SCJ Jewelry Design

New Year, New Work

2012-01-09T23:26:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! I thought I'd change things up a bit this year and create some smaller, more feminine designs to utilize some of my newer stone setting skills. I personally prefer wearing smaller, unique statement jewelry and find that a lot of my clients appreciate seeing some smaller options as well.

The first piece I made this year is a lovely little blue sea glass pendant with a decorative step bezel setting. It sold one day after I listed it in my etsy shop. Thank you!

This second piece is a teeny tiny, Peruvian blue opal in a bullet shape. I set it in a standard bezel of sterling silver. The color is just dreamy and has some little dendrites on one side. The stone was cut by Out of Our Mines Lapidary. I love their stones. It's listed in my etsy shop here: Peruvian Blue Opal Necklace.

I'm working on 2 other items right now. One is an olive green sea glass necklace, the other is a re-make of a custom piece that I created a couple of years ago. It's a mixed metals, 3-D reversible piece that I used in my banner and avatar last year. It's actually one of my favorite necklaces. A client saw it on my flickr site and requested one as a special order! I love it when that happens. I'll post photos after I've completed it.

Check out all of the wonderful handmade art this weekend!

2011-12-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

The Holiday Shop Hop is happening now! A group of artists have joined together to host a virtual Holiday Shop Hop today and tomorrow, Dec 3rd and 4th. Most of us are having sales or some other special promotions in our shops, so check out each one and get your holiday shopping done this weekend. The list of participating artists and their links are shown below. Many thanks to Michelle Buettner of MiShelDesigns for planning and coordinating this event!

I'm offering 15% off my entire shop this weekend. Just enter the words SHOPHOP15 in the coupon code area when checking out to receive your discount!

For those of you in the Seattle area this weekend, I'm also hosting a jewelry open house at my home on Sunday. My jewelry, along with fellow etsy jeweler, HalinaB, will be on display for sale. If you'd like to attend, just contact me for details and I'll send you the time/place information!

Here is the list of Holiday Shop Hop participants:

A Bead A Day
Blackbeary Mountain
Blue Pearls Handcrafted Goods
Chic and Frog
Crafty Hope
Dragonfly Dreamers
Etania Gems
ExPostFacto Jewelry
Fangdangles
GreenBead Designs
Handcrafted Serenity Jewelry Designs
Happy and Healthy Magnetic Jewelry
Holly Westfall / Silver Rose Designs
Just A Tish
Just Mare Pottery
Keefer Style Creations
Kabs Creative Concepts
Klassy Joolz
Kristi Bowman Design
Lilly Rose Jewelry Designs
Little Rocks
MiShel Designs
Melinda Orr Designs
My Life Under the Bus
Olive Branch Organics
Pine Ridge Treasures
Pink Poppy Studio
Rosebud’s Lampwork Beads
Sand & Sea Designs
SCJ Jewelry Design
Sew Stacy
SongBeads
Studio Waterstone
Sundancegems
Suzanne Stevens
Sweet Creek Herbs
Sweet Water Designs
Wire Worked Handcrafted Jewelry

Now, sit back, relax, avoid the crowds and shop away!

Holiday Shop Hop! 15% off everything in my etsy shop this weekend!

2011-12-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

HOLIDAY SHOP HOP - DEC 3rd and 4th!!!

I'm participating this weekend in a Holiday Shop Hop! Several artisans have teamed together to host a special virtual sale this weekend in our individual shops. So, relax, avoid the crowds and hop from shop to shop, enjoying the special sales each shop will offer!

I will be offering a 15% discount in my shop this weekend. Just enter the coupon code SHOPHOP15. The coupon code will be valid on Saturday and Sunday, Dec 3rd or 4th only.

Here's the list of participating artists and links to their website or blog:

Holiday Shop Hop 2011

Lilly Rose Jewelry Designs
Little Rocks
MiShel Designs
Melinda Orr Designs
My Life Under the Bus
Olive Branch Organics
Pine Ridge Treasures
Pink Poppy Studio
Rosebud’s Lampwork Beads
Sand & Sea Designs
SCJ Jewelry Design
Sew Stacy
SongBeads
Studio Waterstone

Sundancegems
Suzanne Stevens
Sweet Creek Herbs
Sweet Water Designs

Wire Worked Handcrafted Jewelry

Happy Shopping Everyone!

I'm going through a purple phase...

2011-11-18T21:54:00.001-08:00

It seems I'm drawn to work with purple amethyst stones lately. I love the color. It's calming to me. This beautiful pear-shaped African amethyst is one I found at the gem fair last weekend. This is another new setting style for me. I've handmade the setting out of sterling silver (double-half-round wire) and tension secured it with a rivet. High shine polish. You can see more photos and descriptions in my etsy shop here.

I probably won't post anything until after the Thanksgiving holiday. Until then, I'm wishing you a blessed and thankful day.

A new type of stone setting for me

2011-11-16T10:13:00.001-08:00

I'm continuing my venture into a world of learning different types of stone settings. This amethyst colored cz is back set into a hand constructed setting of sterling silver. While from the front, it may appear similar to my other bezel set stones, the process is quite different. I had to create the outside box, then put a little ledge on the front of the box to "frame" the stone. Then the stone is placed into the setting from the open back and a piece of sterling silver is placed tightly against the back of the stone, giving tension to push the stone tightly into the frame. After everything is perfectly placed, I carve little grooved slivers of silver to hold everything permanently in place. The setting works a lot like a picture frame; the outer edge of the frame holds the picture, the back keeps it forward and the tabs on the outside hold everything in place. Here's a picture of the back side to give you a better idea of how it works:

This little beauty is already spoken for. And to top it off, a past customer contacted me and ordered a couple more! So, supplies to create more of these have been ordered and I'll be busy at my bench the first week of Dec.

I just love the modern look to this little cube of sparkly purple. I'm in purple phase lately and today I'll be working on a pear shaped gem amethyst setting. I'm eager to show you, but will wait until it's finished.

2011-10-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

Whew! I'm still busy taking my stone setting classes at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle and learning new techniques every day. Here is my latest success - a labradorite stone set with a sterling silver heavy pedestal base with 6 prongs. I've attached some accent peacock pearls and a really long, trendy sterling silver chain (34") to give this necklace a modern look. Take a further peek at it in my etsy shop here.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Halloween!

My First Turtle Setting

2011-10-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

After a couple of months away from my bench this summer, I'm taking a class to learn how to make settings other than bezels. Things like prong settings, tube settings, flush settings... To be honest, I was getting a little bored with bezel settings because I've been yearning to add a little sparkle to some of my work and bezel settings don't work with faceted stones. It's an 8 week class and I'm having a wonderful time learning so many new tricks and techniques.

Here's my very first wire turtle setting. Not perfect by any stretch, but not bad for a first try. I used argentium wire and fused it together to form this setting. A few glitches along the way required that I use a different stone than the one I originally planned to use, but that's the nature of learning something new. This stone is an American golden opal. The setting is about as plain as you can get, but I'm just learning the basics before I add in anything complicated.

After finishing this, I was in the mood to do some polishing, so I spent a few hours polishing my stone setting tools. That's one of the tips I learned (or was reminded of) in this class - dull, scratched tools dull & scratch your jewelry piece. Now that my tools are shiny and better than new, hopefully I'll have less clean-up after stone setting in the future!

Featured Artist of the Week!

2011-08-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

Fellow jewelry creator and team etsyrain member, Kristi Bowman, has featured my jewelry creations on her website today!

Be sure to visit Kristi's blog, as well as her etsy and artfire shops. Kristi creates wonderful jewelry components using PMC silver, copper and bronze. I've use some of her components in my jewelry, too! She also creates beautiful finished jewelry and is a master at combining colors and textures in her jewelry.

Many thanks to Kristi for today's blog shout out!

A little re-make for a custom order

2011-08-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the custom order rings I've been working on this week. The stone is a wonderful little blue Amazonite. It started out as a pendant that I had made about a year ago with a similar setting (double layer back plate), then a customer saw it and wanted it made into a ring. So I re-made the setting for the stone and attached it to a new ring shank. I think it makes a darling ring. I hope she likes it!

I love being able to custom create jewelry for clients so the piece suites them perfectly!

I'm back and creating new something new!

2011-08-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

I've been off having some summer fun outside of my workshop for a few weeks. I went home to MN to visit some family and friends. While I was there, a couple of friends hosted impromptu jewelry parties for their friends and it was so nice to see several of my bigger, favorite pieces go to their new owners. I love getting together with people and seeing their reactions to my jewelry. It's always so interesting to see which ones appeal to each person. I don't have that advantage when someone purchases my work on-line, but I'm not really complaining. I often get emails or messages from past buyers telling me how much they love the jewelry they purchased from me.

A while back, I wrote a Mother's Day series of blogs, featuring items from my mother's jewelry box. One of the items, a Danish pendant by Bent Larsen, I found particularly inspiring. It was a gift to my Grandmother from my Mother. In my research, I've found Bent Larsen designs to be modern, minimalist, bold designs with interesting, clean cut textures. Here is a photo of my Grandmother's pendant:

This week, I made a new piece with a bit of influence from this pendant. In my Grandmother's pendant, I love how the heavy bezel wire is textured and adds a wonderful outline for the focal center. I wanted to create a similar effect using my own labradorite stone. My new piece is pictured at the top of this blog and here below. It is titled "Love Triangle" and is listed in my etsy shop here:

I've also been working on orders for 3 custom rings and will show you those in the next few days. As summer quickly draws to a close, I hope all of you have enjoyed your summer and are looking forward to a beautiful autumn.

Inspired by Play

2011-07-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

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.

My Secret Garden - Sterling Silver Rose Pendant

2011-07-05T13:06:00.001-07:00

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

Recycled Copper Earrings

2011-06-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

This week's Year of Jewelry Project theme is "Recycled (a piece that started life as something else.)"

These earrings began life long ago as a copper cuff bracelet. I made the bracelet in a jewelry class using a rolling mill and a piece of Mylar netting to create the texture. The netting was rolled into the copper twice - in opposite directions - which gave it that wavy texture. After years of never being worn as a bracelet, I decided to cut it up and create 4 pairs of earrings out of it. Two pairs are shown here, but there were 2 more pairs that have already been sent to friends as part of my facebook "Pay it Forward" sign-up last January. The earrings in this photo will soon be mailed as gifts.

A "Beautiful" treasury on etsy

2011-06-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

My new necklace, "A Day at the Beach" is featured in a wonderful treasury of beach items! The treasury was curated by prenda and is aptly titled "Beautiful". Take a look at all the wonderful items and give it some etsy love, please.

A Day at the Beach - New Work

2011-06-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a peek at my new pendant, titled "A Day at the Beach." A beautiful turquoise, a bronze ammonite shape, a little silver, a little bronze wire all combine into this warm, bright and unique necklace!

You can read more about it and see more photos and even purchase it in my etsy shop here: A Day at the Beach.

The turquoise stone is from the Easter Blue Mine in NV and cut and polished by grayfoxgems.etsy.com. The bronze ammonite component is handmade by Kristi at Dreamsome.etsy.com . I love shopping handmade and using fellow etsy shop items in my jewelry work.

