Christi Friesen

In the past 3 weeks I have been very busy building my new jewelry line. I am excited to say it is the cutest line I have ever made. It flows with the pastel colors of the season; Spring and Summer. These are my favorite colors. I have a fun time making this line as it is pretty, adorable, gorgeous, whimsical. and lovely. Take a look at some of the latest pictures of my new line.

The making of the faux agates that I used in my bug bodies. It takes several steps to make these bodies. The pictures show below one of the first stages is making the layers of the agates, then turning them into layered canes . Now I can make the cabochons.

I sand and buff each cabochon to bring out a shine resembling tumbled rocks. I love making these as no two are a like. When I start to buff them I get so excited on how you can look through and see the layers like a real stone. Then I decide which one will make a cool bug body.

Just look at the shine and the depth. It is so cool.! This was my new year challenge to get a great shine on my polymer, and I DID IT!

My first Love Beetle Rocks turned out great in pink. I decided to use leaves in my design to depict the wings of the beetles. So through out my line you will see leaves, pearls and flowers. 16-DSC_3366

I made green, blue, pink in two shades, marsala, purple, turquoise, and scrap beetle bodies.

Picture below show how I decide on how I want the necklaces to look. Deciding which bug looks good in their body and with their leaf and flower is serious Beetle business.

Of course, this is not the final look for these beetles.

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This is how five new necklaces look like for my new line.

Then decided on another look using the leaves a different direction. Below are 4 necklaces with a different twist.

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I also wanted my line to have different size beetles so I expanded my line to include a smaller beetle stamping. I am still using my faux stones, leaves, pearls, and flowers. Still striving to keep my new line cohesive. I believe I have accomplished this with my line.

Made from my faux agates on the luscious silverware finish, which is of the highest quality and simply gorgeous. Notice the little silver beetles. Just a hint of Whimsy in these necklaces.

I hope you can tell that I have been seriously thinking about this new line and having fun with the whole design.

NEXT UP …… BRACELETS AS A PART OF “THE LOVE BEETLE ROCKS!”

I am using faux turquoise with Rosy Copper finishes. WOWSER! These bracelets ROCK with faux agates and scrap polymer.

The green and pink agates are with a brass ox finish.

Now you have seen 2 parts of my line of 5

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME MORE

Bring on the earrings. They are still in the making but I wanted to show a sneak peak

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I am also working on Brooches and Rings which will conclude my new line. But you will have to wait till March 20th when I reveal my complete new jewelry line. But I will tell you this has been a blast and I even have extended my line out into two more lines that all tie into this line. Will share those pieces between now and March 2oth. So stay tuned….. Thank you for your comments and visiting my blog.

What I have Learned about me…..

This challenge has opened up my creativity to the point that I have my own style that can be recognized by others as my look. I have been able to combine my love of polymer and vintage inspired jewelry. Keeping my flowers and adding the whimsy of the beetles helped me take my line into sub-lines. Something I have been able to accomplish and will share my thoughts and process of these lines before the final blog hop. Interesting that my beetle line has another focus which is my faux polymer stones. The turquoise looks very real and love the technique I learned from a class with Tory Hughes. Tory also taught me the technique for faux agates. The technique has opened up all kinds of possibilities to use with my jewelry line. So I am including the faux stones as much as possible. I included the flower beetles for the women that just wants a little beetle showing. They look like they are in the garden of flowers and are not the focus but adds to the whimsy of the line.

I feel the women who wears my jewelry loves color and are confident to wear whimsical jewelry. They want to make their own statement which will invoke conversation. They love artisan jewelry because it is something you don’t see everywhere.

Finally, I want to thank B’Sue Boutiques for the master class. I am learning more and more everyday from Brenda and the others in the group. This has been a great thought provoking class. I feel like I have already won and will take this experience to the next level. I am more focused and have a direction. Learning the history of jewelry designs and famous designers makes me more knowledgeable and I can educate others. Learning that the finishes I use are important and are high quality US made finishes making my jewelry more desirable shows that I care about my customers.

My Fellow artists and Jewelry Designers

Please check out their Blogs

Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B’sue Boutiques

Jewelry Making Outside the Box

Marcia Tuzzolino

Aurora Designs

Jann Tague

Clever Designs by Jann

Judy King

Apt to Wander Studio

Linzi Alford

Magpie in the Sky, Spoil Heap Tales