A sweet little princess...

I have decided that this general style will be called "Princess", and I think I'm going to call this set Princess Anya…

Sterling Silver with a Fine Silver ornament (little spheres) & Zebra Stone.

Here's her closeup…

Details on purchasing can be found by clicking here...

Just in time for Easter...

It all started because Jeff (my hubby) had been spending a lot of time prepping for the various Easter-related celebrations this week… he was in a Drama, he'll be playing Trombone for our service tomorrow… so yesterday (or perhaps the day before, I'm not sure) he came up with a rough idea for a piece & this is what it became...

The Empty Tomb…

An Angel sits atop an empty tomb with the stone rolled away…  Sterling Silver, the stone at the tomb is a Brioche Agate, the tomb was made with a piece of medium-weight half-round wire, the earrings are Red Creek Jasper - a couple that were close in color to my agate.

The Agate is a particularly thick stone, so I couldn't set it in the normal fashion - my bezel wire was not wide enough. So I created a little frame on the back that wraps slightly around the sides of the stone, and soldered the frame to the bezel - a little tricky but it worked out well.

Bella Blue, another lovely bloom...

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

Here's another of my Flores Encantadoras, this one I'm calling "Bella Blue…

"Bella Blue" - Sterling Silver & dyed Magnesite

This lovely bloom is made from Sterling Silver and has a dyed Magnesite stone bead.  This piece involved a significant amount of labor due to the filigree work.  Paired with some simple earrings that nod to the filigree work in the pendant.

"Bella Blue" closeup

For those who may be wondering, I'm still in the process of setting up shop… when I'm set up to sell there will be an announcement on this blog.

Sweet Pink, a lovely bloom

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

Here's a lovely lady, I call her "Sweet Pink"…

Sweet Pink - Sterling Silver with Rhodochrosite bead

A pretty bloom made from stirling silver, with sweet little hearts and a pretty pink Rhodochrosite stone bead.

Sweet Pink - closeup

This is the second in a collection I'm going to name Flores Encantadoras (Portuguese for Lovely Blooms).  If you don't remember the first prototype piece she can be found 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.

Building my Garden Walls

I've been doing much better, so I've been in the studio a bit this week working on a series based on a piece I had done that has gotten lots of nice feedback.  All pieces in this series are Sterling Silver with Pink Jasper.

Garden Wall #1 (Prototype), Annette's Garden

This was my Prototype piece which I originally named "Garden Wall", I've now repurposed that name for this series of pieces.  The stone is structural yet rugged, the frame reminds me of a mortar joint, then there are vines growing on the wall.  I paired it with a couple vine-like earrings to make it a set.  I've now modified the name to "Annette's Garden", since this reminds me of my gardens - somewhat loose in structure but still nice and tidy.  If you follow this blog (or follow me on Pinterest) you've likely seen this piece before.

Garden Wall #1, Annette's Garden closeup

Update: the following sets are now available for purchase, click here to find out how.

Garden Wall #2, English Cottage Garden

This is the second in the series, this is a bit smaller than the first, with a little square stone, paired with a short set of vine earrings.  Very neat and tidy this made me think of a cute quaint English Cottage Garden.

Garden Wall #2, English Cottage Garden closeup

Garden Wall #3, Wildflower Garden

This is the third in the series, with a small broken stone & purposefully "broken" frame implying an aged wall, with earrings that are a bit tangled.  This made me think of a Wildflower Garden, unkempt but beautiful in its natural imperfection.

Garden Wall #3, Wildflower Garden closeup

Garden Wall #4, Estate Garden

This is the fourth in the series, very neatly structured and tidy this evokes an Estate Garden, the earrings as well are very neat.  This is a well manicured and orderly garden, but one that has some history.  The wall itself though nice and neat has a gouge that naturally occurs with time.  The stone used had a gouge, and I purposefully gouged the frame to match (see detail photo below).

Garden Wall #4, Estate Garden closeup

Garden Wall #4, Estate Garden detail

I've moved on to other things for a while, but hope to build more Garden Walls in the future.

