Stormy Weather - a pendant with thunder and lightning

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!

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.

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!

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...

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!

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!

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!