The Christmas Crunch

I have been busily working away, configuring bezels into finished pieces of jewelry.  With a slight technical hiccup (don't ever buy printer ink from those companies that refill cartridges), I have been been making some pieces that use up some of the beads, pearls, and crystals that I had on hand.  However, I have several pieces that I have not photographed.  Look for a plethora of pictures to follow.

Fine antiqued copper chain with a triple pearl drop.
Accents of sage and garnet crystals.
$30

Steampunk koi porthole necklace.
Antiqued brass findings, delicate chain.
$50

Close up of koi necklace

Vintage anatomic heart illustration on green paisley.
Front closure with hand made sterling toggle
accented with freshwater pearl and Czech crystal.
$30

Note the depth of the bezel, adding enough heft to keep
the toggle in place.

Jumper on aqua Japanese paper.
Thick silver bezel on a suede cord.
$30

Substantial silver bezel, slightly oxidized.

Dressage horse and rider floating above aqua and brown paper.
Thick silver bezel and turquoise suede cord with silver findings.

Jumper and rider over a green paisley.
Fine silver bezel on a square chain, bracelet length.
$40

Offset view of jumper bracelet.

Dressage necklace
Black and antiqued brass chain and findings
Front closure with handmade toggle featuring sage and garnet
Czech crystals.
On the way to a new owner.

Close up of dressage pendant.

Vintage French anatomic horse head.
On the way to a new owner.

Fine silver bezels encase swallows.
Accented with freshwater pearls.
On the way to a new owner.

Trio of horse bracelets on double strand rolled leather.
$12 each

Ceramic Bead Series

A series of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings

using fired ceramic beads and antiqued brass.

Convertible necklace: The clasp allows it to be worn

as either a y-shaped necklace or as a circlet.

$35

Close up of red speckled bead.

Bracelet with pearl and red crystal on clasp.

$25

Bracelet with Chinese coins and pearl/crystal on closure.

$30

Series of antiqued brass and blue ceramic.

Decorative toggle clasp. Beads are ceramic glazed in speckled blue.

Earrings: $20

Necklace:$25

Visit my flicker stream!

Bracelets

Bracelets

One of the earliest bezels I made, using UTTE powder. As a

horse lover, much of my focus has been on equine designs.

A swallow caught midflight in a silver bezel. Antiqued brass chain

with freshwater pearl and crystal drop.

Silver plate 5 bezel series of a horse jumping.

Two delicate silver bezels surrounding freshwater pearl.

The images are tiny horse heads, facing towards the pearl.

A second bracelet featuring small silver bezels and horse heads.

The bezels flank a freshwater pearl.

Brass porthole featuring a koi swimming on an

aqua background. The chain is antiqued brass.

Another piece right before the first layer of resin is poured.

Just in time for Christmas

New products, just in time for those last minute holiday purchases. I have been busy twisting wire, connecting findings, and finishing bezels. Here are some of the newer items.

Chinese coins with garnet colored crystals.

Chinese earrings with copper chinese pendent in the background.

Mid work: circus horse on handmade Japanese paper

Art, interrupted.

Sometimes the pictures of the projects mid-work actually show the image better than once the final layer of resin is in place. The shine on the top of the work does not allow the floating image to really shine in pictures.

The heart has already been claimed, along with the horse face in the background, but the jumper and dressage pendants are still around.

The keychain image is a custom piece for a friend that recently lost her horse. This horse not only touched her life, but she touched mine as well. Working on these memory pieces brought back all of the reining and western riding that learned in undergraduate at Berry College. I rode on the Intercollegiate Equestrian Team, starting with hunt seat and moving on to stock seat (better known as western in the horse world). Brandy and her owner, Courtney were integral in my riding education, so working with her on these pieces were really important to me. The last picture shows the other side of the keychain as well as the bracelet of Courntey's horse.

And so it begins

For several years, I have been making jewelry for friends as gifts. Recently, more people have been requesting these as gifts for others. This blog will chronicle my journey into jewelry making...one that started over 20 years ago, when I first made my painted clay beads for friends, then sold them for a local charity. I hope to post many pictures.... Some will be works in progress, some works in success, and the inevitable failure (oh, how many of those I have had).

I currently have an etsy shop, but most work has been sold through people that saw my personal jewelry and were surprised that I had made it myself.

Dura Mater is one tough mother

Dura Mater started out as a joke between several medically minded pregnant women. The Latin translation literally means "tough mother" but dura mater is also a medical term for the outer layer protecting the brain and the spinal cord. My first time screen printing involved another pregnant doctor and me quickly inking the screens while using our feet to rock my weeks old daughter in her carrier so that we could get the process done. We did many onesies and other shirts for our families and friends. But it started a creative process that has ebbed and flowed over the last several years.

Recently, I have become more serious about my art, specifically my jewelry. So this blog will chronicle my foray into the world of creativity. Some will be posts about jewelry, some about trying new soldering techniques and some will be about my failures.