Saturday 30 January 2016

Horizons and Travels, a set of desert and highway inspired resin and paper pendants


Have you ever looked and marvelled at photos of desert highways, particularly those in America? You know those shots where tumble weeds roll by and on either side of the highway lay vast amounts of land with a few rugged hills and mountains and the highway just seems to go on forever?

I personally have and I just love those images, there is something so simple and surreal about them. I mention these images now because the latest set of paper and resin pendants I have made have been inspired by the roads and desert scenes that I have spoken about, though of course in a more abstract and simplified manner.


Each design has a main red line or thin shape that travels across the pendant, like the roads that go off into the distance. The round red circle element is sometimes a tumble weed, sometimes the rising sun. All four examples have a sense of some kind of journey taking place.

The colours I've chosen are in themselves more oriental, I love golds and reds and felt the contrast from the two colours, along with the silver helped lift the shapes and overall composition. The shapes have also been given more lift by the use of a black wax pencil that I used to share around each shape and the edge of the pendant.

I am hoping to make another set in the near future which also feature mountains and hills. I may change my colour pallet to reflect colours from the desert scenes.  So please stay tuned!

Until next time.

Tuesday 26 January 2016

Mixing elements of gold and silver with a splash of colour, new paper and resin pendant

You often hear people say that they only wear silver or that they only ever wear gold. With my paper and resin pendants I challenge all jewelry lovers and wearers to embrace both colours/metals. Together silver and gold elements within a single piece of jewelry can create interesting contrast and added allure.

As you see here with my latest pendant design, whilst my pendant is predominantly gold in colour with only hints of silver, I have matched it with a silver plated bail and chain, which visually still works. Both colours are so alluring and inspiring, why not wear both?



As with all my paper and resin pendants, both sides are domed using high quality crystal clear resin from Little-windows.  This resin is specifically designed for jewelry making and is much less toxic than other resins. The backs of each pendant also feature beautiful scrapbook papers that complement the front design. Below you can see how the resin doming gives the pendant its form and thickness. Also note the shinny and smooth surface of the pendant which gives it a real sense of quality.


As you can see I am still very much interested in working with a minimalist abstract design, influenced by contemporary Asian design. I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy making it. Please leave a comment letting me know what you think of my work, all comments are greatly appreciated. You can easily visit my Etsy shop by clicking the link on the side of this page.

As always, thank you very much for visiting Der Papierfuchs blog!

Wednesday 20 January 2016

When paper jewelry is just awesome!

I thought I would use this post today to share with you some examples of AWESOMENESS. Sometimes you come across a piece of paper jewelry that makes your jaw just drop and your mouth start to drool. Following are some examples of paper jewelry that make me do just that. They are examples of artistic flair and craftsmanship which I believe are of the highest quality and to which I aspire to.

These pieces of AWESOMENESS have been created by the talented British artist Liz Hamman who makes her paper jewelry from reclaimed maps and books. 



First of all I love the colours used, the use of bold red and black are always so stunning in my opinion. The softness of the paper in contrast with the solid beads add a wonderful visual interest. In the final example the sculptural nature of those paper chains is just stunning and I personally think quite adventurous design wise.

Next are some examples of just stunning rings by paper artist Jeremy May. Again my favourite use of colours, reds, neutrals, flashes of blues are all incorporated in his designs.


What I am also most impressed by is the stunningly perfect finish he achieves. I am curious to see how he achieves that. Polished resin? The simple abstract designs are so stunning and the rings themselves are wearable, which I think is also important.

I really do hope that my own paper jewelry can one day also be held in high esteem by others. At the moment I am at a level where I am designing and making for the everday fashion lover rather than for high-end art galleries which I feel is where these pieces are at home.

I hope you have enjoyed the paper jewelry examples I have shared today. I am sure you would agree that they are just AWESOME! Stay tuned for more updates on my own practice with new pieces being blogged about frequently.

xoxoxo


Monday 18 January 2016

Metallic papers and charming paper and resin pendants

 If I haven't already mentioned it, then I will now... I love metallics! I love gold and silver and I am always looking for ways to incorporate these elements in my paper jewellery. We don't often think of paper jewelry as being gold or silver, it's more often simply the color of card available or patterned scrapbook paper. For me using gold and silver metallic papers means I can achieve a level of preciousness that using other papers alone cannot achieve.


With my latest paper and resin pendants I have limited myself to using gold and silver paper matched with one other colour. The use of fine stripes of gold and silver I feel achieves a sense of delicateness that is in contrast with the bold block of colour and gold or silver background.


As you can see the backs of these pendants are finished using quality scrapbook paper card which lets me create a more stable and ticker pendant. Notice also that both sides have been domed with resin from Little-Windows.com which is a high quality non-toxic resin for jewelry making.

At the moment I am still in the middle of making more of these rectangular shaped pendants and once finished will photograph them and list them on my Etsy shop. Each pendant will also come with a silver plated necklace. So if you are interested please follow me by email or follow me on Facebook for updates. I am happy to sell outside of Etsy as well, just send me a message or leave a comment.

Until next time, thank you for dropping by.

Thursday 14 January 2016

Paper and Resin Pendants, a new addition to the Der Papierfuchs collection


Beautiful papers and crystal clear resin come together to create these precious pendants. Using hand painted and scrapbook papers with metallic papers give these pendants a handmade charm and delicateness.

Artistically my focus has been on using colour and simple shapes to create interesting and balanced designs. Using gold and silver paper lets me bring in a sense of traditional jewellry which commonly features precious metals. 



Each pendant is finished with a silver plated bail and comes with a 46cm silver coloured chain. To purchase please visit Der Papierfuchs' Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/Papierfuchsjewellery 

If you like my work or have any other suggestions related to the jewellery I make please leave a comment below, all comments are appreciated!

Monday 11 January 2016

Stretchy bracelets by demand!

It seems that necklaces and earrings are just not enough to quench a girl's thirst for jewelry. While the crowds at the Christmas market were intrigued with the necklaces and earrings, they were also asking 'Have you got any bracelets?' Sadly at the time I had to reply 'no', but not anymore.

These darling bracelets are the new additions to the Der Papierfuchs line. I have made them using hand-painted strips of paper and finished with gold or silver coloured beads and cute little upcycled charms. I've also started using Janice Mae's incredible Vibrance varnish for a super glossy finish.






The bracelets are also strung onto elastic jewelry thread making them easy to slip on and off. No need to fuss around trying to clip these bracelets on.

Once I'm finished with photographing these pretties I will be putting them up for sale in my Etsy shop so please stay tune.