This months Art Elements Theme is Dandelion. I have linked to the photo album on the Art Elements Community Facebook Group.
This month's theme is perfect! The dandelion has a special meaning for me. The dandelion is a symbol for military brats. The dandelion represents how our lives grow not in one space, but across the world. Another explanation of the dandelion represents military brats, "The dandelion seeds are blown far and wide by the wind but it will always plant roots and blossom wherever it lands."
This photo was taken on a walk with mom. I think it perfectly represents those of us who are military brats. Blown away, but we can take root wherever we land.
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| Photo taken on a walk with mom |
Mom and I actually made three pieces for this month's theme, but I have other pieces we have made.
Here are the pieces we created for this month.
The pendant is 20g copper that mom sawed into the rectangle shape. I then used crackle enamel for the color of the pedant. Once I had the colors on the pendant I used a dandelion stencil to put the dandelion design on the pendant. The colors I used were white, blue, clear crackle and black. The lampwork beads are beads I made and the accent beads are Green Sand (small beads that look black, but are actually green. Yup, surprised me too until I took the necklace outside to look at it) and Howlite. The clasp is a circle toggle pewter clasp.
I wanted to make a stamped piece, so mom suggested a key chain. I found the quote on Pinterest. I used Impress Art stamps and a dandelion stamp I had to stamp the copper. Once the copper was stamped I put the piece in liver of sulfer and then sanded back the black to get the finish I wanted. Mom then assembled the key chain for me.
I made another crackle enameled pendant with the dandelions stenciled on the pendant. I wanted two different pendants with the colors of blue (for the sky) and green (for the grass). I then used some of our lampwork beads and then accent beads. Sorry, mom and I can't find the tag that came with the beads, so if anyone knows what the beads are please let me know (I think maybe Jasper).
So, those were the pieces we actually made for the challenge, but we have other pieces we have made and are in our Etsy store right now.
These are enameled copper earrings with dandelion decals. I love how these turned out. You can find them in our Etsy shop.
I have made several enameled copper cuff bracelet, but I have to say this is my favorite one. Mom sawed out a 20g rectangle shaped bracelet that we put a slight curve to. Once that was done I enameled the cuff with black, little bit of light blue and purple. I then used white enamel to stencil the dandelion on the cuff. The cuff is on adjustable bracelet.
Mom and I also have dog tag necklaces for sale with our images infused into the aluminum. What I did was take several of our dandelion photos and used an app to modify the image. I love how these photos turned out. Something different with the dandelion image.
I could bore you with tons of dandelion photos, so I will end here with three pictures. I hope you take the time to head over to the album on the Art Elements Community Facebook page.
