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!

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.

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!

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.

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 Secret Garden - Sterling Silver Rose Pendant

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

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

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

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

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

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 Serene Necklace!

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.

A Drop of Sunshine - Lemonade Druzy Agate

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.

Playing Catch-Up with Week 5

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.

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

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

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

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

Eclipse

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