Copper Pieces with Fern and Grass Textures

These are a couple of sample pairs of earrings I recently made.  I wanted to use the same process of roller milling smaller pieces of fern, leaves and some thin grass on to copper.  The copper was about 20 gauge to start and I think I will try 18 gauge next time.  The tighter or closer the rollers of the mill, the more the metal will flatten out.  I could have gotten the impressions a little deeper into the metal with more pressure.  These have been sanded and there is still plenty of detail from organic material.

I also used the easy and more natural process of adding patina with a hard boiled egg.  When I work on these pieces away from the studio, that is what I use.  The accent or patina color is a darker copper to a dark brown.  It's subtle and has a nice mellow look to it.  Liver of sulfur will produce a much darker to black patina.  I have sanded off the patina and you will see some shine and some darker colored areas.

I will be making more earrings like this in sterling and would like to add some amethyst beads and maybe some labradorite.  Those seem to be my favorites at the moment.

Larger Sculpted Pieces

Well, I guess I've been busy making things the past couple of months!  It's true that you do what you love and I'm always inspired to experiment with new ideas for my beads and jewelry.

I decided that I make some average and smaller size beads, but I wanted to make some really large items.  You can see the colors look quite a bit different and I used a brown and black striped blend for accents that look like southwestern textiles.  I made a stamp with a sun sign on it and that is what is pressed into the earthy colored clay in the centers of the pieces.  The swirls also make me think of Sedona which is a beautiful town in northern Arizona.  The red rocks and scenery up there is stunning.

I used a different blend of stain on these as well and the matrix area is darker on these than the beads I posted just before this.  I wanted the matrix to look more blackish to dark brown here.

I will be making a necklace or wearable rosary with the large cross.  I made a double cobra paracord bracelet with the larger, oval bead.

Thanks for looking!

New Sculpted Pieces with Heshi Beads

I had seen Native American bracelets many years ago that had actual heshi bead strands wired into them.  I can say that for a long, long time I have wanted to try this with polymer clay.  I cut various pieces of the turquoise, coral and ivory blends.  I did string the heshi beads on wire and set that into the clay before baking it.  It was a bit of delicate work and took a steady hand... not to mention some patience as well!  After baking, I had to be really careful when sanding these beads in order to not nick the heshi beads.  These pieces were stained to give them a nice, rustic look.  All of my beads are sanded and buffed to this nice shine.  I've been busy stringing necklaces and making bracelets with these beads.

Liberty and Jagermeister Bottle Koozies in 550 Paracord

I've now figured out a pattern for Liberty/Sigg and Jager bottles!  I've made the Jager bottle in a foliage color, but I prefer the koozie in the black 550 paracord.  A person wanted me to make a Sigg bottle cover and the 32 oz. Liberty bottle is pretty much the same size.  The bottle koozies/holders are made from one continuous piece of mil spec paracord.  I have also added a draw string that can be adjusted with a nice loop on one side with knots and the plastic clip on the other side.

I had first seen the Liberty bottles at REI and they have really nice art work on them.  I have recently discovered that Sportsman's Warehouse is now carrying the Liberty bottles!  They are made in the USA of recycled aluminum.

Iolite, Fresh Water Pearl, Sapphire and Citrine Sterling Wire Wrapped Earrings

I've been having fun making some beautiful earrings with sterling silver wire, stones and fresh water pearls.  One pair is iolite and fresh water pearls and the other pair is citrine with various colors of sapphire beads.  These are not always the easiest to photograph!  The citrines were faceted on the front and back, so they are laying one way or the other.  Briolettes are a bit easier to photograph, but the citrines were just so pretty that I wanted to make earrings with them!  These are all handmade, even the ear wires!

If you like blue sapphires and the way tanzantite looked back in the day, iolite is a great, affordable solution.  Much of the tanzanite you see out there now has a lighter, lavender look to it.  You can get crystals in more of a true tanzanite color, but they are crystals!  I really enjoy using real stones and searching for nice stones to use with my jewelry.

Ruby, Freshwater Pearl and Sterling Silver Earrings

I made these earrings entirely by hand with sterling silver wire, small ruby rondelles and silver fresh water pearls.  I cut the base pieces for the earrings and wrapped with a lighter gauge of sterling wire and added the ruby beads that I estimate at 2.5mm.  Yes, the sizes seem to vary a bit and yes, they do have inclusions...  I could say that's how you know they're real!  Instead of using a head pin and wrapping the pearl, I used sterling wire and really wrapped it!  I used another double wrapped piece to connect the main part of the earring to the dangle and then wrapped the top.  I used 20 gauge for the ear wires and wrapped the front a bit.  You may want to use a lighter gauge for the ear wires if someone hasn't worn earrings all that long.  You might try 22 gauge and that will be thinner.  I like the simple wire vs. a rounded ones or a long contemporary style.  It had to make sense with this pair.  There are  lots of different styles of wires you could make, but one thing that's for sure, store bought wires or lever backs are really expensive right now.  These really have an Eastern Indian feel and I just love them.  Thanks for looking!

Handmade Sterling Silver OM Pendant with Sewn on Fresh Water Pearls!

Wanted to share a photo of a pendant I finished with the pearls last night.  I roller milled both pieces of silver, hand stamped the OM design, I riveted it together, drilled holes all the way around, wire wrapped the bail, oxidized the metal, sanded it, sewed silver and lavender fresh water pearls around the edges, wire wrapped and hung a large pearl off the bottom and.... I guess that's it!  I've never seen anyone sew stones to a pendant like this and it was kind of a spontaneous idea of mine.  Thanks for looking!  Yes, I've already listed it on my Etsy shop and can't wait to see what kind of activity I get on it!