Week 38: Bullets Galore!

This month is set to be the most challenging month so far in keeping to my 7 things a week plan.  January is by far the busiest month at work and it's going to take up a lot of time and energy.  So I'm going to try to stick to doing projects that I really, really love as an incentive to get though this month while still keeping my goals, my job, and my sanity.  Well, ok.  I lost that last one awhile ago but you can't blame a lady for trying!  : )  And do you know what I really love?  Bullet jewelry!  And excitingly, I had the though a few days ago that I could probably cut down the bullets I have with my pipe cutter (thanks Lowes!) which would give me more design options.

These tassels came off the ends of a very pretty strand of iolite that I ordered from Fire Mountain.  They were too pretty to throw away!  Once I looked at them I realized that the ends would fit into the smallest of my bullet casings, so of course that had to happen right away!  I love the way they look, but they are super tickley to wear!

Bullet Chakra necklace!  The lighting wasn't ideal for photo taking, so you can't really see the colors well.  I used red tiger eye, orange quartz, yellow tiger eye, adventurine, stabilized turquoise, lapis, and amethyst to create the "rainbow".

I saved the tips that I cut off some of the bullets, thinking I could use them and this is what I came up with!  I don't know that you can really tell it was ever a part of a bullet to begin with, but that's kind of the point.  Plus, chain fringe makes everything better.

Bullet casing and raw amethyst "cascade" style necklace.  Lots of little bullets with one big honkin' bullet at the end.  I'm super fond of this piece.  I think the gold and the purple look very nice together.

Another cut-off bullet tip repurposed to be a kind of bead cap.  The way the round beads fit into the ends made me really happy.  It's a neat little pendant, and it may have to come live in my jewelry closet.  That's right; not box, closet.  : )

Glass heart with crystal tipped bullet accent.  'Nuff said.

And here is the most time-consuming project of the week!  I  treated the bullet casing and all the brass leaves with alcohol inks to add some color, then sealed it with nail polish   (I find that alcohol ink on metal can be tacky to the touch if left unfinished).  I've always loved beetle wing jewelry, but I've been too poor to afford any so this is the next best thing!

I think to keep the momentum going I'll do bullets again next week, which I think will officially make bullets the most used theme of the year.  Congrats bullets, for being an awesome jewelry component.

Week 8: Washer Week!

Aaaaand now we come to the first week where I've run out of vaguely clever titles.  : )  Washers are a really cheap base for a lot of jewelry projects, and I wanted to see if I could come up with some different ways of using them that I haven't tried before.  I had mixed results; I think I'm only going to end up using a few of the techniques again, but trying them all out was pretty fun.

Wire-wrapped.  I think I can do better, but not bad for a first attempt on the idea.

Twine wrapped for a more rustic look.  Didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped, and was painful enough on the fingers to avoid doing again in the future.

Ribbon wrapped!  I like the final outcome, and want to try again with some different ribbons.

Manga paper / ModPodge covered.  Cute, but not really something I'd wear on a regular basis.  May try again with origami paper for a more sophisticated look.

Painted with gesso then colored with colored pencils.  While it certainly looks different, I don't know that I'll be replicating this project.  I did like the embroidery thread necklace piece though, so I'm sure I'll be using that again.

You can't see the back, but this is a pin I swear.  Using the washer as a base I glued a metal filigree, cameo, and some rhinestones to the front, and bunched and glued lace to the back. 

My favorite: Wrapped with embroidery thread.  I will definitely be  doing this again sometime, in many different colors.

I have about seven more ideas for how to alter washers in my notebook, so expect a return to washer week sometime in the near future.  : )