Seeing Red - A Year of Jewelry Project Theme of the Week

2011-06-04T17:28:00.001-07:00

The theme this week for the Year of Jewelry Project was "Seeing Red", challenging the participants to think about what the color red evokes in us. When I see red, I think of fire, fierceness and strength. I decided to use this focal stone, a Cuprite Chrysocolla (Sonora Sunrise or Sonora Sunset as it's also called) that I purchased from cabbingrough on etsy. The shield shape of this stone is perfect for my interpretation of the color red. I see it as protecting the wearer from harm and giving her strength as she goes about her life. I've accented it with a deeply colored Carnelian stone, and added some texture and patina in the sterling silver around it for depth and interest, without overpowering the focal stone.

I made it during a delightful jewelry play date with my fellow etsy friend, Halina B and another dear and creative friend, Caren. The afternoon breezed by so quickly. I created the setting for this piece in the afternoon and then spent the evening sanding, polishing, applying patina and setting the stones.

You can see more photos of this necklace in my etsy shop here.

A Day Filled With Etsy Treasuries

2011-06-01T19:27:00.001-07:00

Today, two of my necklaces were included in etsy treasuries! First, my "Spring Break" chalcedony pendant is in a cute treasury called "My Perfect Dreaming in Color Tea Party Day". Curated by PrettyDuzz, this treasury includes everything you'll need to have the perfect afternoon tea. Take a peek at the wonderful artists featured here.

My new "Serenity" Variscite pendant was included in a treasury titled "Seafoam Frothing in the Spring". This treasury is curated by darlicioushouse and includes gorgeous seafoam colored items! Click on the photos or the links to enjoy all the pretty things!

A Serene Necklace!

2011-05-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

This Veriscite stone is from the Candelaria Mine in Nevada. It was cut by Out of Our Mines Lapidary and Beadworks. I love all of their stones, but their Candelaria Veriscite stones are my favorite. The soft green color is so calming and serene. This trapezoid shape stone is beautifully cut and polished and was so easy to set. I created a modern, minimalist setting for this stone so the beauty of the stone could speak for itself. I gave the silver a soft, brushed satin finish. After I finished it, the first thing my hubby said was "Wow, what a beautiful stone! The setting is nice too, but what I really notice is the stone." That's exactly the reaction I wanted to hear!

It's available in my etsy shop here.

The Science of Jewelry

2011-05-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

Physics, Chemistry and Math. These aren't subjects one usually associates with jewelry, but they are very real, everyday matters when designing and fabricating a piece of jewelry. Science is not my forte by any means, but I've been fortunate to have always lived with men who love science and math. My dad was a chemical engineer, my late husband was a math & computer science major and my husband is a civil engineer. I've learned a lot from them and I'm always tickled with the everyday applications of these subjects in my jewelry designs.

A friend of mine was in my workshop the other day and asked me about some white powdery residue on a tray that holds my pickle crock pot. Clearly, I don't clean my studio often enough, but her question led to a discussion about chemicals used in jewelry fabrication. How, when sterling silver is heated, copper rises to the surface. Pickle solution (I use phDown), is an acid needed to remove the oxidation. Next to my pickle, I have a water & baking soda solution to neutralize the acid and copper tongs to avoid any contamination of the pickle. There are many other chemicals used in jewelry making; flux, anti-flux, polishing compounds... and the person working with these chemicals needs to fully understand the uses and risks of each.

Physics and spatial relationships also come into play when creating a jewelry piece. I love to have a little movement in my jewelry, but sometimes that movement creates a challenge to make sure the piece functions well even while the wearer is moving. I hate jewelry that twists and ends up being being backwards or upside down while wearing it. If the wearer always has to fiddle with the piece, then it isn't a functional design. When I first started putting multiple stones together in my jewelry, I wanted them to interact with some playful movement in addition to the colorful interaction of the stones. I joined the two pieces together with one simple (jump) ring. After test-driving the first piece for a short while at home, I noticed that it was twisting as I moved. My civil-engineer husband quickly suggested that I use 2 or 3 jump rings to give the connection a broader base, which in turn helps keep the piece from twisting. Ah-ha! There was a light bulb moment for me in his simple, everyday physics application! I had seen this trick in other jewelry work, but I hadn't realized its practical function until my husband suggested it.

I also need to have balance in my jewelry designs. Some people can live with asymmetry, I personally can't. If a piece has more weight on one side, it won't hang straight on the wearer. Adding silver balls or other decorative elements to a piece requires careful consideration of how each element adds weight to the piece and where the connections or bail will need to be placed to maintain the overall balance of the jewelry. In a pendant, the weight of a chain can make or break not only how the piece looks, but also how well it functions and drapes.

Math comes into play all the time in my jewelry fabrication as well. I use a formula based on the depth of the wire to calculate the length of wire I need to size ring shank accurately. I use geometry to find the center of a circle or to measure equal sections of a shape. Then there's the accounting needed to manage the business end of my jewelry. That's where my business administration degree comes in handy.

Science and creativity are both essential ingredients to design and fabricate unique, functional jewelry!

Beauty Everywhere I Look - an etsy treasury

2011-05-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

My "A New Day" pendant is featured today in this lovely treasury titled "Beauty is Everywhere I Look", created by Mocahete. This treasury is so colorful, featuring items of orange, blue, rust and grey. Take a look here and discover some wonderful artists!

Pay It Forward - Celtic Cross

2011-05-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

Early in the year on my facebook page, I had a "Pay It Forward" sign-up. The first 5 people that signed up receive a handmade gift from me sometime during the year. The only requirement is that each of those 5 people need to give something to 5 of their friends, and so on...
Today I made this necklace for one of the participants. It's a cross based on a Celtic theme. Originally, I had drawn a more elaborate Celtic cross with several very tiny open spaces, but that design proved to be too difficult for my meager sawing skills. So, I pared the design down to something a little easier for me. It's made of sterling silver, which I cut and hammered, and attached to a sterling silver chain. It's simple, a little rustic and quite pretty. I hope she likes it!

Happy Mother's Day! My Mother's Jewelry Box - Part 8

2011-05-07T14:51:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day! This will be my last post in the "My Mother's Jewelry Box" series. I'll be a little sorry to see the series end. I've had such a wonderful week perusing through my few, but treasured keepsakes!

To the left is a 4 generation picture of my grandmother (left), me holding my daughter, and my mother (right). The event was my daughter's first birthday celebration at my mom's winter home in FL. This is the only time all 4 generations were together. My mom passed away before my daughter's next birthday.

The pendant shown in the top photo is one from my grandmother's jewelry box. It's a Bent Larsen Design (Denmark) piece. My parents purchased it while on a trip to Denmark in the 70's and gave it to Grandma as a gift. I've been doing a little research on Bent Larsen Designs and it appears his mid-century, Danish modernist jewelry was quite popular. Seeing photos of his other pieces has given me a few inspiration ideas of my own. More to come on that later. I really can't tell what kind of metal this piece is made of. Looking at his other pieces on-line indicate it could be tin, pewter or steel. It's a very heavy piece and has never tarnished. I love how the thick bezel is textured on the top.

This last photo is ring that I made last weekend as a Mother's Day gift for my daughter. She's not a mother yet, but I've always given her a little gift on Mother's Day as my "thank-you" to her for being such a wonderful daughter. It's made of sterling silver. I hand cut the two hearts using my new "Knew Concepts" saw, soldered them together and then soldered them to the ring shank. It fits her perfectly - she loves it.

To all the love-filled women (mother's or not) who have brightened the lives of children in some small way, thus spreading a little motherly love around the world, I sincerely wish you a very Happy Mother's Day.

My Mother's Jewelry Box - Part 7

2011-05-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

Today I'll show you two photos. The first is a photo of my Mom, showing her lovely hands. As I've said in my earlier posts, she had long slender fingers and loved to wear rings to show them off. This picture gives you a glimpse of those lovely hands.

The second photo is a sixpence that my Dad presented to me on my wedding day. The traditional poem "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue and a Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe." is said to bring good luck to a marriage. In English tradition, the sixpence is placed in the bride's shoe to be worn during the wedding ceremony. The morning of my wedding, my dad taped this sixpence into the lining of my shoe. I thought I had misplaced it and actually feared I had inadvertently donated it, along with the shoes, many years ago. Imagine my delight to discover it this week - it was taped to the inside wall of my mother's little "pearl" jewelry box! I know this was the sixpence my father gave me because the one he presented to me was issued in my birth year (imprinted on the reverse side).

Tomorrow, in my final post in honor of Mother's Day, I'll show you a necklace of my grandmother's and a treasured 4 generation photo.

My Mother's Jewelry Box - Part 6

2011-05-05T18:36:00.001-07:00

Today's installment of "My Mother's Jewelry Box" includes a tie clasp of my Dad's. Just as I keep my Mom's jewelry in my own box, my Mom kept a little bit of my Dad's in her box. Dad passed away several years before Mom did. This photograph of them was taken about a month before Dad passed away. The tie clasp he's wearing in the photo is the same tie clasp in her box. I can't think of my Mom without thinking of Dad, too. He was quiet, kind and gentle. One of his colleagues described him to me this way "He was truly a gentle-man in every sense of the word."
But that plaid suit? Ugh!

My Mother's Jewelry Box - Part 5

2011-05-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

Here is another of my Mom's pieces of jewelry. It wasn't always a pendant, though. When Mom passed away, this cluster setting was attached to a ring shank. Mom loved big cocktail rings. As I've told you in previous posts, her long, slender fingers wore them well. About 15 years after she died, I realized that I had never worn this ring and probably never would as I frankly didn't like it. It's too much ring and bling for my hands. So, I gave it to my brother and sister-in-law and suggested they have the stones removed to have two new pieces created for their daughters. That way, the stones would have a useful life and the girls would have something of their grandmother's. My sister-in-law accepted the ring and I never gave it a second thought.

The following Christmas, much to my surprise and delight, my sister-in-law gave me this pendant as a gift. She had a jeweler cut the ring shank off, close up the back of the setting and attach a bail. Needless to say, I was thrilled! I think it makes a stunning necklace and I have worn it often. It is by far my favorite jewelry piece of my Mother's. My sister-in-law is the most thoughtful woman I know; I am so fortunate to have her in my life. I think of her & quietly thank her every time I wear this piece.

My Mother's Jewelry Box - Part 4

2011-05-03T16:10:00.001-07:00

Today's segment of "My Mother's Jewelry Box" features her baby ring. It's so very tiny - I measured it at a size 1.5. So small that I can only slide it past the first knuckle of my pinkie finger. It has a little diamond chip in the center, with 2 dark blue chips on the sides. I think they're probably sapphire. I love how the metal is delicately engraved with rope-like details along the edges.

The outside back of the ring shank is scratched enough that it makes me believe Mom must have worn this ring at some point in her childhood, perhaps as a pinkie ring. Actually, when I ran across it a few days ago, it was so dirty that I didn't realize there were open spaces between the sapphires and the center stone. The open spaces were filled with dried dirt. Did Mom play in the mud while wearing this ring? I think so! While I thought it was cute when it was dirty, after cleaning it up a bit, I love this ring even more than when I first found it. Here's a picture of it all caked with dirt:

My Mother's Jewelry Box - Part 3

2011-05-02T17:33:00.001-07:00

In part 3 of "My Mother's Jewelry Box", I'll show one of my mother's faux pearl necklaces and one of her little jewelry boxes.

The "pearl" necklace is something she wore often when I was a child. I thought the rhinestone clasp was so pretty when I was young. As you can see, a few of the rhinestones are missing now. This isn't something I wear. I just keep it in the jewelry box for sentimental reasons.

