I am Featured Designer

I have been chosen Featured Designer of the Week over at Art Bead Scene Blog.

Thank you so much! It makes me so happy you know.

This is what ABS Editor Rebecca Anderson had to say about my piece:

"I absolutely adore these earrings! I love the vibrant yet rustic shades that Malin has picked out from this month's beautiful challenge piece, I love the painterly texture that the verdigris patina gives MissFickleMedia's swirls, I love their simple elegance and the embellished earwires.....and last (but certainly not least) I love how Malin has set them for this photograph. The thin branch is the perfect place to display these earrings. These are eminently wearable earrings! Fantastic work Malin."

I am honoured!

Link to my own original blog post about my contributions.

All my best,
Malin

2 pieces for Art Bead Scene March Challenge

Art Bead Scene's Monthly Challenge for March is this painting by Marc Franz, called Deer in Forest.

I have made two pieces inspired by this painting. First off is a bracelet.

• Deer/fox by TreeWingStudio
• Saffron colored patinated chain by MissFickleMedia
• Dark blue colored patinated chain by MissFickleMedia
• Purple colored patinated toggle bar by MissFickleMedia
• Forest green metallic matte Magatama beads
• Rusty red metallic matte facetted czech glass beads

Isn't it a little bit funny that I all along have seen that creature as a deer. It was only when I was looking at the close-up photo belo, in my computer earlier today that I realized that it actually has a thick tail and that it instead of course is a FOX. It doesn't matter in the end. It is so sweet laying there all curled up. And foxes also lives in the woods.

And as I was going I suddenly found myself having made these earrings too. Sort of picking up, shape wise, on the swirly white lines in the painting, in which I kind of see the sound of the wind blowing through the tree leaves, and a just in general a magical and mystical atmosphere of the woods.

• The verdigris green patinated swirls by MissFickleMedia (there's three on either ear ring)
• Earwires and large jump rings from Vintaj
• Rusty red/brown seed beads
• Oxidized brass wire

Check out some more contributions in the ABS flickr group. There will be more of them coming until the end of the month.

All my best,
Malin

ABS March - Earrings

This month's inspiration painting on Art Bead Scene is one by Vincent van Gogh. He's a favorite artist of mine, and I even did a speech on him, his life and his art back in school when I was around 16. Read more about the challenge on Art Bead Scene's page here.

In fact these earrings are just a sort of coincidental accident. I have so many things laid out on my table to play around and work with for my challenge piece/-s. What I was looking for to create yesterday was something else, but suddenly these beads were just laying there next to each other, and VOILÁ , it just happened. I think they look really nice and very French ;-). But I'll keep working on one or two more pieces still. Hope to get them ready and present them here in the coming week.

I used:

• Pomegranate red with white heart lamp worked beads by BoulderGlassMonkey
• lucite marbled ivory and grey round and hexagonal beads
• blue large seed beads
• Rosey Copper head pins by E2SSupplies
• French Lily Copper ear hooks

All my best,

Malin

Art Bead Scene Blog: March Monthly Challenge Blog Tour

I was featured with my necklace and a picture of it, on Art Bead Scene, in this post summarizing about the March Monthly challenge.

This is what Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati, one of the writers on the ABS blog, wrote:

"Miss Malin over in Sweden is conjuring up the summer sun with her beautiful necklace. It just so happens that she had a beaded ring lying around the suiting this just fine as a clasp to complement the focal. She even created a wardrobe for the person who would wear this on the beach!"

conjuring up = trollar fram (in Swedish)

And then she links back to my own post here about it.

Here is the full article on ABS: Art Bead Scene Blog: March Monthly Challenge Blog Tour

Did I say I am honoured? Well I am!

Necklace Tahiti - ABS Challenge March

Art Bead Scene's inspiration piece for the March challenge is a colourful painting by Paul Gaugain, which he painted on Tahiti where he lived for many years. It is the colours that really struck me with this piece. They are so bright and ... well ... yes colourful. Everything in the picture is just bathing in strong sunlight. There is a calm and relaxing atmosphere also which I wanted to capture.

I was looking through my bead stash for suitable pieces and found this beautiful porcelain flower pendant by Tracee Dock of ClassicBeads and ClassicElements. And please look closely at the close-up picture further down at the absolutely gorgeous use of glaze. That is a master at work who has done that. Multi-dimensional perfection. Yes, the pink, the green and the yellow was colours I lusted for. Perfect! And the honeysuckle pink coral rondelle beads I bought almost two years ago, when I had just started to buy bead from Etsy. Listen, I have a secret to reveal. I have a weakness for pink. I have many many many many pink beads. But I do find it is kind of hard to use them though, without creating a too sweet piece. Musn't be too sweet I think.

Ivory seed beads I have had for about 25 years are strung on 2 strands of Superlon cord and in between the coral beads. The beaded toggle ring I made myself a couple of weeks ago whilst learning to do beaded rings. Turned out nice I think with the two colours of the seed beads. What a lucky coincidence it happened to fit so perfectly in this piece. I made a beaded toggle bar also, but I wasn't pleased with how it looked in this piece, so I decided to give it a try to make my first own handmade hammered brass wire toggle bar instead. That and the Superlon cord which I wrapped many laps around at the attachment points adds just an enough bit of a more rustic feeling to the sweet I think.

And here is the beautiful painting by Gaugain.

Go to ArtBeadScene's flickr group page to see more contributions for this challenge.

Bracelet - Take a Chance

I have entered my first competition ever with one of my jewelleries - the Art Bead Scene Challenge for March. Inspiration this month is a painting by Vincent van Gogh called Almond Blossom. The other entries can be seen here. (But you might not be able to see ALL of the entries unless you are a member of the Art Bead Scene group on flickr.)

I have made the branch and the flowers myself in Polymer Clay. Other materials are Dupioni Silk from Ornamentea, waxed linen cord, copper chain, 3 seed beads and Fire Line thread. On the picture below you can see how the branch with the flowers is constructed.

The Branch has five holes. It is made of a mixture of brown and golden clay. After being baked it was sanded for a smooth even curve, and then varnished for a shiny surface.

The flowers are made from six "worms" put together and then thinly sliced. I have mixed colors in the worms for a more lively color. After that holes in the middle. Baked. Sanded. Varnished

.

No extra paint has been added.

The Bracelet is named after Magic Number's song "Take a Chance", because that is what I feel I am doing, taking a chance with this entry.