The Raven's Nest

Piece Offering: Jill Sobule Pendant and Earrings

The Raven (KTB) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:00:09 +0000

Thanks to everyone who voted on the Jill Sobule theme! The song with the most votes was “Rainy Day Parade” and you wanted me to make something with Jade and Rose Quartz. Here’s the result:

Can’t you see that the weather is changing
The dark clouds over my head
About to burst, I’ve seen the worst
Let it pour all day
‘Cause I’m filled with good vibrations
I got that old sensation
We’ll have a rainy day parade

Before the voting was over I had a sudden rush of inspiration for another piece with the green and blue teardrop beads. It took over a week and I’m quite proud of the result:

Click on the image to see other shots.

I was particularly inspired by the opening verse:

I used to have the world in my handbag
How did I manage to blow it?
I missed the bus, I lost my heart
An an awful lot of mornings

I gave this bracelet to Jill at her release party Tuesday night. Here she is wearing it:

And then, after all that, I made one more! A pair of earrings based on Jill’s song “Smoke Dreams”:

The pendant and earings are both available in the marketplace for $20 and $15 respectively. You should also check out Jill’s new CD California Years. It’s amazing! You can also buy Pink Pearl, my first and favorite Jill album, which includes the song “Rainy Day Parade”.

Jill Sobule Pieces Almost Done

The Raven (KTB) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:21:05 +0000

It took me over a week, but I completed one of the pieces based on a Jill Sobule song. It’s in the Flickr feed, which you should see on the sidebar now. Now I just have to complete the pendant based on the top beads chosen by readers. I already have the design in my head, just have to finish making the links.

The bracelet I made is based on the same song — “Rainy Day Parade” — but utilizes the green and blue glass beads instead of the jade. I have always loved this style of bracelet and made a purple one for myself long ago. People complement me on it so much I swore one day I’d make another. I just takes a long time to do.

The pendant will be done by tomorrow, and Jill’s release party is on Tuesday, so I will get some pics of her holding/wearing the jewelry before I put it up for sale.

Piece Offering: Insight

The Raven (KTB) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:05:20 +0000

I made this necklace long ago and have always loved it but always felt that it belonged to someone else. I made it one afternoon while waiting on line to get tickets for Shakespeare in the Park — over 5 hours, if I recall. And it took me about that long to finish. Obviously worth it in the end!

Check out some other images here, including my friend Nicole modelling the piece. It’s quite long — 28 inches — and hangs very nicely due to the slight weight of the pendant. It’s in the Marketplace if you’re so inclined.

Piece Offering: Secret Garden

The Raven (KTB) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:00:43 +0000

I made this necklace a few months ago but only recently found it again. Now that I have, I think it’s one of my favorites. Fancy Jasper rounds and roses with a snake slithering along looking all innocent.

It’s called “Secret Garden” and I believe I was thinking of a story I wrote when I made it: Enmity, due to be published in Electric Velocipede next month. I put it in the Marketplace, if you’re interested. $30 + S&H.

ETA: Um… not only did it sell very quickly, but also oversold, eek. Now I’m off to make two similar necklaces! (Don’t worry, Nina, you get the original.) Also off to modify the PHP so that won’t happen again…

Reader’s Choice — Theme: Jill Sobule

The Raven (KTB) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:00:20 +0000

One of my favorite musicians, Jill Sobule, has a new album coming out in a few days. To celebrate, I thought it would be nice to create a piece of jewelry in honor of her music. Since the last Reader’s Choice turned out so well, I decided to do it again for this piece. Instead of chosing a theme you get to choose which song I base the jewelry on (and the beads, of course).

I picked 5 of my favorite Jill songs and chose ten different types of beads (mostly) at random. First, vote on the songs:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

If you’re not familiar with Jill’s fabulous music, click the links. There you’ll be able to listen to part or all of each song.

Now pick the beads. I provided a handy gallery here. Click to see them in more detail. The quality isn’t great, I know :(

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Polls close April 4th at noon. I’ll have the piece up by April 14th, the day the album comes out. (Which you should pre-order, you know.)

Piece Offering: Two Pendants and a Bracelet. Theme: Sanguine

The Raven (KTB) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:00:22 +0000

Thanks to everyone who voted in the Reader’s Choice poll. The theme most people chose was Sanguine and most people preferred the fire agate beads plus the black rose. Several beads tied for third place and I ended up choosing the green and cream ceramic beads, too. Once I put them next to the fire agate it was clear they belonged.

I set out to make a pair of earrings. I ended up making two pendants and a bracelet. So it goes. Here you go:

Optimism in the Face of Darkness (Sold!)

Sanguine Spring Pendant

Sanguine Spring Bracelet

I’m definitely going to do more Reader’s Choice polls. It made me consider combinations that I probably wouldn’t have. I think the pieces turned out pretty well!

If you want to buy them, head over to the Marketplace. The pendants are $15 and the bracelet is $10. There’s only one of each, so when they’re sold they’re gone :)

Back in the Saddle and first Reader’s Choice

The Raven (KTB) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:12:09 +0000

I just completed the re-design of The Raven’s Nest. It’s all WordPressed up now and new features are coming soon. I’m particularly happy that my portfolio images are all on Flickr now.

It’s been a really long time since I posted new jewelry! But I have the itch to create again, especially with the second Interfictions auction coming up. So I’m going to work on two earrings or one bracelet this weekend depending on what strikes my fancy.

I also don’t know what beads I’ll use, which brings me to my new fun idea: Reader’s Choice. Whenever I have an RC challenge, I will give you a list of the beads I have and a choice of themes. Sometimes the theme will be single words, or lines from fiction and poetry, maybe even snippets of music. Then I’ll ask my kind readers to vote on which beads and which theme I should use to create the piece. I’ll abide by whatever has the most votes.

For this Reader’s Choice I pulled out a random selection of beads and used various “Word of the Day” words for the theme. Here’s an image of the beads (click to make it way bigger):

The polls are below. You can choose up to three beads but only one theme. Polls close Saturday evening!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.