(Note – If you’re new to my page, this is how it works: At the beginning of each week I randomly draw a new project from my Challenge Bucket, then see what I can create before the week is over. You can read all about my Creativity Challenge here.)
Summer is in full swing and we have been loving spending time doing all the summer things. Last week the kids and I spent the majority of the week helping out at camp. My creativity was pushed and stretched as I transformed a covered patio into K’s Detective Agency where I invited campers to solve mysteries that our “clients” (my kids dressed up as Bible characters) would bring us. It was a ton of fun but ended up leaving little room for my weekly Creativity Challenge project. As these projects are meant to bring joy, and not stress, I decided to give myself a couple days grace so I could enjoy the newest challenge. So this blog post is coming a little later than usual, but I hope you’ll enjoy reading about the challenge this week which was…Wire!
Quite a number of years ago my sister started a little business crafting greeting cards. They were decorated with lovely shapes and words she had formed from wire then patiently sewn to the paper. Being a person who enjoys crafts, I was inspired and decided to purchase a few different types of wire of my own to play around with.
I never crafted anything as lovely as her cards, but the wire remained in my stash through the years and has come out to support various projects here and there. Wire is a very handy thing to keep around, and this wire would serve me well for the new challenge.
As I contemplated what to create with wire, I thought about the flowers blooming in my yard. Some sort of plant pick could be fun to make. Maybe a butterfly or… hummingbird? My mind remembered the hummingbirds I learned to paint in the Watercolor Challenge a few weeks ago. Such fascinating and beautiful little birds! I settled on this idea and began to search up images and ideas to inspire my newest project.
After studying various inspiration pictures, I gathered up supplies and began taking inventory of what I had to work with. I imagined making the bird out of black or gold, but my black wire was too thick and there was not enough left of the gold. The silver wire, however, seemed to be the right gauge and the right quantity, so I pulled out a section and began experimenting with shaping.
It wasn’t long before I had a rough – and I mean ROUGH – shape to begin to work with. It was not beautiful, but I felt that it would suffice as a foundation to start refining.
Using a smaller gauged wire, I began to secure some of the sections. I knew that I wanted to add in some glass beads for color, so I dumped out my bag of random beads and began scanning for possibilities. I found some sweet round green beads that I decided would be really cute along the bird’s belly.
After shaping out the tail feathers and adding in some more details, I began searching through the beads again for options of what I could fill out the wings and tail with.
Wanting to keep the colors soft, I decided that light pink, light green, and clear beads would be the best option. The selection was limited and no two beads were the same, so I spent a good amount of time selecting and planning out where each bead would go. Once satisfied with my plan, I just needed to wire them in.
I started with the wings, adjusting and smoothing the shapes of the feathers as I went, then I moved on to the tail feathers.
I admit that it sometimes was a little finicky. Trying to make the wire tight and smooth in small spaces brought a touch of frustration, but I was finally able to ensure all the beads were firmly attached.
Envisioning the bird hovering over a plant, I knew I needed to attach some sort of support that would allow for this. I fetched my thick black wire and decided that it just might be strong enough to do the job.
Cutting off a length of the wire, I set to the task of attaching it to the back of the bird.
Now I just needed to test whether the black wire would actually be strong enough to support the bird. I brought it out to one of my plants, pushed it into the soil and… it held! It’s not super sturdy, but it would do the job for now.
I stepped back to examine my newest creation. Guys, it’s so pretty! I moved the plant to a couple different spots and fell in love with the way the sun catches the glass beads.
This little hummingbird is now flying sweetly in my kitchen. This project was so much fun and it was so life-giving after a busy week at camp. I’m glad I took the extra time to thoroughly enjoy the creation process.
Thanks for journeying with me this week!
You are so amazingly talented. I love your hummingbird, it is sooo very pretty. Nicely added touches of beads.
What a summery creation.
Thank you Shirley! You are so talented as well – It’s so fun to make pretty things isn’t it?
Gorgeous! I love your creativity and tenacity!
Thanks Naomi! I would have never described myself as having tenacity. But then I realized maybe I didn’t quite know what it meant…haha! I just googled it, and that sounds about right. 😉
It turned out beautifully! I love how much life this journey has brought to you and equally how much life is invested into the journey! You are so amazingly talented.
Yes this journey has been so life-giving to me – you say it so well, Leanne! Thanks for checking out my sweet little bird!
Add the teacher gift tag to this one! It’s so pretty!
Ooh, good idea!