Altered Art Jewellery

This is another interesting jewellery project in the pipeline for me to try out as the possibilities are endless to create jewellery around specific themes such as literature, art, nature, cinema, Victorian photos, advertising or anything else. I've picked a few examples from sellers on Etsy.com and Folksy.com, and there is also a good online tutorial on Aunties Beads.

I've yet to decide what glaze to use as I hear that the images can smudge when applying water-soluble glaze to anything printed on an inkjet printer. I've recently ordered a CD of images to use in my altered art jewellery from Lunagirl.
I was excited to see a CD containing masses of illustrations from one of my favourite book illustrators, Walter Crane, so just had to have it. I could have just download images from the internet or scanned some of my own early illustrations for free, but the CD seemed to contain so many more that I didn't have access to.

There is a good article about creating altered art jewellery charms on Lunagirl's blog, so I won't repeat the process here.

Here are a couple of examples of altered art charm bracelets by Poetsummer on etsy.com

Alice in Wonderland is always a popular theme. I particularly liked the Absinthe charm bracelet as that is one of my favourite drinks.

Plus plenty of earrings to choose from by Jezebel Charms on Folksy.com. These are her Casablanca earrings.


If you want to buy images for your altered art jewellery then there is a wide choice available online, plus free vintage clipart (see link below), or use magazines, old photos and advertising labels.

Steampunk Jewellery

I have only just heard about this style of jewellery, having seen some interesting rings selling on Etsy.com by Catherinette Rings, whose blog I'm now following. Steampunk jewellery is often described as retro-futuristic and neo-Victorian, being inspired by fantasy and science fiction, as well as the era of the steam engine. It is an aesthetic which celebrates the vintage and antique in a fantasy and futuristic way, and the style is more industrial with hints of H.G Wells and Jules Verne fictional invention.

It appears to have gained more popularity in the USA than in the UK, but there are places here and online where Steampunk jewellery can be bought. I will put a few links at the end to websites I found and post a few photos from them as a picture explains it better than I can.

When I first saw examples of Steampunk jewellery I felt really excited at all the possibilities of creating original and contemporary fantasy pieces that is not at all like the usual fantasy jewellery offering of fairies, dragons and the like, although sometimes these other fantasy elements creep into Steampunk too. No, this was more like a mad scientist's invention. Translated into jewellery terms, some of the more common jewellery components used are old watch faces and cogs, antique keys and locks, springs, dials, typewriter keys - in fact anything that can be recycled from junk and antiques that gives the flavour of a fictional bygone era that looks both futuristic, fictional and nostalgic at the same time. Very clever, I love it.


And although it is not really my own style, I think my excitement at discovering it sprang from wanting to do something a bit similar, with the mixing of time periods into a new fantasy genre, before I ever heard of Steampunk. I am feeling my way into a style that is not Steampunk but will end up being my own. It is still gestating while I'm familiarising myself with different materials and techniques, and all I know so far is that it is an archaeological style with a more contemporary influence, mixed with a dash of Venice Carnival. I don't really have the words for it yet, but discovering Steampunk has inspired me further down the fantasy jewellery road and I'm actually going to try making a few Steampunk pieces myself.


So today I ordered some more supplies, including some watch faces and brass washers, springy looking jumprings and anything else that could be vaguely Steampunkish.

I shall have fun with this, and will attempt to get up early tomorrow to find myself some old watches and keys in Portobello market. I don't feel quite so silly now in having wanted to save all the offcuts of copper tubing that the plumber left behind when my kitchen was being renovated, as I must have been subconsciously tuning in to this artform even before I was made aware of it.

Here are some links to Steampunk jewellery websites:

http://www.steampunkjewellery.co.uk

http://PinkWaterFairy.etsy.com

http://CatherinetteRings.etsy.com

http://www.1000markets.com/groups/steampunkstyle