Simplicity

These are some quick shots of a line that I have for sale at Blue Gallery in Three Oaks and at their Annex in South Bend. They are simple, stacked designs in sterling and onyx, new jade, serpentine, and golden obsidian with hammered sterling silver.


These necklaces are lariat style. There are also some traditional, horizontal styled necklaces that are not pictured that are part of the line.


The line is simple, striking, and reasonably priced.

Gemstones round the hoop

Among my latest work, these three pairs of earrings are currently for sale at Chartreuse Art Gallery. From the left, the first pair was created with blue topaz and smokey quartz gemstones. The second pair features different shades of citrine gemstones. And the third pair has moody, dark labradorite and iolite gemstones. The earring hoops were created from sterling wire and hammered to give them strength. The gemstones were wired into place with sterling wire and the earrings were given an oxidized patina for a vintage look.

Bead and Button - Steel Wire Intensive

Another class that I took in June at the Bead and Button Show was the Steel Wire Intensive by Brenda Schweder. I like the look of the wire; it has the industrial, hard aesthetic that I love. I also like the fact that it is a fraction of the cost of sterling wire. I also think that there is the potential for more unisex styling. So said I, as I surveyed the class description. The fact is, as I am thinking about it, is that I worked with steel craft wire years ago, and I was ready to reintroduce it to my repertoire.

The first piece that I completed utilized a large piece of beach glass from my collection of innumerable found objects. Brenda gave valuable info on how to plan out the finished product and tips on how achieve the desired results. Also, I created the wire choker for the piece, utilizing her techniques, which was the first time I created this kind of thing.

The next piece that I created with a transistor tube provided by Brenda, utilizing a caged technique where the object moves freely within the wire frame. The pendant is quite a large piece but it looks good and is comfortable on a long, adjustable leather cord.

Fortunately, I had leather cord in stock that was about the same diameter as the wire, so it works well with the design of the piece.

I am ready to do some more designing with the wire and I am really glad that I took this class!

Relics, Riveting, and Staples - Bead and Button 2010

One of the classes that I took at Bead and Button was Relics, Riveting, and Staples by Susan Lenart Kazmer. I have an incredible collection of rock slices, beach glass, shells, coins and other artifacts for which I was looking for new ways of working creatively. This class was teaching techniques that I had not worked with yet, such as sawing sheet metal, riveting, and metal stapling techniques. So the above ring is the project that I made in the class, using these techniques for the very first time.


So I thought it was pretty funny that I pretty much set my space up like the controlled chaos at my home studio. Some of the tools in the foreground (from left to right include my task light, wire brushes, bag of hand tools, anvil and pillow, jewelers hammer, ruler, jewelers saw, sandpaper, Foredom bits, and Foredom flex shaft. In the background is the 15+ pounds of stones and such that I lugged in, not knowing what I would want to use.


The first step was selecting the piece and scoring the shape in the metal sheet (brass in this case). I had a nice piece of petoskey stone that appealed to my love of rough stones.


Then I followed the shape of the stone to create a "frame" for the piece. Then I carefully drew the prong shape that would hold the stone in place, making sure that they were long enough to wrap securely over the edge of the thick stone. I cut this shape out with a jewelers saw - a first for me. Angi was kind enough to coach me on my sawing technique. It was a little difficult, and I broke one blade in the process. I think that I was supposed to lubricate the blade, but I didn't, since the class was not specifically instructed in that. Next time I will and hopefully that will improve the ease of the sawing process.


I sanded the piece, then used a textured hammer to give it interest.


Honestly, in future designs I will be a bit more judicial with the use of the textured hammer. In the end, I felt that the detail was overkill next to the texture and design of the stone. But that is a common designing mistake for beginners: overdoing it on the details.


I then antiqued the piece in liver of sulfur, to give it a nice aged quality, and worked it some more to give highlights/lowlights.


I created a wide band from contrasting silver sheet metal. I carefully hammered it around a ring mandrel to shape the piece into the right size for my finger.


In this picture, I am halfway through the riveting process. First one side of each piece is drilled. Wire is hammered at the end to give it little nail-like caps. Then the wire is drawn through each piece and cut, with just enough wire to create another little cap by careful hammering. Then the process was repeated.



Then the stone is set into place by the careful bending and hammering of the sides and prongs.

So this is an interesting test piece, and I can't wait to utilize these techniques to create other rings and pendants with unique rocks, glass, and coins.

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.

A trio of Blue Druzy Quartz Crystal Necklaces

Late last year I picked up a strand of Blue Druzy Quartz briolette-style pendants from a local bead store in Watervliet called Tradewind Beads. I purchase most of my gemstones from trade shows, but when I saw these beauties, I had to get them because of their luminous blue and white coloring, and twinkling crystalline structure. They are unusual. I have seen a fair amount of white Druzy quartz, but not in blue.


These are the first series of pieces that I created out of this find - From left, counter-clockwise to right: 16" sterling chain with hand-worked clasp and pendant bail, 18" sterling chain with hand-worked clasp and pendant bail (both antiqued and buffed out), and an 18" doubled leather with handworked clasp and bail.


Blue druzy comes from Chrysocolla. Chrysocolla is associated with tranquility and peace, intuition, patience, and unconditional love. It is thought to offer gentle and soothing qualities. The Cluster formation of the quartz crystal can be used to bolster group energy, enhance harmony and peace in a group, and other social/business relationships.



The pieces certainly are lovely and soothing, even if one knows nothing about their intrinsic properties.

Simplicity lets your style shine through

This is some of the latest work that is now for sale at Chartreuse. The earrings are hammered sterling wire with wrapped functional detail. From left to right, the briolettes gemstones are labradorite, African prehnite, and onyx. The earrings are perfect for summer; light, open, and full of great energy.


Here I paired the onyx earrings with a Tibetan Quartz crystal on leather necklace. The necklace is a personal favorite of mine. I love the hematite inclusions in the stone and the double terminated crystal formation.
Tibetan Quartz Crystals hold sacred energy frequencies and the wisdom of the ancient culture. This crystal can be used to enhance, amplify, and intensify transformation, releasing self-limitations, disease and disorders. Tibetan Quartz Crystals gather, hold and release a very high energy and tend to contain a very powerful "OM" vibration. It is also an excellent enhancer and activator of other crystals. {http://www.mythnlynx.com/MP.html}


Citrine and amethyst crystal necklaces were also created in this series.