The little jewelry box (under the necklace) is one of my favorite remembrances of my mother. She had several little boxes of jewelry and one primary box (which now belongs to my daughter) that I don't have a photo of. This box is just plastic and I'm not sure if it was intended to be a jewelry box, or an evening bag. The brand name painted inside is the name of a suitcase & handbag company originally located in MN. The top lifts up and has a little mirror inside. She always kept her "pearls" in this one. I still keep them there, safe and sound.

My Mother's Jewelry Box - Part 2

2011-05-01T15:13:00.000-07:00

In keeping with my Mother's Day theme this week, here is a picture of another one of my Mom's rings. It's an amethyst stone. I wore this ring daily for many years after Mom passed away and it remains one of my favorite rings today. I love the swirl in the ring shank and the shape of the stone. I've managed to scratch up the top surface of the stone by wearing it so often. I really should bring it in to a pro to see if the scratches can be polished out, but part of me believes a little wear and tear adds character to jewelry. I recall my mom wearing this ring only a few times. It was one of the newer pieces in her collection.

I'm excited to bring you more of my mother's jewelry box throughout this week. Going through the box is bringing back fond memories for me. Oh, how I loved trying on her jewelry when I was a child!

My Mother's Jewelry Box - Part 1

2011-04-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

I'm using Mother's Day (May 8th) as my jewelry inspiration for this entire week. I'll take you on a little trip this week through my own mother's jewelry box. My mom passed away more than 20 years ago, but I still have a few of her old pieces of jewelry. I occasionally wear them on days that I want to carry her with me, but some pieces simply sit in my small jewelry collection as a quiet reminder of her.

One of the things I distinctly remember about my mother is that she had beautiful hands. They were petite with long, slender fingers and beautiful nails. She loved rings and wore them well. The picture above is of her high school class ring. I have the same ring size as she did, so I feel privileged to be able to wear her old rings whenever I'm in the mood. Unfortunately, they don't look as nice on my short fingers as they once did on her lovely hands. But, that isn't why I wear her rings.

Water Worn - Sea Urchin Earrings

2011-04-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

The theme this week for the Year of Jewelry Project 2011 is 'Water Worn'. Inspired by the theme, I've created these earrings out of red sea coral and natural river rocks. I've added some sterling silver wire decoration as seaweed. I love how playful and organic they look!

They're in my etsy shop now: Sea Urchin Dangle Earrings

Midwestern Love - an etsy treasury

2011-04-26T10:39:00.001-07:00

My new turquoise and copper ring is featured today in this "Midwestern Love" treasury! I'm proud to have Midwestern roots and I go back to MN several times a year to renew my spirit.

Take a look at the other lovely items in this treasury and leave a comment on the treasury site! Did you know that clicking on and leaving comments on etsy treasuries helps them rank high enough to be featured on the front page of etsy? Many thanks to the creator of this treasury, botny, for including my turquoise ring in the treasury!

Turquoise Ring with Mixed Metals

2011-04-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

New from my bench today, this turquoise ring is set in a fine silver bezel and backed with sterling silver. The ring shank is also sterling silver. I've added a decorative copper plate on top of the sterling back plate. The copper highlights the brown & copper veins in the turquoise quite nicely. The patina adds a little depth and warmth to the copper. I love the look of mixed metals! It's size 7.5. It's listed in my etsy shop.

Honeydew & a silly little joke

2011-04-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

I've titled this necklace "Honeydew". While I was making it, a little joke from my childhood kept popping into my head. It goes like this: Two melons are sitting side by side in the produce section of the grocery store. One says to the other "But darling, I cantaloupe." The other says "Oh please, honeydew!" Cute pun, right? This was one of my Dads jokes. He loved puns and he was great at telling jokes. I remember laughing so hard when he told this one. Of course, I think I was about 10 years old and "getting" any joke made it hysterical.

The color of this Rhine chrysoprase reminds me of honeydew. I love how the warm yellow in the Oregon sunstone accent brings out the little flecks of golden yellow in the chrysoprase. It's available in my etsy shop now.

A Drop of Sunshine - Lemonade Druzy Agate

2011-04-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

I live in Seattle, where rain and grey skies prevail from October through May. The other day I was complaining about the rain to a friend and her response was "Just think of it as drops of liquid sunshine!" The comment didn't cheer me up, but it did make me think of this lemonade druzy stone I've had for a few months. It's rain drop shape and sunshine color certainly fits the comment my friend made. The sun even (briefly) came out while I was creating it!

The natural crystals on this agate catch the light from every direction. It's a drop of liquid Sunshine. This happy little necklace is available in my etsy shop now.

It's all about orientation

2011-04-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

This week I set my sights on creating a pendant with this purple Tiffany stone. Originally, I designed it as a vertical pendant, which is my usual pendant orientation. I had it all finished, tried it on to check that it hangs straight, but I just didn't like it. It didn't feel right to me. Too big. Too long. Now, I love bold pendants, but this was beyond my personal comfort zone of big and bold.

I set it down and walked away for a few hours. When I came back, my first glance at it was horizontal and my aha moment came! It looked so much better horizontally than it did vertically. So I added a hole to hang chain from the sides, tried it on and love it as a horizontal pendant. Of course, if someone perfers it vertically, I can always change it back to a vertical orientation.

Ironically, the theme for this week's Year of Jewelry Project is "Double Duty"; create something that can be used more than one way. I couldn't get inspired to use the theme because I wanted to work with this purple Tiffany stone and I already had a design in mind. But by the end of the week, I'd accidentally created something that had a double duty. I had been feeling guilty for not using the theme this week. No more guilt - I just needed to see things from a different orientation.

It's available in my etsy shop here. Don't forget, Mother's Day is May 8th!

If I Were Queen for the Day

2011-04-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

My "Heart Full of Love" necklace is featured in this wonderful treasury titled "If I Were Queen for the Day". Curated by CocoChicLLC, she's put together some amazing gifts that would make any mother feel like a queen! Check out all the items today, post a comment or two about your favorites and show this treasury some etsy love. Don't forget Mother's Day is May 8th!

Robin Eggs

2011-04-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

My latest creation is a tribute to the robin that built its' nest just outside my kitchen window. The gorgeous Amazonite stones are robin egg blue. I've set them in fine silver bezels and backed them with textured sterling silver. I gave them a light patina to bring out the texture and hung them from handmade sterling silver ear wires. A little bit of springtime to wear!

They are in my etsy shop here.

Happy 80th Birthday!

2011-04-05T22:23:00.001-07:00

This weekend marks my mother-in-laws' 80th birthday! She's spry, still goes bowling twice per week and she's having a birthday bash this weekend. Sadly, I won't be able to go to MN to help her celebrate. Today I made this glowing (like she is) moonstone pendant for her. I'll put it in the mail tomorrow so she'll be able to open it on her birthday. I'm not worried about spoiling her surprise gift by showing it to you early - she doesn't "do" computers.

Eighty is wonderful!

Complements, Compliments!

2011-04-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

The theme for this week's Year of Jewelry Project is "Complementary Colors" (colors opposite from each other on the color wheel). I chose to make this pendant in a red-green complementary color combination. The main stone is Cuprite Chrysocolla, more commonly called Sonora Sunset or Sonora Sunrise. It's a beautiful rusty red with green veins running through it. I've added an accent stone of green chrysocolla. I've hand made the setting of sterling silver and fine silver and added a rich patina for accent. Hopefully, this pendant with complementary colors will bring compliments to the wearer!

It's available for purchase and more photos are in my etsy shop.

No Fooling - An April Fool's Day SALE! 25% OFF!

2011-03-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

Call me a fool, but I love April Fool's Day and a good a practical joke. Lucky for you, my April Fool's Day SALE isn't a joke. For one day only, April 1, 2011, get 25% OFF your purchase in my etsy shop! Use the discount coupon code: "NOFOOLING2011" during checkout to receive the discount!!!

Have a fun April Fool's Day!

Blossom into Spring!

2011-03-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally arrived! Buds are forming on branches, the sun is shining and I'm waiting to see the first blossom of spring. Spring brings with it the promise of renewal and good things to come. This necklace represents that wonderful promise of nature.

I've crafted this unique necklace out of sterling silver wire and a single cultured pearl. The sterling silver twigs have been hand formed, heavily textured, given a patina and then sanded to a soft, satin finish. The lone cultured pearl is securely attached to the twig on a soldered sterling post. Sterling silver long-and-short chain is attached giving the necklace a length of 18" and is easily adjustable to be shorter.

You can find more photos and information in my etsy shop here.

Happy Spring!

Spring Break! - Year of Jewelry 2011 - Week 11

2011-03-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

The theme for this week's Year of Jewelry Project is "Think Spring". For most of the US, it's been a very long winter and everyone is eager for spring to arrive. Officially, it's right around the corner - Sunday, March 20th! I won't be able to take a spring break this year, but I long for beautiful, tropical ocean views. My favorite beaches are in SW Florida. Where are your favorite beaches?

In honor of the arrival of Spring, I've created the pendant pictured on the left. It's titled "Spring Break". The luscious color of these chalcedony stones remind me of a tropical beach. They are set in fine silver and backed with sterling silver. All of the silver is polishes to a high shine. The pendant measures 1-7/8" long and hangs on a 16" sterling silver box chain. You can view the necklace in my etsy shop here.

Now let's all ban our black sweaters and break out the colorful pastels! Happy Spring!

A little advertising promo!

2011-03-10T17:29:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited! From now until April 9th, I'll be one of the featured sellers on the etsystalker website! EtsyStalker is a blog that introduces its readers to etsy shops that they might never know about otherwise. I'm looking forward to meeting some new customers through this month's feature advertising. Take a peek at the etsystalker blog site, fan them on facebook and twitter, too! Be sure to find my ad and links rolling across the top of the blog. I've even included a Special Discount Code for people who find me there!

Playing Catch-Up with Week 5

2011-03-06T21:55:00.000-08:00

You probably already know I'm participating in the Year of Jewelry Project 2011. It's been quite inspiring for me and I'm really pleased with the pieces I've created using the YOJ weekly themes. But a month ago, I missed a week - week 5. I was out of town and didn't get a chance to make up the week until now.

The theme I missed was "Down and Dirty". I was actually a little glad that I wouldn't be able to make the deadline for this one because the theme just had me stumped. Down and Dirty? Huh?

Last week, as I was going through my stash of stones, I found this red plume agate that I'd purchased over a year ago. Whenever I'm working with a new stone, I do a little research on it, mainly to make sure that the stone is labeled properly and how hard or soft the stone is so that I set it properly. When researching red plume agates, I found a picture of it in its natural uncut state. It looks like a ball of hardened dirt. All the color is buried inside the rock and not revealed until the rock is broken open. The website advised rock hounds to be observant in their search for it because the dirt-like appearance makes it easy to overlook. Down and Dirty! My quest for a link to week 5's theme was fulfilled.

The stone is primarily a rusty red color with plumes of gray/blue and tan. I paired it with a holly lavender chalcedony accent stone, trying to pick up on some of the blue/gray in the focal stone. I also purchased a new texturing hammer and did a little experimenting with that to create some definition in the sterling silver back plate. I added some sterling twigs in keeping with the earthy, dirt theme and a little sunburst behind the lavender accent stone. I've added a light patina to bring out the detail in the texture.

I've listed it in my etsy shop here.