Where have I been and what am I doing???

Well… I had a little mishap… I live in a cold place and sometimes that causes problems… I slipped & fell on the ice, face first into my driveway… the short version is I ended up with a banged up chin, scraped up left hand, and a cracked rib… If you'd like the long version you can follow the link to my main blog :)

In the meantime, I got a rolling mill (see my previous post about trying one out), and only today was feeling up to shifting it around so I could finish getting it unpacked and cleaned….

So working on my jewelry has been on hold (ho-hum)… but I'm planning on getting down into the studio tomorrow (as long as I'm still feeling better - hope I didn't overdo it today)… so I hope to have something to show soon…

In the meantime I snapped a couple pictures at our favorite local music store, and I'm thinking about doing some music-inspired jewelry (someday)…

They're already jewelry-like, not sure what direction I want to go with this…

A little something something...

I've really enjoyed my time in my metalworking class (see Playgrounds tab), and I've learned so much, but I really need to spend time working on my own and getting better at what I already know… so…  I was having my last day as a "regular" at Kirk's studio yesterday, and as such wanted to try doing a couple things I hadn't done before… one of which was to create a textured surface using a Rolling Mill - and I had a lot of fun doing that (don't know why I never tried it before)!!

I ended up with lots of little copper bits with fun textures, and I started making things out of them willy-nilly… and ended up with two fun & funky rings…

This one's curly-q ends up setting like a stone would set on top of the finger…

I used a hand-saw to cut out this little heart… this piece is fun & comfortable to wear & just plain makes me smile!!

Here's a photo I snapped with my phone of me wearing it (oops, a bit out of focus)…

That's all for now, I have more textured copper lying around that I'll probably make earrings or a necklace out of eventually… :)

That's much better...

I'd been a bit unhappy with a piece I made a couple weeks ago… it was one of my Whimsical Hearts pieces, the one with the skull bead… it just wasn't working for me… so today I reworked it, and I like this much better.

This now has three smaller hearts hanging down… no skull… Large heart is torch-fire enameled copper with a coating on the back to keep it from staining skin/clothes, the rest is sterling silver.

Water Garnet in Silver...

I love the colors of this stone, greens & purplish-pinks…

I decided on a nice simple setting - a backless bezel with a vine-like decoration…

Much simpler than my last piece, but beautiful in its own right...

It's Finally Done!!

You really can't tell from this picture what a pretty piece this turned out to be… the subtle changes side-to-side from rounded to flat… the hand bent little heart-shaped leaves… the wide variety & depth of color in the stones...

This finally got finished this evening, and though it may not look like it this is my most difficult piece to date - by far!!  More heart & sweat & pain & time in this one than any of my others…

This piece is Sterling Silver (bezels are Fine Silver), made with 10 gauge 1/2 round wire, and has 6 small Red Creek Jasper stones set in backless bezels...

A Favor For Mom

When I was a teenager my Dad bought my Mom & I matching Turquoise rings. Each had a rather large Turquoise stone which worked ok for me (I have large hands) but was huge on my Mom's slender hands (she wears a 4.5 on her ring finger).  My Dad passed away several years ago, so gifts from Dad are precious to all of us…

I knew Mom wasn't likely to wear the ring, so I offered to remount the stone in a pendant… I thought I'd do a double-heart motif, but that ended up being rather large & Mom doesn't go for large necklaces… so I called Mom & told her that wouldn't work, and she gave me carte blanche - that's right, she's not seen it & doesn't know what it looks like.  She'll only know what it looks like if one of her sisters shows her an online picture (which would be ok).

This piece challenged me, I was working with a heavy wire (that's a 1/2 round wire around the edges) and having to work it around the bezel.  Also I soldered the base of the bezel so that it would attach in the middle of the wire - on the back you can see that it's raised up in the center.

I've learned a few things, and hopefully I'll remember what I learned the next time I try a piece like this.  The hard work on this is complete, now I just need to get a lobster-claw clasp (I have some on order) and attach it to one end of the chain… then it will be ready to ship off to Mom - I hope she likes it!!

