Thursday, November 29, 2007

ornament swap

So right before Thanksgiving i decided that in my vast free time i would join an ornament swap : i make 3 holiday ornaments and send them to different people and 3 totally different people send hand-made ornaments to me. The catch here is that it was a quick turn around swap; we got our addresses on Nov 22nd and the boxes need to be mailed by Dec 1st. Yikes. I had a few ideas whirling around and hung out in the studio 2 nights ago. I worked with paper, with glass, with beads, with paper and glass together, with ink, with paint, with glitter, with wire and i had bupkis. I mean nothing was coming together right or it came together but i didn't like it. I must have tossed 4 different prototypes. Randomly, around 10pm, i started opening various containers to get some inspiration and i came across some broken vintage jewelry. A-ha, says I. I wanted to make some abstract angels. I tried to make them matching, but it just didn't click. Frustrated i cut them apart and made some separate ornaments. Ha-zah! The problem was that each angel had her own personality and needed to be made accordingly. Once that was decided they came together pretty quickly. The halos are from a link necklace, the heads are vintage buttons from my grandmother's button box, the wings are from tassel angels i was going to make sometime in the early 90's but never got around to and the bodies/dresses are fashioned from various vintage necklaces and gold wire. Here are Sweet, Sassy and Shy: I decided that individually the angles felt incomplete. I considered sending all 3 to one person and making 2 more sets of 3, but i came to my senses on that one. Instead I made another ornament that matched each angel in some way (if the swap says "sends one ornament" i am compelled to send two; mayhaps i need professional help). Sweet has a heart of course, while Sassy is complimented by a zany swirl-o-rama and Shy lets her companion ornament speak for her. Tonite they get boxed up and sent to NC, AZ and CA; I hope they are enjoyed in their new homes. I can't wait to see what goodies come my way next week. I'll post when i receive all three of them.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Way too cool! You are talented...yet another item you could add to your etsy shop....hmmm.

WendyZ said...

I just wanted to let you know I got the sweet angel ornament set. THANKS!!! Happy Holidays!!

-WendyZ