Finished Projects!

Well, almost finished anyway. I did actually do all the work you can see in these photos last week with the intention of blogging about them and linking up with the post on Art Jewelry Elements last Saturday but blogging time has been short recently.

So, this is what I did with the unfinished bits and pieces that I showed in my last post - apologies for the over bright photos but I realised too late that I'd left my camera on the wrong setting after taking photos of the boys! This is also the reason that none of these are on the website yet, as I need to go back and take better photos!

Chrysocolla "bubbles" pendant with handcrafted silver bead and smoky quartz bead - this is eventually going to be a long necklace on a length (or maybe a double length) or soft brown leather. I've made the back of the pendant just as interesting as the front as a longer necklace is more likely to swing round so I wanted it to look especially nice!

I knew I wouldn't be able to complete this pendant, partly due to time and partly because I am still using it as a teaching example - honest! I need to add a bail, tidy up the prongs, polish, and then the stone is ready to be set.

Another one that is waiting for that soft brown leather. The bird is a clasp that hooks onto the ring at the top of the Botswana agate, and I'm planning a double strand of the leather to complete it.

Of course, a blog post showing off new jewellery designs wouldn't be complete with a Moogin bead! I know I've said it before, but I absolutely love Mindy's use of colour. The cage above was made with the longer piece of curved wire I showed in my last post.

And this is what the shorter pieces of wire became! I made myself a pair of these pretty petal stud earrings for my cousin's wedding in March and I've worn them almost every day since. They are so light to wear and have got me lots of compliments - so they will be on the website very soon!

Although I haven't yet put the moogin bead pendant and the stud earrings on the website yet they will be there very soon - but if you are interested in them please email me- address on the left!

Daisy daisy

I realised last night that I never did show you what I wore to the wedding we went to at the end of October, so here it is! I've been wanting to make a larger necklace version of my daisy pendants for a while, so I took the wedding as the perfect excuse to make myself a prototype, and I'm really pleased with it. I was really comfortable to wear, and it stood up well to B wanting to play with it! He's careful with 'Mummy's jewels', but nearly 3-year-olds are only so careful so B is a good tester of my jewellery! Anyway, I have made another to tempt someone (hopefully!) and put it on the website here. It wasn't an easy one to photograph, though, which is why you've got a rare photo of me modelling!

I've also been making lots of daisy pendant bases. I try to keep some of these in stock as they are a popular commission but I have been running low. I even managed to decorate a few and actually photograph them for you to see! I've used onyx, aquamarine and some gorgeous rubies on these three.

The aquamarine one is for my Grandma for Christmas, but I've put one in on the website too. Grandma liked the one I was wearing when I saw her last and asked me to make her one, which was great as I never know what to give her - there's nothing she needs and only so many photo frames and cushions that she can fit into her flat! I think it's safe to post a picture of this Christmas present and Grandma is one member of the family who I know definitely doesn't look on my blog!

10.30pm Okay, who's put gremlins in my computer? The picture of my necklace has flown away! I've promised myself an early night though, so I'll find it for you/retake it tomorrow! Maybe the computer went into shock at the thought of showing you a picture of me....

Daisies

These are the projects that I finished on Saturday - I meant to post this yesterday but yet again my 'to-do' list was much too long!

I am so pleased with the cuff in particular. I actually cut the daisies out a month ago and after filing, sanding and in the case of the cuff forging into shape, sent them off to Goldsmiths' to be hallmarked. It's taken me until now to finish sanding, buffing, giving them a satin finish and then polishing, partly because I've been moving into the shed and also because I had spent so long cutting the cuff out that I was a bit nervous of spoiling it!

I've used the same daisy shape for both pendant and cuff, but the cuff has got daisies overlapping to form a row. They'll be on the website later this evening, and watch out for a matching pair of earrings when I've rolled out some thinner silver sheet!

At last!

Well, here it is at last! I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while and playing about with the template for a few days, so I thought that it was about time that I posted something! I can't promise that I'll write anything wildly entertaining, but I plan to post pictures of the jewellery I've been making every couple of days. So, to start things off, here are a couple of things I've made today while T was looking after our little boy.

I made the frames for these pendants ages ago but couldn't decide which stones to use on them until today. The spiral uses various shades of faceted carnelian and the abstract pendant aquamarine and labradorite. I spent ages trying to photograph the blue flashes in the labradorite! They will eventually be on my website, but I wanted to get them finished today so I could use them as examples in my pendant workshop tomorrow evening.

And a dainty pair of labradorite earrings too...

That's it for now - hopefully I'll be back in a few days!