Thank You

Past, present, and future.....Thank You.

I have been feverishly prepping for the one and only show that I am vending at this year.  It is an open house at friend of mine's to benefit Borremeo Housing, Inc.(BHI).  BHI is an Arlington, Virginia-based nonproft that administers a two-year education, housing, and life skills development program for homeless young mothers, ages 16 - 22, and their babies.  Dani is always so generous to open her beautiful home to vendors and host this open house.  Every single room in her home is filled with potential Christmas presents. In addition, her extremely talented sister, Cathy, supplies the most delicious food NON STOP ALL.DAY.LONG.  It is a win/win all the way around - guests, vendor's and BHI.

So, I have been filling up my shop.  The necklace below features a beautiful lampwork cab by Susan Kennedy of SueBeads.  It is a stunning shade of purple with confetti-like pink and blue colors throughout. 

It features handmade infinity link chain, and lovely TINY gemstones of Pink Tourmaline and Blue Chalcedony dangling from the bottom, and four faceted Amethyst Rounds in the chain.

I actually sold a few of my Spinner Beads and was quite excited - one went to Great Britain, and one went to Finland.  Keeping my fingers crossed that they actually make it across the pond.  My postal tracking capabilities end in the US.  I did make a few more - SO.MUCH.FUN to make!  They rank right up there with my bangles!  I really like the thick copper satellite ring on this one.

The ring below features heavy gauge, half round wire to serve as the Spinner.

Been playing around with sheet metal some more and made a couple of toggle clasps for some bracelets.  I have been inspired by Ema Kilroy - she runs her sheet through a rolling mill and her toggles have the most amazing texture!  The bracelet below features gorgeous lampwork by GlassBeadArt (Sparkling Rocks in Winter White - MY FAVORITE!) and the toggle has been stamped - I HAVE to have texture!

This bracelet below turned out even better than I had hoped.  I checked - I have had these beads by Sheila Davis for YEARS - the color striations and the fine silver details are perfection.  So, I forged this clasp and then added some sterling silver rivets to mimic the silver details in the beads.

I hand cut the copper tubes for the earrings below - the ONLY copper in my store that has not been treated to a patina - so unlike me!  But, I really liked how Petra's (Scorched Earth) shiny copper complemented the bare copper tubes - so I left them alone.

I have quite a few pairs of these faux-ancient-looking lead free pewter charms from Inviciti - I paired these crusty crosses with Roman Glass.  I bought a strand several months ago from Happy Mango Beads and I use them so sparingly - they are estimated to be at least 900 years old!

Another Inviciti charm below - this one a Key.  The artist, Vincent added a  perfect verdigris to the pewter.  I soldered a thick ring of copper for the pendant, wire wrapped a Scorched Earth Black Heart and a nice, thick antique copper chain.  Simple - but still a statement piece, I think.

The bracelet below features beads donated to me by artist Mallory Hoffman.  A few months ago, she sent me a HUGE box of lampwork beads to use in my work - as I donated all proceeds to Miracle Horse Rescue.  These are even more beautiful in person - two of the rounds are hollow! (Thank you, again, Mallory!)

So much left to do before the show on November 20th.  But, I will get done what I get done..right? Right!

Thanks for stopping by - I love to read your comments!

xo
Patti

Evolution

We had a wonderful week last week - my niece and her twins, Ollie and Evie (now 14+ months) and my other niece and her son (Gavin - now 10 weeks) came to visit me and their Great Grandma ON THE SAME DAY!  Since I have been taking jewelry pictures, in MACRO MODE, I have lost almost all abilities to take a picture of anything else.  I apologize in advance for these crummy photos!

Mom and I invaded Babies R Us to have a stash of toys around whenever little ones visit.  Books were number 1 on the list, as Evie, below with my Mom, LOVES her books!

Don't you just love Ollie's bow tie??!!  My goodness, he is adorable!

I also purchased, appropriately colored toy bins - they had just as much fun in the bins as they did with the toys!  Never mind that Ollie is in the pink one and Evie is in the blue one....so cute!

Even Gavin had fun!

I managed to make a few new pieces of jewelry as well.  I titled this Blog Post Evolution, because I am finally using some beads that I have been hoarding admiring for quite some time!

 First up - I swear, I have had these lampwork beads from Susan Kennedy of Sue Beads forever.  They are large holed beads - I never use large holed beads, as I stay away from leather or fibers.  But, I just loved the jewel-toned colors!

I just added a tiny piece of sterling silver coiled wire inside the bead to hold it in place, and flanked the ends with larger, pewter nuggets to "hide" the holes.  

Speaking of Sue Kennedy, I also had this glass cabochon that I wanted to use as a focal.  So, I bezel set it in silver.  

I did not want to distract from this beautiful Ammonite focal - so a simple sterling chain was the initial vision.  I did add one additional bead - a handmade hollow bead - this time I crafted the bead in sterling silver.  I wanted the hollow bead to evoke the feeling of a closed clam shell - not sure if it does or not, but I still like the bead!

