Twists & Turns...

Typically I blog about a single piece, or a single topic, but I'm breaking form today because a lot has been happening lately…

First, a very nice lady I know asked me to try to do a piece for her (actually two matching pieces), she knows I'm still a student/novice but decided to give me a chance - I appreciate the opportunity!!

The piece she asked for is a saw-pierced piece, leaf shaped with a double crossed cross, with some words & a date stamped on the back… so I started by drawing the shape & epoxying it to some silver, drilled a hole in the middle (in class - I don't have my rotary tool yet).  The above is a picture when I first brought it home.

I used a saw to form the leaf shape...

That's my saw on my bench, with my magnifying light that I find works well for saw work.

Here's the first one after I finished the inner cuts with my saw...

This is the state of both of them now, they still need filing (I can do that at home at this point), they also need stamping (words & dates), sanding, polishing… if the rest of my equipment (on order) gets here before classes start back up these will be finished at home, otherwise they'll get finished in class.  They may not look like much now, they'll look much better when finished…

I made this set a couple days ago in my studio… just Sterling wire & Red Creek Jasper beads & pliers - I don't have my soldering equipment yet (on order)… two earrings & a pendant (have you figured out how to get those earrings on yet?)

Yep, I put one on to take a photo… have you figured it out yet?  That's right, you have to corkscrew them on your ears… but they look pretty cool on!!  In other news...

I've been busy making some small purchases locally, and finding odds & ends around the house that will work in the studio...

Those books on my bench, those were Christmas Presents!!  Thank You Tim & Marta, and Thank You Jeff… I know the references will be handy!!  I hung a little decorative triple basket that had been unused elsewhere in the house, and I put up some pegboard...

I've got an old bookcase I'm also using for getting organized...

A huge piece of styrofoam left over from one of Jeff's projects is making a great idea-wall...

Yep, that's my studio for now… lots of stuff on order should be here in the next few weeks… loving getting things set up here at home!!

Setting Up Shop!!

I've been working on my Studio…

Workbench assembled….

Gotta love a solid wood topped bench!!

I love the adjustable height… I can work standing up if I like!

Isn't she lovely??  No nicks or scratches yet… but she'll earn them in time :)

I've been gathering tools & such… just getting started setting up, but loving the process!

New Friends...

I recently made a couple cute little Christmasy sets that I sent off as Thank You gifts to two very special ladies…

Both sets are made from Sterling Silver wire, with a decorative-bell ornament...

They make me smile!!  Talking about smile… my Workbench is here!!...

Now I just need to borrow some tools from my hubby so I can put it together… :)

Trying something new...

I decided to try using a chunky 1/2 round wire for this piece, which has a nice Dyed Magnesite stone bead.  I was also trying a new s-curve hanging dangle…

 Oh, and of course I made some earrings to go with…

On to the next thing!!

Go Ahead and Drool...

I'm so excited, I made a large purchase and a big step toward getting my Studio set up…

Jeff has given me the go-ahead to set up a Studio here at home, so here's what I've gotten so far.

Some basic Tools & Supplies:

Larry (Wire Cutters), Moe (Flat-Nosed Pliers),
& Curly (Round-Nosed Pliers for making little curly bits)

Flat-nose Parallel action pliers (regular & chain tip),  Shears

Medium File, set of Small Files, Saw Blades & Hand Saw

Caliper, Bezel Roller, two custom Pancake Dies (custom)

Bench Pin with Anvil

Copper wire for practicing my wire work…

Do you see that huge coil of Copper Antenna Wire?  Jeff used to do Ham Radio, he doesn't anymore, but he found this lying around the Garage last week & out of curiosity asked "this wouldn't be of any use to you would it?"… I squealed like a schoolgirl!!  It is multi-stranded, and I have to separate the strands, but it's a gold mine of fine wire (gauge is finer than 22, probably 26-30) to play with… guess who gets to experiment to her heart's content!!  Go glad Jeff decided to clean up the Garage :)

On Order, Coming Soon… the BIG Purchase… should be here in a week or so...

An Adjustable Height Maple Topped Workbench

Can't wait for the bench to get here so I can get things set up & organized… SO Excited!!

More wire work on some Earrings...

I'd been making a lot of pendants, and had been asked about earrings… so I've been heading that direction a bit lately & it's been fun to work on these…

Here are two pairs I made this week,  during some open studio time…

My soldering is getting better all the time!

Experimentation & Results...

So, I go into my metalworking class week before last, and I start telling Kirk (instructor) about some ideas I had been "playing" with… and of course he wants to challenge me so he suggests an experiment of sorts.

He'd been noticing a lot of Arcs in my work (I also use Swirls - more on that later), so he suggested I make a variety of Arcs & simply drop them and see what shapes form… then manipulate a bit to get something I like… ok, I had other ideas but decided they could hold for a while… so…

Some interesting patterns that came out of this, I captured the interesting ones for future ideas...

Copper Arcs of medium to large sizes...

Copper Arcs small to large sizes… I like the way the Ichthus shape occurs quite naturally with Arcs...

This is one of my favorites… I'll probably pursue this sometime in the future...

This one almost seemed to be dancing...

This one made me think of a family embracing...

This almost looks like a Chinese word-symbol… or something… I just like it :)

This made me think of a fat finny Goldfish...

This was the result of dropping Arcs & Swirls then doing minor manipulation… This caught my fancy so I pursued it a bit further...

A stone with another swirl...

Topped with a swirl… I like this!!  Then I decided to take this idea and make it into a pendant...

Voila!  The pendant is in Silver rather than in Copper (which was being used simply to experiment with shapes)...

I decided to take an element from the pendant and create some simple earrings...

Here's the set… I'm very happy with how it came out (even if I don't like the quality of the pictures)…

Wire work with a Green Kyanite

I had this pretty little stone bead, a Green Kyanite, that I wanted to set… and I had this leaf/pod design I had played with previously… I decided to combine them & Voila!!

I love the way the stone takes on different looks in different lighting & with different colors behind...

Agate in an unbacked bezel...

I love stones, they can be so unique and beautiful… and in the case of this one so unique I decided it should have a very simplistic setting…

The nice thing about putting it in a back-less bezel is that you could wear it either way, its beautiful from both sides!!

I really enjoyed the challenge of creating this piece… I had not done this type of bezel before.

A Piece about Peace...

Here's my latest piece of hand made jewelry…

The stone is a piece of Porcelain Jasper, I thought the pattern on it looked like a nature scene: in the background is a mountain, in front of that a valley, and in the foreground some tree branches…

I mounted it on a piece of silver that has a shape that reminds me (loosely) of a leaf, I created a second "leaf" and pierced it with a Chinese symbol for Peace, then I linked the two pieces together and added a vine-like piece from which to hang it…

My friend Jasper

My friend Jasper is quite handsome, but also camera shy… I managed to get this shot of him all dressed up in his Silver jacket, but it was a fight!

This was a particularly pretty piece of Jasper that had been formed into a bead for stringing, I decided it was so pretty I'd create an open-sided bezel for it instead.

Nice Little Piece...

I had started this last Spring, and come close to finishing it when Summer break came… now that class has started again I was able to finish…

This has turned out to be my favorite piece to date… the only real challenge (my skills are improving) was the Bezel setting for a rectangular stone.

Update!!  I had made this piece as a gift form my Mom, this is Mom wearing it!!  My Mom is a little bit "country" & loves to wear blue (it was my Dad's favorite color)… I think its nice to get a picture of this piece being worn so you can get an idea of the scale…