Turquoise Treasure on Leather

My friend gave me a bead that she got from a music festival over the summer and asked me to do something with it. I revisited the wrapped wire frame design that has figured prominently in my previous work.


I created seven loops to attach the spike details. All of the wire and findings are sterling silver. I really rather like this side of the piece as one can see the carved detail of the bead more clearly as it is not obscured by the coloring of the stone.


I opted to use a graceful "S" clasp design to add more interest to the back. I can't wait for her to see what I have done with her bead!

My Heart - That's Amore'

A friend sent me a piece of red coral and gave me creative carte blanche to make a piece for her. It was a sizable chunk, larger on one side than the other. As I mused over its form, it seemed that on its side, the shape was evocative of a heart. So I decided to utilize some of the new skills that I had learned at Bead and Button this past spring in Susan Lenart Kazmer's class - Relics, Riveting, and Staples. I would mount the piece on a back plate with a head pin through a silver disc which would hold the coral in place and would also serve as a decorative element in the pendant. I also decided to do something totally new for me and put a word onto the pendant. I chose "amore" to reflect upon the heart shape, but also because this person is such a warm-hearted, passionate person, it just really seemed to resonate through and through.


I took a plate of sterling silver and after determining the dimensions, I used my new jewelers saw to cut the piece to its designated size.


Safety glasses are always sexy.


In this picture, I am filing the sharp edges of the metal plate and rounding the corners.


So now at this point I have my blank plate, and a head pin that I created with my torch. It was critical to get the properly sized gauge wire that fit the hole of decorative disk for a secure fit.


In keeping with the organic nature of the coral, I hand chased the surface with hammer-struck punches to create visual interest and a natural visual transition.

I didn't take pictures of the process of stamping the word "amore" onto the piece. It required my full attention to properly place the letters.

It was also an adventure getting a small drill bit to create a hole to fit the the diameter of my wire. Fortunately, I got some advice to pick up metal drill bits locally at a welding supply shop which are used in that trade for cleaning welders. They worked brilliantly! And it was totally a bonus that they were inexpensive and I could support a local business.

I then oxidized the silver part of the pendant, wire, chain, and clasp prior to putting the elements together. Liver of sulfur would have damaged the delicate coral.

After I designed and assembled the necklace, I methodically polished the surfaces to get a soft luster.


Red coral pieces really complemented the focal point of the necklace.


This is a close-up of the clasp of the necklace.


The pendant turned out beautifully. There is also a signature secret stamp on the back of the piece.


The necklace is a vibrant, completely unique piece. It was such a pleasure to have someone trust me to create this special, timeless treasure.

Beach glass bracelet for the new college graduate

A customer commissioned a bracelet as a present for a young woman who will be graduating from college. She gave me her beach glass collection so that I could select pieces and design the piece. In addition to the beach glass, I knew that I wanted to incorporate a citrine crystal into the piece (2nd from right) as it promotes success, prosperity, and abundance to the wearer. This was a fitting energy for a young woman as she makes the transition from the world of academia to whatever may lay ahead.

I decided on a charm style bracelet which would highlight the unique components, textures and colors of each piece that was attached to the chain. As I was sifting through the basket of beach glass, the stone in the middle caught my attention right away. It is an unique piece and has great texture. Then as I selected the pieces of beach glass, I found the crinoid (to the right of the stone) which is a great lake find. My final flash of inspiration was to incorporate a penny into the piece, which played off the meaning of the citrine crystal. To really personalize the piece, I had the giver of the piece find out the recipient's birth year and so the penny was selected accordingly.


Each piece was drilled and I attached each securely to the sterling chain of the bracelet. It has a solid, easy to use sterling lobster claw clasp. It a very unique, personalized piece for the young woman who will be receiving it.

Beach Glass for the Bat Mitzvah - Life's Cycles

This is a commissioned piece for a young lady's Bat Mitzvah. It features a piece of beach glass from the givers personal collection.




While the spiral detail works well as a design element, it also functions as a significant ancient feminine symbol. In ancient Britain, the spiral seems to have been associated with the feminine as the doorway to life. It has been associated with the cycles of time, the seasons, the cycle of birth, growth, death, and then rebirth. The cycles of time and nature are the cycles of life. This imbues the piece with many levels of significance for the the girl who is making the transition to young woman.

Jewels from the Lake

I completed another multi-piece beach glass necklace that is a commission piece. I took their jar of beach glass to my studio and sifted through it to find pieces that were the right size and shape, to create continuity in the design. It measures 17 1/2" in length with a toggle clasp.



The necklace is designed to hang about an inch below the hollow of the customer's throat. The design is kept simple to keep the focus on each unique piece of translucent glass.

Beach glass and gold

I don't work with gold very often, because it is so expensive and I also aesthetically prefer sterling. But I had a commission request to work a piece of beach glass with gold to fit over the pictured gold necklace. I worked out the design and the fit of the pendant with copper wire.


The bail/design element is constructed from 16 gauge, 14 karat gold wire. It is shaped and hammered on the front to give it the graceful curve. Then the bail is also lightly hammered to repeat the design motif and to connect with the linear element of the necklace.

The piece worked out well and the person loved her memento of her summer lake home.

Modifying a custom bracelet to make it longer

This is a multi-strand bracelet fashioned out of sterling silver. Amethyst, lapis, rough sapphire, Tibetan quartz crystals, freshwater pearls, abalone and sterling pieces make up the "charms" of the bracelet.

This bracelet was commissioned by my brother for his girlfriend. He gave me a budget and then let me design the piece according to what I already know about her style.

It didn't take long at all for the design of the piece to come together. I knew right away that I would be working with deep blue and purple hues. She has blue eyes that seem to verge on indigo to me. She favors deep hues in her dress.

There is a very oceanic quality to the piece, deep inky water under a waning moon.

When she got the bracelet, it turned out that it was not quite long enough. A charm bracelet needs to have a little space and movement on the wrist. And Amber is a little bigger boned than I. So I had to make it longer in such a way that it would be integrated into the design of the bracelet without looking "added onto". This is the piece as it was originally designed:


I decided to to lengthen it with the same materials out of which the dangles of the bracelet had been made. The pearl had to be drilled to make the hole bigger to accommodate the 22 gauge wire. Then I put the nice Tibetan quartz crystal on the other side. Then so that the links transition well with the rest of the design of the bracelet, I added the respective rough sapphire and amethyst dangles at each side.