Newest Piece - Sterling Silver and Turquoise Pendant

 I am so incredibly excited to show you all my newest piece! I finished it last night at my metalsmithing class and I am very proud of it. I purchased a turquoise cabochon (a flat-backed stone without a hole), that has a rough face (not perfectly rounded on the top, it has some bumps and grooves that a natural stone should) for my first bezel setting piece. I sawed out the shape of the sterling silver back piece, filed and sanded it repeatedly to get it nice and smooth. There is a bit of Japanese influence here I think ;-)

 Then I created the bezel from a piece of wide fine silver bezel wire. I soldered the bezel together and then soldered the bezel onto the back piece, after I had soldered the bail (the tube that the chain goes through at the top). The bezel soldering part was a bit scary as it takes a while to get all of the little solder pieces to flow at the same time, without causing fire scale (a mottling of the sterling silver caused when you heat it for too long) or melting the bezel. I did it though, and then I had to set the stone.

Because the stone has a rough top, not all of the surfaces are the same height so I had to file and sand down my bezel to make it fit the contours of the stone. That took a while as I didn't want to scratch my piece or the stone. Finally it was ready; I popped the stone in and started to push the bezel into place over the stone, carefully fitting it all into place. Once the bezel wire was around the top of the stone, I had to smooth and burnish it, finally finishing the piece with polishing to get it to a mirror shine.

Lovely! I can't wait to wear this to the Farmers' Market this weekend!

New Project in Progress

I thought I'd show you a bit of a work in progress. I was asked to do a custom bib-style necklace that I had to order some shell beads for, but while I'm waiting for those to arrive, I was inspired by that order to create something a little bit similar, but very different. Above is my little tray that I use quite a bit now - my husband has stolen my good desk chair from my office and is using it for his second desk (yeah, he has two "offices" in our house, don't get me started, lol). So I am stuck beading and making most of my jewelry here on my living room couch. Not that I totally mind - I can watch movies while tweeting to you all or making jewelry, so it isn't too bad.
Here are some of the tools I'm using for this necklace. It will be a bib-style, and in the bib part will start off with a chain mail type chain (a very simple chain mail weave though). To do this, I need my bent chain nose pliers - both pairs! I also need my jump ring opening ring - the little round silver thing in between two pairs of pliers. This little ring is a Godsend for chain mailers everywhere! Pop it on your finger with the correct-sized slot facing out to fit your jump rings and voila! your rings open SO quickly! I also have round nose pliers and my cutters for adding the beads after the chain part is done. In addition, I have some files just in case I need to smooth edges.
Here are my beads! Well, some of them I have also already added some onyx and lapis lazuli chips to the chain for dimension. Above are chips of amethyst, citrine and cherry quartz (which, incidentally, cherry quartz is NOT a gemstone, it is color-impregnated glass. Very pretty and colorfast, but NOT a gemstone!). I also have my headpins. When I start my metals mithing course next month, one of the things I absolutely HAVE to learn is to make my own headpins so that I never, ever, ever run out of these little buggers ever again!
Here is where you can see the stages of the necklace in progress, though I am deliberately keeping you fuzzy (pun intended) on the final necklace's details. Gotta leave something to your imaginations, right?? At the top of the photo above you can see the individual rings which I link one by one to create the simple double linked chain you see in the middle of the above photo. At the bottom you can (hazily) see the chain now has all sorts of bead chips added to it - what fun!! By the end, you'll have a hard time seeing the silver of the rings - it will be almost covered with gemstone chips, so pretty :)

Hope you are all doing well, and once again, thank you to everyone who reads this, even if you don't want to leave comments, or are just an occasional visitor, thank you. I really appreciate you visiting me here, and I hope you'll find the time to stop by my Etsy shop one day soon :)

Have a great day!

Sweet Saturday: A Few New Things

Copper Snowball Ring

I have been trying to redo my jewelry photos and lo and behold! I've found some things that weren't listed! They should be up and on the Etsy site soon...be sure to keep checking back to see the new goodies...