Windswept Amber Earrings - YOJ 2011 - Week 9

2011-03-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

I honor of the arrival of March and the promise of spring, the theme for this week's Year of Jewelry Project is "Windswept". I've created these amber earrings, aptly named "Windswept Amber".

Several years ago, while vacationing in Denmark, I learned that amber is formed from pre-historic tree sap that the wind swept into the Baltic Sea. There, it hardened in the cold water and sank to the bottom of the sea. Waves and storms continually wash the amber to shore, where it is now collected, shaped and polished, giving us this wonderful transparent "stone" to use in jewelry! Amber often has small inclusions of air bubbles, dirt and can even have bugs and bits of foliage embedded in it.

While I'm personally not a big fan of giant pieces of amber with embedded bugs worn as jewelry, I do love smaller, richly hued pieces of amber incorporated into beautiful jewelry. When in Denmark, I purchased a unique trapezoid shaped amber pendant with a contemporary brushed sterling silver setting. Ten years later, it still remains one of my favorite necklaces. Here's a photo of that necklace:

The "Windswept" earrings (top photo) are currently for sale in my etsy store here. Next time you see a piece of amber, take a close look at it and imagine how old that bit of tree sap really is. Millions of years!

Beneath the Surface - Year of Jewelry Project - Week 8

2011-02-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

For the Year of Jewelry Project 2011 - Week 8, I've made a pendant out of my favorite stone, Opal in Ironstone from the Koroit Mining District in Queensland, Australia. Titled "Beneath the Surface" because it's a little like people; sometimes you have to look beneath the surface to really see and appreciate its true beauty.

I've mentioned before how much I've fallen in love with stones in the past 3 years and how they move and inspire me. It seems every jewelry artist has their favorite stone; the one they are known for. One of my favorite artists uses Fordite so often that every time I see jewelry in Fordite, I think of her. Another friend uses Cuprite Chrysocolla (Sonora Sunrise) quite often. As for me, I have fallen in love with Koroit opals and have purchased several at gem shows. This is my 4th pendant using this type of stone. I love how the opal portions shine through the dark, rusty red of the iron, just beneath the surface. I love how each stone is so very different from the next one and how the colors in each stone shine differently depending on the angle of light. I ooh and aah every time I hold one of these stones as I shine light on it and discover its many shimmering bits of opal flashing through.

This particular stone is stunning with its greens and teal blues capturing your eye instantly. I've set in in a fine silver bezel and backed it with sterling silver, adding a little sterling ball as an accent. To give the pendant even more interest and movement, I've added an accent stone of teal colored chrysocolla. The little chrysocolla really brings out the teals and greens of the Koroit opal.

I have another 7 Koroit opals in my collection, so look forward to seeing a few more finished pieces this year. Eventually, I'll save one for myself!

Beneath the Surface (etsy listing)

Black Swan - Year of Jewelry Project - Week 7

2011-02-16T22:19:00.000-08:00

The theme for the Year of Jewelry Project 2011 this week is 'Something to Talk About'. I recently saw the movie "Black Swan". Everyone I know who has seen the movie wants to have a lengthy, lively discussion about it. Most of our discussions center around the human struggle to overcome the black/dark/evil that can surface in any of us. The topic strikes many different chords in people: nature vs. nurture, religion, mental illness etc... I enjoyed the movie and the resulting conversations with friends about its meaning. I wanted to create a piece that represents the good & dark sides of the human spirit, with the good rising above the dark.

The stones in this pendant are a white Rainbow Moonstone and a Psilomelene (Black Hematite). I did a lot of sketches for this piece before deciding on a final version. Even the final version changed a bit as I went about creating it. The black hematite stone has some pretty rings of metallic color at the wider end. The rings looks like a ripple effect in water. I chose to put that part at the top of this section of the piece to signify the goodness struggling and rising out of the darkness, up towards the white/good stone. I've surrounded the black stone with a feathered edge, then added a second back plate so the feather edges wouldn't rub against the wearer or snag clothing. I've extensively sanded all the edges to a very smooth finish and oxidized the piece to accentuate the design.

The white rainbow moonstone glows when the light hits it and I think it beautifully represents the our good side. I've added petals (or wings) to signify human goodness rising above the darkness.

Technically, this pendant was a bit more complicated than most of the jewelry I create. Each section involved several extra soldering steps and required careful planning so that none of the early solder seams came undone in that later steps. I'm quite pleased with the results.

The weekly YOJ theme, planning and execution processes have all been fun for me this week. I'm so glad I decided to join the Year of Jewelry Project this year. I'm challenging myself as an artist in ways I probably would not have done without the commitment of the YOJ project.

Here are a few more photos. I find it challenging to photograph dark stones - every bit of light reflects off of them. Thank goodness my jewelry skills are better than my photography skills!

My Heart is Filled with Love!

2011-02-12T19:41:00.000-08:00

This week, the Year of Jewelry Project 2011 theme was "Amore". My submission turned out to be the piece on the left. I've titled it "A Heart Full of Love".

This isn't what I had intended though. A few weeks ago I started to prepare a pendant for this theme, using a beautiful little heart shaped black obsidian stone from my collection. I created the silver setting. But then while placing the stone in the setting, I cracked off the bottom tip of the stone. This left me with what I thought would be a useless, empty bezel setting. Scrap metal. Ugh!

It pains me to waste silver and a perfectly good bezel setting. I just knew I had to find a use for it. I thought about experimenting with resin and filling the bezel with red or pink resin, but I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day specific jewelry. And I know resin takes a little getting used to; the first pieces people make in resin usually don't turn out well. I can only handle one disaster per setting.

Thinking, thinking...an empty heart... What can I fill it with? Love! Shiny little balls of melted sterling, each one representing people I love. People who fill up my heart! You can see there are a few little gaps, room for more little balls in the future because there is always room in my heart to love one more person.

I'm wishing all of you a day filled with a heart full of love!

fyi, Here's a photo of the original piece with the chipped obsidian stone:

Snow Drift - Druzy Quartz Pendant

2011-01-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

My goodness, there is some wicked weather across the country this winter! Loads of snow, ice, wind, blizzards and c..c..c..cold temps!

This weeks' theme Year of Jewelry Project is "Wild and Wicked". It's a tough theme for me, since I'm neither wild or wicked. But I had to think of something that is and came up with recent wicked weather patterns. This druzy quartz stone fit the theme beautifully with its' sparkly crystallized center looking like a giant snow drift!

I set it in a scalloped fine silver bezel and a sterling silver back plate. Then I polished all of the silver to a high shine and added a sparkly textured sterling silver chain. It takes me back to childhood memories of walking on top of crunchy, icy snow!

It's listed in my etsy shop here.

And some more photos for you:

Earthly Treasures - YOJ Project - Week 3

2011-01-21T15:10:00.001-08:00

The theme this week for of the Year of Jewelry Project 2011 is "Mixed Media". My entry for the week is titled "Earthly Treasures" because I used organic materials such as petrified palm wood, copper and silver. Beautiful items from the earth formed into a wearable piece of art.

It's no secret among jewelry artisans that the price of silver and gold have skyrocketed in the past year. We're all searching for materials to use in lieu of silver (or gold) so that we can still be creative and keep our costs reasonable. Copper is one popular alternative, as are brass, stainless steel and bronze. I chose copper for the back plate of this piece because it compliments the colors of the petrified palm wood so nicely. It has been textured lightly by running the copper through a rolling mill while sandwiched between paper towels. A fine silver bezel adds an interesting contrast to the copper. The bail is brushed sterling silver with a ball of shiny fine silver added as an accent. I used waxed cotton cording to hang the pendant. I think the natural fiber of the cord adds to the earthy, rustic feel of the pendant. An added plus to the cording is that it is tied using 2 slip knots and the length can be easily adjusted by pulling the knots simultaneously to suit the wearer. I've given the metals an antiqued patina and then hand polished the patina off all but the lowest points. Different metals, textures, patina and finishes (satin, brushed and shiny) make this a unique, earthy pendant!

You can view the etsy listing for this piece or see the item in the YOJ 2011 blog, as well as other artists submissions using mixed media as inspiration.

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

2011-01-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

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.

Sharing a quiet evening

2011-01-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd share a quiet, peaceful moment of my evening with you.
It will be warmer and raining by morning here in WA, so this snow will be gone when I wake up. I'm enjoying the beauty of this moment.
*Sigh*

CLEARANCE SALE!

2011-01-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

I've decided to have a Clearance Sale on several of my jewelry items. All are beautiful pieces, but have either been in my inventory too long, or are no longer typical of the style jewelry I now create. Check out the sale items here for some great prices on beautiful jewelry!

"Icy Hot" Treasury & SALE Reminder!

2011-01-02T11:33:00.000-08:00

My "Snow Queen" Drusy Quartz Pendant is featured today in this beautiful "Icy Hot" etsy treasury! Many thanks to Purple Blossom Studio for including my pendant in this treasury. Check out the treasury and her shop today!

And a little reminder; my shop is having a New Year's SALE going on now through Monday, January 3rd! Enter the Coupon Code: HAPPY2011 to receive 11% off your entire order. Purchases shipped to US destinations will also receive FREE SHIPPING during the sale period!

Happy New Year SALE! 11% off your entire order!

2010-12-31T09:53:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! I'm welcoming 2011 with an 11% off SALE throughout my entire shop! The sale will last through Monday, January 3rd. Plus, I'll offer FREE SHIPPING to US DESTINATIONS during this sale period! When checking out, be sure to enter the Coupon Code: HAPPY2011 to receive your 11% discount.

I hope you have a wonderful, safe New Year's Eve and a peaceful and prosperous 2011!

My Etsy Shop is 2 Years Old = SALE!

2010-12-03T23:23:00.001-08:00

My Etsy shop is 2 years old this weekend! It's been an honor and a pleasure to create my jewelry and to have customers visit my shop to purchase for themselves and friends. I've had a lot of support from friends, family and the online community in this little endeavor, so I'm saying a big "Thank You" to everyone by offering 15% off store wide this weekend (Sat, Dec 4th - Sun, Dec 5th).

Visit my shop this weekend and use coupon code: 2YRTHANKYOU when checking out to receive your 15% discount!

Thank you for your encouragement these past 2 years! I look forward to creating jewelry for many years to come.

My Entire Etsy Shop is 15% Off Through Cyber Monday!

2010-11-26T23:17:00.000-08:00

Avoid the crowds at the mall and shop online instead. I'm having a special holiday sale on every item in my shop now through Cyber Monday (Nov 29th)!! Use coupon code HOLIDAY15 when checking out to receive 15% off your entire order!!!

http://www.scjjewelrydesign.etsy.com/

Feeling Blue?

2010-11-08T23:45:00.000-08:00

With the NW winter grey sky approaching quickly, I've been craving the sight of blue lately. I've been busy creating some new items, most are blue - green - turquoise and make me yearn for a Caribbean. vacation. After making several rather complicated pieces lately, I decided to make a few items that have a more simple, classic design with small, luscious stones. They are all in my etsy shop now, so feel free to click on each link below for more photos and descriptions.

Pisco Blue Gem Chrysocolla

Ocean Breeze - Peruvian Blue Opal

True Blue - Ajax Mine Turquoise

Simplicity - Candelaria Veriscite

Midnight Dance Earrings - Black Candelaria Veriscite

Opal in Ironstone - Beneath the Surface 2

2010-11-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

Last fall I purchased 3 beautiful stones at a gem fair in Tacoma. They are Opal in Ironstone, mined in the Koroit mining district in Queensland, Australia. I love these stones, and judging by how quickly the pendants I've made from them sell, my clients love them, too.

