And Summer is Gone Again...

As much as I love fall, it's always tinged with a little sadness at the passing of summer.  I've tried to console myself this year playing with some beautiful hand painted maple leaf buttons from Susan Clarke Originals.  The leaf in the macrame bracelet above had lots of rusty orange in it and I paired it with a neutral cord and shiny cut seed beads.  I had another leaf with much softer color in it that I paired with my trusted matte metallic khaki iris beads.  I think after much debate the bottom one came out ahead in the "which one do you like more" voting, but it was close.

After getting a little bored with the neutrals, I went in search of some color.  The colors people typically picture when they think of autumn are mostly warm colors and I have trouble with those, so these are my colors of fall this year:

The coppery colors give a nod to autumn (and the leaves themselves) but I gotta be me, so of course I had to include some shades of turquoise.

The colder weather also has me thinking about firing up the oven for some homemade bread or putting on a big pot of chili.  How about you?  Is the weather changing where you are?

Skull Skills and Too Little Time!

I swear something has gone wrong with the part of the universe that controls time; days and weeks and months are just whizzing past!  I have been busy making some pieces influenced by the season (and the fact that TierraCast put out some new Skully buttons).  I had been working in an orange and blue color palette, so I messed around with a skull in those colors:

I'm always partial to the khaki colors with copper, too, so that led to this variation (and the rest in that first photo):

In the middle of the micro macrame jewelry making frenzy, I got sidetracked by this:

Because he has Grandma wrapped around his tiny little finger.  Seriously, is there anything better than being a grandparent?  

Other than that, I've been slowly working on setting up a shop at Amazon.  It isn't live yet (thank goodness), but I'm hoping to have it ready to go when Handmade at Amazon goes live.  Too much to do and too little time!

Micro Macrame in Blue and Orange

Okay, so it's not just micro macrame jewelry done in blue and orange (sorry, Broncos fans), there's a lot more going on than that.  There's a couple shades of blue and two or three shades of orange with some copper thrown in, and a bit of bluish green...  All knotted together in an intricate pattern.  Sprinkle in a few seed beads and a copper leaf or two and poof - magic!

And to think it all started with this pile of beads and cord I pulled to do a custom order bracelet (more on that here)!

Who would think that unimposing pile of nylon cord and glass seed beads could be such a wealth of inspiration?  Okay, so maybe I get a wee bit obsessed.  One thing leads to another...  

The bottom one there came first - a nice combination of all the colors.  But then I wondered what would happen if I bumped up the orange, so the top one happened.  Then I wondered what it would look like if I added even more orange, and I got this:

Did you notice that I'm also experimenting with my photos?  I'm toying with the idea of opening a shop for my micro macrame jewelry on Handmade at Amazon and they have some specific requirements for product photos.  They want neutral backgrounds, preferably light, no props and no watermarks.  I have to admit, the no watermarks rule gives me a little heartburn.  As an artist, oh!  Did you see what I did there?  I'm practicing calling myself that.  (If you're wondering what that's all about, maybe you missed this post.)  

Anyway, as I was saying, as an artist, there's nothing more disheartening than having your work stolen, whether it's someone copying your ideas, distributing your tutorials or stealing your photographs to use on their sites.  I put a lot of time and effort into my work; I really do.  I have spent years perfecting my knots and developing my style.  I've spent countless hours trying color combinations and experimenting with different cords and beads.  I've researched jewelry photography and learned how to use my camera, and that's after investing a lot of my hard earned money to buy the camera in the first place.  I put me into my work, so when someone takes any part of my art for their own use without my permission, it feels almost like an assault on me.  It's personal.  

Where was I?  Oh, yeah... so if I decide to open an shop at Handmade at Amazon, I will need to retake all of my macrame jewelry photos.  *sigh*  And not only reshoot them, but restyle them.  So lately when I am taking pics to share with all of you, I'm trying out some different things.  I had a background custom printed that goes from white to gray with a gradual gradient starting midway.  I really thought I loved it, but now I'm questioning the dark shadows at the rear of the photos.  But the stark white just seems so... stark :)

Here's one of the photos I did with a plain white background:

That one I quite like with the stark white.  This one, not so much:

It's hard to keep the white from getting a dingy gray cast.  Anywho...  between experimenting with the color palette (which I like) and experimenting with product photography (which I don't like), I'm keeping busy! 

