a cool night club...

I've also been gathering materials for my new design idea that I've posted here about before (with the secret vintage elements), and I've actually started making those today, and I think they are rad! I'm soo excited! :)

By all those happening, I've managed to make some new jewelry pieces as well and have listed some of them in my Etsy shop already, but more to come next coming days!

Kisses***
Derya

Fresh Designs

Studio

I was desperately in need of organizing my studio, so I've spent quite a while to do that for the last few days... If you are an artist/crafter, you know how it is once everything gets out of hand, and you know then it is time for you to tidy up a little(!), when you start spending long time finding what you are looking for! Especially if you are a jewelry maker like me, ooh my! All those tiny little beads,findings,headpins etc., you spend hours to put everything in the right place, but the room still look messy if you still have more things around!

This time, I also wanted to change the look of my design place to make it more inviting and inspiring... Most of the craft supplies are already fun looking, colorful, and decorative naturally. So, I tried to put together my stuff in a way that they'd look more presentable. I put up some photos together, so they'll tell you better than me...

If you are a crafter and reading this, also have a messy corner to create your pretty stuff; go there and start organizing now, little by little or all in once till morning! You won't regret it, trust me! ;)

Studio

Custom Tiara

I made this branchy tiara for a client who is a about to be a bride. She wanted something simple, and organic looking with pearls in the shades of off white to copper and brown... We are both pleased with the results and loved the tiara! She promised me to send the photos on action... :) I was digging through my stuff to find a nice box that will protect the fragile piece, and I found this vintage metal box! It was the perfect size for the tiara, and I think it really compliment the piece nicely... The tag I made with the music sheet and paper flower also added a special touch! The package is ready to ship and send out! The most un-pleasurable part of this journey is the fact that I need to make a visit to the post office...

It was a pleasure working with you Nancy, I wish you all the happiness in the world and in your marriage!

Best,
Derya

Custom Tiara

Faux Patina on Copper

I've been experiencing with liver of sulfur last night, for the first time ever! Some copper findings I had, turned completely black and had a kind of matte texture. So, I tried some paint on them to achieve green/blue patina look, like it has been on earth forever look! I love the results, so I made two pairs of earrings with them. Yes, they are newly freshly listed in my shop!

Love,
Derya

Faux Patina on Copper