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!

It's all about orientation

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!

Robin Eggs

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.

Blossom into Spring!

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!