Lindsay's Caribbean Blue Ring

Mostly I have just found rings, like the one of a kind Lindsay's Caribbean Blue ring, made with a beautiful lamp work glass bead, inlaid with gold foil.

However, I do have some new earrings that I want to show you as well...

Carnelian Arrow Leaf Earrings

And here they are! Carnelian stones are hung from graceful Arrow Leaf shaped ear wires, hand forged from 14karat gold filled wire. Gold plate daisy beads hug the carnelian for a pair of beautiful earrings, perfect to go from day to night! I'll also have these available in sterling silver.

Copper Persuasion Pearl Ring

And back to rings! The Copper Persuasion ring is one of a kind. It is amazing how many rings you can have in a little bag and not realize it!

Copper Midnight Ring

The piece de resistance! The ring above is made with a gem grade cubic zirconium in midnight black to contrast nicely with the copper wire. It is one of a kind.

Have a great Saturday, I'm waiting for my camera battery to recharge so I can take more photos :-)

We're a Favorite!!

~Looks Like This Really IS a Hit! Find It, and Others, At My Etsy Store~

I LOVE these rings - simple, uncluttered, they really let the stones (or other beads) shine. Apparently, El from IndieSmiles.com agrees! She wrote a truly wonderful review of my Carnelian Simple Ring on her website, check it out HERE! I am so honored, her site is great so make sure you visit it!!
In other great news, I finished one display yesterday, and I am almost finished the other two smaller ones. Now I just need to finish putting prices on my jewellery - eek, that's a HUGE task!
Well I must fly, I have lots to do still!
Don't forget to enter this month's contest - the end of the month is fast approaching :-)
Meghann

October Blog Winner!

~Mishkat Won These!~

Sorry for the delay in this post, but a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Mishkat! She won the earrings for adding this blog to her follower lists.
Check back for our next contest and goodies to win!
Meghann

Sterling Silver Wire Wrapped Stone Donut

~Front of Pendant~

~Back of Pendant~

Here is a beautiful pendant that I am excited to be teaching people to make at The Bead Store in Kemptville on November 6. I used sterling silver wire and hand formed it into a 'cage' to hold the stone donut. Then I created a wrapped loop with the center wire, and used the outer wires to make a decorative, yet functional spiral cage for the top of the bead. Gorgeous! Check out The bead Store's Website for details!
Meghann

Custom Rings are In!

~Custom Sterling Silver, Carnelian and Rose Quartz Cluster Ring~

This is a ring I made today for a client in the USA. She requested a cluster ring, similar to my carnelian and glass bead ring, but with rose quartz, as she wanted the healing properties of the two stones together. I confess I am naive when it comes to stones and healing properties, but I have to admit it sure looks amazing! I used a single carnelian barrel bead, 20 rose quartz beads, and 5 feet of sterling silver wire to make this confection of perfection. It took a while, but it was so worth the end result. I am incredibly pleased with how it turned out, and I know this is easily my favorite ring so far.
If you like it, I can create something similar for you, all you have to do is ask! Visit my Etsy store to see more like this.
Have a great day!
Meghann

A Little Bit of Sparkle

~....Love It!!~

I made this using one of the lamp work glass pendants that Louise Ingram of Fireseed made for me last month and wow do I ever love it! She made the pendant and four spacer beads with her wonderful lamp work glass skills, adding silver in them to give them a beautiful organic look. This is so pretty that I wanted to keep it for myself, but, alas, it must go to a home that will love it and let it see lots of people so it can be admired as it should be. I found some beautiful striated jasper stones to go with the pendant and spaced them with sterling silver beads to bring out the silver in the pendant. A sterling silver toggle clasp finishes the necklace off with style. This is One of A Kind so get it while it lasts! It is now for sale on my Etsy Jewellery Store.....okay.....GO!
;-)
Meghann