Promise of Spring

When I go for my long walks through my neighborhood and the surrounding stream valley park, I keep my eyes and ears open for ideas for my jewelry. Inspiration in terms of color is easy to come by in the spring, summer, and fall months, and I tend to view the world through my painter's eye. However, it is winter when the sculptor in me is more awake to possibilities. Although lovely color can be found -- in the bark of a tree, a bright red cardinal perched on a tangle of vines, the reflection of a bright winter sky in the still water of a mostly frozen stream --I look more for the shape and texture of things that emerge when the foliage is gone. Recently, I passed a dogwood tree and paused to marvel at the tightly furled buds on the very tips of the branches. Their shapes were lovely, but I was even more entranced by the thought that, deep inside, like a wonderful secret held in a tightly closed fist, lay the promise of the blossom that would emerge when the days lengthened and sunshine once again warmed the land.

Last winter, I made a series of earrings out of sterling silver wire that I called Winter Branches (see my blog entry: http://mebdesigns.blogspot.com/2008/02/winter-branches-earrings-handcrafted.html). As labor intensive as they were, I enjoyed doing them immensely. The tree I passed on my walk inspired me to do something similar. When I came home that day, I sat down in my studio and began to draw shapes that reminded me of those dreaming buds on the tips of slender branches.

When I came up with a design that I thought would make lovely and graceful earrings, I set to work. Since this design is a little more elaborate than my Winter Branches design, I decided to use 19 gauge silver so they wouldn't feel heavy. Despite coming down with a debilitating case of tennis elbow, thanks to all the hammering, they turned out just the way I envisioned. Look for them soon in my etsy shop.

Combining Silver and Stone

I love silver. I love semi-precious stones. I love precious stones, but I can't afford them. I love combining silver and semi-precious stones in the same design. One of my favorite shapes to create from silver wire is a teardrop. I find it to be such a graceful shape, and so much fun to make. I also find that it combines beautifully with stones, whether round or oval or other.

I recently came across some beautiful strands of kyanite, which I'd never worked with before. I was surprised when I read that one of the places that kyanite is mined is Burma. When I lived in Burma, I don't recall ever encountering the stone, although it is quite possible my attention was more riveted by rubies and sapphires. Kyanite comes in several different colors, but the blue that I found is by far my favorite. It reminds me of mica, with its silvery striations, but it is the color of a favorite pair of blue jeans. I've combined it in necklaces with beads of a lavender or lilac hue, and it comes out looking like the color of a beautiful hydrangea. I've combined it with amber, and it looks like a deep blue autumn sky shimmering over a stand of golden aspen trees. But I love the simplicity of combining it with sterling silver.

I made two teardrop shapes out of 16 gauge sterling silver wire, soldered on a loop on top, and then hammered the base to create a contrast with the thinner silver wire. I hammered it for additional texture and lightly oxidized the teardrops to emphasize the texture. Handcrafted earwires and headpins joined the teardrops in my tumbler, which strengthened and polished the lot. A final polishing by hand to bring out a rich gleam in the silver, and they were ready to pair up with the kyanite. I love how they turned out.

Winter Branches Earrings -- Handcrafted Sterling Silver

Several months ago, I came across a photo of a piece of fabric that instantly appealed to me. It brought to my mind an image of bare branches in the wintertime. Inspired by that image in my mind, I decided to sit down with some sterling silver wire to see what I could create. Yesterday, I finished my third pair. Each pair has taken its inspiration from that piece of fabric and the image that came to my mind. Each pair is unique. I have loved making each pair.

I take the sterling silver wire and start cutting branches, being careful to cut each branch twice, so that each earring in a pair turns out to be the same size. I hammer the ends to get a pleasing shape and then I sit down and start putting them together in such a way that they mimic the branches of a tree. Once I have them in the right place, I start soldering the branches together, stopping now and then to pickle them as I continue to solder. When all the branches are soldered and the earrings are out of the pickle pot, I start working on the details. I hammer a texture in the end of the branches, clean up any excess solder with my trusty dremel, then I add texture to the limbs with another dremel attachment.

The next step is to shape the branches carefully again, and put them in the tumbler for several hours to harden. When they are fully hardened, I pass them quickly through some liver of sulphur to oxidize them slightly, and polish them by hand to a rich gleam.

