Monday, July 11, 2011

Inspired by Play

The theme this week for the Year of Jewelry Project 2011 is "Play". That word always reminds me of my childhood. What carefree child can resist running through a field of grass or climbing every rock they see? I've created a couple of items inspired by the "Play" theme. The first is a rough cut, maroon quartz stone ring, set in a fine silver bezel with a textured sterling silver back plate and ring shank. I use some recycled sterling silver for the back plate. The stone was given to me by a dear friend who loves her play times; "recess" as she calls it. I made this ring for me to wear as a reminder to stop what I'm doing and take a fun recess occasionally. I call this ring "Rock Climbing". It's shaped a little like the Prudential rock logo, higher on one side than the other and every time I look at the stone, I hear the "Own a piece of the rock" jingle in my mind.

The second item I made is a pair of playful dangle earrings. I used some fiery lush green labradorite stones. I hand wire-wrapped them onto some wonderful, flowery PMC fine silver components that were handmade by Kristi Bowman of Dreamsome.etsy.com. I've used some of Kristi's components before and love everything she creates. I love it when earrings sway playfully and these earrings remind me of running through the grassy playground near my childhood home. These earrings are called "Grass Play" and are listed in my etsy shop.




Tuesday, July 5, 2011

My Secret Garden - Sterling Silver Rose Pendant

When it comes to gardening, I have to live vicariously. You see, I don't have a green thumb. I must either enjoy the beauty of other people's gardens or simply imagine the perfect garden in my mind. One of the many flowers I would need is beautiful roses with soft, fluttering petals.

Recently, I wandered through the Rose Gardens at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, WA. The roses there were fabulous and inspired me to hand create this rose pendant out of sterling silver. I love the depth that the layers of curved sterling petals gives this little pendant. It's about the size of a US dime. The specific rose that inspired this piece is shown in the main photo on the left.

The weekly theme this week for the Year of Jewelry Project is "My Secret Garden", so I'm using this piece as my weekly entry. I recently created a custom necklace for a client, using hand cut sterling silver and brass lotus leaves. I was quite please with the result and had originally planned to use that piece for my weekly entry to YOJ, but then on Friday, I was inspired to create this rose and have opted to use this instead.

The rose necklace is listed in my etsy shop here: My Secret Garden