Eddie Vedder

I may as well just admit it . . . I am hopelessly in love with Eddie Vedder. He was the inspiration for this latest pendant, RISE. Or, actually the song is the inspiration. It is one of my very favorites. He is just simply amazing. Of course, the word "hopeless" is key to the infatuation since Eddie Vedder doesn't even know that I exist. Dave has no worries about me actually running away with him. I'll just watch You Tube clips when I need my fix, and get back to work.

The construction of the pendant went pretty well until I tried to solder on the ring at the top to attach a chain to. That little part took several tries (and an extra hour or two). I finally realized that the pieces of silver just didn't have enough surface contact. Once I formed a new loop and propped it up the soldering went as well as could be expected. The cabochon is a Red Picasso Jasper from an artist on Etsy. It has a fabulous brush of green on the top and it looks splendid with this faceted garnet wrapped chain, don't you think?

Adventures In Metalsmithing - OR - The Grass Is Green Enough Where I Stand!

Here's another lovely experiment. I would love to say that creating this piece was a joy, super easy and fun. Anything but! It was tough! I worked on this one on and off for 2 whole days! At one point, I just had to walk away from it. I ruined 3 pieces of bezel wire! And to top it all off, my bezel wire slipped just slightly while I was soldering the pieces together so the final stone lays crooked! All the same, I love it! This is a gorgeous "green sea sediment jasper" that I purchased from a lovely artist on Etsy about a year ago. The colors are exquisite! Just looking at it conjures up feelings of green, spring, meadows, newness and growth. I couldn't find an adequate quote for the back, so I filled in the space with words that say "green" to me.

I learned a lot while making this piece. The whole time, I was using proper techniques, I just couldn't get it hot enough from beneath for the solder to flow in the right direction (it kept going up). I finally brought out my plummer's torch and that did the trick. One of these days, I will have proper tools, but in the meantime, I am loving the challenge of making do with what I have. That's a lesson for life if I ever had one!

Labradorite Pendant Necklace

How I love a good experiment! This is one of the 5 Labradorite cabs I purchased at the Costa Mesa show a few months back. I have dreamed about these stones ever since I bought them, and finally made the time to bust out my soldering equipment and and do something with them. I'm a little rusty, and I don't quite have the proper tools, but I'm pleased as punch at my first pendant. This is a high dome cab with an amazing flash, gorgeous color! I am just in love with this stone, and this necklace seems to match just about everything I wear. I am eager to try another setting. I can only get better the more I try! By the way, I had a lot of fun trying to take the photo of me in the mirror. I was laughing so hard for some of the shots, they're just too silly to post.

Hammered Copper Initial Pendants and Mother's Necklace

Here are some more necklaces I made at Christmastime. I just love it when someone finds my blog on the web and commissions me to make custom pieces for them! The top shot is for James, who had me make these lovely copper hammered initial pendant necklaces for his 4 girls. James was the nicest man to work with. It was as though he had been in my studio a hundred times and knew just what questions to ask. This was a really fun project to work on and I hope his girls just love their personal necklaces.

The second one was for Derrick, who wanted something sparkly and special for his wife. It includes all five of their boys names and enough Swarovski crystals to shine to the moon and back. This was also a great collaboration and I really enjoyed making this piece.

Mother's Necklace and Initial Pendant

I love helping people give great gifts! These photos are of projects I did for my friend, LeeAnn, to give as Christmas presents. Above, is a mother's necklace. It's classic, timeless, and matches everything! The chain on this one is 24" long and can easily be layered with other necklaces.

Below, is for Tyler, LeeAnn's cute teenage daughter. This one is also versatile and fun to layer. It is earthy and organic with just a hint of sparkle. The strand is a mix of various semi-precious stones.

Chan's EXCELLENT Adventure

So, the Gem Faire came to town a couple of weeks ago. This is the same Gem Faire that I usually visit in Salt Lake, but it came to Costa Mesa! Our Saturday schedule has been really crazy lately and I didn't think I could possibly go, but I made arrangements to sneak away for a couple of hours to get some badly needed supplies. I even made it there and back without the GPS!! (Even ran into my dad who was in town on a visit!) As usual, I walked away with a little bit more than I needed, plenty to get some creative juices flowing. These amazing stones from left to right are: labradorite cabochons, moss aquamarine cubes, moss aquamarine rondells, faceted ruby rondells, labradorite coins, and two lovely strands of pyrite to add a bit (more) of sparkle! Wow, am I excited to have some time to play around with these! I have a couple of designs already in mind. We'll just have to see what evolves!

