A "Light & Airy" Week Forty Two

Is Upon Us !

This week's entry is looking on the lighter side of life. For this week, I focused on using a lighter colors in both my metal selection and my stone color. Chalcedony can be so beautiful and for this Art Nouveau inspired pendant it complemented the design just right. I have to admit, I love the color blue, but I don't design a lot of piece in this color. It is such a wonder color and this year I have to break out of my "Green Mode" and expand my color pallet to include more of the blues, reds, and oranges within my designs. I have spoke with other artists and they say that they go though the same battles as well. It is great to know that I'm not alone in battle to expand my color horizons. I also will be working with different metals as well . So look forward to some new looks coming up just around the corner. I'm working on designs for the late Summer /Fall season of Art Shows and let's not forget the Christmas season ( HO, HO, HO!). Well this piece was great fun creating and I'm happy to say it as already found a great home. Thank you Suzy G. for appreciating my work and being a inspiration to me as well!

Well I thank you All!

Have a Great Week!

Take Care and Keep Creating!!!!

Allison B.

www.alnbcollections.com

www.alnbcollections.blogspot.com

Week Forty One of My Weekly Creative Challenge

Stepping into the "Rich Colors" of Week Forty One of My Weekly Creative

Challenge

This has been a busy couple of weeks for me and I'm working to keep on top of all of this fun. I will be setting up for a trunk show with other local artists at a local store that features wonder "Arts and Craft" furniture and home accessories in the Tower Grove area here in St. Louis. Then the next weekend I will be at a women's conference at a major church here in Earth City. Also, of course, there is always some major event coming up at the bead store I work at. My boss always is planning new events to excite her customers. These are the times that "creating new pieces" can be challenging.

This piece was fun because it was based on an design I created for a great up and coming jewelry designer. Melanie G. has been working nonstop on creating a wonderful body of work and I helped her by making a copper metal component for one of her beautiful necklaces. After creating the design, I can up this this pendant based off of the original piece and fell in love with the rich color of the copper and the texture I created in the metal. Then I found these great fresh water brown pearls with such rich colors that I felt would be a great fit for this pendant. This was truly a fun project and I thank Melanie G. for her inspiration. I hope you Enjoy "Melanie's Garden" Have a great week and a wonderful Memorial Day!

Take Care and Keep Creating!

Allison B.

www.alnbcollections.com

www.alnbcollections.blogspot.com

Week Forty of My Weekly Creative Challenge

Week Forty!!!!!!!

WOW

The Challenge is ON!!!!!

I can't believe I have been creating new works and blogging about then for 40 Weeks. As I was setting up the graphics for the blog I look at the last entry and couldn't believe my eyes. 40!!!! Really!!!! Wow!!!! It has been fun and trying at times! I find it harder to stay on course when I'm getting ready for an art show. During that period, it is hard to work on pieces, get displays together for the event, get together the supplies for the show, and blog all at the same time. This is what they call "Running a Business". I have been working on this business steadily this past year and even though it can be crazy at times, it is worth it when I get such great feedback from all of you. That's what make blogging so rewarding and I thank you all!

Well let's take a look at the new addition. I want to work on more Nature themes for the "Art within Art" line and little flying creatures are the focus this week. I will be adding to the series very soon. This piece was fun because of all of the fun parts to this piece such as the use of brass and copper, the wire wrapped elements and colored pencils and decorative papers to create the wings. I loved this one because it let me be creative in so many areas. Well enjoy "Regal Moth" and have a wonderful week!

Take Care and Keep Creating !

Allison B.

www.alnbcollections.com

www.alnbcollections.blogspot.com

Week Thirty Nine of My Weekly Creative Challenge

Week Thirty Nine of My Weekly Creative Challenge and Mother's Day Too!

How Cool!!!

Well let me start with an Happy Mother's Day wish to all of you moms out there and I would love to say Happy Mother's Day to my mom, Katie B.

Without her(and my Dad), I would not exist!

Thanks Mom!!!!!!

I Love You!!!