Making these earrings is incredibly time consuming. If I were to charge my full rate for the amount of time I spend on them, they would be beyond most people's budget. Truth be told, I love making them so much that I don't mind "wasting" my time in such a wonderfully creative and satisfying way. An image inspired by a photo, some silver wire, and lots of time: in the end, they are absolutely worth it to me.

Craftsman Earrings

I have always loved the craftsman style. My dream would be to find a craftsman bungalow, and be able to restore it to its original glory. I love how the craftsmen of that time took simple elements -- wood, copper, glass -- and turned them into works of art without artifice.

These sterling teardrop earrings are my homage to that wonderful era. For one thing, they were entirely and lovingly made by hand. I took simple 16 gauge sterling silver wire and formed two equal teardrop shapes, which I then soldered and further shaped into an even more graceful shape. I hammered the base to give it a weight that contrasts with the more delicate wire above. I then hammered a texture into that base to heighten the contrast further. The finishing touch was a brief oxidizing bath, and a final polish which gives them a rich, antique gleam. Handmade sterling silver ear wires finish off these lovely, simple, and graceful earrings.

Black Flower Earrings -- Oxidized Sterling Silver

I have been itching to try out my Liver of Sulphur ever since it arrived a few weeks ago. Liver of Sulphur, which smells as bad as its name, is used to oxidize silver. To tarnish it, in other words. Why would you want to deliberately tarnish silver, I hear some of you asking. It seems oxidized silver is quite popular these days in the jewelry world and, I have to admit, it has a very interesting effect.

With some 18 gauge sterling silver wire, I hand-formed two flower petal designs. I hammered them for strength, and then soldered into the center of each a flower-shaped bead cap, followed by a flower-shaped bali bead spacer. I like the way these draw the eye into the center of the flower. I pickled them, then tumbled them until hard and polished. I was tempted to leave them that way, all bright and shiny, but decided instead to use my Liver of Sulphur. It takes a little getting used to, as either the solution or the silver has to be hot, but it finally came out to a uniform, dull black. I then took the flowers back to my studio, where I hand-polished them to a rich gleam. I'm very happy with my rare and exotic flower earrings!

Whiskey on the Rocks Necklace

After fighting off viruses and staunching wounds in the first half of the week, I finally managed to sit down today in my studio (okay, well, stand up, as I have to do most of my hammering on the window sill of the nearby laundry room) and complete a necklace I've been dreaming of since I purchased a strand of gorgeous facetted whiskey quartz beads.

I haven't had much time lately to do a lot of silver work, plus I've been working with a lot more gold due to the autumn colors I've been using, but I really wanted to forge a beautiful sterling chain that would highlight the spectacular beauty of the whiskey quartz pendant. Although it goes beautifully with gold (see my previous blog entitled "Whiskey and Pearls by Firelight"), I thought the purity of silver was needed for this necklace.

Working with silver is a source of great pleasure for me. I love forming links by hand and eyeball, I love soldering, I love hammering (especially hammering!). There is something immensely satisfying in making something as solid as a chain from something as simple as wire.

I wanted the main links of the chain to mimic the shape of the pendant, or perhaps to mimic the shape of ice cubes floating in a crystal glass full of whiskey. I joined the larger links with smaller ones, which I hammered to give a texture distinct from the smoothly hammered larger links, and then twisted slightly for additional visual interest. I finished it off with a handforged s-hook clasp which enables the wearer to extend the necklace from 16-18 inches.

I am thinking of trotting out my Liver of Sulphur (I know: what a name! And an even worse smell!) and making a similar necklace with oxidized silver. I like the idea of dark grey silver next to the warm tawny gold of the whiskey quartz.

Turquoise Celebration Necklace

The other day at the Afghan shop in nearby Annandale, Virginia, I couldn't resist buying some gorgeous turquoise rondelles. Turquoise has a strong appeal for me, in part due to its color, and in part to its significance to the Native Americans of the southwest where I spent a lot of time growing up. It was the beautiful color and the substantial size of these turquoise rondelles that really caught my eye. Months before, I bought some deep red coral drums from this same merchant, and I've only been able to use them in one or two necklaces; their bold color and shape require something that will really stand up to them. So, perhaps, I thought, purchasing the turquoise, this will be the perfect marriage, and couldn't wait to take them home to consummate the relationship!

Today, at last, I was able to sit down and introduce the two. They hit it off immediately! Wondrously, I had four sterling silver rondelles left from a stash I had bought in Peru, and they fit in like a dream, weaving in and out of the turquoise, which is flanked by two smooth coral beads, and centered by one perfectly carved one.