Fall is in the Air and in the Macrame!

With Labor Day in the rear view mirror, it's becoming glaringly apparent that Fall is upon us.  I have a love/hate relationship with Autumn, only because it signals the end to my beloved Summer and the transition into the Dreaded Winter.  For me, the phase "winter is coming" has brought a sense of impending doom much longer than the Game of Thrones business has been around.

It really isn't Autumn's fault, though, so I try to enjoy it as much as I can.   I do like the cooler nights when I can sleep with my windows open and I like apples and pumpkins and all those fall-ish things.

Lately I've been playing around with a autumnal color palette of blue, green and copper.  A customer requested this bracelet with a TierraCast button, and I think it turned out very well.

She loved the bracelet, but I wasn't ready to let go of the palette yet.  Or the orange.  For some reason, these colors together make me feel warm and fuzzy.

This bracelet reminds me of a plaid blanket, the kind you snuggle into in the stands during an evening football game when there's a nip in the air.  A friend said it reminds her of a kilt - on a sexy Scot.  I'll let you decide!  Either way, I guess it gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling :)

Hold the Boats, I'm Not as Crazy as I Thought

Don't get me wrong, I'm still not as normal as some folks, but it turns out I'm not completely off my rocker when it comes to autumn colors.  Remember when I showed you these pieces and said I thought of them as autumn colors?

I've come up with a theory on that.  I went to Valentine (my hometown) this past weekend and spent some time out and about naturing.  Apparently the colors made more of an impression that I realized.  Look what palette you get if you run that soapweed photo through a palette generator:

Mystery solved!  I'm not as nuts as I thought I was.  Well, okay, the mismatched sandals and the snood thing are definitely headed in that direction, but I'm sticking by my color choices on this one.  I think I'll call it August in the Sandhills.

It's a really beautiful area (I've posted photos several times before, but some favorites are here and here).  I'll leave you with this little glimpse of heaven.

I'm Not Normal

I accepted the fact long ago that I am not normal, not quite like everyone else, and I'm cool with it.  Yes, that's me in the photo and my mother swears she has no idea what was going on there.  I suspect this was just one of the early signs of my un-normalcy.

This time of year as the days are getting shorter and people are thinking of football and harvests and autumn colors, I'm still in summer mode.  I have to be drug into fall kicking and screaming.  I don't know if it's my reluctance to let go of summer or just "me", but my take on autumn colors is even different than most people's.

I've been making some pieces that seem autumnal (in my mind) with tree themed focals and greens with browns.  I found a brass tree of life button at a Renaissance Festival in Colorado this summer.  I think it looks pretty nice in a band with a combination of khaki and brown with some myrtle green and turquoise. The back really shows off the colors.

Oak leaves and an acorn are front and center on the next button.  I went a little more traditional on this one, keeping with the myrtle green (it's a sort of blue tinged green) but dropping the turquoise cord.

The overall piece is a little darker without the lighter turquoise and I sort of like that.

It "feels" kind of warm and cozy to me, like a snuggly sweater on a brisk evening.  

I might even be convinced to like fall if it didn't mean summer was over.  I've been known to wear sandals into November, trying desperately to hang on to the very last shred of summer.  And to go back to the not normal thing?  I've also been known to do this more than once.  *sigh*

Celebrating Autumn - Octoberfest 2014 Blog Hop

My friend Rita of Toltec Jewels is hosting her third annual Octoberfest Blog Hop today and I thought it would be fun to join.  She asks only that participants do something - anything - to celebrate autumn and blog about it.  I've been enjoying autumn for the past several weeks, and what's more autumn than apples?  A friend has over twenty apple trees and sent home a whole bunch of apples for us.  

After conning my daughter and her friend into helping, we peeled and chopped apples until we couldn't stand it anymore.  We ended up with a huge roaster (the giant one I use for Thanksgiving turkeys), a huge dutch over and a large crock pot full of apples.  I added a little sugar and cinnamon and a splash of apple juice and set them all to cook for hours and hours and hours.  The sugar in the apples caramelizes and the apples break down and when all is said and done, you end up with apple butter.  