Garden Wall...

I'm calling this "Garden Wall"… that's what it makes me think of… a stone wall with vines…  made with Sterling Silver and Jasper...

And some earrings that "agree", again a vine motif...

This was the original concept model I got from just playing around a couple days ago...

Plug in the Pickle!

I'm upstairs blogging, but only for a few minutes because I plugged in the Pickle already… for those not "in the know" Pickle is something that's used after soldering to remove unwanted oxidation & such…  It has to be warmed, so a "pickle pot" (tiny crock pot) is used…

Here are some random pics I've taken lately of projects in process… none done (hence I really need to get downstairs & get busy)… Also some pics are simply items I found inspirational… take it for what it is!

This is a starting piece I had formed for a Pendant (there are earrings as well) that I'd shown a mock-up of previously...

Here are the earrings with the stones getting set...

Here I was working on setting the stones in the Pendant…

The pieces are coming along, but more work is yet to be done… hopefully I can finish these sometime in the next day or two…

This is a rough mock-up for something I'm working on… all I've managed so far is to create the frame, so this is the only picture for now...

Another mock-up, this one even rougher than the previous… I really needed to play with this stone to see what I wanted to do with it… still working on the mock-up, not sure I like where this is going yet.

I know, this isn't jewelry… but I looked at it & thought "filigree ring"… so for now this is simply a source of inspiration...

Whimsical Hearts...

I spent most of the day in the studio yesterday, with some reasonable results (I'm still a novice)…

The first thing I did was repair a few pieces of jewelry for my local Ten Thousand Villages store, I volunteer there & they knew I could solder silver… it's nice to have a practical use for my new skills!

Then I started playing around with some ideas for hearts… after all Valentines Day is approaching fast!!

I have a pancake dies that I can use to cut hearts of two different sizes (the dies were custom made from my hand-cut pieces), I can use these same shapes to make leaves as well (I love dual-purpose)…

So I cut out some Copper hearts, torch-fired some enamel onto them, and created these pieces:

Torch-Fired Enamel on Copper, Sterling Silver jump rings & oval link chain.

Torch-Fired Enamel on Copper, Sterling Silver connectors & ear wires.

Torch-Fired Enamel on Copper, carved Magnesite skull bead,
Sterling Silver wire & figure-8 chain

Torch-Fired Enamel on Copper, Sterling Silver connectors & ear wires,
Sterling Silver figure-8 chain.

It had been quite a while (almost a year) since I'd done any work with Enamel, and I've not done much previously, so it was good to practice this skill - lots of "hiccups" along the way but I'm pleased with the results!!

These pieces make me smile, I hope they make you smile too!!

I really need to make myself read my Camera's User Guide… the photos just don't do the pieces justice!

+++++++++++++++++

Update!!  I was reading my Camera's User Guide ('bout time!!)… and with a little effort got the following pics..

Pink Hearts set #1

Pink Hearts set #2

Hoping I can get better with the pictures over time!!

First Commission… Done!

A friend asked me to make these… they stretched my abilities a bit, but they're done!!

I hope she likes them!!

Inspiration...

I've been busy-busy-busy lately… setting up my studio (I'll post about this again soon), mocking up jewelry, toying with the idea of branching out into other artistic ventures (just toying at this time)… so here's what's been inspiring me!!

I've been thinking about playing around with Mosaics… so these are some pics I took at a local tile shop that I liked, and they're giving me food for thought…

Then I noticed this is also the direction my jewelry has been going as well….

This is a mock-up of a piece I plan on doing in Silver with the stones shown...

Also inspiring have been some new stones I picked up at Enchanted Rock Garden (Richfield MN)… The following are the trays I picked stones from...

Final bit of inspiration is coming from something I spotted at my local Tandy Leather store, a dyed stingray skin…

I wanted to capture in pictures the things that are moving/inspiring me to create, I hope you enjoy the pictures!!

We'll see what comes of these in time…