Pearls Pearls Pearls

I love pearls. Diamonds may be some girl's best friend, but not mine. Where diamonds are flashy, pearls are more subtle. Their beauty comes from their shape and their iridescence, which can reflect a world of hues. I love the plethora of pearl shapes and colors. I love how they feel in the fingers, whether they are smooth and perfect and round, or bumpy and organic, or long and lean. I love using them when designing necklaces.

My latest necklace took as its inspiration a beautiful leopardskin shell. Shells and pearls certainly have an affinity, and I wanted to bring that out by using pearls which echo the iridescent hues of the shell. The two main colors of the shell are highlighted by lovely, top-drilled teardrop pearls in champagne and bronze. The shell's iridescence captures pink and green hues, which are also echoed in the pearls. Tiny seed beads with a golden glow, together with small champagne and bronze pearls, and lovely Czech crystal and glass beads, whose facetted surface twinkles and catches the eye with every movement, separate and emphasize the larger teardrop pearls. To finish off this necklace, I have added a 14-karat goldfilled chain, and a hand-formed and hammered 14-karat gold-filled clasp, which allows the wearer to adjust the necklace to match the neckline of a variety of outfits.

This necklace has been sold since I wrote this blog entry.

Pearls and Perils

I did return from vacation as planned, but was felled by a terrible summer cold that wiped me out for a couple of weeks. Happily, the wonderful memories of my vacation remained with me to cheer me up as I recovered. Additionally, I bought a number of strands of gorgeous pearls of various sizes, shapes, and hues, which I fondled and played with and daydreamed about even when I didn't have the strength to produce any finished products.

One recent afternoon, I was idling picking through some loose beads I had in my inventory, and the light caught a beautiful bronzite oval. The golden inclusions and rich brown hues brought to my mind the colors of a lioness. Before I knew it, my mind had created an entire necklace starring that bronzite oval and some wonderful golden teardrop pearls. I knew what I wanted it to look like, and it was just a matter of fiddling a bit with the more peripheral stones which, although not the stars themselves, play a very important supporting role.

I loved the bronze colors of a variety of facetted Czech crystal beads I happened to have, which catch the light with every movement like the glint of a lioness' eyes. Additionally, their deep hues highlight the lighter gold of the pearls, and echo the chocolate brown of the bronzite. With the addition of two beautiful smoky quartz facetted rounds, the necklace was nearly complete.

As I like to provide options for friends and customers who wear my jewelry, I wanted to make this necklace adjustable. I bought a length of 14-karat goldfilled chain, with delicate, hammered links, and made a 14-karat goldfilled s-hook clasp to finish off the necklace. Additional images of this lovely necklace are in my etsy shop.

Rock Crystal Columns

Several years ago when I was living in Peru, I happened upon a cache of beautiful, transparent rock crystal columns. Each one was enticingly different. Until now, only I wore these crystal beads in a couple of necklaces I made for myself. I have been very reluctant to part with the few I had left as I know I won't be able to find them again easily. But they are so much fun to work with, and I wanted to experiment with a necklace that both emphasized and contrasted their smooth shape and transparent essence.

I took some sterling wire and handformed some links that echoed the shapes of the crystal. I made some small jumprings to connect these links, and realized how much I liked the contrast of circular and columnar, so I made some larger circular links as well. I found some sterling silver pumpkin beads in two different sizes, and then started playing with it all. I decided the crystal beads needed something to emphasize them more, as their transparency gives them a tendency to dissolve from view. I happened to have some simple bead caps and, for some real contrast in texture, I added some granulated sterling silver spacer beads, which incorporate the columnar shape of the rock crystal, as well as the round links and beads. All that was left was to weave it all together in the most visually pleasing way possible.

Celestial Sphere Earrings

Circles are popular these days. Earrings with circles are really popular. Earrings with sterling silver circles are really truly popular. So how to make yours stand out, I asked myself. Never one to spend much advance time plotting how to corner the market on sterling silver circle earrings, I just picked up some wire and began.

First, I made two large circles of 20 gauge sterling silver wire. I formed them with a pole I had that seemed about right for truly popular earring size, then soldered them. Next, I took a sharpie pen, which was lying close to hand, and seemed just the thing for the second circle, formed two more circles -- this time out of 18 gauge wire, and soldered them. Finally, after a quick reconnoiter of nearby rooms, I found a flagpole from a toy flag in my son's room, and made two more circles out of heavier 16 gauge wire, then soldered them.

Then, everything went in the pickle solution, while I pondered how I was going to join them all together. Hanging them all from an earwire, even if it was handmade, seemed a bit obvious and certainly wasn't going to help in my bid to corner the really most truly popular sterling silver circle earring market. So, I began playing around with some 16 gauge wire, which I hammered flat. I liked how its long, rectangular shape looked, and thought it would provide a nice contrast with the circle theme I had going. But I felt it needed a jumpring to which it could tether the circles I had made. So I made two jumprings using a pencil.

