November Grays

There's something about November in Maine that makes you wish you lived somewhere else.  It has been gray and cold and rainy since the calendar flipped and now that we've turned our clocks back and it will be dark by 4pm.  Motivation runs thin, as the chores to prepare for winter stack up.  But, there are happy glimmers about upcoming holidays and events that will wash away the grays in twinkling white.

Well, I guess that's all of my November complaining--back to creating.  I'm still stuck on cuff bracelets and thought I'd vary the theme a little.  I've reticulated silver discs and joined them together to form the body of the cuff.  I then shape the body around the mandrel and embellish the seams with silver balls. 

I've been playing around with a large, beautiful amethyst cabochon and think I'll probably set it in this cuff.  Here's how it looks from the front after soldering a fine silver bezel and more silver balls.  I've cut out the back for the light to shine through the stone.  This is it from the side. 

The center disc is 2 inches, which is followed by a 1 3/4 inch disc and ends with a 1 inch disc.  The stone is 18 x 25mm oval.  Here's how the piece looks finished:

I started this other cuff and I'm not sure if it's finished or not.  It's 7 one-inch circles that are reticulated and fused together.  I formed the cuff shape and then embellished the second, center, and sixth discs with bars and balls. 

I like the repeating shape around the wrist, as well as the simplicity of the design.  I'll continue looking at it and decide if any changes will made. 

More rain and gray today and we had (and survived) our first power outage--November, it's a real challenge!