REMEMBER Diana

So, this is my first post in a really long time. I've been making plenty of cool stuff, just haven't had the time to post. I also had to switch computers and am not very familiar with the photo editing software and that has been a stumbling block to my posts! Add to that a move to California in a week and a half (!?#%*!?), I guess you could say I've been pre-occupied. I know, excuses, excuses. But, I have been snapping lots of photos, and I promise that I will get caught up over the next couple of months . . .

Tomorrow is Diana's birthday. She's like, waaay up there on my list of fabulous kindred spirits. Melissa asked me to make Diana a bracelet for her birthday to help her REMEMBER a certain thing. Apparently, blue is the REMEMBER association color for Diana. So, I jumped at the chance. Happy Birthday, Diana. I hope you REMEMBER the very important thing that you are supposed to, and I hope that every time you REMEMBER it, you also REMEMBER how dear you are to me, and that I will always love you, no matter how far away I live, or how busy I get. I will always come back to you (in some way . . .).


Here's another view . . .

Custom Heart Rings

These sweet little chunks of silver and copper are this year's Valentine's Presents for my girls, Zoe and Zalea. Zoe's is a size 6 1/2 and Zalea's is a size 3. They will never let me measure their ring size without asking me any questions again!

Cowboy Loves His Granola Girl

Here's a commissioned piece I was asked to make for somebody for Christmas (Thanks, you know who you are!) I gave it a "test run" today (you know, just to make sure it doesn't fall apart or anything . . . ), and Dave (the good husband) pointed out that it ain't no sissy heart - this is a rocking tough-girl heart that flies. Man, does it fly! I'm expecting that the recipient will like it, however, if she doesn't, I'll gladly keep it and wear it every day.

Kind and Generous

I'm giving these necklaces as Christmas presents this year, along with a copy of Natalie Merchant's fabulous song "Kind and Generous." It attempts to put into words the feelings I have for those wonderful souls who show up on my porch with dinner, run my kids here and there, and are so full of encouraging words and inspiration. "I want to thank you, show my gratitude, my love and my respect for you, I want to thank you . . ."

HOPE Copper Quote Link Bracelet

A few weeks ago, I released some energy into this awesome HOPE bracelet. Beating something up is never quite productive enough for me, but hammering a quote into raw metal and forming it into something beautiful does wonders for my spirit. This quote is from Emily Dickinson and reads: "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all." Here is a closer view:


I left the copper raw and as it's been sitting out it has developed a really funky patina. I haven't decided yet if I will change it or just let it age naturally. We'll just have to see . . . it has a life of its own.

Lil' Mint

Cheryl had me make a fun necklace for her daughter, who they call "Lil' Mint."

More Fun Projects . . .

Above is a metal-worked flower pendant that I made for my six year-old, Z. She keeps coming into my studio and "sketching" what she wants me to make - I have a whole stack of her drawings and they usually involve flowers. I used a giant crystal copper Swarovski for the center and riveted straight through it to connect all of the pieces. It is a lovely little piece that swings happily around her little neck.

A "C" pendant, for me!

And a "T" pendant for my dear friend, Tawny. (Who I rarely see, but still love and think about often!)

Four Copper Quotes for Lizzie Mac

My friend, Liz, has been through quite a battle with thyroid cancer. She recently met three friends at a conference and they had such an instant great connection that she wanted to celebrate with matching necklaces. The front says "the future is as bright as your faith," and the back has each of their names on it. These pendants were really fun to make, they're each different from each other, and they will be really easy to add to, such as a charm or crystal.

All In A Day Off

I had a few hours on my recent "day off" to work on some projects. These 4 celebrate (from left to right): a wedding, birth of a daughter, birthday celebration for a new 14 year-old, and my own mid-life crisis. This was a lot of fun! Thanks ladies!