This week is the week to show off Nature and the use of Mixed Metals as well. As I have stated in earlier blog entries, I don’t work with brass as much as I work with copper or silver and for 2010 this will be changing. This week I wanted to show samples of both patinas and the use of mixing metals to give my pieces that extra something. I really liked the way the brightness of the brushed finished brass worked with the liver of sulfur textured copper. I enjoyed working in both of these techniques and I hope you will enjoy the "Fruits of My Labor" as well.

Take Care and Have a Wonderful Day !

Allison B.

www.alnbcollections.com

www.alnbcollections.blogspot.com

Week Thirty Eight of My Weekly Creative Challenge

"Color My World" in Week Thirty Eight of my "Weekly Creative Challenge"

I love adding color to my designs. That is why I create colorful drawings to insert into my pendants, or add wonderful crystals, gemstones, pearls, and Czech glass to my designs. I'm now on the hunt to find and experiment with a new way to add color to the metal I use "itself". I use Liver of Sulfur to darken my metal work. I really like how it enhances the texture that I add to my metal work. Now I want to add "real colors". So I'm now working with patinas to add color to my work. This is one of my designs that I truly enjoyed working on. I love that I can add color to different components to my designs. It has been fun so far and I think this technique is a" keeper". Check in with my blog to see upcoming attempts to add just "a little something extra" to my work in the future. So enjoy the new addition "Growing , Growing and Growing". Thank you for checking in.

Take Care and Keep Creating!!!

Allison B.

www.alnbcollections.com

www.alnbcollections.blogspot.com

Week Thirty Seven of My Weekly Creative Challenge

"Hanging Off the Edge" in Week Thirty Seven of my Weekly Creative Challenge

Well I have been working on pieces for an upcoming show for about 4 weeks straight. I haven't gotten a chance to connect with you all for a long time( just about four weeks to be exact). Sometimes working on new concepts can be rewarding but it can definitely take over your waking hours and you can loose track of time. I was reminded of that fact from a very wonderful lady in the UK. Diane S. of ArtHobbyCraft.com blog sent me a little note to check on me to see if all was good here in Missouri. I felt cared for and "missed". Diane truly made my week and I just wanted to give her and all the great people on AHC blog a GREAT BIG SHOT OUT & THANK YOU!!!

Well this week's entry is a beauty with an India flair. This "Enchanted India Beauty" is the newest addition to my "Art within Art" line. I really enjoyed working with the brass this time. The drawing and the choice of beads for this design worked well with this metal. Well I hope you enjoy this new gem. I missed blogging and I'm glad to be Back!!!!

Take Care and Keep Creating!

Allison B

www.alnbcollections.com

www.alnbcollections.blogspot.com

P.S. Please Check Out

http://arthobbycrafts.ning.com

It is a great site with a Wonderful Network of Wonderful Artists!!!!

Week Thirty Six of My Weekly Creative Challenge

A Small Break can do you some Good in Week Thirty Six !

Well I needed a little time to get more supplies and to work on this technique for this weeks entry. I have wanted to start playing around with adding color to my metal piece and this was my first creation in which I used a patina in my work. I sketched this series of pieces a while back and I have been working on getting the colors I wanted. As time goes on, I will be adding new pieces to the series I call my "Single Bud" series.

I also got to experiment with wire wrapping as well with this pendant. At my job they had a wonderful bracelet making class and I love the techniques so I used it as a decorative link in this pendant as a added source of texture and color. I love learning new techniques and merging them into my design style. I thank Mariah M. for the wire wrapping lesson and I look forward to showing more designs from this series very soon.

Take care and Keep Creating

Allison B.

www.alnbcollections.com

alnbcollections2@yahoo.com

Week Thirty Five of My Weekly Creative Challenge

"Made to Order" for Week Thirty Five of My Weekly Creative Challenge!

It is time to give a "Hoot"! for my newest creation. This was the second part of a special order I was commissioned to do. My client wanted to have an owl as the main focus of her pendant and this was a first for me. I usually draw the female image as my main focus and this was a definite departure for me. I have to admit it was great fun to create this little "Woodland Creature." She also requested I design custom earrings to go along with her pendant as well. I truly enjoy new challenges and new opportunities. At the time I was designing this pendant, I also drew 3 other concepts for her to choose from, so in the future I might be adding to this series as well. I can't let a good design just sit there on paper only. Well it is my pleasure to introduce "Creature Comfort" to the ALNB Collections body of work. Enjoy!

