She took a while...

This is a rather large piece, and she was a bit of trouble, but she's finally finished...

Introducing "Kate":

"Kate" - Sterling & Fine Silver with a Green Moss Agate

Like almost all of my pieces, Kate was made with a backless bezel.  Since this stone is translucent in places the color behind the stone will influence how she appears. The "frame" is made from 6 gauge 1/2 round Sterling wire, very hefty/sturdy stuff...

Some of the challenge comes from the fact that I'm soldering lightweight items (bezel wire) to heavyweight items, and it can cause the lightweight items to melt -or- earlier solder joints to shift -or- ...

Additionally, since there's no back everything is soldered to the bezel & so the solder joints can impact how well I can set the stone (so I must be very careful)...

I worked on this girl off & on for about 2 weeks, typical for a piece with these characteristics... once again I had to remind myself that I need to strive for Excellence not Perfection...

And now for her closeup...

What is that BLACK Stuff??

That's Stingray Skin... I have some dyed black Stingray Skin, so I cut it into the shape I wanted & mounted it on a piece of copper... then I made the setting...

This is "Kristine"...

"Kristine" - Sterling & Fine Silver, with Stingray Skin mounted on Copper.

A bit of a confession... I didn't plan on it, but she ended up reminding me of a crab, that's how she ended up with the name Kristine...

Putting in the missing pieces... then something fun for a friend!!

I needed to put together a couple things to fill out my selections...

Sterling Silver textured Heart dangles

Sterling Silver with textured Copper Heart
triple-dangles

Ok, this one was a request from a friend... I don't normally do requests, but this one was fun!!

70th Birthday Gift - you're not 70 you're 35 twice!

Getting Better All The Time...

... yep, humming a Beatles tune...

I've been doing a bit more hand-saw/piercing work, and had a couple failures along the way (hey - learning still), but my skills are improving... and I made some earrings to compliment my pierced necklaces (that's the way I roll)... oh, and I did another button flower cause I wanted to & my other one already sold... yep, way backed up on getting photos posted.

First, my problem children...

These 2 are mine (flaws), there are better ones below.

The one on the left had a drill bit break (see the little bright spot on the upper heart in the right lobe), but I needed the practice so I made it for myself.  The one on the right had issues with another tool, and I wasn't happy with it for a variety of aesthetic reasons... So, I now have a couple new pieces for myself (I don't make much for myself these days).

Now to my well behaved kids...

"Sally" - Sterling Silver, rough texture, pierced.

"Sally" closeup

"Heart Of My Own Heart" - Sterling Silver,
veined texture, pierced.

"Heart Of My Own Heart" Closeup

"Rugged Cross" - Sterling Silver, rough texture, pierced.

"Rugged Cross" Closeup

Some Simple Textured Earrings...

Small almond-shaped, Sterling Silver, veined texture.

Small almond-shaped, Sterling Silver, rough texture.

Large almond-shaped, Sterling Silver, veined texture.

Large almond-shaped, Sterling Silver, Rough texture.

Rectangles, Sterling Silver, rough texture.

Hearts, Sterling Silver, textured with little lines.

Hearts, Sterling Silver, rough texture.

Hearts, Sterling Silver, veined texture.

And my new Button-Flower...

"Scarlet" - Sterling & Fine Silver with a large dark red button.