Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" Necklace Finished!

Well here she is! Finished at last. I really put a lot of time into this one, but I adore the outcome. The art bead is strung with freshwater pearls, rose quartz, a glass art bead from Greece, Greek ceramic beads, white coral, pink coral, Czech glass beads, and some glass turquoise seed beads. Make sure to check out the Art Bead Scene to see all the other beautiful pieces entered for this month's challenge.

Here is a detail. Who did the shell better... me or Botticelli? Ha ha, yea, don't answer that :) Even though I can't compare to great Renaissance masters, I'm very happy with the outcome of my copper patina finish!

Boticelli Art Bead Finished

So I soldered the art bead together and I must admit...I really love it! This piece is really special so far. The floating flowers are a perfect match :)

Now 100% lead free solder has posed a problem for me in the past. It doesnt take on copper patina well! And I LOVE the look of the copper patina. So its time to turn lemons into lemonade!!! Since I am such a lover of antiquity I give the soldered seams a look of aged copper!

I use three acylic paints to achieve the effect. A dark green/teal, a light green/teal, and a copper color. The finished product gives the look of aged metal and I like it better this way! I seal the seams with clear nail polish so there is no clothing color transfer :)

Interested in entering a piece? Do it!!!! Click here to visit the Art Bead Scene :)

New Goddess Intro! Hygeia for Autism

Thats right, Hygeia is my new Goddess Collection! Hygeia is a lesser known Goddess, but once you see the pieces I have in her collection, you will see why I chose her.

Hygeia is the Goddess of Health and Healing. She was the daughter of Asclepius who was the God of Medicine and Healing. Her mother was Epione, the Goddess of soothing of pain. The painting above you can easily recognize as the work of Gustav Klimt. In both the statue and the painting Hygeia is pictured with a snake. She is often holding a medicine bowl (patera) as well from which the snake is feeding. Serpents are often used as symbols of healing and medicine as with Mercury's double serpent caduceus, which was adopted by the Medical Department of the United States Army and other medical related organizations.

A prescription from Hygeia would be homeopathic in nature. She would most likely prescribe a healthy diet, rest, and cleanliness. She brought about the concept of bathing patients. She believed in being disease free life through preventative measures, rather than waiting for symptoms to show. Her significance placed on the cleansing of the body is where we get the word hygiene from.

I have used Hygeia’s collection as a space for my Autism Awareness Necklace and Earrings. In the future I hope to create more pieces that can benefit causes of this nature, through both charity and awareness.

Autism is a condition that I'm sure has touched everyone's life, or that of someone you know and love. I am fortunate to know so many people who help... and they have inspired me to do the same. Special thanks to Alaina and Samantha who work with Autistic and special needs children on a daily basis and truly make a difference. Love you guys!


25% of the money from any pieces I sell will go directly to Autism Research. Also... did you know that April is Autism Awareness Month? Spread the word! The new category has been added to my website, but if you prefer...you can buy through my Etsy site.

Art Bead Scene - Monthly Challenge

Well I've decided to add to the suspense of the new Goddess and not "release" her until tomorrow...hehe.

In the meantime the Art Bead Scene's Monthly challenge for April is Botticelli Birth of Venus. I absolutely adore this painting for two reasons. First off - - Its a mythology painting! Venus was said to have been born sprung from the foam of the ocean. Other myths say she was born from a seashell. Either way, Botticelli has done a fine job of representing Venus (Aphrodite to the Greeks). This image is probably one of the most recognized paintings in the history of Art. The other reason I love this painting, is because when I was an art history major in college I was able to see this piece when I was studying in Florence. It is a very large painting (over five feet tall) and you can see all the beautiful detail Botticelli includes in his rendering of fabrics and foliage. This painting truly combines my love of art and mythology. Though I must admit, his Primavera is what really gets me weak in the knees.


Since it brought back so many wonderful memories, I got right on it. I decided to sketch the shell till I came up with a form that I liked. I then set about to make a stained glass pendant. Here are the glass pieces after they were cut and grinded. As you can see two "panels" of the shell are clear glass so that I could collage something inside the glass.


After fooling around with some dried flowers and lavender (too big, too messy) I decided to paint my own pattern. I took some simple collage paper and very lightly and loosely drew pretty little pink flowers, much like the ones that float magically in the painting.


Well that's as far as I got today. I will have to solder tomorrow... I also have some plans for Zephyr (God of the Wind), Aura (Goddess of Breezes), and Horae (Goddess of the Seasons) who are also in the painting. They will play lesser roles in the necklace but are not forgotten :)

Hope its not raining where you are! :(

Use the Muse Entries and Winners!

Hello Friends! Sorry I have not been blogging as much as usual. A wonderful friend of mine's father passed away this past week. It was a heartbreaking couple of days. I'm sure all of our prayers are with her during this very difficult time.


On a brighter note, the Use the Muse Contest has been revealed and judged. You can click here to see all the FANTASTIC entries and the winners. My piece did not receive a prize this time around, but its no wonder! These women created some beautiful and stunning pieces. I really enjoyed participating in this contest and would do it again for sure!!!

So this is my piece! I named it Flora and Zephyr :)

When I first received my “Use the Muse” contest kit, I couldn't help but think of romance! In Greek mythology, Zephyr was the God of the winds and Flora was a Goddess of flowers and all things that grow. I wanted the piece to look both windswept and vine-like. The vintage watch face hold a small image of the lovers from an Italian painting by Jacopo Amigoni. The stained glass focal point (which holds the lovely muse) is made of two colors of stained glass and 100% lead free solder which I covered with gold leaf to make it match the muse and the rest of the piece. I must admit that wearing it would make anybody feel swept up in a whirlwind romance!

Have a good one! I'm off to troll though all of your blogs now to see what you've been up to this week! :)

"Use the Muse" Contest

Well I have entered my submission for the "Use the Muse" contest that was being held by The Beader's Muse. This is the first time I have ever entered any pieces for submission. Usually I'm intimidated but Scarlett really made this contest easy to enter. First we bought a kit of beads to use including a specific component dubbed "The Muse." You could use as many or as little of all the beads in the kit, plus you could add your own...but you HAD to use the muse.

The contest was really a lot of fun and I look forward to future contests. Even though they have received all entries they have not yet had "The Big Reveal." This is when every one's pieces and descriptions will be up on the site and everyone will know at once what the muse was. For that reason I cant post any pictures at this time. I would post a teaser...but my main computer is still down so you will have to wait! I can tell you that in addition to the beads I received I added freshwater pearls. I also named the piece Flora and Zephyr. Flora is the goddess of Spring, flowers, and blossoming and Zephyr was the God of the winds. More on that myth when I can show you some images!

*I borrowed these images from Scarlett over at the Beader's Muse - Please visit and check out the contest! I will let you know when its time to check out THE BIG REVEAL!

Stained Glass Jewelry

I've been playing around with making stained glass jewelry lately... and I must admit that I love it. When I saw this glass I bought it for the purpose of making jewelry...no stained glass window in mind :) I made several pendant shapes and some simple triangles for earrings... nothing too heavy of course.

After soldering the pieces I used a copper patina on them. I think the copper looks great with the colors in the glass. I also soldered on some copper coils to the earrings.

Then I added some red swarovski crystals and some gold filled findings.

Here is a picture of the necklace pendant I did as well. Again with the swarovski crystals... I do admit they a great punch of sparkle and thats why I'm loving them so much right now.

And the set! The necklace back has been finished off with leather to protect clothing/skin from any wire ends and solder bumps. I use 100% lead free solder. . . but still it doesnt feel great next to the skin ;) I will get better pictures and up and get these on my website later tonight. :)