Take Care and Keep Creating !

Allison B.

www.alnbcollections.com

www.alnbcollections.blogspot.com

Week Thirty Four of My Weekly Creative Challenge

Week Thirty Four is here &

"Love is in the Air"

Well hello to Everyone and Happy Valentines Day. These past few weeks have been a "labor of love". I have been working on special orders and one order was to create gifts that were to be given on this special day. I love the fact that someone wanted to give one of my creations to say "I care". These two new pieces let my client give " flowers" in a new way. Both of these new "Trinkets & Tokens" necklaces featured a floral motif. I guest you can say "Spring can't come fast enough for me." I also got to use one of my favorite finds from the past year. I love these lamp work beads because of the many colors that they came in and the texture of the bead itself. I think it went perfectly with the texture of my metal tag and gave the piece a very tactile feeling. Well I know I have to get on the ball and create more designs for the "Trinkets & Tokens" line. I've been working on the sketches and will be adding new pieces within this month into the beginning of March. Keep an eye on my new works on www.alnbcollections.com and on this blog.

Well have a "Love Filled Day", Wonderful Week and Keep Creating!!!

Take Care!!!

Allison B.

www.alnbcollections.com

www.alnbcollections.blogspot.com

Week Thirty Three of My Weekly Creative Challenge

Starting from the Beginning in

Week Thirty Three!

Hi Everyone!

I have been asked how I come up with my designs and I let them know it all starts with "The Drawing". All of my metal jewelry designs start with a idea that I have put to paper. I love drawing out my designs because it helps me to visualize how the piece will be put together and in this stage I can work out most of the kinks of the design. While I was in school, both my jewelry teacher and my ceramics teacher always comment on how detailed my drawing were. They had me show my sketch books as part of my displays because of it gave the viewer a complete view point on how my works were thought out and completed. This design " Entangled Clusters" is part of a 4 part series. I designed this piece for the Chesterfield Arts "Art Feast." I was part of an silent auction last night. This is my second year participating in this event. I really appreciate the opportunity to be apart of this event and I love sharing my work with all of you, Have a great Week and Keeping Creating.

Take Care

Allison B.

www.alnbcollections.com

www.alnbcollections.blogspot.com

Week Thirty Two of My Weekly Creative Challenge

Week Thirty Two is a week of "Completed Thoughts!

I have enjoyed this week a lot. I predominately design necklaces and pendants. That has been my main focus in my metal work. I started working on bracelets after working at my current job as a sales associate at a bead shop. They have many classes that teach you basic string techniques and I just couldn't resist adding these fun little gems to my already existing metalsmith lines. Now I have had many of my customers ask about earrings to complete their look and this has open yet another venue for me to be creative. For the longest time I didn't venture towards designing earrings because many of my designs are made out of copper and some people have an allergy to certain metals such as copper, but I have found a line of "Nickle Free" earring findings that make it possible for me to complete the "look" my customers desire. I'm very happy about this move. As time goes on you will see many more earring designs added to my lines. Well, for now this is one of my first attempts in designing earrings for that "Completed Look"

Enjoy, Take Care and Keep Creating!!!!!

Allison B.

www.alnbcollections.com

www.alnbcollections.blogspot.com

Week Thirty One of My Weekly Creative Challenge

New Year, New Decade, New Possibilities!!

Welcome Week Thirty One and Welcome Back!!!

Well I'm BACK and I sooooooo excited about the opportunity to create new works of wearable art for all to enjoy! This new year is full of new possibilities and new things to learn and I can't wait so start creating and learning. I have been looking into a variety of workshops and classes that will help me to develop some of the new concepts that I have in mind to add a new dimension to my designs. This year I really want to "push the envelope" when it comes to my designs. I love the thought of combining many techniques and mediums to create that special "one of a kind" piece of jewelry that really is a true "mixed media" creation. This soldering class and the ones I have signed up for for the next 3 months will hopefully put me on the path to creative freedom!!!! These samples are just the beginning. I love these pieces because I got to use my father's photography. Plus I love these photos of my mom and dad. Enjoy !

Take care and keep creating in 2010!!!!!!!!

Allison B.

www.alnbcollections.com

www.alnbcollections.blogspot.com