Experimental Jewelry: FISHES MAKE WISHES

I love experimental and unconventional jewelry! In this series I'm featuring jewelry artists who work with unconventional materials and techniques, and who see a ring or a pendant as a canvas to express their art and creativity.

As you all know by now, I passionately love COLOR! So it was quite impossible not to fall in love with the happy, colorful, cheerful and playful work of two talented sisters from Greece, Aleka and Georgia, my Team mates in the EGST (Etsy Greek Street Team)!

Aleka and Georgia's brand, Fishes Make Wishes, stands for a colorful and whimsical world of unique handmade goodies that will make any color and one-of-a-kind jewelry loving girl's heart beat faster!

They work with many different materials, which allow them lots of possible variations on their favorite theme: color! As Aleka and Georgia tell us, "papier mache, felt brooches, bead jewelry, wood jewelry, silk necklaces are the unique & one of a kind jewelry we make! Fun brooches, colorful necklaces, playful earrings, clay necklaces and clay home decorations are just a few of the things you'll find in our shop!".

Aleka says: "I love playing around with paper, stitching funny animals with felt, needle felting badges and painting balsa wood! I am bored easily and don't like to repeat myself so everything is mostly one of a kind!".

Georgia says: "I love beads, small and big, colorful waxed cords, wet felting (soap bubbles are the best!), painting on silk and buttons".

You can find Aleka and Georgia's unique jewelry in their Etsy shop Fishes Make Wishes, and you can get to know more about their colorful world in Aleka's blog.

Heart Brooch - Hand Painted OOAK Papier Mache Brooch

 Yellow House Papier Mache Brooch

Turquoise Bird Hand Painted Papier Mache Brooch

Yellow and Pink Clay Necklace

An Orange Fish Clay Necklace

Turquoise and Orange Clay Necklace

Mermaid Original Wooden Earrings

Turquoise Branch Wooden Brooch

Felt Heart Brooch

Heart Brooch

NEW PENDANTS!

So here they are... and they became pendants! The buttons were quite large (approximately 3.5 cm diameter) and they were perfect for pendants!

As you may remember, the first step had been decoupaging the wooden buttons with tiny scraps from a Greek magazine. Then I painted the buttons. And the last step was varnishing them with a thick layer of varnish, then adding some embellishments as you can see... hammered copper wire spirals and glass beads.
Very Greek, very Mediterranean, very island-ish, very summery... very ME. :)

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See more lovely creations of the week on Zsazsazsu's blog!

WORK IN PROGRESS: Painting Collage on Wood

So I've been adding color to my decoupaged wooden buttons... Starts looking nice, doesn't it?

CREATIVE CORNER: Mini Decoupage on Wood

One of the exciting and challenging things about making "experimental jewelry" is that I get to experiment with lots of techniques on very small surfaces... I have these large unfinished wood buttons, and I decided I wanted to decoupage them as a basis for further decoration.

Rather then decoupage, I did a mix between decoupage and papier mache! I glued little scraps from a Greek magazine, using a generous layer of decoupage glue so as to drench the scraps and fix them well to the wood.

Stay tuned for the next steps!

Experimental Jewelry: THE PRINCESS NEXT DOOR

I love experimental and unconventional jewelry! I've recently started a series in which I'm featuring jewelry artists who work with unconventional materials and techniques, and who see a ring or a pendant as a canvas to express their art and creativity.

My featured jewelry designer today is Tina from Athens, Greece, who works under her own brand The Princess Next Door. She creates wonderful and absolutely unique and colorful jewelry using papier mache that she paints in vibrant colors. Each of her creations is a one-of-a-kind piece of happy and colorful jewelry that really stands out of the crowd! As a passionate lover of color, I can't help falling in love with Tina's amazing creations!
You can find Tina's beautiful jewelry in her Etsy shop The Princess Next Door.

Read My Heart

Multi Color Papier Mache Cluster Ring

Square Papier Mache Earrings - Purple

A Tree In My Yard Brooch

Large Papier Mache Pendant With Fish

Round Papier Mache Earrings - Olive Green and Purple

Square Papier Mache Earrings - Blue and Silver

Earrings With Heart (sold)

Purple Heart Bracelet (sold)

Square Ring - Turquoise and Brown (sold)