Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Light changes the world!  The late afternoon light enhances the clouds and brings out the shapes and shadows and gives a sense of peace.  We camped across from the Vermillion Cliffs on our trip home from the Grand Canyon.  I've always been fascinated with the myriad of colors that play across those rocks. Opening my eyes slowly to a world about to awaken, watching the sun color the sky, listening to the early morning sounds of birds and critters is a magical event.  There was only nature - and me!                 Color Scattered  The Vermillion Cliffs in the early afternoon sun.   The sun travels as the light changes telling the story of the day. May you notice and appreciate the beauty of each hour of your day!

It is springtime and time for bugs!  This is a framed bug (dead – pretty much the only kind I like) from Malaysia that I purchased at a Reptile Show.  I could feel a spring project in the making! I studied the form of the body and thought about what materials I could use to construct my bug.  The result is a body made of Hadar Smart Bronze clay formed in segments.  The wings had to move and the best way was to make a hinge as an integral body part.      A nickel chromium wire feeds from tail to head.  The tail became one with the wire but the head remainedseparate. I finished the body and finally stabilized the head to the first segment by soldering.  With the body finished, the wings were next.  The colors were mixed with some translucent clay.  I could have used more translucent but generally the combination of 672 yellow,1150 Lemonade,380 Buried Treasure, white and translucent polymer clay worked well.    I made the cane, sliced the win

Inspiration comes in many forms.  This fall I've been fascinated by seed pods.  We have lots of thistles and grasses and bushes.  My camera goes with me most places and my eyes try to see these forms in different lights and positions.  Today I'm sharing some of the photos with you.  Enjoy!  

Inspiration comes from many places.   I spent lots of time looking at buildings on my recent trip to Boston.   I keep a photo file of architectural details that inspire my jewelry designs.   This file is titled ‘Borders and Repetition'       And this one is titled ‘Shapes’.  

The rocks captured my imagination on our recent trip to Joshua Tree National Park and I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the pictures.   The scale of rocks -boulders to gravel, the repetition of the rock shapes – rounds after rounds or jags upon jags and the shapes that are made by wind, sand and water fascinate me.   Some of these natural images will influence my future jewelry designs.   Some will bring me peace and joy as I look at them.  

Sea Stars!  I think I like the romance of 'sea stars' rather than calling these fascinating creatures 'Starfish'.  They are not fish.  They do not have gills, scales or fins. They have tube feet to help them move.  They can have more than 5 arms and can regenrate arms.  They resemble the shape of a star and may appear smooth or with spines on their top side and are soft on the bottom.  I've been looking through some of my photos and found several of starfish.  I'm once again surprised and inspired by the diversity in nature.  The range of size, shape, color and texture intrique me and give me food for thought to use in my jewelry creations.  I thought you might enjoy seeing the variety also. Find out more at this site: http://marinelife.about.com/od/invertebrates/tp/seastarfacts.htm  

Just back from traveling and here are a few of my recent favorite photos. Swallowtail Butterfly Dragonfly Dragonfly Not settled down enough to share my travels but here is some some inspiration.  Talk about natural color and fall color trends!

Back in October of last year, I shared this picture of fungi on a tree with my facebook friends.   I thought it was most unusual with all the ruffles.   Sheri Selles Lesser also commented about the scarf and gave me a link for a scarf pattern.   I was intrigued and downloaded it from http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/curly-swirly-scarf .   Several weeks later I bought some yarn and a hook.   I could not find where my old one was stashed.   Too many years between crocheting projects!    As my life goes, the pattern and the yarn and hook sat in a sack for a few more weeks. This past Wednesday I started to crochet and this is the finished product!   Not bad!   I also had a photo shoot for my jewelry and had the model wear the scarf so you could see it on her.   You should check out her company "Twitterpated"  by Ashley Spicer.  Very talented lady!  http://www.etsy.com/shop/beTwitterpated?ref=seller_info When I got home, I could not resist han

Let me introduce you to Willie and Mario, our pet Bearded Dragons!   They are about 2 ½ years old and ‘supposedly’ came from the same family.   I say supposedly because they have different colors and patterns and are so different in temperament.   They were about 1 ½ inches long when we adopted them and are now about 20 inches long.   Bearded Dragons are originally from Australia and live in the arid, rocky, semi-desert regions and dry open woodlands of Australia .   We’ve built a similar aquarium environment with sand, rocks and a water dish.   I also made a long picture of the Australian desert and wrapped it around their aquariums so they would have something resembling "home" to look at!   Peter (my significant other who introduced me to lizards) is designing and building new homes for them.   I’ll post a picture when they are finished!       Mario in his desert aquarium  Willie and his black beard  Willie is usually a relaxed, ‘let come w