A chronicle of the meanderings, false starts (which in retrospect, while sort of embarrassing turned out to be highly instructive), epiphanies, selective apathy (still evolving), wild mood swings, opinions (subject to frequent change), and life lessons of an inveterate dabbler (and her latest dabblings).

Sunday, October 7, 2018

A Little New Stuff

Hello everybody! I took a little break from jewelry (the Muse was apparently doing other things!) but I'm slowly working my way back into it. I thought I'd start with some earrings--baby steps! I thought I would use my small supply of enamel elements as inspiration:

Here is a pair with some lime-hued sand dollars from Anne Gardanne:
Raspberry Lemonade
The little glass beads right above the sand dollars are lampwork spacers in "jonquil" by Michelle at The Spacer Bead Shop on Etsy (she took a break for a few years, so glad she's back! Crazy-huge assortment of colors and sizes). The little berry-colored beads are itty bitty pearls. I used a mixture of copper and argentium silver (a low tarnish type of sterling) here--the earwires are argentium silver.


This pair is built around a couple of enameled keyhole elements in pretty powder blue and mauve, also by Anne Gardanne:
Blue Jeans and Rosy Cheeks
I used copper and silver again, leaving the rosy coloration on the headpins from the torch. (If I pickle them in salt and vinegar after torching them, it takes off the black, but not the pink--yay!). The other beads are lampwork (above the keyholes), moukaite jasper, and etched glass seed beads.


Here is my other set of sand dollars, in sky blue and rusty red, again with copper and silver, lampwork glass spacers in baby blue, and pretty Indonesian glass beads in shades of deep red.
Blue Sky Sand Dollars
The little silver beadcaps are the ones I make with my hand punch from silver sheet.

Lastly, this pair is lampwork glass and Czech "Picasso" glass flowers, with just argentium silver. I liked the different glass beads together so much I couldn't resist, and I've never used these little flower beads before!
Farewell to Summer
I guess I was feeling nostalgic for summer...It's pretty cold here in the Rockies!

OK, that's all for now, I wish you a peaceful evening!

Friday, April 6, 2018

Southwest Heart Necklaces Are Back!

I have finally bowed to public pressure and have created another batch of my "Southwest Heart" pendants. (For a while after my first batch, I never wanted to see them again but I guess I got that out of my system. Plus I'm a little less tired now that my work load at the day job has evened out some, so I have some energy for creating.) I tweaked the design just a bit, but overall it is essentially the same:
Southwest Hearts 2018

I varied them slightly to keep myself entertained.

I have also created a small selection of coordinating bracelets:

As well as earrings:


If Southwest is your bag, stop by and check it out!