These stones are a lush earthy brown/burgundy color (the ironstone portions) and have flecks and streams of opal shimmering running through them. The opal colors have ranged from greens, blues and purples. They are naturally intriguing. They instantly grab your attention and draw you in to take a closer look and find the shimmering beauty of the opal bits. Every time I examine them, they remind me to look beneath the surface in everything I encounter. In my relationships with people, in the news, media, etc... Sometimes we have to take a closer look to see the core issues.

This is my most recent creation with the last of these stones and is now listed here in my etsy shop. It has so much blue in it that I've paired it with a deep blue lapis accent stone:

Beneath the Surface -2

This one was my second pendant, "Glimmer". It has a lot of little green opal flecks, so I paired it with a chalcedony green chrysocolla accent stone. It is already sold:

And my first of the series, the original "Beneath the Surface" is also sold:

I'm so glad the first two pendants have gone to clients who have told me how much they love these stones and appreciate their beauty. I hope to attend the same gem show this November and see if I can find more of these stones. Each one is so unique and and sparkles with its own special beauty.

Sweet Autumn Days

2010-09-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

My necklace, "Autumn Splendor" has been included in a treasury titled, Sweet Autumn Days. It's filled with some really gorgeous Autumn related items! It's an honored to be included with this group. Thank you, trinitydj for including my necklace in this treasury! Please click the link and show this treasury a little love!

I would post a photo of the treasury here, but I'm working from my daughter's computer right now and don't want to save photos to her computer. Alas, I do feel lost without my own computer!

I Love Stones!

2010-09-14T14:51:00.001-07:00

Oh, I've grown to love and appreciate stones. I love everything about them. I love looking at them, touching them, and making pretty jewelry with them. They make me feel grounded and centered. A piece of the earth for me to honor, appreciate and take with me. With different colors for my every mood, they bring me joy in many ways! I have a deep respect (and a little envy) for lapidary artists. With a keen eye, they can cut, carve, shape and polish stones to bring out their individual beauty.

Recently, my sister-in-law was visiting me here in WA. I showed her some of my newer stones so she could pick out one for me to make a pendant with for her. It was so fun to watch her peruse them. She got a little giddy as she opened the packages, running the stones through her hands, holding them up to the light so she could see and appreciate the beauty of each one. She couldn't put them down!

I find that same delight whenever I'm shopping for stones. Today's photos show some of the stones I purchased recently from Out of Our Mines Lapidary and Beadworks. They were guest presenters at a local bead shop in Bellevue recently. I purchased some stones from them last year and I'm so happy they returned to WA again this year. You can click on each photo for an enlarged view.

While unfortunately you can't touch them through your computer screen, if any strike your fancy and you would like something made just for you with any of them, you can contact me through my etsy site or leave a comment on this blog and we can talk about a custom order item for you.

I still have many more stones that I purchased last fall but haven't used yet. You can see photos of some of them in 2 of my past blogs here and here. Again, if something strikes you as a must have, let me know and I'll reserve it for you!

My pendant is featured today!

2010-09-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

My pendant, "Beneath the Surface" is featured today in the Mystic Wind's blog, "Family Friendly Musings from the Handmade World of Mystic Wind". She's gathered a beautiful collection of rust colored items and talks about what images the word 'rust' conjures up, sometimes undeservedly. Click on her link and enjoy all of the beautiful things she's found ! While you're at it, subscribe to her blog. She always has something interesting and insightful to say. Karen makes beautiful jewelry also, so visit her etsy shop, Mystic Wind, here.

A few new pieces

2010-08-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

Fall is in the air and I've been enjoying time in my workshop this week! I finished and posted 3 new pieces to my etsy shop this week. I also spent a fun day creating "Autumn Splendor" (below) with my local etsy friend, HalinaB. We talked, worked, inspired each other and laughed alot. Check out her etsy shop and show her some love!

Here are my new jewelry pieces this week. Click on the titles to view each one in my etsy shop :

This first one is an Opal in Ironstone from Australia. It's an exceptional stone, with gorgeous flecks of opal underneath the surface. It has a tube bail underneath the sterling silver nugget at the top. Polished to a high shine, it sparkles with unique interest and depth.

"Beneath the Surface"

This second piece is a Pisco Blue Gem Chrysocolla. The color is simply beautiful, so I've set it in a very simple setting. It's a sweet, calming necklace for those who prefer small, simple, yet interesting jewelry.

"Once in a Blue Moon"

This last piece is a tribute to autumn. Here in WA, the leaves are already turning colors and the furnace comes on in the evening. Fall is in the air! I've hand cut and formed this copper leaf using chasing and repousse techniques. With a few freshwater and Swarovski pearls, plus some cute little twigs. The entire piece has been antiqued, tumble polished and sealed with a special wax to inhibit color change. This necklace makes a bold statement for anyone who loves autumn colors.

"Autumn Splendor"

Wishing everyone a wonderfully creative week!

Busy, Busy

2010-08-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy and happy couple of weeks since my last post. I've been working regularly at my jeweler's bench; I had forgotten how happy I am when working on jewelry. My daughter came for a visit and we enjoyed a few days in Victoria, B.C.. I've posted several new pendants and purchased some wonderful new stones for future jewelry. I'll post photos of the new stones later in the week, just in case you want to "dib" one of them!

This weekend, I finished a custom order for a special friend. It's a fiery labradorite, set in shining silver with 3 little silver balls on the bail. I wish I could keep it for myself, but I delight in knowing that my friend will enjoy wearing it.

Here are some of my newest etsy listings, just in case you missed them:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54488131/blooming-sterling-silver-ring-size-7

http://www.etsy.com/listing/53693576/fossil-fossilized-coral-stone-set-in

http://www.etsy.com/listing/53485149/desert-landscape-jasper-pendant-set-in?ref=v1_other_2

http://www.etsy.com/listing/53444604/midnight-blue-lapis-pendant?ref=v1_other_2

Wishing you all a happy, creative week!!

Stormy Weather - a pendant with thunder and lightning

2010-07-29T22:42:00.000-07:00

The main focal stone in my latest pendant is a Purple Storm, mined in Utah. I love how you can practically see lightning and hear thunder crackling through this stone. There's nothing like a good thunderstorm to cleanse the spirit. The accent stone is a soothing lavender Holly Chalcedony and nicely picks up the purple in the focal stone. I'm pleased with how it turned out and I think this is one piece I may keep for myself. While I don't wear jewelry often, I find it a little ironic when I have an occasion to wear jewelry and I don't have a piece to wear that I've made myself.

Actually, this pendant has been a thunderstorm of sorts for me to create. I started it last January, sketching several different versions of a setting for the focal stone. I finally settled on the one I liked the best, created about 75% of it and then ruined it by frying the sterling silver with too much heat on the final solder. Defeated, I used this as a wake-up to take a break from making jewelry for awhile. I needed the break to concentrate on other things.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've recently been struck with a burst of inspiration to get back to my workbench. The components for this pendant; stones, sketches and fried silver have been sitting on my bench since last January, collecting dust and haunting me like unfinished business that needed to be taken care of before I'm allowed to truly forge ahead with new work. So, I pushed myself through the storm, crafting a few design changes as I went (including 3 different bails) and finally finished this pendant today, warts and all.

In my long wait for the storm to pass, I've learned a few things, both technically and personally. I've learned that it's OK to sit back and ride out the storm. Wait till the thunder passes. Then forge ahead when the time is right and you can see clearly again.

One more interesting thing about this stone that I didn't notice until today - I see a cross amid the clouds and lightning. Do you see it? Oh yes, this pendant is mine and I'm keeping it.

Fire in the Grass!

2010-07-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

Fire in the Grass! That's the name of my new pendant. I bet the title got your attention, didn't it? It's a wonderful, labradorite stone with deep greens and lots of internal fiery highlights.

Truth be told, I've been slacking off from my jewelry making endeavors this year. I've only made about a dozen pieces and most of them have been custom orders and special requests from past clients. But on Friday, I had the pleasure of attending the Bellevue Arts Festival and was reminded how much I enjoy being at my bench, creating and experimenting with metal and stones. Freshly inspired, I dug out my stone collection, dusted off my workbench and started working on 3 pendants this weekend. This labradorite pendant is the only one I have finished so far. The other 2 are works in progress, but I hope to have them done by the end of this week. One features a blue lapis and the other will have 2 stones in it; a purple storm plus a holly lavender chalcedony accent stone.

So stay tuned, I feel a flood of creativity coming on!

Inspiration Through the Eye of a Friend.

2010-04-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

Today I had the pleasure of a jewelry making "play date" with my fellow Etsy friend, Halina B. Halina makes beautiful jewelry and sells her work both through her etsy site and many shows in the Seattle area. She wanted to learn to rivet, so I showed her a few basic things about riveting. I have made a lot of jewelry using rivets, but had very little in stock to show her. One of the things I did have though, was a failed rivet. I'd been meaning to remake it, but was a little stumped as to how to fix it because the bead frame holes were much too big for a wire rivet. I showed it to her because I wanted to explain what went wrong with it. While we were working, I started to show her how a tube can be used for riveting. Halina immediately said "Oh that tubing would work well for the bead frame you're having trouble with!" Why hadn't I thought of that before? I needed to see the problem through the eyes of someone else. I finished the necklace this evening and hung it on a 36" sterling silver chain. It's a breath of springtime!

While I had Halina at my house, I thought it would be a great time to test out a jump ring maker that I had never used before. I want to make a byzantine chain maille necklace and need loads of jump rings for it. After we read the assembly instructions several times, a few failed attempts including grinding noises and smoke, I finally managed to make some usable jump rings. However, on my last attempt of the night, my saw blade broke in half. I'm not sure about this contraption - it seems a little dangerous to me. Perhaps I still don't quite have everything set up correctly? If anyone has used a PePe jump ring cutter before and has some helpful tips, I would very much appreciate it!

After I had made enough jump rings to get a good start on my byzantine necklace, I realized that it has been a couple of years since I've made byzantine chain maille. In my search for a website with good instructions, I found the Davidchain Jewelry website is great! It has clear, easy to follow instructions for several chain maille patterns.

All in all, a productive day in the workshop with an inspiring friend. Thanks, Halina!

Back at my Bench - Finally!

2010-03-13T14:49:00.001-08:00

I'm back at my bench and inspired after a long hiatus. Yesterday, I took a class and had a great day making these fused fine silver earrings. The class was taught by Janice Berkebile of Wired Arts. I always enjoy Janice's classes because she's a great teacher and she makes her classes fun with her relaxed style and sense of humor. It was a full class with really friendly women, too. Anyway, I left inspired to finish the earrings I had made and ready to create more new items. The earrings are posted on my etsy site and called "Hidden Treasures" because there are so many cute little things about these earrings; many textures, balls on the front and back, waves, curves, movement and of course a couple of surprise spirals. I'm eager to show you what else I've been working on, but not until it's done! Stay tuned...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=42639673

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

2010-02-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

Spring has sprung here in the Seattle area! I took my phone (camera) with me on my walk today. Here's a little sample sample of things that delighted me along the way.

