Tuesday 30 August 2016

AJE Art Headpins Design Challenge Reveal

So today is the reveal day for the latest AJE design challenge and this month it's all about headpins. I have a good collection of these little pretties and it seems I'm not the only one who is enamoured - just take a look at the participants list below

My art headpin collection

Art headpins always work really well with earrings and that's where I decide to start to get myself warmed up. With these first designs I wanted to try and use as much of the headpin as I could in a visible way. For the orange pair on the left I used some of Jen Cameron's headpins to combine the coil with integral ear wires. The green headpins are by Sue Kennedy and again feature coils this time with an added loop.


Then I came across these copper and brass cones from Hands of the Hills and thought they might be a cute combination...Again the headpins on the left are by Sue Kennedy and those on the right by Jen Cameron.


For this next piece I made up a focal with a beautiful ceramic bell flower by Marsha Neal which perfectly matched the headpin by Sue Kennedy. I used a coil of wire around the headpin to keep it proud of the trumpet. I then added a hammered and patinated copper hoop to give the it more depth.


To complete it I picked some lovely heavy weight copper chain and embellished it with seed beads in co-ordinating colours. This softens the chain and gives it a lovely sense of movement.


This is a longer length necklace and has a lovely feminine feel.


That was going to be it but while researching for a post to promote the challenge I came across these headpins by Anneli Beads and had to buy them.

 

I love these little tribal heads and went back to the coiled to design to make another pair of earrings that are most definitely keepers.


And finally, I was making a few ceramic beads last week and threw in a few pairs of headpins just for good measure. I've not had a chance to do anything with these yet but quite like how they turned out - especially with the running glaze.



So if you enjoyed my designs then settle back because as there are a lot more on show today - just click on the links below to see what everyone else has made. And if you're inspired to get creative yourself you'll find some headpin inspiration here.

Lesley