The rest of the necklace consists of lighter materials to offset the substantial heft of the turquoise and coral. Smaller turquoise drums, and antique red heart glass beads provided the perfect finish, marching from the large coral around to a beautiful and substantial sterling silver clasp, which had been waiting for just such a union.

The result is bold, clean, and eye-catching. It looks like a party waiting to happen!

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.

Silken Sea Necklace

For me, designing a necklace is like working with the pieces of a puzzle that you yourself create. I bought some gorgeous large peacock coin pearls with a fabulous lustre a few months ago, and they have been in the back of my mind since then. I knew I had to make a spectacular necklace to highlight their gorgeous qualities.

Since I had a lot of errands to do today and didn't really have time to get into a lot of metalwork, I pulled the peacock pearls out and began to play with the puzzle. Besides these large, gorgeous, smooth ones, I had some medium sized peacock coin pearls as well. I decided I wanted to use some of those, in part to lower the overall cost of the necklace and, in part because I liked the contrast their crinkly surface provided with the larger coins.

My necklaces tend to have seed beads of some sort between the main beads, because I like the fact that they are therefore visually separated and therefore each is highlighted more. I, happily, had some small amethyst beads, as well as some glass seed beads that I knew would be perfect. Same for the lovely, delicate, translucent amethyst coin beads I had. But the necklace lacked something: a piece of the puzzle was missing....

If you read yesterday's post, you know by now that I'm not one who keeps a really neat studio. In this case, that was a lucky thing, as my eye fell on a strand of aquamarine rondelles lying nearby. If I had put that strand away, I might not have seized on it as the perfect thing. I grabbed for it and -- yes: the missing piece! I loved how the pool of watery bluish-green highlighted and complemented the intense color of the peacock pearls. The aquamarine looks like it is a drop of water from a warm and shallow sea, and the peacock pearls have the deep, reflective colors of an ocean in the moonlight.

The rest of the necklace was easy to put together once the main puzzle pieces were in place. All that lacked was the name.... I chose Silken Sea Necklace because the large peacock pearls remind me of a beautiful silken taffeta shot through with wondrous hues, and the aquamarine inspired the "Sea." So, all done, photographed, listed on etsy AND I even got a lot of errands done as well!

Forest and Sea Necklace

I freely admit it: I am not a neat jeweler. My studio tends to get pretty wild with boxes of beads of various colors, mailing supplies, wire, tools, photography equipment, etc. Every now and then I have to take some time and clean it up. After several days of silversmithing, I decided that the time had come. As I was putting things in their proper place, I unearthed a beautiful spiral hilltribe silver bead that I had also used in my Pearl Swirl necklace (which can be viewed in my etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5995187). Aha! I said to myself, as visions of a new necklace started dancing in my head!

As in my Pearl Swirl necklace, I decided to use some of my champagne pearls because their swirly shape is so reminiscent of the spiral bead. But rather than throw in a lot of other pearls, I decided to raid my box of wooden beads. I immediately fixated on the large, torqued spiral ones, which I felt would help offset the size of the spiral bead. Then, for interest in terms of color and texture and shape, I started weaving in other wooden beads: square, round, and triangular. Then, to separate the silver bead from the wood (as wood has a tendency to cause silver to tarnish more quickly), I used two beautifully polished horn beads on either side of the silver. Rather in the manner of silk knots between pearls, which swerves to highlight each shape as well as to protect each pearl, I employed a variety of czech glass seed beads.

Last but not least, I used a handmade sterling silver clasp and a 4 inch sterling silver chain, whose links reminded me of the torqued spiral of the large wooden beads. I realized recently that I really prefer adjustable necklaces, so I can vary them according to the neckline of the shirt I'm wearing, so I've started offering most necklaces that way. This necklace, therefore, can be transformed from a 16 inch choker length, to a 20 inch necklace. The photos below show how the necklace hangs at those two lengths.

Is my studio clean now? Of course not, because, as soon as I stumbled upon the spiral silver bead, out came the boxes, the clasps, the chains, etc. Do I care? No, because out of chaos, came this beautiful necklace!

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.

Falling Me

There I was on my morning walk through the nearby stream valley park: one moment upright; the next flat on my face. The intervening moment of flying through the air was quite breathtaking! The really stupid part was that I was actually watching the path in order not to fall. In any case, my knee is scraped and swollen, and my body wrenched all over: serves me right for thinking a walk would do me good!