I added riveted chain and a gorgeous sterling silver shell charm that I commissioned from Lesley Watt  of  THEAElements at least 2 years ago (2 years!!)  I have a couple more of those charms in my stash, too!

The focal sits nicely on the wrist when worn.

I posted a picture about a month or so ago of these gorgeous beads by Donna Millard

I normally keep all of her beads in one gorgeous pile in a handmade ceramic bowl smack dab in the middle of my bench, sometimes for an entire year or so  (inspiration??)  What can I say, it makes me happy just to look at them!  I shocked myself yesterday when I actually plucked them from the bowl before their normal "expiration date" and  used them in this necklace.

I am not sure what I love the most about these beads - the dark, rosy red, the light pink, the flecks of gold, or that nugget shape!

The link above, by Cindy Wimmer, has to be my favorite as it is so versatile.  It makes an awesome  link, bail - or toggle clasp for that matter!  I have used it often.  I forged the heart from copper sheet and handmade rivets - a technique I learned last year from an e-course by Kerry Bogert.

All in all, last week was pretty good!  Back to the grind stone!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  I hope you all have a lovely week!

xo

Patti

Put a Ring On It

I can honestly state that I have never heard one complete song by Beyonce - I am a Classic Rock and Classic Country Girl.  But, the title lyrics seemed to fit what I have been concentrating on.

I added 8 rings to my shop, in multiple sizes.  I truly, truly was exhilarated while making each and every one of these.  Not my usual stuff.  Expanding the horizons.  All good!  Here are a few closeups:

The spinner ring below was a bugger to photograph - that is a crystal clear Blue Topaz, tiny cabochon, that likes to pick up the colors of every prop in my photos, no matter which way I turned the ring.

I always love the look of mixed metals, and was so pleased with the texture on the ring below.

Love this beaded wire posing as the satellite ring.

I had this Mahogany Obsidian cabochon FOREVER.

These stacking rings are THICK - 10 gauge wire - there was definitely extra annealing of the wire required in order to forge these into rings for soldering.

It's Monday...time to start something new!

Thanks for stopping by - have a wonderful day!  (I love to read your comments!)

xo
Patti

Practice Makes Perfect....so I continue to practice...

Anyone else ever feel like they are in a rut?  You know....same thing...different day?  I have felt that way with my jewelry designs for quite some time.  While I always use beautiful artisan beads, I try to add a new technique often to help me feel like I am expanding my horizons.  I dunno....

Here is an overall picture of what I have made the past couple of days.  Lots of metal, with a few choice art beads added in for good measure.

So, first up is this cuff bracelet.  I needed to make just one more tab setting to make sure it was not a fluke!

I just love how this one turned out.  I riveted the tab setting to the cuff, before setting the tabs on the sterling disc.

I have quite the collection of artisan lampwork cabochons.  First up is this lovely purple ammonnite made by Susan Kennedy of Sue Beads.  

I silver bezel-set this beauty.  It was going to be a pendant, but, I felt adventurous, crossed my fingers,  and instead, made it into a ring.

I intentionally sized this on the small side - it fits perfectly on my mother's index finger....have I mentioned in the past that my mother is obsessed with purple???  Well...she is!  She wore this all day yesterday!

Then, I happened upon this beautiful cab that I purchased from Kerry Bogert a couple of years ago.  She no longer makes lampwork at this time (snif!), so it is special to me!

I soldered the ring ever so slightly off center - again - I wanted it to fit snugly on the index finger.

And it fits exactly how I wanted it to - but it may look like a mistake to the average customer.  So, not sure this will sell.

Boy...do I need a manicure...and some hand lotion!

Anyway, I also made two spinner rings - each with a different hammered texture. Here is a close-up of one of the rings.

I kept the metal with silver on silver - I used a heavy gauge for the base ring and it is substantial -  has quite the spin to it - great when sitting at a red light!

Lastly, I remade a bezel set pendant.  I had this absolutely lovely Laguna Lace Agate cabachon from Lexx Stones.  I originally set it in the most ugly setting possible (unintentional, of course):

I am almost embarrassed to show the picture above!  I have not yet mastered asymmetry design - it's like I have a mental block.  Anyway, I set this monstrosity aside for two months - disgusted with its outcome.  Yesterday, I took it apart and remade the pendant.

Love the gallery wire - what a challenge to work with!  I had done some research before using this particular bezel wire.  It likes to "move" when you barely even touch it with a flame.  So, I used some steel binding wire to "tie it together" while soldering.  The back of a piece is as important as the front - well, at least it is in my eyes.  So, I added a little copper sparkle.

This is going in my jewelry box!

I think a few of these items are good enough to go into my shop....practice..practice..practice.

Thanks for stopping by today - love to read your comments!!

xo

Patti