Rebirth: Old made New

What do you get when you have a client with a collection of antique Native American silver pins...:

 

...who would like you to make a "Squash Blossom" style necklace?

An amazing feat of beauty, nostalgia, and a whole lot of WOW!

This is one of my specialties--taking something you own that you don't wear or isn't your style and turn it (or them) into something you will.  Let me turn your history into your legacy. 

Yes, More Flowers!

I was thinking spring was on its way, but I guess we're in for another round of snow!  Looks like a foot of snow--UGH!!! 
In the meantime, I've been playing with more flowers.  This time they are tiny four-petal flowers--they remind me of forget-me-nots, but still based on the hydrangea idea.  These are clustered along a curly, sterling vine with a 6mm faceted peridot that is tube set in fine silver. 

I also made this pair of earrings along the same idea and design as the pendant.  4mm faceted peridots are also tube set in fine silver and circled with a sterling wire vine and earwires. 

Lots more jewelry coming.  New designs for inventory and lots of commissions too.  Let's hope the weather people are wrong!  But it's a little too early for April Fool's Day!

THE Book!!!

You might remember me talking about a book project I started quite some time ago that involved one of my most fabulous collectors.  Well, it is finished!  And all I can say is WOW!

This is the cover:

It's a hard-cover coffee table book with a dust jacket to boot!  44 pages in all featuring our amazing collaboration--the fashion and clothes of Linda and the jewelry I've created for her.  (If I can figure out how to upload a pdf, I will show the whole book, but until that time), here are some of my favorite pages:

I was fortunate that my local paper did a story about the book project and you can read that here:  http://www.boothbayregister.com/article/artist-and-collector/10003

Another exciting result from the book is I'm giving a talk at the Boothbay Harbor Library on April 17th.  I'll be talking about how to make a book online using blurb.com, including all the steps from start to finish.

A great big 'Thank You' to Linda and Tom for inviting me into their lives and home!  I treasure our friendship!

Flowers for February 2

Here it is! 

The newest hydrangea neck cuff hot off the bench!  I love this piece!  The open front for easy wear.  The way it hugs the neck.  It's very wearable--and incredibly striking!

Details of the two flower clusters:

12 flowers here

and 8 flowers here. 

Not the best photo, but this is what it looks like around your neck:

Oh, what will be next?! 

More Flowers in February

So, I mentioned in my last post that I've been working on a new flower series--inspired by hydrangeas.  I thought I'd show some pictures of the work I've made in the last 2 weeks.

This is a neck cuff that I LOVE!!!  It simply goes around your neck and sits.  The cluster is made of 17 flowers of various sizes soldered on to 12g sterling vines. 

I made these earrings out of a heavy wire swirl and added the small flowers.  They have stud backs and look so very graceful on your ear. 

Here's another version of clustered flower earrings.  These have an earwire and sit just below your earlobe. 

And here's the ring I made before my last post.  It's a heavy 10g sterling silver wire wrap shank with 3 clustered flowers.   

More to come soon.  Another neck cuff is on the bench, so check back soon!

Flowers on a Snowy Day

Here we are, BURIED in snow.  A whole winter's worth of snow in 2 days!  Winter storm Nemo is finally winding down after dropping over 2 feet of snow and leaving an unsettled feeling over me.  Normally I would enjoy being hunkered down working in the studio, but storms like this--BIG storms--make me worry about my husband out plowing for hours on end and the possibility of losing power, and keeping 3 woodstoves burning.  But after several calls to Mom and attempts at shoveling, I got myself in the studio and just started working. 

It's so fun to watch an idea come together.  I've been working on a new flower series based on the hydrangea flower.  I started the series in November, but I was so busy with shows, that I wasn't able to explore it.  I made a few pieces before this, but thought I'd show you today's project and I'll show more soon.  

This is the start of a ring.  It's 12g sterling wire that's wrapped to form the ring shank and vines.

Next, I added 22g flowers to each stem.  I formed them first and added a center ball to each small flower and a fine silver tube setting to the large center flower. 

And here's the finished ring.  A 5mm yellow sapphire sits in the center, while the flowers have a soft, brushed finish. 

Just look at the sculptural quality here.  I love pushing dimension and creating wearable sculptures!  It's comfortable too!  More soon!

A Cuff Kind of Day

I got on a roll creating cuff bracelets last week and found that I continue to LOVE designing and making them.  Each one being so different and unique--playing with the texture and deciding on stones. 

In this piece, I wanted to play with an overlapping seam, so I created a separate front section to have the side pieces overlap that front piece.  I continued adding balls and curling the edges to soften the look.  Finally I added a rose cut Umba sapphire in a greeny-gray color.   

The cuff is substantial standing 2 inches high.  I just love the icy look.  Thinking I might try this one out for a while!