New Custom Handcrafted Heirloom Pieces!

I've been working hard on some new pieces for a show that I've been invited to do at our elementary school in Temecula.  I haven't done a show for quite some time and have really enjoyed every aspect of getting ready for it: brainstorming, construction, photography, display, pricing, even business cards!  It's kept my creative juices over-flowing the past few weeks.  I can't wait to see it all come together!  My goal is to take some orders for lovely Christmas gifts.  I love to be hard at work filling orders - it's one of the best kinds of creative therapy that I know!  So, here are some of the pieces I've made for the show.  Above is a fun pendant for Sandy's sister.  It's the usual silver name disc necklace but with a twist!  The circle names are her children, and the heart is a grandchild.  The loop can open and close to add or change charms.

"LOVE YOU MADLY" is my new favorite piece!  I love to make these hearts with quotes or children's or grandchildren's names, but this one is just for fun!  I saw a hand-painted sign on the internet that said "LOVE YOU MADLY" and knew it was perfect for this necklace. It is a whopping 2" by 2" square and is topped off with a hand-crafted rivited bail and a bit of silk ribbon from my adventure in Tucson.  You can see other brass heart pendants here, here, and here.

Below is another fun pendant - this one is quite large, measuring 3" x 1 1/2".  It shows off one of my favorite quotes by Robert Southey: "No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." This piece also has a hand-crafted rivited bail and is hung on a long sterling silver chain.

Here is a new twist on my usual silver initial charms.  These are hand-cut in copper and heavily oxidized.  I love working with copper because it changes color so much with heat and chemicals in the air.  Give it a little shine if it is looking dull and it pops right back to life. It ages and patinas so well, I just love the warmth of it!

And here is another "Copper Quote."  This is one of my favorite mantras: "find JOY in the JOURNEY."  This is a medium sized piece of hand-cut copper for an organic and aged feel.

And another!  Hugs and kisses are paired with a tiny silver heart.

 "The FUTURE is as BRIGHT as your FAITH" is a pendant that I've made several variations of (you can see them here, here, here, and here).  This one is done in a large domed hand-cut silver piece.

Here are my classic 5/8" domed name discs with a simple pearl.

Simple silver hammered hearts.  These are so dainty and beautiful!  Perfect for two of Zalea's friends with birthdays this month!

A copper hammered heart, soldered to a silver hammered rectangle.  The back reads: "You have my whole HEART for my whole life" and it hangs from a long faceted silver chain.

 
Of course, all of these pieces can be customized with different fonts and finishes and whatever sweet little nothing you want to say.  My objective with these pieces is to spark some ideas and hopefully show how easily they can be made into meaningful, personal, heirloom gifts.

Two more pieces, just for fun.  Above, a silver soldered star "SHINE" pendant.  And below, "sing, dream, hope, pray" from the quote: "Sing your song, dream your dream, hope your hope, pray your prayer."

Here's a look at my display with my samples all ready to go!

Rainbow Beauties

This past August I went to the Costa Mesa Gem Faire.  I was on a mission to re-stock some sorely needed supplies, and I ended up with this amazing eclectic mish-mashed collection of semi-precious goodies.  They are, from left to right:  Umba Sapphire, pink pearl, Blue Florite, Sun Stone, Peruvian Opal, Genuine Ruby, Labradorite, Tanzanite Quartz, Diamond Labradorite (2 strands), Ruby and Sapphire.  These beauties will make their way into all sorts of projects.  I can't wait to use them!  Look at all of this color!

Below is that strand of Umba Sapphire from the far left.  This is my most favorite stone right now.  I have transformed the beautiful strand into a bracelet and earring set and I wear them nearly every day.  Did you know that sapphire could be so beautiful?  It is so earthy, warm, and unexpected to me.  I LOVE the faceted cut of this stone.

And below are several pairs of earrings made from the different beads.  Beautiful dangley baubles!  My favorite!!

 

Teachers are the Best!

These past few weeks I've had the pleasure of making some meaningful jewelry for a special group of ladies at our elementary school in Temecula.  It all started with this wonderful third grade teacher right here:

This picture was taken last November when Zalea was given the "Student of the Month" award.  You know how a little bit of positive reinforcement goes a long way?  Well,  it worked for my little Z.  Her whole third grade experience was transformed because of Mrs. Souza's positive energy (and a little bit of yoga!)  Below is a photo of the mother's necklace I made as a gift for Mrs. Souza at the end of the year.

