Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Fun Felted Color Block Jewelry for Summer


Needle felted color bangle bracelet and rings
So, I’m happy to report that somehow just admitting I was stuck got me unstuck.  Within a day or two after my last post, I had completed twenty new felted jewelry items for my Etsy shop.  By Friday, I had managed to list seven of them.  I know that doesn’t sound like much, but man, it’s a lot of work to create a listing on Etsy!

I focused on my latest designs – my own take on color blocks.  I'm really not one to follow trends just because they're "in."  But I just love it when a design that is very much my style is actually “in style.”  Lately, I’ve been enjoying all the animal prints, peacock feather motifs, and now – color blocks. 


I’ve been painting color blocks and geometric designs for years.  So I thought, how fun would it be to felt color blocks?  With needle felting, I can create such versatile pieces in just an incredible array of rich, vibrant colors.  And when something like animal prints or color blocks are “in style,” it’s fun to add a splash of high fashion with colorful jewelry -- without committing to a whole new wardrobe.  Am I right?

So here are some of my new felted color block rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces – perfect accessories for this summer season.  Hopefully, I’ll get some more listed this week.  Thanks for looking!

Zazzy Peacock color block jewelry set -- necklace, post earrings and rectangular ring

Another colorful geometric bangle bracelet and needle felted rings
                       A New Hook for My Colorful Animal Print Swirls


All Zazzy Peacock Studios designs and images shown are © Jill Newman 2012.  All rights are reserved.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Stuck in a Holding Pattern: Felting without Finishing


I’m stuck.  Stuck, stuck, stuck.  It’s not that I haven’t been creative and somewhat productive, but I just can’t seem to finish anything.  I have needle-felted and wet felted many colorful little pieces over the past few weeks (I counted 62 in all), but I can’t seem to get myself to make them into finished products.  They will eventually be rings, bracelets, hair clips, etc., but for some reason, I just keep starting new projects instead of finishing these.  Actually, come to think of it, I do have about a dozen finished products sitting around, but I haven’t managed to get those listed on Etsy.  That would involve taking and editing photos and writing detailed descriptions – not that difficult, but I can’t bring myself to do it.  Every day, I just reach for the wool and start poking something new.

Oh yeah, and by the way (in case you hadn’t noticed), I seem to have writer’s block as well.  And here again, it’s not that I haven’t written anything, it’s that I can’t seem to finish a blog post.  Last week (or was it the week before?), I wrote a post, but I never published it.  I typed up a rough draft, but then I didn’t get around to the final steps of revising my writing and adding the photos and links for it.  And I had taken the photos weeks before that but never got around to editing them.  Ughhh!  What is going on with me?

I’m hoping that writing this -- and yes, publishing it! -- will snap me out of this holding pattern and get me moving forward again.  I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of what’s holding me back, but I think I just need to push past it.  
Some of my unfinished felted Zazzy Peacock creations -- hopefully, soon to make it over to my Etsy shop.