I've joined the "Year of Jewelry Project - 2011"

Last week I heard about a blog called the "Year of Jewelry Project, 2011" (YOJ). It's a group of artisans who agree to create at least one piece of jewelry every week during 2011. There is a designated theme each week we can use for inspiration, although we don't have to create something using that theme if the theme isn't something that inspires us. At the end of each week we all post our creation on the YOJ blog.

The theme for week one was "New Beginnings". I created a pendant using an Ohio flint and a holly lavender chrysocolla. The flint is a beautiful tongue shaped stone that is rounded all around. It is intended to be set into a bezel from the top of the stone. The thing I love most about this piece is the amulet feel to it. A top setting was something I had never tried before. I found it challenging but fun. I call the finished pendant "A New Day".

The theme for week 2 is "Eclipse". I wondered if the intent was the solar eclipse or if it was in reference to the Twilight book series (which I've not read). I decide to use the solar eclipse as my inspiration and set out to design a pendant using a half-moon shaped labradorite stone that I have in my collection. I created the pendant and wasn't happy with the result. The stone was too deep for the design I used, so I scrapped the setting and may use the stone at a later date. Searching back through my stone collection, I found a beautiful fossilized coral stone, filled with vibrant hues of orange, yellow, red and navy. It reminded me of a fiery sun, which is perfect for my solar eclipse inspiration. It also has an internal pattern resembling fireworks. I love fireworks! For the finished pendant, I added an accent above the focal coral stone by crafting 2 textured silver discs and soldering them together in an eclipse fashion. A light oxidation brings out the texture in the discs. It isn't listed in my etsy shop yet but will be by the end of next week. I'm debating various chain options and whether to oxidize the chain or leave it shiny. Here's a preliminary photo of "Eclipse":

Eclipse

I'll be posting my YOJ creations here on occasion as well as on the YOJ blog. You can see all of the participant creations on the YOJ blog. There is a "Gallery Week by Week" tab that allows you to scroll through photos of each week jewelry pieces. I invite you to take a look from time to time.