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...

Another Path in the Garden...

A couple years ago I created one of my most difficult pieces... I learned a lot but at the time thought "I'm never doing this again!!"... and then, a family member asked me to recreate the piece with a couple variations... I couldn't say no... So...

Here is Garden Path II:

This is her predecessor (with earrings), so you can see the variations...

I was asked to use different colored stones which were a bit larger, but keep the piece the same overall size.  I was also asked to do a different sort of "leaf", and no earrings were requested.

Here's some pictures of the work as it was in process...

Using previous instructions from my first Garden Path,
 I cut heavy 1/2 round wire to size.

The Amazonite stones that had been selected, laid out in order.

Working on the leaves, the left is a rough-cut, the right is shaped/formed.

Leaves with their stems soldered in place.

Ready to shape some of the heavy wire.

Grinding down the heavy wire to form a tight solder joint.

She's taking shape.

Soldering the last piece of heavy wire in place.

Main Body soldered together.

Leaves soldered in place, Bezels created.

I only had 1 mishap... actually a series of mishaps... it was the first time I tried to solder the bezels in place... I got it figured out eventually...

Bezels soldered in place, ready to set the stones.

Stones set, ready for her sanding & polishing, then for a chain.

Here she is again, in final form...

Evangeline...

A larger & more elaborate set, this is part of my Elegance Collection…

"Evangeline" - Sterling Silver with Rhyolite Jasper, the decorative bit on necklace is made from 10 gauge 1/2 Round wire.  The earrings mimic the form of the pendant, but are made of 20 gauge round wire.

Information on how to purchase can be found here...

Modeling Grace...

Here I am, modeling another of my pieces… photo quality is so-so because it's from my phone (so I can take a picture of myself)… but it gives an idea of scale - and this is a large piece.

This time I'm modeling Grace, follow the link to learn more about her - she has quite a story.

Here's her closeup… but the photos never do the pieces or the stones justice…

A few words about Grace

Grace, that's the name I chose for this new piece in my Elegance collection when she was about 90% complete (or I thought she was about 90% complete).  My intention was to name her after Grace Kelly, also known as Her Serene Highness Princess Grace.  I wanted to name her this because she is "blonde", lovely, and graceful… like Princess Grace.  It was a bonus that I considered this to be a "serene" piece, and that Princess Grace was known as "Her Serene Highness".

And then… when I had finished all the sanding, buffing, polishing, and stone setting… and all I had left to do was attach her chain (99.9% complete)… disaster struck…  You see the little rings on the top that connect the chain, one of the original rings had a faulty solder joint - it had looked & felt strong, but when I went to twist the ring slightly to straighten it out the joint failed… Argh!!  I tried to repair while leaving the stone in place (I have a couple tricks that I tried), but the thickness of the metal she's made of prevented me from being able to get the solder to flow without heating the whole piece… so…  I had to remove the stone, solder a new ring on, etc...

Those who don't know the processes & time involved with making handmade jewelry may not appreciate the work involved… lets just say that I was set back several hours…

Then, when I was reworking it (2nd attempt) I again got to about 85% complete, had done quite a bit of prep buffing/polishing, was placing the stone in… and that same little ring fell off again… ARGH!!

On the 3rd attempt to finish her I had an equipment failure… my torch nozzle suddenly wasn't behaving… switched nozzles & the new one tried to work, then failed… changed tanks… finally some sticky yellow "goop" came out of the torch handle when I tried opening up the valve without a nozzle attached… that explained a lot… so I had to clean & dry my torch tips (drying involved leaving them setting in uncooked rice for a couple days)…  But… I finally got that ring attached… and I decided to set her aside for a while…

The first failure occurred on April 3rd, I had started her a couple days earlier on April 1st, and I finally finished her today - April 24th.

Pardon me while I get a bit wistful…

I am a person of prayer (apologies if this offends, but this is who I am), a Christian with a very real vibrant relationship with my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.

When this piece broke the first time it was heartbreaking, and I cried out to God.  I begged & pleaded for His help to keep from having to do so many extra hours of work - after all I wanted the hours of work already invested to pay off.  That was when God got my attention, He reminded me what His Grace is about, His Grace is not earned by any work - it is a gift, plain & simple.

The timing of the struggle was also telling, it was as I was trying to finish the piece before getting to Church for Choir practice (I was running a bit late), it was just before I got a call from my husband telling me he had been injured in a hockey game (not serious), and it was the evening before my one day of the week (Thursday) that I devote to preparing my Bible Lesson for a group I teach; this provided me with ample opportunity to reflect on how God has blessed me, and how I shouldn't let a "thing" cause me so much anguish.

Like that solder joint that looked & felt strong, but failed more than once, I also had (to others) looked & seemed strong, but fell apart when a little pressure was applied - ugh.  But what a beautiful reminder that God's Grace means I don't have to be strong, I don't have to be perfect, I'm accepted and loved just how I am.

So this is "Grace", a solid piece that reminds me of Grace Kelly but is also a solid reminder of God's Grace.

Yes she's for sale… you can find info on how to buy here.

Something Elegant...

Update: this set is now for sale, click here to find out how to purchase.

I wanted to try my hand at something simple but elegant…  I also wanted to try using a very heavy (6 gauge) silver wire… this is the result.

"Sophia" - Red Creek Jasper set in Sterling Silver.

I named this after a woman I think of as both elegant & strong, Sophia Loren.  The pendant is a large rectangular stone with a 6 gauge 1/2 round silver wire decoration, earrings are small circular stones with 10 gauge 1/2 round silver wire.

"Sophia" pendant closeup.

This is the first in what I hope will be a series that I'm thinking I'll call my Elegance Collection.