Necklace – Copper Wren with Blue Lace Agate Wings

My exploration with copper electroforming continues. A copper wren with wings made from blue lace agate. Vintage brass and bone beads lead to a double strand, one made from Sodalite beads and the other blue adventurine chips.

I hand built the wren’s head, adding four copper wire connectors. Next I added a layer of copper by electroforming for several hours. Then a patina was applied to highlight the details.

Signed on the backside.

The Copper head is about 2 1/2” wide and a nice weight made possible by the electroforming process.

The brass chain enables the necklace to be adjustable from 17” to 22” with an additional 2 1/2” for the bird’s head. Three stones of blue lace agate drop from the chain symbolizing tail feathers. An original piece of art ready for you to wear. Available in my Etsy shop RAEvNsNest here.

Set Sail for Paris – Assemblage Necklace

The Victorian brass ship pin with “PARIS” stamped on the front is the starting inspiration for this necklace. Souvenir jewelry was often purchased on Victorian travels. Touring Europe, including Paris and Italy was popular in Victorian and Edwardian days. Little trinkets were evidence of places you've been! For now I am content with my virtual travels.

The pin has been left on and will offer more variety to the way you can wear and drape this necklace. A very clever quality clasp!

The brass chain enables the necklace to be adjustable from 20” to 24”.

It is set at the shortest length on the dress form. The ship drops an additional 1 3/4 from the necklace.

Three different strands pay homage to the sea; a vintage chain of clear glass beads attached rosary style for sparkle, a strand of freshwater pearls to hint at sea life, a strand of Czech glass beads with rough faceted quartz in the colors of water. Now available in my Etsy shop here.

Dragonfly–Copper Electroforming

Lately I have been experimenting with the process of copper electroforming. This was a dragonfly that I found a couple of years ago (It had already passed on). I didn’t have any idea of how I was going to use it at the time. The dragonfly was quite challenging and actually took a few days to complete. I am happy with the end result.

Another view to show the detail captured in the wings. For some reason I keep wanting to add antennas to this insect, which they don’t have. It’s called the butterfly effect…

A view of the underside. I had originally tried to retain the legs. They were too delicate and looked like a crumpled wad without definition, so I took a grinder to them and electroplated the body again.

I also added a ring so that I can incorporate this into a necklace. Stay tuned to see the final piece!

Green Dress Assemblage

 

I am really enjoying the process of creating these assemblages. The little green doll dress is the inspiration. Another picture from the Chatterbox books. This time I needed to enlarge and print the picture so that it would fit the dress. I printed two copies so that I could cut out and overlap the dress with little boy’s arm. Some dainty silk flowers to add dimension to the ones that were already on the print. The green flourishes on this vintage frame from my stash matched the green dress perfectly, how could I not pair them up!

A close-up to show more detail. Time to get back to work, I have a few more in the planning stages.

Petticoats and Ponies Assemblage

 

Here is the second in my doll clothes assemblage series. 

 

I found this sweet picture in one of two old Chatterbox books from the late 1800’s that I have been working out of.  They were in really poor condition - missing cover, pages torn, etc when I got them so there isn’t any guilt for me in using parts of them.

 

I incorporated a sheet of music to balance the composition. The little girl still needed to be grounded so I found a pair of shoes from another picture that fit perfect. I love it when all the pieces come together as if it was meant to be. This is the magic of assemblage for me. I even had an antique frame in my stash that fit.

Pantalet Assemblage

A couple of years ago I was the winning bidder of a box of antique and vintage doll clothing at a live auction. I’m not quite sure why I felt compelled to bid on the box full of clothes. When I looked through it, I found some of the sweetest diminutive garments.
After a bit of investigative work I discovered the name of these Victorian undergarments. I originally thought they were called pantaloons, but after “googling” I found out that pantaloons were for men. Then I tried petticoats, well they are skirts. Drawers and bloomers are shorter pants. The definition of pantalets is; long drawers, usually trimmed with ruffles, extending below the skirts: worn during the early and mid 19th century.
These pantalets are the inspiration for a series of framed assemblages incorporating doll clothes.


Wearing the pantalets is an actual original image from an 1872 Victorian magazine of a beautiful woman with a far away gaze. A page with poems for interest and another with a landscape to ground her. Three buttons for balance and to hold the composition together.


I chose this frame for it’s round top and aged patina. I feel that when something is made well, its beauty only increases with age and the wear shown makes it authentic to its past.
This is the first in a series, stay tuned for more. I almost have the second one completed, with ideas for a couple more.

Sue’s Dollhouse

About 20 years ago I made this dollhouse for my Mother-in-law Sue for Christmas.

While looking through some pictures with her one day I seen one of her as a little girl with a dollhouse similar to this one. Sue remarked that she wished she still had the dollhouse…

Last weekend I brought it home. My mother-in-law had passed on last September, coincidently on my mother’s birthday. I wondered what the universe was trying to tell me.

I gave it a fresh coat of white paint last week. The house is over 20 years old after all. It wasn’t as much fun as the first time I painted it, with anticipation of a gift I was about to give.

For Christmas’, birthdays, and other occasions I gave gifts of dollhouse furniture and accessories. Other family members did too. Sue wallpapered the rooms.

She added the front porch light.

Sue’s grandchildren played with the house when they visited. I had hopes of great grandchildren playing in it too! Perhaps some day at my house. The house seems lonely to me these days.

There is still work to be done. The molding was never installed inside around the windows and doors. Perhaps I'll add a few family photos. I would like to find the picture of Sue and her original dollhouse and incorporate that somehow too. I’ll share more of this house in the months to come, perhaps along with a few dreams and hopes too!