I've absent from my jeweler's bench for about 6 weeks, but I hope to make friends with it again sometime this week. I woke up twice last night with some new designs in my head - a sign it's time for me to come back. The world is waking up after a dark winter and my creative spark is waking, too!

"I Heart Handmade" Artisan Gift Show this Saturday!

2010-02-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

I'm one of the vendors participating in the "I Heart Handmade" artisan gift show this Saturday, Feb 6th, (1:00-6:00) in Bellevue! Many of my local etsy artisans will be there with their wonderful items, including jewelry, pottery, note cards, paintings, quilts, baby items, soaps and more. A perfect combination of items to select a Valentines gift for your loved ones! If you live in the Seattle area, please join us for this fun event. Donations will be accepted for the Eastside Domestic Violence Program.

You can find more details (place, time...) here.

Happy January!

2010-01-01T23:34:00.001-08:00

I've been neglecting my blog lately. Sorry! The holidays were busy around here. Lots of jewelry orders to fill the first few weeks of Dec plus a few special orders. Then I enjoyed spending Christmas week with my daughter visiting us from MN. I've been feeling really lonely this past week without her here.

I've also neglected my jeweler's bench for most of Dec, except for a few special orders and making daily trips to the post office. But I got re-acquainted with my bench and torch today and made this cute little necklace and earring set using garnet cabochons. Garnet is the birthstone for January. I love the deep red color of garnets. This set will be listed in my etsy shop in a few days. My shop still has a sale going on through Jan 3rd.

Now it's time to take a deep breath and get back into the routine of life. Instead of making a new year's resolution, I've found I really like this idea from Christine Kane's blog; to choose one word which inspires you and gives you focus and direction for the new year. My word is "healthy". Healthy action, healthy thought and healthy soul. Many thanks to my friend Kathleen Krucoff for introducing this idea to me and sharing it on her facebook and blog sites.

Wishing you all many blessings in 2010!

Handmade Gift Guide's Holiday Sale!

2009-12-05T22:52:00.000-08:00

Starting tomorrow, Dec 6th - 12th, I'll be participating in The Handmade Gift Guide's Holiday Sale! Many talented artists will be posting items in the gift guide, along with links to their shops.

My sale is actually store-wide through my etsy shop, so be sure to check out some of the great values I have in store for you! Shop for gifts for others, or gifts for yourself! In addition to sale prices on everything, I'm offering free shipping to US and Canada!

SALE Continues through Cyber Monday!

2009-11-30T00:20:00.000-08:00

Just for today, Cyber Monday, I've taken further price reductions on many of my jewelry items! Free shipping to US and Canada through the end of this year. Take advantage of some great values!

The picture to the left is a custom order pendant that I made last week. It's a gorgeous labradorite stone that I bought at the Tacoma bead fair a few weeks ago.

I'll be busy preparing for the holidays during the next few weeks by bringing out some treasured Christmas decorations, doing a little shopping, mailing gifts to loved ones across the country and by baking a few family favorite cookies. I love this time of the year!

HUGE SALE through Monday, Nov 30th!!!

2009-11-23T23:28:00.001-08:00

I've decided to have my first jewelry SALE!!! Everything in my etsy shop is on sale!

Now through Nov 30th (cyber Monday), you be able to shop in the comfort of your home and catch some great prices on all of my jewelry in my etsy site!!!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

5 Things You Love About Making Jewelry - But Shouldn't

2009-11-22T23:47:00.001-08:00

I found this on ammjewelry's blog and thought it would be fun to share with you! "Join me in playing this game...name "5 Things You Love about Making Jewelry, but Shouldn't!" I read this question some time ago on my daughters blogs in a basic form, and thought it would be fun to pose this question to my blogging buddies."

MY five things:
1) I love the feel of metal as I form it, cut it, bend it, twist it, saw it, heat it, etc... It's (usually) under my control. I tell it what to do - it cooperates, or I force it. The very first jewelry item I made was with teeny tiny seed beads. They didn't cooperate. Thread is not my friend. Metal is.

2) I love spending money on all kinds of supplies for jewelry making. Whether it be tools (yes - lots of tools!), metal, dust masks, safety glasses, storage containers, display items, classes, books, stones (the photo above is my haul from the Bellevue Bead Festival this afternoon), photo stuff and oh, did I mention... Tools?

3) It's challenging. I am constantly learning new things by taking classes and doing loads of experimentation with metal. I've never been a creative person before, so this is opening up a whole new world and I love every minute of it. I fail a lot as I learn. I re-do things, I melt my failures and reuse the leftovers. There's always something else I can do with a piece when it doesn't work out. The thrill of seeing someone like my jewelry enough to buy it is worth all the failures.

4) It's a fun way to pass a lot of time and to make new friends. My hubby works a lot of hours. If he knows I'm not bored, he feels better about working so much. I gladly do this for him! Right.

5) I like fire. I read somewhere today (I can't remember where or I would give credit) that 'Every jeweler is a pyromaniac with a purpose'. When I started this, I was afraid of fire. Imagine that. How silly!

Do I have to stop at 5? There are so many more reasons I love this art/hobby/life!

Then, Holly Wilcox's blog added 5 things you hate about jewelry making. Mine are:
1) I'm sadly in need of a good night's sleep. I make jewelry through the wee hours of the morning, and then I dream about making jewelry.
2) My hands are a mess. I'm in desperate need of a manicure, but why bother?
3) I rarely take time to read books anymore. I'd rather make jewelry instead.
4) I'm hooked on social media - blogs, facebook, and email take up far too much time, but I love them.
5) I hate it when I have a bad solder day. Fortunately, that happens less often than it did 6 months ago.

That's it for now. I'm off to get some sterling out of the pickle pot - I've got work to do!

Have a great week everyone and wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Shopping for Stones!

2009-11-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

Busy weekend! On Saturday, I was part of the Handmade Harvest open house with fellow etsyrain members.. The turnout was quite good and I sold many items and received a lot of positive feedback on my jewelry. It's always nice to have some on-the-spot feedback with buyers.

Today, I went to the Tacoma Gem Faire and came home with a new supply of wonderful stones! They're just waiting for me to bezel set into pendants and rings. The photo is of today's' take. Starting at 12 o'clock, the stones (on the outside) are: Spectrolite (Finland), Labradorite, Red Plume (TX), Owyee Jasper, Biggs Jasper, then 3 Koroit Opals in ironstone from Queensland, Australia, then ending with another labradorite. The center stones are a Purple Storm (UT) and a small lapis. I can't wait to start working with these new stones and letting them inspire me!

But first, I have some custom orders I need to work on next week. Then I can take some creative play time with my new stones. If you love one or more of these stones and want me to make something for you with it, just let me know and I'll reserve it for you. You can double click the photo for a close-up view.

Bright and early this morning...

2009-11-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

I woke up bright and early this morning because the idea of this pendant was swimming in my brain. Maybe it came to me in my dreams; I do dream of jewelry these days! Anyway, I started working on this at 7:30 this morning and just finished it. It's a reversible pendant with copper on one side and sterling silver on the other side. I drilled identical holes into each side and soldered them together using a fine silver center strip between the two. I'm so happy with the way it looks and all the technical aspects of making it went well too. Funny thing though, I ran it through my tumbler for a while to polish and clean it. When I took it out, the center of it was filled with steel tumbler shot pieces that had slid inside through the little holes! I had to shake them out one at a time; that took about 15 minutes and a lot of chuckles. At least I can be confident that the inside is nice and clean! I've titled this piece "Opposites Attract".

I've spent a lot of time this week making jewelry. I finished a pendant yesterday and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out as well. It's a beautiful Candelaria Variscite stone from Nevada. I love the color of this stone and the little sterling dots I added to the side. I've called this one "Tranquility".

I've also made several pairs of little post earrings with some Sleeping Beauty Turquoise and Garnet cabochons. I'll be listing them on etsy early next week and bringing them to the Handmade Harvest open house next weekend in Redmond.

The rest of the week I'll probably spend getting ready for the open house; planning my display, printing earring cards, labeling everything... not really making much jewelry. I don't do "shows" often, although I've done a few home shows. I enjoy seeing people's reactions to my jewelry and hearing their comments. That's something I miss with on-line sales. I'm looking forward to seeing friends and meeting new people next weekend!

Handmade Harvest Open House - Nov 14th

2009-11-06T16:41:00.000-08:00

I'm participating in a "Handmade Harvest" open house with other local (Seattle) area etsy sellers on Saturday, Nov 14th, in Redmond, WA. I thought I'd share with you the names and links of the other sellers who will be there with their art items. We've all been busy lately building our inventory so we can offer lots of variety for you to choose from! Much of our inventory is not posted on etsy - we're saving it for you! If you're interested in more details (address, time etc...), just let me know and I'll forward an evite to you. We all would love to see you there!

Here's the list of participants:

A Crafty Arab - Arabic and Persian greeting cards and more
Lavender Drops - Lavender Sachets
Pepo Park - Natural soaps, lip balms bath products and more
Sakurabloom - Women's fashion accessories
World Of Whimm - Creative children's dress up items to spark the imagination
Scary White Girl - Funky crocheted items
SCJ Jewelry Design - My unique jewelry items

Please join us for a fun afternoon and get a little holiday shopping done early!

Play Time

2009-11-03T23:32:00.000-08:00

I've been playing hard lately, getting ready for a holiday open house show on Nov 14th in Redmond, WA. I consider making jewelry play time because something this fun just can't be considered work! The holiday show will have items made by 7 of my fellow etsy sellers! If you'd like more details, just contact me and I'll send you an evite.

Here's a sample of some of the new things you'll see in my etsy store:

Full Moon:

Tide Pool:Blossom:

We're All Linked Together - Bronze:

I've made about 20 pairs of earrings that aren't listed on etsy and a few other holiday craft show exclusive items for the 14th. So, if you're in WA, your chance to shop in person is right around the corner!

And if you're in the midwest, my jewelry is now being offered in 2 shops! Look for my jewelry at "Seasons on St. Croix Gallery" in Hudson, WI and also at the University of MN Medical Center - Fairview gift shop in Minneapolis, MN.

My bench is calling for me. It's play time again!

Several new items and my jewelry is featured in a blog today!

2009-10-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

I'm so honored by Laurie LeBlanc-Rickaby of MadeBySwirlyGirl, to be introduced today in her "Tuesday Meet and Greet" blog posting! Laurie makes incredibly beautiful photo art and notecards. Be sure to check out her websites: her etsy shop, her facebook fan page, her blog, her twitter site and her flickr site.

I was very busy creating last week and added many new items to my etsy shop. The necklace to the left is called Cosmos - I just love it!

My other new etsy shop listings include:

a cool textured copper cuff bracelet, called "Movement" a textured set of stacking rings ,

beautiful Pisco Blue Chrysocolla pendant called "Once in a Blue Moon" and a Candelaria Variscite pendant called "Sea Foam"

If I had a hammer

2009-10-02T22:53:00.001-07:00

Do you ever get a song in your head that stays with you for days? If you're about (ummm) my age, you probably heard that Mary Travers, of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, passed away recently. Ever since then, I've had the song "If I Had a Hammer" playing over and over again in my head. What a great song, back then and today!

Well, I decided to pick up my favorite hammer, a piece of heavy copper wire, and start to sing and hammer away. No saws, no files, just a hammer and an anvil. This necklace set is the result of all that hammering. (OK, I admit I used a hole punch to make the holes in the tops so I could connect the pieces to chain and earwires.)

