Studio Sunday: Cuffs

It was so nice to see the sun today and even feel a little warmth.  Relative warmth--22 degrees!  We've been in a cold snap and have been running 3 woodstoves, a furnace, and today I finally plugged in my little portable electric heater to keep my feet warm.  I'm so looking forward to the cold weather breaking!!!

After days of making earrings for inventory, I was inspired to create something more. It's been a while since I made a cuff, so I thought that was a good place to start.  I had a thin piece of metal that I reticulated and textured.  I made the front off-set and added sterling balls around the piece.  It's about 1 inch at the widest point in the middle.  Simple and classic!

Once I was working on this, I started another cuff made with pieces of silver that I fused and soldered together. It's 1 1/2 inches at the widest spot.  I added lots of balls along the seams and a single, rose cut iolite gemstone that is bezeled in fine silver.  The stone adds the right touch of color and texture that was needed.  



Here are the two cuffs together which makes their scale easier to see:

More creating tomorrow!

Studio Helper

I had a little helper with me in the studio today.  Well, he really didn't help, but he sure was cute--all curled up and nestled in his box. 

While Tiger caught up on his sleep, I worked on this pendant.  It's reticulated silver that I cut in 2 and added a long sterling silver wire squiggle and balls.  A rose cut, tourmalinated quartz is bezeled in fine silver at the bottom.  The pendant is suspended from a sterling silver rolo chain. 

I like the movement flowing through the piece--it moves your eye from the top, through the body of the pendant and then around the stone and back up again. 

I'm pushing through the dreary January blues and doing what I know.  I'm hoping a surge of creativity will emerge soon!

Snow Day

While it was looking like this outside:

I was busy working away at my bench, pushing my way through some new earring designs.  Between shoveling the decks twice and playing with the dog, I managed to make these:

The small pair on the left are reticulated silver with 6mm aventurine cabochons; the pair on the right has chalcedony beads dangling below; the bottom pair is larger and all silver.  Not bad for a day that kept me preoccupied watching the robins eat the remaining berries off our winterberry shrubs.

A Week In--Already!

Well here we are, a whole week into the new year!  How the time just flies by!  I started the new year off by cleaning and am still at it.  The whole studio is in such dire need of organizing that I've put off most creating until I achieve some sort of order.  Not that I create in a clean environment--I don't, but there comes a point when one must put some things away and start the whole process over again. 

And when I give myself a little break from all the dust, I created this new reticulated pendant:

It's about 3 inches long and fully articulated.  Not the best photo, but you get the idea.  It's suspended from a sterling cable neckwire.  Simple, classic, and very versatile. 

Best get back to it!