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!

Feeling Blue?

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

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.

I Love Stones!

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!

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

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!