You can watch a video here of Peter, Paul and Mary singing the song. Enjoy!

IF I HAD A HAMMER (The Hammer Song) words and music by Lee Hays and Pete Seeger
If I had a hammer
I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening
All over this land
I'd hammer out danger
I'd hammer out a warning
I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

If I had a bell
I'd ring it in the morning
I'd ring it in the evening
All over this land
I'd ring out danger
I'd ring out a warning
I'd ring out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

If I had a song
I'd sing it in the morning
I'd sing it in the evening
All over this land
I'd sing out danger
I'd sing out a warning
I'd sing out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Well I've got a hammer
And I've got a bell
And I've got a song to sing
All over this land
It's the hammer of justice
It's the bell of freedom
It's the song about love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Making Strides...

2009-09-29T23:42:00.000-07:00

Against Breast Cancer... OK, here's my once per year plug ...

As a 2.5 year survivor, I'd like to remind everyone that breast cancer is still out there, it's serious and it needs to be stopped! The American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk is being held here in Bellevue, WA this coming Sunday, Oct 4th. Last year I walked, this year I'm going to be a volunteer "route marshal" during the walk but I'm still committed to raising funds for the cause! If you're so inclined, you can help me raise funds by going to this official site and donating here.

During my treatment, I received help from so many sources; family, friends, complete strangers, doctors, nurses, a whole host of other medical professionals, and from resources provided by the American Cancer Society. Now it's my turn to help out and give back. I am so blessed to be able to give back, but I'm still a long way from meeting my goal of $1000.-

If you're over 40, please don't forget to schedule your annual mammogram. Do it today, because someone loves you.

Finally, some new jewelry in my etsy shop!

2009-09-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

I've neglected my etsy shop for far too long. I've been busy this summer learning to solder and making many new items. They've been sitting on my shelf while I've admired them, but now it's time to let them go out into the world! So, I've taken photos and listed 11 new items this weekend and will list several more through the coming week. Be sure to check out my new listings in my etsy shop.

I'm taking another weekly metalsmithing class this fall at Pratt Fine Art Center in Seattle. I find it's all less overwhelming this class. Maybe I'm catching on! Of course it helps that I have a terrific teacher for this class, Susanne Lechler Osborn. She's so willing to share everything she knows and explains it so well. One of the nice perks of taking classes at Pratt is that I can go there every Friday for open studio time and work on whatever I need to do. I've done a lot of soldering during those Friday sessions!

I've also been rearranging the home office and a guest bedroom space to make one of the rooms exclusively for my jewelry workshop! I have a new jeweler's bench all set up in a sunny, 3 window corner of the room. I am surprised at how much space my jewelry equipment takes up! I have a computer/business area, a photo area, my jewelers bench, supplies, books and supply catalogs.... I still need some things for the room to make it really comfortable for me, such as new lighting and an additional chair. Here is a photo of my favorite corner. Yes, yes, it's already a mess. I'm making some riveted pendant and earring sets that need to be done tomorrow! I'd better get back to work :)

Wishing you a fun, creative week!

Discovery

2009-09-08T22:19:00.001-07:00

One of the wonderful things about creating any form of art is that it's always an evolving route of discovery. You start out with a plan. Sometimes it's a well drawn out design on paper, sometimes it's just a vague idea; you know, a feeling or an image that needs to evolve as you go. This pendant had a plan in the beginning, but messed up solders, starting over, ornamentation that just didn't feel quite right and then finally, fresh ideas that changed everything as I went along the path of creating this piece. It's aptly called "Discovery".

Another thing I discovered along the way an is an appreciation of the unique quality of the stone itself. I've had it for months now and have set it aside many times, waiting for inspiration, but I never really looked at it or held it in my hands for any length of time. It has layers and layers of embedded colors, ranging from ocean blues, turquoise, grays and rust. Most of my jewelry thus far has been made entirely of metals. I haven't included stones very often, but now that I've learned some new techniques, I find I'm working with and designing things around my stones to highlight their beauty and unique qualities. I'm discovering just how different each stone is and that different stones make you feel something. It may be a calmness, a sense of being grounded to the earth, a sense of excitement... I get to know each stone as I work with it and hold it, forming a frame around it to showcase it. I can honestly say I'm discovering so many exciting things while I create jewelry. And it's not about the jewelry.

The importance of knowing when you're done.

2009-09-05T22:10:00.001-07:00

Today's photo shows 2 new pieces I've made recently. While I'm moving up on the learning curve with my soldering and bezel settings, I'm still very much a newbie and things don't always turn out as perfectly as I'd like them to be. While I'm reasonably pleased with the green Chrysocolla Chalcedony ring, the ring shank turned out to be about 1/4 size too big for my hand (it's a 6.5). So, if you're a 6.5 ring size, speak up soon!

The purple/pink pendant stone, which I purchased while vacationing in Victoria, BC this summer, is a pink star ruby and a member of the labradorite family. I just fell in love with it because of its' unique color and depth. I had planned to set it with some ornamentation on the sides, but that didn't work out as I wanted, so I cut the ornamentation off and decided to just keep the setting simple and plain. That's always a good, last resort. After many hours of setting, pushing and burnishing the bezel, the stone was a still little loose in the setting. I had given up and decided it was good enough to just keep for myself and not worry about making it perfect. I'd chalk it up to a learning experience. But tonight as I shot the photo, the perfectionist crept up inside of me and forced me to pick up my pusher and burnisher tools. I've just spent the past hour trying to tighten it up. And I was successful at tightening the stone. Big mistake. You see, bezel wire is very thin fine silver and the more you push and stretch it to curve over the top of the stone, the thinner it gets. Well, I made it so thin that part of it chipped off where it meets the stone. Now the bezel is ragged and the stone is loose again. It's a lost cause. Tomorrow, I will probably just cut the setting apart, remove the stone and start all over again. I should have quit while I was ahead.

Meanwhile, I'm working on another pendant that I'm also having trouble with. While trying to solder a wire to the back of the pendant, I managed to solder the wire not only to the pendant back, but to my third hand as well. I had to cut the wire apart from the third hand and cut the wire off of the back of the pendant, too. Lot's of sanding later, I'm afraid it's going to end up being another pendant just for me.

My motto for this weekend is "Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again." I have to keep reminding myself that I'm having fun. Even as I make mistakes, I am learning.

I hope you're having a wonderful, creative holiday this weekend!

Cabs and a visit from my daughter - a nice combination

2009-08-29T23:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend, my local Bellevue bead shop, Quiltworks Northwest, is hosting the owners of Out of Our Mines lapidary and beadworks. It's the first time I've seen their beads and cabochons and I spent a good deal of time at their table. The cabs were of particular interest to me as I begin crafting bezel set rings and pendants. I picked up these beauties and one other that I've already set into a ring for my daughter (pictured below). There were so many more cabs that I would have liked to purchase and I'll definitely be going to their website in the future.

My 24 yr old daughter is visiting us from MN this weekend. It's so nice to have her here for a change. She made a terrific dinner for us on Thursday evening, we've walked, talked, laughed a lot, went to a movie (Julie and Julia), shopped a bit, and made jewelry together. She's going home tomorrow with a new ring and about a dozen pairs of earrings - she rummaged through my leftover bead stash and came up with some beautiful combinations! We've had a great weekend; I'll be sad to send her back to MN tomorrow.

Blue Impression Jasper

2009-08-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

A quick post this morning as I get ready for the day with out of town guests. I set this blue impression jasper stone into a pendant yesterday. I started it in my soldering class and finished it at 3:00am today! It's going to be a tough day for me today as I face it on 3 hours of sleep. I'm getting just a little obsessed here. I need some balance.

While setting this stone, I put a number of surface scratches in it. I tried polishing it with some of my metal polishes and added a bit of wax. That hides the scratches pretty well, but I'm wondering if anyone has some advice for me about how to polish out the fine scratches that I see when looking from the side. I'll try tumbling it later on, but I really have no experience with this sort of thing yet. I know it was foolish of me to not cover the stone while setting it, but... I guess I was just too lazy...which is a shame.

I think I'll be keeping this one for my own wear, as it has a sloppy solder on the bezel wire. It looks like I almost fried the metal. I may dip the whole thing in liver of sulfur; that might hide the mark. This was an experiment and my first time soldering at home. For now I'm using a propane torch and the heat is a little different than the acetylene ones we use in class. It will take some getting used to. But overall, my soldering skills are improving nicely. I'm loving working with fire.

Why rivet when you can solder? I CAN solder!

2009-08-12T20:56:00.000-07:00

Today was day 2 of 4 in my soldering class at Pratt Fine Art Center in Seattle. What a fun day! We learned a few new techniques including sweat joints, soldering wire to sheet and soldering posts to earrings. Our teacher for this class is Roger Horner and he's an excellent teacher and craftsman. He primarily works with hollow ware. He's patient, knowledgeable and informative; I feel fortunate to be learning from him.

Before today's class, I made the components (links and spirals) for the pictured bracelet. Today, I soldered the sterling wire spirals to the sterling links during class. The bracelet has 8 links and 5 of 8 solders worked on my first try. The remaining 3 had to be soldered twice, but all worked fine on the second go round, so I feel really good about them. I also soldered spiral links shut for a necklace similar to one I've posted in the past, but now there will be no chance of the links sliding off their connecting rings.

As I expected, soldering will add another level of professionalism to my jewelry. Rivets, which I have done a lot of in the past, are nice for items that have an industrial quality to them, but soldering will allow me to add more delicate things and better finishing touches to my work.

I've spent the past week shopping for/hunting down items to prepare a soldering station at home. Boric acid, borax, TSP, Sparex, flux, various types of solder, torch tips, titanium picks... the list goes on... I'm almost ready! I'll be moving my workspace from the office to a spare bedroom (which will no longer be a bedroom) later next month. I need the room prior to that for visiting guests, but after that time, we will have 'only' one guest bedroom and a fold out couch in the bonus room when we have company. I'm getting so eager to move in! Right now I have my flex shaft set up in the garage and I'm planning a temporary soldering set up there as well. Oh, how I miss our MN basement and the wonderful workshop Rich had built (for himself) there. I could really use it now. Our WA home doesn't have a basement :( Who knew I would ever need or want a workshop of my own?

Building confidence

2009-08-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

I spent a wonderful morning today attending a soldering class at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle. You may recall my first experience with soldering in June was a very frustrating one for me. So, I signed up for this 4 day class (every Wed. in August) devoted just to building soldering skills.

The relaxed pace and skilled teacher were just what I needed to boost my confidence and hopes that I will someday be able to master soldering and expand my metalsmithing line. Today we learned all about various types of solder and fluxes. I found it really helps me to understand the whole chemical process of what happens to the metal when it's heated as well as what happens to the solder and how it flows. The process makes so much more sense to me now and as a result, I'm having an easier time with the skills involved.

The treble clef bracelet pictured above is a custom order prototype experiment at the request of one of my etsy customers (I love repeat customers!). I formed the bracelet a few days ago out of a single piece of copper wire. I brought it along to class today to try my hand at soldering the places where the wire overlaps. It worked!!!!! Big sigh of relief!!! I'll be making it in sterling sometime in the next month. I spent the afternoon hammering, sanding and polishing it with my new Foredom Flex Shaft. I'm pleased with the end result and I think I'll be wearing it occasionally - because I want to "test drive" the design before I make it in sterling silver and because I really like the bracelet itself. I think I'm attracted to it for two reasons; one I love music and two, the treble clef has a spiral in it and you know how much I love spirals in my jewelry! I think I'll probably use a heavier gauge wire when I make it in sterling silver (I used 12 gauge here), just to give it a little more heft stability.

