Tumbleweed Chandelier

Having lived in windy Wyoming, I am very aware of the natural element...tumbling tumbleweeds.  Often we'd see them rolling across roads, until they would get caught up in a fence.

I even saw Christmas trees made out of masses of them.

But the other day, I ran into this easy to assemble tumbleweed chandelier.  From the instructions posted, you just find a nice specimen of tumbleweed and attach a light strand and wire the light into place.   I like that.  Finding a function out of a renewable resource.

Now, if we could only find some great uses for the kudzu that is always spreading in Georgia. ...ideas?

Playful Candelier

Happy Sunday to you.

In my constant search for all things fun, this Candelier by Jellio has popped up onto my radar.

Look in the lower photo and tell me what you see? Yes, you're right. Those are gummi bears.

This light, designed by Kevin Champeny, is one of 10 that uses over 5,000 acrylic gummi bears in a process that takes over 2 months to complete.

I love the repetition of a single item to create a different look. Kind of like pixels shaped like little colorful bears.

And if you think about it, this can be done in a similar way in glass. Whether with commercial beads, or ones of your own making.

With the acrylic, this light weighs about 50 lbs. I'm sure glass would require a lot more arm strength and much stronger bolts in the ceiling to hang it.

But can you imagine the constant amusement and fun that it would create? It's like a visual candy store in a functional item without the calories!

The company Jellio, is committed to providing unique home furnishings reminiscent of fun childhood memories. Visit their website for items like ..(one of my favorites) an ice cream sandwich bench, a lite bright style table and slider wall art similar to those little puzzles that you had to move around.

Branching Out ~ Chandelier Making

I've been working on building a chandelier for a few weeks now. It's a slow process when one is a bit indecisive. I'm not usually, but this really brings it out as it's my first light that I've made.

I bought a simple base at a local shop and decided to change out its decorations and embellish with my own lampwork and bead collection.

What a lot of fun! Because the base of it is so non traditional, I had a bit of a hard time getting started. The "theme" of it changed three times, until I finally settled into what I felt comfortable with. (oops, sorry about that dangling participle there).

I went from a colorful "over the top" style to a neutral, textural earthier kind of "spirit animal" theme. The amount of metal in the base and modern design needed a less-is-more type style than what I originally planned. (which was my more-is-more aesthetic)

So I gathered my supplies of creams, whites, grays, brown, metallics, crystals and various textures and shapes and sorted the beads and embellishments. It made it a lot easier to line things out and test string them to see if they were looking like I had imagined. I used my lampwork glass, bone, ceramic, coconut husk, wood, and other mediums to get the look I wanted. To keep the cost down, I didn't make it all lampwork, but the highlights include sculptural focal beads that I made just for it. Then it was time to get to work. And I'll show you the results of the finished chandelier either tomorrow or Thursday.

Because...well, as I'm writing this, I'm wondering if there's just one more thing that I want to do. Now I'm considering whether to alter the base metal color of the chandelier. Sure, it would be a lot of work, but I just have to ponder that scenario for a little while longer...darn, these aesthetic choices are tough. Darker or lighter? Burnished copper or burnished aluminum?

See you tomorrow at http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com. I'm not sure whether it will be the continuing sage of the chandelier or something different. We'll know first thing tomorrow morning. Thanks for stopping by.