We ended up with something like 15 pints of apple butter and still had bags and bags of apples left.  I've been slicing them and drying them in my dehydrators every night for a week now.  And honestly?  I am not sure when I'll ever be able to even LOOK at another apple.

In the weekend between apple butter and dried apples, my husband and I took a trip up through the Rocky Mountains.  It's one of our favorite things to do in the fall and we always try to time a trip when the leaves are turning.  

My photography skills are just not good enough to capture the beauty, but I always try.  Notice the gorgeous waterfall in the distance in this one?  We hiked up to get this view and it was so worth it!

My favorite, though, is always the vibrant yellow.

A while back I found a great variegated cord and used it to make a chain of leaves (the class is available here if you want to try it).  I was never quite satisfied with the outcome, so I set it aside.  After being inspired by the mountain trip, I dug it back out and made a few changes.  At a suggestion from a friend (thanks, Lindsay!) I used some lizard leather to make connectors and added some swags of colorful glass seed beads between the leaves.

I also made a clasp to match and sponged on some of the necklace colors.

And I ended up with a colorful autumn necklace with cascading leaves, funky leather connectors and multiple strands of beads.

And that, my friends, is this year's ode to autumn from me.  I hope you'll take some time to visit the other participants below and see what they did.  And be sure to swing by Rita's site and tell her if you like her blog hop!

Toltec Jewels (Hostess)

Dini Bruinsma
Marybeth Rich
Karin Grosset Grange

Andrea Zenith Glick
Nan Smith

  Becky Pancake

Lennis Carrier
Sue Kennedy

Kim Dworak
Jennifer Reno

Veralynne Malone
Lori Schneider
Shaiha Williams

Pam Traub

Kathy Lindemer

Blanca Medina

Debbie Rasmussen
Heather Richter

Sherri Stokey <----You are Here
Michelle McCarthy

Dana Hickey
Claire Fabian
Renetha Stanziano

Jami Shipp

Toni Gifford

Sandra McGriff

Ann Schroeder
Inge von Roos
Robin Reed

Andrea Rivers

Janine Lucas
 Deb Fortin
Cynthia Kent Machata

Laurel Hanson

Jasvanti Patel

Lee Koopman
 Renetha Stanziano

Falling Leaves: A New Micro Macrame Bracelet Class

I've been working on this micro macrame pattern for quite a while now, trying to get it just right and I think I finally nailed it.  This design reminds me of leaves falling from the trees in autumn, so I'm calling it (what else?) Falling Leaves Micro Macrame Bracelet.  

  I can imagine this bracelet done in every combination of earthy browns, olive greens, rusty oranges and reds, and pops of Aspen yellow.  You know me, though - I tried to use green and orange and it just didn't feel right.  So here you have, Autumn ala Sherri Stokey :)

The pattern is a fun one.  I used a different way of adding cords than my "usual" (whatever that is!) and a method of gathering and dropping cords to increase and decrease the width of the knotting and form the leaf shape.  The leaves even cup just a little, which I really like.

For the class, I made the version you see above with two solid colors of leaves alternating with striped leaves.  From there it's easy to back down into just the two solid colors alternating:

Or a single solid color:

I cover how to make both of those variations in the class also, so you'll have loads of options.  I do show how to tie the knots in the class, but some macrame experience would definitely be preferable.  The class has 6 videos and over 60 still photos with written instructions as well as narration.  Once you purchase the class, you have unlimited access to it, so you can watch it as many times as you like, and you can pause and replay anything you like.  You can also print the handout, which is made up of screenshots of the entire class.  

You will find this class, along with my other online classes, at CraftArtEdu.com.  I know I've said it before, but I haven't chanced my mind - the folks at CraftArtEdu.com are the best.  They have a money back guarantee.  If you aren't satisfied, they will give you your money back.  Period.  If you have questions, you will get a response from a real live person.  I'm proud to be associated with them.  

To celebrate my new class, the fine folks over there have an introductory price through Friday (July 18, 2014).  And just to make it extra special festive, they've put all of my other classes on sale, too - up to 33% off!!!  You can see all of the classes and the prices here.

If you take the class, be sure to stop back by and let me know how you liked it!