Nicolette’s Design Diary

This cracks me up…I’ve always loved those googly eyes. Check out the tutorial on how to make this from Alexa at The Swell Life.

Via Craftzine blog.

Remember Shrinky-Dinks? That plastic stuff that you colored on and then shrunk down by sticking it in the oven? I’ve been seeing a quite a bit of shrinky jewelry lately, but these pieces by Broken Fingers Art have really caught my eye…how could they not?

Broken Fingers apparently gets such vibrant colors by using shrink plastic, Prismacolor pencils, a Sharpie, and quite a bit of elbow grease…

There are so many cool things to see on the Internet, I’ve decided to just round them up in one post…

The first link is to this interesting jewelry by Melbourne-based artist Polly van der Glas. This jewelry is actually made out of the teeth and hair of friends and family! Talk about family support! (Link via Cool Hunting)

These rings made by artist Sarah Hood are part of a series called “Landscape”. They are made out of miniature railroad landscape materials. Check out some more of her fabulous jewelry at her website.

Talk about cute…these little houses are decoupaged vintage French stamps. Made by artist Heather Donohue, check out what she did with them on her blog.

And people say that my work looks tedious. This is one of the intricate papercuts done by artist Kako Ueda. This papercut is called “Tree of Life”. If you’ll look close you’ll see all kinds of insects featured in the papercut. Check out more of this artist’s amazing work here.

It’s been a couple weeks since that last long post I wrote. But it’s been even longer since I made my last podcast. Last year, I dabbled a bit with creating my own podcast called Crafting Voices (in case you don’t know, a podcast is just some audio that you can listen to your computer or on a portable mp3 player like an iPod) and created two shows. The idea behind Crafting Voices is to interview other artists and get the stories behind their work and their creativity.

During my jewelry downtime, I started working on this pet project again and after almost a month and a half of interviews, editing, and working on the web site, my newly redesigned podcast web site is finished and the first podcast of the new season is set to launch on April 17th. I’ve scheduled a season of 11 shows, and the first show is called The Transformation of Trash and I decided to launch this episode just in time for Earth Day as the theme of the show focuses on artists who use trash and discarded materials to create their artwork. In this episode, I interviewed artists Bryant Holsenbeck, Boris Bally, and Michael de Meng, all of them talented artists and great fun to interview. So if you get the chance, go check out the new Crafting Voices web site and on April 17th, be sure to listen to the newest show.

Technorati Tags: Bryant Holsenbeck, Crafting Voices, Earth Day, podcast, Boris Bally, Michael de Meng

I love jewelry that’s made out of a mixture of conventional and unconventional materials. This pendent made out of sterling silver with a concrete center was designed by Brooklyn jeweler Tami Brooks (why does it seem that a bunch of cool artists are from Brooklyn?). Her line of silver and concrete jewelry also includes unisex rings. Check them out on her website, tam aura designs.

Technorati Tags: silver, pendants

I’ve never been much of a Gummi-Bear fan (I’m more of a chocolate girl myself), but this chandelier made of Gummi-Bears has me duly impressed. This chandelier was dreamed up and executed by artist Yaya Chou which proves that not only are Gummi-Bears useful as a tasty (so everyone claims) treat, but they also make a great lighting accessory. This chandelier is part of a series of Gummi sculptures which the artists displays on her web site. She even claims that the sculptures manage to stay fresh two years after they’ve been made…which doesn’t exactly encourage me to start eating Gummi-Bears anytime soon.

Technorati Tags: Gummi-Bears

Who says that jewelry just has to be pretty? The Subtle Safety Ring, made of a combination of acrylic and sterling silver has a point that can be rotated out. Instead of using your keys for self-defense, just wear this baby, rotate out the point and POW! Imagine the damage you can do with more than one. Check out this ring at Red Start Design.

Technorati Tags: jewelry, rings, self-defense

The creativity of other artists constantly amaze me. Can you believe that this piece of art is made of spools of thread? Artist Devorah Sperber makes these images of of masterpieces out of spools of colored thread. By looking at the work through the acrylic viewing device in front of the piece, you can recognize which image it is, which in this case, is a representation of Jan van Eyck’s “Man In a Red Turban”. So I actually do remember something from those art history classes.
If you’re in Brooklyn, NY you’re in luck. Devorah Sperber’s work is on exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum from January 26 to May 6. Also, be sure to check out Devorah’s web site and see some more amazing work!

Technorati Tags: Devorah Sperber, Brooklyn Museum

One of the blogs I read on a regular basis is the Canadian-based blog about illustration and cartooning, Drawn! There are a ton of talented cartoonists and illustrators out there in the world. Here’s an example of one of them, Dan Zettwoch, who did this illustration on a piece of cardboard…with a Sharpie….and White-out….whilst jet lagged….

…yikes!

Technorati Tags: illustration