Sunday 1 June 2014

"Flaming June" - an image impulse challenge at Our Creative Corner

Servus and welcome back to my creative spot!

You are just in time to learn about the new challenge for June at Our Creative Corner for this month which is hosted by lovely Julia this time.

"Flaming June"

She chose one of her favourite paintings from Romantic painter Lord Leighton as an impulse and wants all of us to use the rich orange tones from his painting as the main colours of our makes! To see the painting and to learn more about the details (so you can join in and get eligible for any prize wins or making Top3) hop over to Our Creative Corner!

So Julia says: "use bright orange tones as the main focus".....sounds easy at first, doesn't it? But I found that I really struggled with finding a theme where orange might fit as the main focus....funny thing is: I love orange (especially wearing orange clothes), but I found that I hardly ever use it with my projects...I had never noticed before honestly. 

It was a lucky incident that finally let me come up with something I really like: I had my new Vintaj patina kit out for play and used it to practice on some metal embellishments. And there was an orange lace ribbon lieing on my desk as well (I guess it fell off my box with ribbons when I was searching for some other fabric for a different project some days ago)....when I took both and held them against each other I found that they would make a lovely bracelet! I had always wanted to create one of these gorgeous cuff bracelets made from leather, lace and vintage embellishments!




So I grabbed some beige leather scrap and tried to tint it orange - using almost anything I had at hand: orange mists, orange fabric paint, orange spray paint and distress stains...and it worked (but don't ask me what it was that finally did the trick *lol - I assume the whole mixture)! Yay!




To have a contrasting colour - as is the blue sky in Lord Leighton's painting, which makes the orange of the dress pop even more - I died some white lace ribbon using Colour washes. Then I rummaged my various treasure boxes and drawers (especially the one with the old buttons from my grandma and the one with the metal embellishments I got from fabulous Retro Kraft Shop :


http://www.retrokraftshop.pl/en/


...and after I had coloured the lovely bronze metal branch and the label with the Vintaj patinas, I was ready to sew it all together. And as there is a plant in Lord Leighton's painting, I decided to use a plant (the metal branch) too ;)




It was a bit fiddly as you first have to punch all the holes for the sewing needle to go through the leather and then have to find them again while sewing ribbons to the leather strip from front and back...but the result was so rewarding (at least for me)!




I love how it looks on my wrist and honestly I would never have come up with a colour scheme like this if there hadn't been Julia's tricky challenge theme (so thank you, Julia! xx) ! I had so much fun dyeing all the ribbons and the leather I used and the Vintaj patinas worked great!



I love that I could use some of the buckhorn buttons from my grandmother's collection too and that they add so perfectly to the design! This way I can carry something that belonged to her with me and have her close.






I am sure that this won't be the last bracelet I did, as I had a ball creating it (and still have a lovely collection of old vintage treasures to be used up). I hope you like it too and can't wait to see what you will come up with for Julia's challenge!




We have a prize sponsor too this month and it is Tando Creative! So join in to get the chance to win some of their awesome goodies!


Hugs and happy crafting,

Claudia xx

24 comments:

  1. Such an imaginative way of interpreting this theme. I love the way the branch intertwines with the plaque frame. Gorgeous Claudia. Jenny x

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  2. Such a fantastic response to the challenge, Claudia. You have made yourself a beautiful bracelet with a memory of your grandmother and you have got over your orange block. What's the next colour to tackle? (I have trouble with blue.)

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  3. Oh Claudia- das ist wunderschön!!!! Die Knöpfe deiner Großmutter passen wirklich toll dazu und die leicht grün eingefärbte Borte rundet es perfekt ab - ein traumhafter Armschmuck!!! Ich wünsche dir einen kreativen Sonntag, liebe Grüße, Dagmar

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  4. This is such an incredible piece of wearable art Claudia, wow! Totally love ths, all the textures and elements, just fantastic and such a cool idea!!

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  5. What a great idea...an artistic bracelet!
    kind regards, Alie :-)

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  6. Gorgeous,love the green and orange together. It must be fab to be able to wear your art : )

    Donna.x

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  7. wundervoll Claudia... ein Traumstück... das würde direkt zu meinem ländlichem beigen Leinenkleid passen....

    begeistert bin ich!
    schönen Sonntag - ich hoffe es geht Dir gesundhitlich gut... hab mir schon Sorgen gemacht..aber jetzt seh ich ja ..Du warst gut beschäftigt!

    xxx
    Susi

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  8. Richtig klasse, Claudia. Du mutierst zu einem Fashion Victim (:o) Die Farben sind der Burner. Baumwolle, Leder und Metall so zart zu verbinden ist auch ne Kunst. Die schönen Knöpfe deiner Grossmutter machen das Armband zu einem modernen Trachten Accessoire.

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  9. Thank you, thank you for rising to my challenge and making a project which is original, creative, beautiful, wearable and a reminder of your Grandmother all in one package!! I wanted people to embrace the colour, let go and just have fun - you have certainly done all this Claudia! To use fabric is something close to my heart and the lace is gorgeous. Colouring leather was a great idea and how lucky you had just the right colour vintaj! I love your cuff bracelet Claudia and I hope you wear it from time to time. You are a star!!
    Juliaxx

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  10. What a fabulous cuff! I love making and wearing fiber/mixed media jewelry and this is spectacular! Love the colors and the colored metal is perfect! I love the color of the leather that you ended up with and the blue lace is perfect and a great foil for the metal and leather! Love it!

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  11. WOW!!!! Das Armband ist wirklich genial!!!! Richtig, richtig schön!!!!

    LG!

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  12. Really beautiful - with a Pre-Raphaelite feel to it too... gorgeous wearable artwork!
    Alison x

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  13. Fabulous piece of wearable art Claudia, the addition of the cream lace is gorgeous with this shade of orange.
    Avril xx

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  14. Very inventive and very beautiful Claudia, who would have thought that orange could look so good. Anne :)

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  15. A stunning piece, all the details look gorgeous, I can imagine you wearing this often.
    Yvonne x

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  16. Gorgeous bracelet, just love it!
    Groetjes Karin

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  17. Oh my goodness, this is drop dead gorgeous, Claudia! What an exquisite piece you have created - the colors are just so wonderful and that green lace backing is just beautiful. Such an amazing take on this challenge. Thank you so much for the inspiration!

    Hugs,
    Linda

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  18. hallo liebe Claudia,
    deine kreativität scheint keine grenzen zu kennen.... ein ganz wundervolles teil ist das wieder!
    herzlichst
    margit

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  19. This is so special! Your bracelet is a way totally unique to create a themed project! It's an amazing jewel! BArbarayaya

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  20. I adore this - I might have a go.

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  21. I haven't been too into the cuffs, but I really LOVE yours. It's not foo-foo feminine and I love the textile choices.

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  22. Das sieht megaschön aus, würde ich auch tragen. Trachtenlook finde ich sowieso schön. Tolles Design!
    Schönen Sonntag und alles Liebe.
    Sabine

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  23. super tolle neue Idee, sich auch mal in der Schmuckgestaltung auszuprobieren, schöne Farbkombination mit liebevollen Details!! LG Kerstin xx

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