Friday, August 6, 2010

Even More Charming...


I finished a few more charm designs. Here's the first - a cute little ladybug. Once again, this reflects recent interests in our household. Among other things, the Short One discovered the joys of bug collecting this summer. He started out with fireflies but got terribly excited and ended up bringing all manner of grasshoppers, beetles and crawly things-in-a-jar into the house. Here's the one I find the most innocuous (as long as they don't travel in hordes, at least - is there a term for a group of them?), a little lucky ladybug.

I wasn't so sure about this next design:


Little silver buttons always strike me as being very ladylike for some reason. Not that I have much personal experience with this, frankly. And they are quite dainty:



I wanted to develop a design to complement the skulls, so I came up with a new version of an old favorite of mine - an eye charm. As you can see, this is a human eye rather than a dragon eye. I didn't really mean it to be a charm against the evil eye, but I guess, inevitably, it probably looks like one:


It's a bit big compared to the skull (almost twice the size, really), but I think might work well in a grouping, maybe with one of the mini dragon hearts.

Finally, I just kind of cut this charm off the cuff the night I was working on the others:



Yep, a classic cobweb. I used a few large round cobweb pendants last year for Halloween-themed designs. I think setting the design in the rectangular tag-shaped charm, gives it a nice effect. This, too, is larger than the other charms,


but still pretty understated and small for me. I only made one of these, but I liked the way this one turned out, so I'll probably make a few more, especially given that we're heading into my favorite time of year again. (I had serious negotiations with the SO yesterday about Halloween costumes. Robin - of Batman and Robin - seems to be the frontrunner at the moment.)

Anyway, I'm currently tinkering with two more designs, and a couple more on the sketch pad, so there will probably be a few more things to show before I turn my attention back to boxes and bigger pieces. Don't forget, my Charming Charm Giveaway is running until Friday the 13th - so be sure to enter by posting a comment here. These designs are included in the giveaway, should the winner prefer one of these designs to the others I posted earlier this week. (And they are also available in the shop, for any interested parties.)

Thanks for visiting!

10 comments:

Lorelei Eurto said...

M, these are so awesome, on so many levels. if i wasn't saving up for bead fest, i'd be all over your big cartet shop! xox

Melissa J. Lee said...

Thanks, Lorelei! It's funny - I avoided working in this size all of these years, but I really like it right now... Ooh, Bead Fest - have a great time!

Silver Parrot said...

The ladybug is too cute. My kiddo went through the bug phase...actually, he started with snails. For about a year, we had to walk the neighborhood at least once a day to check out EVERY SINGLE SNAIL and what they were doing. Now, we're on to spiders. Blech!

Erin Strother said...

very cool. I dig the spider web.
Erin S

steufel said...

The ladybug is so cute and actually I like the button-charms.

Melissa J. Lee said...

Hi Kj, Hmm, snails. I actually remember collecting snails in empty Pop Tart boxes when I was a kid. It was always a love/hate relationship though - I loved their shells but I hated how slimy they were. The SO backed away from the cicada his Dad put in the bug jar, but so far all else has been fair game...

Melissa J. Lee said...

It's sort of a weird mix of the cute and the slightly gothic, right? I guess it's a pretty accurate representation of my personality. Maybe that's why the SO spends so much time watching "Scooby Doo" these days...

Pretty Things said...

That cobweb is unique! Like!

sherry lee said...

can't decide between the button or lady bugs love both

Shai Williams said...

Bravo!

I really like those silver buttons and the cobweb charms