Well, this necklace started a chain reaction as other teachers and staff members have placed their orders with me.  I have never had so much fun making jewelry!  I've decided it is so fulfilling to make jewelry for people you know and love.  Here's a look at some of the fun projects we've put together:

What do you get for the baby who has everything?  A keepsake necklace for his mommy!  Paula had a few baby showers to attend and wanted to do something special for the mommies.  Here's one for Olivia and Jake's wonderful grandma:

 

 For Ada, we chose December's birthstone crystal:

Michele wanted a mother's necklace for a special friend. This is a layered name pendant topped with a silver heart:

 

And one for Michele with her mantra "believe - hope - dream"

Below is a birthday present for Sandy's sister who practices Kundalini Yoga.  "Sat Nam" is a mantra frequently repeated three times at the end of a yoga session.  It means, loosely translated, "truth is my identity."  The stone is olive jade.

Here is an initial pendant necklace for Valerie's mom.  The nine initials represent each of her children and grand-children.  The pink crystal represents October's birth stone crystal, tourmaline.

This is a special necklace for Karen.  The front of the circle pendant has each of her children's names, and two dangling discs that read "together forever."

 The back says: "FAMILY - our love is not bound by time."

And here is the finished necklace with Karen's drawing.  I LOVE collaborating on a project to get exactly what someone wants in a special gift.  This is an heirloom piece and I hope it is treasured for years to come!

 

Be as a BIRD, who, halting in her FLIGHT . . .

Zoe is turning 16 tomorrow.  It's actually her "golden birthday" because she is turning 16 on the 16th (and she would add that there are 16 letters in her name, thus making it extra, extra, extra special).  She made this sweet little silver bird a few months back - it's less than an inch wide (but looks much bigger in the photo) - because we were designing a bracelet together and she loves birds.  She kept waffling back and forth about what quote to put on her bracelet, and I think she finally gave up, because this silver bird has been sitting all alone on my work table for several months.  I've had this idea in mind for a bracelet incorporating an adaptation of a Victor Hugo quote that I love, (changed the pronouns to be feminine), and that suits Zoe perfectly right now.  So, I borrowed her bird - traced it, sawed it, filed it, sanded it, polished it, and soldered it - to work it into a beautiful birthday surprise:

"Be as a BIRD, 

who, halting in her FLIGHT, 

on a limb too slight, 

feels it give way beneath her, 

yet SINGS, 

knowing she has WINGS."  

Here's a closer look at the copper quote (but, not too close!):

This is actually my second attempt at this bracelet - the first little bird slipped when I soldered it, leaving what I call a "ghost mark."  You can see it in the photo below.  So, being the semi-also-not-predictable-perfectionist that I am, I started over.  To say that this was an easy project would not be truthful.  But it is soooo rewarding.  I'm planning to give it to Zoe in the morning to start out her birthday in a special way.  Here's to hoping that she likes it!  Here's to her Golden Birthday!

 I made a companion necklace to go with the bracelet.  

It is the same sweet little bird on a copper disc that says, simply, "FLY."

New Stuff

This is one of my favorite glass blends, it's called "Boro Bora" by Val Cox.  It is a beautiful mix of colors and the deep red is a "kiln strike" color, which means it only shows up after it has been in the kiln.  This necklace is for my friend, Ashley's birthday.  Happy Day, Ash!

This circle pendant is for my friend, Ann.  She has been patiently waiting for my oomph to come back so that I could make it for her.  The top photo is the front, which includes all 6 of her kids names, and the second photo is the back which has her wedding date.  This is a beautiful pendant with special meaning and I can't wait to see her wearing it!

Here's a Mother's Day gift for my friend Kellie's mother-in-law.  It's a hammered circle pendant with the words "mother, grandmother, friend."  And below, is a wedding gift for my friend, Ashley.  She was just a young sprout when we lived in Pleasant Grove (years ago . . .) and is getting married in June.  Sorry to say this, but that is making me feel really old!

What New Year's Resolution?