So, I haven't been able to work as much today as I had planned. Still, I did manage to make headpins and earwires to complement the wonderful bali beads I used in an earlier necklace, and to photograph them for my etsy shop. Here they are in all their glory, simple and stunning:

Falling Stars

I've spent the entire day in my studio (despite having been out both Friday and Saturday night) having a blast, playing around with my metalworking tools and materials, and honing my skills. I love taking sterling silver wire and turning it into something beautiful. I prefer eyeballing, rather than measuring, and hand-forming shapes, rather than using a jig. I love every aspect of it, from the shaping to the soldering to the hammering to the filing. I love having an idea in my head, and then bringing it to life, changing it as I go if the unfolding design dictates.

I am feeling inspired by so many things, but stars are still uppermost in my mind and, therefore on my workbench. I made a beautiful pair of earrings today, which I'll call "Falling Stars". I also made the earwires. I'm going to have a hard time parting with them!

Seeing Stars

I woke up last night at 3:00, and started thinking about stars. I don't know why stars popped into my head, but they, and a lot of other things, prevented me from going back to sleep. A little voice was telling me to get up and head into my studio, but another voice was saying: "what, are you crazy? It's three in the morning!" I ended up tossing and turning until 5 o'clock when I finally got up, put on my bathrobe and went into my studio (for those who have tried to convince me over the years that a studio outside the home is much better, try going there in your bathrobe! ;)). I'm sure I looked fabulous!

So, what did I produce today? Stars, of course. I have a beautiful little pair of earrings ready, completely handmade, featuring little stars dancing within bigger stars. Then, to make them even more enticing, I tethered little labradorite rounds in the very center to cast their Northern Lights' glow and twinkle. Even the earwires and delicate little headpins are formed completely by my own two hands. Obviously, I didn't make the sterling silver wire, but this is the closest I've come in jewelrymaking to a design that I dreamt of and executed without any raw materials other than sterling wire (and, of course, the labradorite rounds!).

Working with wire is a lot of fun. I made a large star out of 14 gauge wire, and tomorrow I hope to attach somehow a beautifully lustrous peacock coin pearl, which has a bit of the moon about it. Maybe I'll try to throw in the sun as well, just to keep the heavenly theme going. And, I've got some flower things in the gestation stage as well. So much to do; so little time!

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, hardboiled eggs work beautifully to oxidize silver if you don't have any liver of sulphur lying around!

Breathless Anticipation

I feel like a kid at Christmas, waiting for my packages to arrive. After taking a metalworking class a week ago, I ordered some supplies from two different companies. In this wonderful shopping world of ours, online ordering and UPS shipping make the whole process a breeze. You'd think I'd be satisfied with arrival within a week, but even so, I find myself listening impatiently for the roar of the UPS truck and the sharp honk that announces his arrival. I realized after receiving the order from one company that I made a stupid mistake: I now have only half of what I need to really begin work. Why didn't I order everything from the same company so that it would all arrive together?

I have a torch, but no sterling silver wire. I have solder, but no flux. I have pickling solution and went out and bought a used crockpot at Goodwill, but I have nothing to put in it. I have a tumbler, but no stainless steel shot. Grrrr, she says, leaping up once again to check outside the front door in case he came and went, unheard.

Still, I did have a few scraps of 20 gauge sterling silverwire, so I've been making headpins for some beautiful stones that require a stronger headpin than is available commercially, and that was so much fun. I figured out how to fill the torch with butane from the local hardware store, ignited it and - voila -- holding the wire up to the flame with my tweezers caused a little silver bead to form on the end, looking so exquisitely handmade. I suppose I could have cleaned the resulting oxidation by putting it in the pickling solution, but that seemed a little extreme for a couple of headpins, so I grabbed some steel wool (I always have some on hand, as it always seems to be needed for something) and scrubbed away, and there they were: shiny headpins made by me in my own studio. That was proud moment, to be sure! The photos above show the three phases, from wire, to oxidized headpin, to incorporation into a necklace I am designing called Smoke and Water, after the smoky quartz and aquamarine stones.

My first project when all the materials arrive will be an ambitious one, if I can pull it off: an intricate clasp that will match beads I am using in another necklace, and I can't wait to give it a try! But I have to wait, eagerly, anxiously, impatiently, for that brown truck to pull up.... Imagine what it was like in the days of the Pony Express, and the mail wagon delivering all those supplies you'd ordered months before from the Sears Roebuck catalog!