Hummingbirds are perfect muses

     Hummingbirds are just such amazingly beautiful little creatures.  I mean look at them, they are like tiny jewel encrusted flying ornaments.  

They don't really look real! Their myriad colors are so bright and iridescent they don't seem like they could belong to something that is a living breathing animal.

It puts me in mind of dichroic glass jewelry. 

A few of these birds look like they sport some kind of plated armor, or fish-like scales.  I suppose the feathers are so shiny that they create a sort of holographic depth.  The fact that their colors are so unpredictable makes them appear even more ethereal and jewel like.

With such beauty and uniqueness it is very easy to find inspiration in these little wonders.  I have recently been making bird brooch/pins that are heavily influenced by the fantastical look of hummingbirds. 

I have found that sequins and beads, among other things, are perfect at recreating some of the iridescence and magnificent colors of these birds.  

I call this orange bird pin "Happy Hummingbird".  The way I made his beak just makes him look so joyful.  
This particular pin took quite some time to make.  The more elements and detail the longer it takes. For example: the beads are placed on a headpin or a straight wire, then I form a loop at the end of the wire.  This loop is used to keep the beads in place and to sew the element onto the felt base.  All the little yellow circles are the wire loops with many stitches around them.  In this piece I tried to make it where none of the silver wire showed  through on those loops.  I added lots of little silver beads to make the piece more interesting and to put breaks in the orange color or the other beads.

For a look at more of my bird pins please go to my Etsy store at: www.limbolabs.etsy.com

The "Happy Hummingbird" will soon be joining them there.

An inspiration by Aquatic strangeness

Did you for one second ever think you would see an animal that was blue with pick polka dots? Those don't exist do they?! Apparently in the ocean they do.  This is a light blue and pink baby seahorse.  Looking at these bizarre little creatures of unbelievable anatomy, of course, made me want to make one of my very own.  I mean these things lend themselves to artistic recreation like nothing else.  You could literally come up with any odd combination of colors, spines and spikes and it wouldn't be any weirder than what nature has already created.

As I was examining sea life I also came across sea turtles, which I have always thought were cool and highly under appreciated. For being so clumsy on the shore they are the epitome of grace in the water. They look like they are flying.

Check this spiny black seahorse out. He has horns on his face. He is also adorably holding on to that underwater plant. 

 This one has beautiful little silver markings all over its face and side.  Such interesting knobby little protrusions along his spine too.












This one is just STRANGE!

  

The Pins that these pictures inspired

These two pins one a seahorse one a sea turtle were made after seeing all these wonderful images. I will definitely be creating more as both these amazing animals can have so much variety. 

The Sea Turtle

This sea turtle pin is embroidered, stuffed and has golden sequins and wonderful seed beads included to make his shell special and unique.

The Making of The Seahorse

Here I am going to show the process of creating the seahorse pin.  First I cut out the shapes, two sides so they can be sewn together and stuffed.  I chose different colors for the dorsal fin and spine area to give it a little more interest. 

 I like to use embroidery thread in the same family of colors to make most of my detail work.  I don't plan out my stitches, for the most part, I feel that it gives my work a little more personality and freedom in the final piece. 

 As I finish sewing the pieces together I start to think about what colors, shapes and ideas I want to add to make an item complete. 

 

I waited until it was all together to cut that bottom part of the spine off, because I didn't know how much I wanted to keep until then. I started adding the mane beads, deciding on a aqua color to show up against the dark red. After that I tried a few things and found that the silver thread looked good on the outside of the mane.

 After that I new I was close to how I would keep it but decided that the orange thread I used on the left side just didn't show up as much as I had hoped. I took the time to go over all of that side again to really pronounce the difference in colors. 

The last things were the orange added to the face and tummy areas and the light red beads added to the bottom of the spine area. And the very last was the addition of the one inch pin back.  

All told a spent several hours on this pin but I am really happy with the outcome.

A new beginning

In the past, attempts to keep up a blog have gone woefully awry.  This will be my 3rd or 4th try and I really want it to succeed.  So in hopes of making a go of it I will chronicle the inspiration, planning, creation and completion of various items that I make on a daily basis.

As stated in my blog description I don't use patterns when I create my items, I do however look at other peoples patterns and designs to get ideas and inspiration.

Recently I have been inspired by various cute objects and books to start making little pins out of felt and various items such as charms and beads.  I saw this book while looking in my local Barnes & Noble craft section.

Zodiac Felties has some really great designs and some truly inspired item usage.  It has helped broaden my minds eye when looking for things to include in my designs.  Such as brads and eyelets normally used in paper scrap-booking.

I saw this American Girl kit at Michael's and thought it was cute but somewhat lacking in personality.

It made me start thinking about owls and how strange but cute they are. I mean look at this little owl! It is interesting how easy it is to put a personality or mood on owls.  This one looks like he is grumpy or irritated.












I ended up making these two owl pins out of felt and other items while thinking about owls.