The ring pictured is one I made at my June class and my only 4 successful solders during that stressful 4 day class. I had originally polished it to a high shine and have been wearing it daily for 2 months now. It was getting all kinds of scratches in it, so today when I was polishing the treble clef bracelet, I decided to try giving this ring a satin finish and then oxidizied it lightly. I can always polish it again later if I decide I want it shiny again. So far, I like the satin look and I hope it will eliminate the problem of the ring appearing scratched. It's is subjected to all kinds of scratchy things on a daily basis because I wear it constantly - even while I make other jewelry.

A very good day - toys!

2009-07-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

New tools = a very fun day. Need I say more?

Two bracelets and a failing computer keyboard

2009-07-25T15:59:00.001-07:00

I'm back from my trip to MN. As always, it was a whirlwind trip trying to see as many people as I can squeeze into my 4 days.

The top photo is a sterling riveted bracelet that I made as a fundraiser item for the Randy Shaver Cancer Research & Community Fund in MN.

The bottom photo is a sterling and copper riveted bracelet that will be on etsy soon.

It has taken me 30 min to post this - my keyboard is sticking and responds only about 10 percent of the time. Any suggestions????

Something new & I'm off to MN in the morning!

2009-07-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

I love taking jewelry classes. Today's class was especially enjoyable with one of my favorite instructors, Janice Berkebile of Wired Arts, plus a really friendly, creative group of women. We laughed a lot today!

Today's class involved learning to make fused chains. We used fine silver wire, cut precision rings out if it, fused each ring (I was really out of practice fusing and ruined the first half of the rings I tried), then we stretched out each ring, folded it over and linked each one together to make this bracelet. I like it and am planning to make more after I return to WA next week. I think I'll play around a little with the size of each link and try to make something a little more delicate looking than this one. Janice experimented and put beads inside each link for a very interesting look. A necklace out of these links with large, sterling beads, stone and crystal accents is also something I'm planning to make in the future. Janice had one and oh, it is gorgeous!

Tomorrow, I'll be taking off to visit family and friends in MN for a couple of days. Hubby will stay home and mind the pets. I'll be bringing lots and lots of jewelry with me - most of it has never been on etsy, so if you'd like to take a look, give me a call and we'll see if I can fit you into my already busy schedule!

How do you mark time?

2009-07-09T01:36:00.000-07:00

When you think of past events, how do you remember when they happened? Do you mark time by historical events? By where you worked or lived? By who was there? By where you were?

It may be a bit morbid, and probably more information about me than you care to know, but I mark time by who was/was not alive at the time of the event. Like most people, I’ve had many losses in my lifetime. Today marks the 21st anniversary of my most significant, life changing loss. My first husband, the love of my life, was killed tragically in a car accident 21 years ago today. In one split second, life as I knew it would never be again. Suddenly, I was a young widow and a single mother.

Even though now years later, I’ve managed to somehow create a different life, actually a very happy life, this date is always one of great reflection for me. I am grateful for so many things; for 10 years of marriage to him, for the beautiful child we had together, that we learned to build a life out of love, hard work, humor, true joy, caring and understanding. His positive attitude towards life was contagious and I am forever blessed by his influence and love in my life. So on this day, I’ll remember, reflect, honor and give thanks for my many blessings and for the people that I’ve loved and have loved me.

Today, while we have the opportunity, let's take a moment to say "I love you" to the people we love.

PMA, PMA

Lydia's Filly - new website supports a great cause!

2009-06-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

One of my facebook/blog/etsy friends, Michelle of Lydia's Filly has just designed her own website. She makes and beautiful jewelry, but another wonderful part of her business is that she donates a portion of her profits to a great cause. She is supporting Operation Mend, an organization that helps wounded military get the reconstructive surgery they need. She sells her jewelry through her etsy shop.

She also has an Artist Spotlight on her website and has put my etsy shop in that category right now. Like Michelle, I donate the profits from some of my jewelry (the Awareness Collection line) to a worthy cause, breast cancer research, to the American Cancer Society's "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" walk. The earrings pictured to the left are part of my Awareness Collection line.

I think it's wonderful when artists use their talents to help support their favorite cause. There is so much need out there and I truly believe we all need to do our part in helping whenever we can.

Thank you, Michelle for including my shop on your site and for your thoughtfullness and caring for others. Be sure to visit and support Michelle's etsy shop and her website, Lydia's Filly today!

What should it be? Tell me, please!

2009-06-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

Another interesting day in metalsmithing class today. I'll start with the picture on the left. I wanted more practice cutting small curves, so I cut this design out of copper. I tried to solder it onto the sterling back, but was not successful. Ugh. So, I chose to rivet it onto the base instead. I did however, get a lot of practice with pickle, cleaning, sanding, polishing and buffing today! So tell me, what should the item in the photo be when it's finished? A broach? A pendant? Should it be worn vertically or horizontally? Angled? And, what does it remind you of? The original photo was a free flowing, curvy, spirally design. Now when held vertically, it reminds me vaguely of the old Dave Mathews CD cover logo from "Stand Up" (2005). The one with a woman dancing, arms outstretched. When I hold it horizontally, it reminds me of a bird with a curved beak and wings flapping. One of the rivets looks like an eye. I think there's a little seahorse vibe to it also. I'd love to know what it reminds you of and if I should hang it as a pendant or attach a pin to the back for a broach. Either will require a solder - yikes!

I won't say much about my soldering today; only that I tried and failed many times. I signed up for a class in August devoted just to soldering. I need that class.

In all, this week's class was fun, challenging and tiring but I tried new things and learned a lot. I'm looking forward to having out of town guests staying with me this next week and taking a little break from making jewelry. After 4 days of seemingly non-stop jewelry challenges, I could use the break.

A finished bezel set ring!

2009-06-20T21:15:00.001-07:00

My first bezel set ring is finished! It was another fun day in class. I finished setting the stone and polishing the ring. It's actually shinier than the photo appears. I also learned to make hollow metal beads that were soldered around a center seam; of course mine didn't fully solder around the entire seam though. I still need more practice with that technique. I also pierced and sawed a little more in preparation for a pendant. And I learned some different techniques for riveting!

My bench neighbor made a beautiful opal ring, but she ran into quite a few problems during the process. She spent the whole day patiently working on the ring, eventually with great success. But, at the end of the day she was so tired and discouraged that she wasn't sure she liked it any more. Sometimes we get so emotionally invested in our pieces that if a piece was a huge challenge, the finished product can either be resented or be loved all the more - as a labor of love. Her dad cut the opal stone himself, so I hope that when she sees the ring again tomorrow, she falls in love with it. After all, she and her dad put a lot of themselves into it.

More tomorrow. Four consecutive days of class is a lot of information to process!

Finally, some success with soldering today!

2009-06-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

My class today went so much better than yesterday, thank goodness! I struggled again early this morning with soldering a ring shank, but after 3 tries, my instructor showed me a different way to place the solder on my projects (place it before heating the flux rather than after) and it's been pretty smooth sailing with 4 easily successful solders after that! My main struggle previously was picking up a hot solder piece and placing it correctly, then getting it to come off the titanium pick. Placing it at the start works much better for me, even though I know I may have to quickly adjust the solder if it moves while the flux is heating. A simple change in my procedure and now my soldering is going so much easier.

The day was soooo enjoyable. Our "only" project today (8 hours) was to make a bezel set ring. The photo above shows what I have completed today. I'm not done yet, though. It needs to be polished with several grades of polishing compounds and disks and then finally, the stone needs to be set. I picked a simple jasper stone, fully expecting it to be ruined by the end of the project, but now I have hope that all will turn out well and I'll have a wearable ring. It's by no means perfect, but I think it will turn out to be quite good, for a first try piece.

I also fell in love today with the Foredom Flex-Shaft and all of the brushes, sanding, polishing, drilling it can do - all with a foot pedal speed control! It's next on my list of tools I just have to own. We all looked simply lovely in our dust masks and goggles!

This last picture is the unfinished ring with the stone just laying in it. Just imagine the stone set tightly and the sterling polished to a brilliant shine! That's what the finished ring will look like by late tomorrow. The class schedule tomorrow includes making hollow metal beads, riveting and soldering earwires to earring backs.

In case you're wondering, the 4 soldered areas in this ring are:

1) the ring shank

2) the bezel frame (portion that wraps around the stone)

3) the base of the bezel to the bezel frame

4) soldering the bezel frame and base onto the ring shank.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Wish me luck and fun as I spend the next two days in class!

A full day of metalsmithing class

2009-06-18T22:58:00.001-07:00

Whew! Today was the first day of my metalsmithing classes at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle. The copper cuff bracelet pictured here was the easiest thing that we made and pretty much the only thing I was successful at today.

After several tries, I think I'm now somewhat "proficient" at using a jeweler's saw and piercing techniques.

But soldering, well that's an entirely different story. I tried soldering 5 different things and only succeeded on one of them. The rest of the items I ruined, going so far as to melt my metal. Too hot, too close, too long, maybe my metal wasn't clean enough, too much solder, not enough solder ...my mistakes were many. I have never soldered or even watched something be soldered before, so everything about it was new to me. The lingo was new, the tools were new, and I felt way too close to my neighbors to be using an acetylene torch safely. Yes, my mother told me not to play with fire. The class was 8 hours long and by the time we started to solder, I was already tired, overloaded and rushed.

Tomorrow, we'll be soldering rings and bezels and setting stones into the bezels. I suspect it will prove to be another deflating day for me since I've not mastered basic soldering yet. I need to start back at square one tomorrow. I'll try to just focus on mastering the skills, then do some serious practicing at home in the future. Maybe far into the future. I know several really experienced jewelry makers who won't solder anything. But I have so many ideas of things I'd like to make that would require soldering, I refuse to give up on it - yet. The next 3 days of classes will be interesting!

Time for some sleep, so I can concentrate tomorrow.

Good Day Sunshine - even on a cloudy day!

2009-06-17T11:54:00.001-07:00

I just received an email from the Wickedly Chic website to tell me they have included my ring, "Good Day Sunshine" in the Daily Ditties section of their site today! You can see it here! This is such a surprise treat and honor for me!

So, even on a cloudy day in Seattle, it's a Good Day Sunshine. How many old songs does that line make you think of? I can't decide which one to sing first!

Another Treasury Honor and some new items

2009-06-12T10:37:00.001-07:00

I'm honored once again today by having my new pendant, Sand Storm, featured in an etsy treasury! It's the one on the bottom right corner. I love this pendant; the lamp work glass bead reminds me of a huge gust of wind and waves blowing up sand on a beach and I love the amulet frame I forged for it and the heavy sterling ball chain. The treasury is titled "Sand... beach dreaming" and was curated by Jill of PuzzleBoBuzzle. It's a beautiful treasury with many wonderful items and artists - be sure to check it out, click on individual items in it and also check out PuzzleBoBuzzle, too!

I've also listed several new items on my etsy site this week, so be sure to check them out here and let me know what you think! fyi, I originally made "Sand Storm" a few weeks ago in a class, but wasn't happy with it (it was crooked in the frame) so I took it apart and remade it into its current form this week :) I'm much happier with it now!