A few new things

 Autumn has officially arrived!  Here in WA you can tell not only by the calendar but also in the crisp morning air.  The color changes are inspiring me to create!
Here are a few of my newer items (click on the item description to be directed to the listings in my etsy shop):  This Veriscite ring was a custom order using the clients' amazing piece of minty green veriscite.  I was honored to be able to make the ring setting for her - a simple, sleek setting to allow the beauty of the stone to be the pure focal point.

Veriscite ring set in sterling silver

 And my Autumn inspired items (more to come)

Falling Leaves - Mixed Metal Earrings

Falling Leaves - Mixed Metal Necklace

Falling Leaves II - Mixed Metal Necklace and Earring Set

So, get out and enjoy the smells and sights of Fall!

Autumn is in the Air

Beach Glass Earrings in Olive Green and Root Beer Brown

Take a deep breath.  Do you smell Autumn?  I do!  I love autumn; it's my favorite time of the year as it brings cooler temps and wonderful daily bursts of color changes.  It's right around the corner.  The asymmetrical beach glass earrings that I created last week have been featured in a gorgeous Autumn themed etsy treasury here: "Putting the Rustic in Autumn"  Take a look at all the beautiful items that honor Autumn!  The treasury was curated by fellow EtsyMetal team member, Betsy Bensen  Thank you, Betsy!

New Work and a Treasury to Show Off!

Summer always seems to be the time of year that I slack off on my jewelry time.  Just too many other things to do that keep me out of my studio.  But this week, I've been busy creating at home while my house is inundated with painters.  So, after 4 straight days at my workbench, I have 3 new finished pieces (one I can't show you for a few weeks because, well, it's a secret). Even better, one of my new pieces is featured in a gorgeous treasury!

First, please click on this link to see the beautiful bird themed treasury created by Barbara at Ogdenarthaus.  It includes my turquoise necklace and also includes the works of several other wonderful artists.  We're trying hard to get this treasury on the front page of etsy, so every click and comment by you helps!  Enjoy a second of browsing, then come back to this page.

Here are the two finished pieces and the links to them in my etsy shop:

Ajax Mine Turquoise and Chrysocolla with Twig Accents

Beach Sea Glass Ring in Sterling Silver

Even though the painters are using low odor paint, I'm feeling a little queasy after 4 days of mild paint smell.  Time for a walk outdoors to clear my head.  The house will be painter free for the weekend, then they will be back on Monday, so hopefully I'll have more great pieces to show you by the end of next week, too!  Enjoy your weekend.

Sea, Sun and Sand - Dreaming

It's been a wet, cold spring in Seattle, but the past few days have been warm and sunny.  Even still, I'm yearning for an ocean visit with lots of warm sunshine and a walk on the beach.   I've just listed this gorgeous Peruvian Blue Opal and Lemon Quartz necklace, but it just makes me want the ocean even more.  The necklace is available in my etsy shop.

Mother's Birthstone Ring Set - She Loves It!

Last week, I mentioned that I was working on a custom Mother's ring set. The set of stacking Mother's birthstone rings are finished and the client loves them! Sparkling gemstones of sapphire, peridot and aquamarine are set in sterling silver. 3 extra sterling silver stacking rings were included so she can change the look whenever she wants! The photos show the gemstone rings alone, and with 2,1 and 3 stacking rings:

I love it when a custom order turns out well and the client loves it! This client was a dream to work with. Thank you, Erika!

A little diversion from a custom order

I've spent the past few days working on a custom set of Mother's rings. The end result is going to be gorgeous and I'm excited to complete them. The set consists of 3 birthstones, each one on a separate stacking ring, plus 2 more stacking rings to separate them. I'm waiting for one more supply I need to complete the rings, but while I'm waiting, I decided to use one of the extra stones to create this simple, understated necklace. The stone is a gleaming Peridot gemstone. I've set it in sterling silver and attached it so it floats freely along the dainty sterling silver chain. I hammered the top of the bezel for a little extra texture and interest. You can see it in detail on my etsy site here.

Aquamarine Necklace

Some stones just demand that their settings be clean and simple so not to detract from the beauty of the stone. This Aquamarine is one of those stones. It's been sitting in my inventory for over a year now. The cool color is brings ohhh's and ahhh's; it so soothing. I've created a simple bezel setting for it using fine silver and sterling silver. A pretty little sterling silver bail with a spiral accent attach it to a sterling silver chain. More photos and information in my etsy shop here.

A perfect gift for a late March birthday girl!

Poppy Jasper and Viking Knit!

After a couple of months making "smallish" things, I decided this week to create something a little larger and bolder. The focal stone is a gorgeous piece of Poppy Jasper, the accent stone is carnelian. The chain is really special - an 18" Viking Knit chain that I made a couple of years ago and have never used before. That's a lot of weaving! It seemed a shame to keep it in a plastic bag for years, so I decided to give it some life in this piece.

I went to a gem show yesterday in Seattle and picked up a few goodies that you'll see soon. And I'm working on an aquamarine piece - just in time for March birthdays!

I've been busy!

I've been so busy at my workbench this past month, I've neglected my blog. Here are some of the pieces I've made in the last few weeks:
This was a custom order; hollow circle with sterling on one side and copper on the reverse side. It is sold, but I've left the listing in my etsy shop so people can take a look at it here.

A tube-set lavender cz ring, size 5. This ring is in my etsy shop here and includes 2 stacking rings.

A Russian Charoite necklace with a lavender tube-set cz as an accent. This necklace is listed in my etsy shop here.

An icy & modern triangle shaped sun stone, box set with a double ring shank. This one is sold already, but again I'm leaving it on my etsy site so you can see it here. Thank You!

A piece of olive green beach glass, set in sterling silver. The glass is from the shores of Victoria, B.C. It's available in my etsy shop here.

These cute little earrings have lavender tube-set cz's. Have you noticed I've been having fun with tube settings lately? These are in my etsy shop here.



Another gorgeous piece of beach glass from the shores of Victoria, B.C. In my etsy shop here.

And yet one more tube-set lavender cz in a sweet little necklace. This will be in my etsy shop soon.

Lucky for you, my supply of lavender colored cz's is running low. Tube settings are a fairly new thing for me and I wanted to do several of them to get in the groove. Now to wait for a bright day to take decent photos.

New Year, New Work

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!

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!

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

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

Happy Shopping Everyone!

I'm going through a purple phase...

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

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.

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

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!

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

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!

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

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.