So, I'm pretty sure I remember sitting down with my family and making some resolutions for 2012.  I have a foggy recollection that I made some sort of resolution about making a blog post WEEKLY, or something silly like that.  Well, that resolution obviously went straight out the window!  Here it is May, and I finally got a full day in the studio yesterday.  I have some great projects to post, but just can't post new things until I get caught up with some of the pieces I've made so far this year.

Here's a sweet baby bracelet for my niece, Paisley.  The front has her name, and the back has a secret message: "love you always."  It is a sweet little piece for a sweet little niece.  Can't wait to see her wearing it!

And a simple heart charm for Zalea's friend, Aurora.  This is one of my favorites.  This heart is so small that it kept flipping out of my fingers while I was filing and sanding it.  I lost it in the garbage can so many times, I actually had to dump the trash out on the kitchen counter and dig through wrappers and pencil shavings to find it TWICE.  I need to come up with a better system when shaping pieces, but that's another story for another day.

So I have had sort of an epiphany when it comes to making jewelry.  I consider myself a hobbyist - an amateur.  I teach myself the skills I want to know so that I can incorporate them into what I already know and do.  I love my glasswork and I love the metalwork.  But I have come to a point where I have outgrown my make-shift tools and set-up.  I know what good tools can do, and I'm trying to do really good stuff with really poor tools, and I'm getting frustrated.  Like, yesterday, for example.  I was soldering some beautiful pieces (photos to come) and since I use a plumber's torch instead of a jeweler's torch, things got a little too hot and heavy and on one piece the silver got too hot (beautiful reticulation in the wrong place and completely unwanted) and on another, one of the pieces slid along with the solder leaving a "ghost mark."  I'm also frustrated with my studio set-up.  There's just too much stuff in there and I have to keep moving things to get to my supplies.  These factors are all keeping me out of the studio.  But, I have so many beautiful pieces in my mind, I just need to figure out a way to make this work because I really do love it.  I need to make time and space for it.  So, here's a good thing:  we are moving next month.  I have my eye set on a spare room that would make a perfect studio (except that the lighting is poor - something I can work around).  I think I can re-configure my stations and supplies so that they will be much more conducive to a good work-flow.  THEN, maybe then, I can break down and buy some good tools.  It would make sense if I was being productive.  I could be even more productive.

Custom Secret Message Necklace - BELIEVE

This is one of my favorite necklaces to make.  This one is for Aubrey - she is such a cute girl.  Her parents wanted to do something special for her for Christmas, so here's a fun personalized necklace with a secret message just for her!  This is a great pendant to celebrate ANY occasion.  Fun for weddings, thank yous, new babies (with the date of birth on the back), or any time you want to make someone feel special.

Custom Personalized MANTRA Necklace

Another beautiful project for the amazing Heather.  This one is for her sweet mother.  Heather wanted to give a "Mantra Necklace," representing her mom's best qualities.  She is strong, beautiful, and greatly adored!  Heather liked the look of this necklace (top), but wanted it in a gold-tone.  This was a fun project because it made me think outside of my usual box.  I work mostly with sterling silver and will often mix metals, always using silver as my base.  My stockpile of findings and attachments is mostly silver, so it was kind of like an adventure using brass for this necklace.  I'm always up for an adventure!  If only I could afford gold, but that's another story!

Copper Fortune Cookie Bracelet

Another project for Heather, this is a "Fortune Cookie" bracelet.  You can see more Fortune Cookie bracelets here.  The first one was actually inspired by a real fortune cookie message, hence the name, and the size of the copper piece is the same size as the fortune paper.  Well, Heather's sister-in-law's (also a Heather) mantra is "CARPE DIEM."  That's pretty much a fortune, isn't it?  This fortune comes with genuine swarovski crystals, turquoise jasper, garnet, moss aquamarine, smoky quartz, and my favorite sunny citrine.  The copper will patina as Heather wears it, giving it a beautiful worn and cherished look.  Seize the day, Heather!

Custom Grandmother's Necklace

Here's a beautiful Grandmother's necklace that I made for my friend, Heather, to give to her Mother-In-Law for Christmas.  Count them!  10 grand-babies on this necklace!  It is a really fun, huge (about 2 1/2 by 3 inches), handcrafted brass heart pendant that hangs from a 30 inch chain.  A real keepsake!  The brass heart will patina with wear, giving it a rich and aged feeling.