Feather your nest

I am so excited to be hosting a swap in my Art Charm group.  The theme is "Feather your nest" and the idea is to create art charms inspired by birds, wings, trees, eggs, nests, houses, feathers etc.  A perfect genre for spring.  Sign ups open tomorrow and we will be swapping in groups of fifteen.  Anyone can participate as long as your part of the Yahoo group and you follow the swap guidelines.  Check it out if you are interested!  The group was founded by the authors of Making Mixed Media Art Charms and Jewelry.  Both Peg and Chris are amazing!



I have been scouting for materials for this swap ever since I read one of the swap previews.  I love how the owners of the group let us know what is coming so we can find good deals. 

I found these cute little birds on clearance at a big box store.  I wanted to jazz them up a bit so I decided to play with my favorite new product from Alpha Stamps, Guilders Paste.  This is a wax based medium that can be used on wood, metal, clay, ceramics etc.  It is very easy to apply and adds great color and depth.  I highly recommend it to my Art Charm pals, as this was a quick way to make my charms stand out and make them unique.



Now, I knew I wanted to also have some egg charms to trade.  I searched high and low in my local stores, but could not find a true egg shaped bead.  I almost picked up some pearls, but the shape just was not right.  Then I had a flash of insight and headed to the floral department.  These little plastic eggs were super cute.  I used a candle to heat up my head pin and poke holes and make them into a bead.  It is so fun to find a way to alter a product and use it outside of the intended purpose. 

These were so super simple to put together, I really did not do any construction.  I actually forgot I had all these wings, but when I was seeking some other stuff in my crafty mess I came upon them and knew they had to be a part of this swap.  Again, I wanted to add some interest, so I dabbed on a bit of pearl color acrylic paint.  Sometimes simple can be a good thing.



This looks like a great beginning of a wonderful swap.  I think a charm bracelet may be on the horizon. 

Cheers,

Rhea