I celebrated another birthday yesterday and I feel great! There, I’ve said it and so I must believe it. I have so many things to be thankful for, I’ve just got to keep ignoring my negative thoughts. I have set myself a task, to write something every day either online or in a notebook.
Cultural Elegance Designs – Sun Bracelet
CED Sun Bracelet 2014 by MJA aka Imani
Summer made a brief appearance this year and now Winter is hanging around, threatening to mug Autumn of its allotted time. I had an idea to just make something that would make me smile, something to bring a little warmth and sparkle. This bracelet is make from 1.5mm silver plated copper non tarnish wire with a Sun Charm. And I must say, it looks really pretty on and makes me smile!
Cultural Elegance Designs – Rings &Rings 1
Aluminium Statement Ring
Zebra Turquise Gold Plated Copper Wire Ring
Love making jewellery and I find that each piece starts out from a basic idea.Sometimes I’ll just pick up a piece of wire and if the ring mandrel is close to hand, I’ll start creating a ring. I have also learnt that I can create different designs if I double up the wire. Case in point is the first picture, my Aluminium Statement Ring. I also enjoy making Knucle Rings, the two examples I have shown here are made with 2mm Aluminium wire and the other rings are made with kunzite, jade and glass bead. I would love to work with more softer types of wire but am still having fun creating items of jewellery.
Cultural Elegance Designs – the journey so far
Just sharing some of my work so far. I have had a brief stint in hospital which has made me look at new ways of creating pieces of jewellery . The rings in the picture directly above are made with silver and gold plated copper wire with agate gemstones. I will use anything that looks original to make a ring, see if you can spot a couple of button rings. My Swirl Bangles are my latest work and are made with 2mm Aluminium wire and they really were a lot of fun to make:)
Cultural Elegance Designs – ‘Inspire’ Bangle
Aluminium Wire Bangle
I just loved making this bangle. I find Aluminium wire smooth easy to work with. .
‘Inspire’ is the style this bangle, as it can be worn on your wrist or forearm.
Cultural Elegance Designs
These are my Peaceful Squiggle Earrings. I had no idea of what style of earrings these would be, other than I wanted to make something that looked cultural and elegant. All the jewellery I make, I make with the intention of wearing one from a batch of three, test driving it, to see how it feels and how it looks. I never imagined that I could get so much pleasure from working with wire, making jewellery that will not affect my skin or turn my ear lobs into little mounds of gently weeping pain. A couple of years ago, I use to sport earrings so chunky that I could have knocked myself out if I made a sharp turn. Now, I can and will make earrings that might be big and flashy but are comfortable to wear.
Peaceful Squiggle 1 is the first version, these are made in 2mm silver aluminium wire and are so light, that I have forgotten to take them out at night. Peaceful Squiggle 2 are longer with a tighter swirl at the ends. One thing I have learnt from this job is to have a note book to hand. It’s not that I am not firing on all cylinders, but rather that trying to keep track of other things as well as to keep visualizing a design, is no longer possible.
And why Peaceful Squiggle, you may ask. Funnily enough, when I looked at these finished pair of earrings , I just thought ah..Peaceful Squiggle. The flowing and curvy shape just seems peaceful to me.
Peaceful Squiggle 2 Earrings
Peaceful Squiggle 1
As I was on a bit of a role after making Peaceful Squiggle 2 earrings, I thought I would have a go at making knuckle or mid finger rings. These rings are made with 2mm Aluminium Wire, which I have found to be a wee bit thick. I think I will try making some in 1.5mm. I have also made some knuckle / mid finger rings with silver and gold plated copper wire and will share this in my next post.
And I have just remembered the reason for this post …….Cultural Elegance Designs will be the name of my collection of handmade jewellery.
SpiriCulArts – JewelleryImani
Aluminium Wire Bracelets
I know my last post had a different title, but think that from now on I will use ‘JewelleryImani’ to describe my ever growing collections.
As you can see, my current pieces have a spiral or swirly type vibe, which seems to be echoing my abstract art.
I thought I would start off this post with a photo of some of my Aluminium Wire bracelets, I just love the colours! Aluminium Wire comes in a large range of colours and gauges, from 0.8mm to the largest I have used which is 3.5mm. I especially like Light Green with Silver being a close second. This wire is light and easy to wear, maintains its brightness and does not tarnish.
All of the above bracelets were made with 2mm Aluminium Wire.
The bottom two bangles in this picture are made with 2mm wire, I used 3.5mm wire to make the top bangle.
I made these bracelets from 1.mm Aluminium Wire. Several strands were woven together to create this design.
Whirl A Jewellery
I just love working with wire! As mentioned in my last post a few months ago, I am still working and experimenting with various types of wire to create items of jewellery. I have learnt so much about the different types of wire and am constantly amazed at my results. Copper Wire is great for making rings and have found that the best type for this is 20 gauge (0.8mm) and 18 gauge ( 1mm.) I tend to use silver and gold plated copper wire as well as plain copper . The whole process of creating something beautiful from simple bits of wire is exciting and oddly enough, calming.
I now have an ever growing collection of jewellery, some of which I wear ( great excuse for product testing certain designs.) I also work with Aluminium Wire and will include some these examples in my next post.
SpiriCulArts – Statement Rings so far
Just sharing my newest work, big and bold rings! All of these are made with non tarnish wire, glass and semi precious gemstones beads.
SpiriCulArts – Jewellery By Imani
For the last couple of months, I have discovered a new hobby, making jewellery from wire. I just love working with various types of wire to create rings, earrings and bangles, I never knew I could have so much fun, each piece is unique and I am always surprised at the finished result! The following photos are just a small selection of my work so far.
This is my ‘ Whirl A Whirl’ design, earrings, bangle and ring set
Onyx Ring and Whirl A Whirl
Tiger’s Eye, Tourmaline, Mexican Opal and Glass Beads rings
Red Glass bead ring
RegalReasonings 