So, out of the pickle, and under my hammer. Hammering is really one of the most fun parts of silversmithing, and don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. Unless you are a carpenter, how often can you just bang away at something and transform it into something, well, a little different. When you are hammering circles, though, or anything else for that matter, you just have to be careful not to bang them out of shape. These were very well-behaved little circles, clearly eager to be part of this great takeover of the world of circular earrings.

Then, I laid the circles down, bent the flattened, heavy gauge wire (with some difficulty, I admit, and even a teeny tiny bit of breakage) so that it linked the circles while keeping them flat and in their order of largest to smallest. I soldered the joint of the flattened wire, pickled everything again, then put the earrings and the earwires in the tumbler for a good long time. Once they were all bright and shiny, I carefully filed the smallest and largest circles to create some difference in texture.

While they may not win the title of really, truly, most incredibly popular sterling silver circle earrings on the planet, I'm very proud of them and, when I have time, I'm going to make a pair for myself. But probably a little bit different:... I'll oxidize the middle circle, and maybe the tether for contrast, and then.....well, the possibilities are endless!

Tender little *&%$ blossoms

Silver melts. I knew that, in theory, and it had even happened to me once or twice. But today, it seemed to be melting with very little provocation. Or heat. Must've been gremlins, or the heat index, since it clearly couldn't have been MY fault!

Much like the flower I formed the other day, I took up some wire this morning and formed beautiful, delicate little five-petalled blossoms. Once I got a pair with a similar size and shape, I carefully soldered them closed. So far so good.

Then I pickled them, hammered them, and got ready to solder on a bead cap I had. Instead of the solder melting, the petal melted onto the bead cap and created an unsightly mess. Hmmmm... and grrrr....

Second try: formed another, went through the same process, started to solder....and this time the bead cap melted. Okay, okay, clearly I have to try a different tactic.

So, formed yet another *&%$# little blossom, soldered, pickled, hammered and, before it knew what was happening, I soldered a nice little spacer bead right in the center, right where it was supposed to go. Aha, she thought to herself in triumph: one down, one to go! Somehow, this next earring went off without a hitch, probably having witnessed the whole procedure and deciding it was in its best interests to behave.

All that was left was making some earwires and headpins for the glass beads that I thought went nicely, pickled those, tumbled them along with the blossoms, and then carefully wired the glass beads onto the blossom. The end result was lovely, even though the process felt grim at times! And, as with all experiments, I learned a lot! I would have provided pictures of the little metal carcasses, but they were really pitiful, plus I forgot, so you'll have to settle for the finished product!

Dancing Stars

These earrings were a lot of fun to make. I took 20 gauge sterling silver wire and formed each star by hand, varying the sizes a bit for interest, using my flatnose pliers. Once formed, I soldered them, then hammered them carefully to ensure their strength and light reflective quality. I then measured three pieces of sterling silver wire, formed the ends with round nose pliers, inserted the stars in one end, and soldered both ends closed. Everything went in the pickle while I formed the earwires, also using 20 gauge wire. Once the pickle finished doing its magic, everything went round and round in the tumbler for a good long time. The result is fun and fanciful, and I just listed them in my etsy shop.

Reading back over this, I hope I made it sound easy, but all the time it took to do everything by hand really added up. This is not the line of work for you if you don't enjoy it. I love the handwork!

Fairy Flower Pendant

Today was a productive day in my studio, despite the fact that I am bruised and aching all over from my fall the other day. I worked from the moment I finished my coffee and the paper, until time to start dinner.

Although I am still working on some star-inspired designs, I managed to finish today something that I had started several days ago. I had hand-formed a flower shape, on which I superimposed another, small hand-formed flower shape. Those had to be hammered for strength and interest, and soldered, then pickled before I could go onto the next step.

What I tried next was an experiment, but I think it added the right touch to the emerging flower pendant. I took a silver bead cap that I have had for ages, and soldered that to the now double flower shape. The bead cap, with its granulated decorations, provided a nice contrast to the more simple petals created of sterling silver wire. I also added a handmade bail so that the flower pendant could be strung on a chain.

After soldering that and pickling the result, the next step for my flower was a long journey round and round in my tumbler. The tumbler's main purpose is to shine the silver, but it also helps to strengthen it. Once out of the tumbler, I wired on a beautiful glass bead I had with a lovely iridescent green/blue hue. I hung the pendant on an Italian sterling silver chain I had and took photos of my first pendant: voila!

Also, with Etsy's current problems, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to list it in my shop.