Bulkeley High School Fundraiser

I love it when past customers call me again.  I’ve wire-wrapped two things (a piece of seaglass and a shell) for a customer now and she gave me call recently.  If she brought me another piece of shell would I wrap it as a donation to Hartford’s Bulkeley High School charity silent auction?  Of course… and I wound up doing a second piece as well because the shell bits intrigued me!

 

 

seashell piece wrapped in sterling silver and accented with a pearl

 

This one – oh, I loved the colors in this bit of shell, so pretty!  and I knew I had a pearl that would coordinate beautifully – so this one became a pretty normally wire-wrapped pendant.

But the other piece really intrigued me very much… I knew exactly what I  wanted to do with it the minute I saw it.  And, for once, it worked out the way I expected!

 

seashell piece hung on sterling silver, accented with labradorite

The labradorite is riveted to the shell and, though small, only about 4-5mm, has a beautiful flash to it.  It was very, VERY hard to let this piece go… I think I’m going to have to do some beachcombing to see if I can find a similar piece of shell!

Lately, most of my work has been custom work and I find that really rewarding.  I’m so glad that I seem to be able to bring people’s vision of what they’re looking for into reality!

Now, if I can only get the My Etsy tab on Facebook to work…

Ciao,

K2

Here Come the Bridesmaids!

You know, serendipity is a funny concept.  Or maybe it’s a fate concept.  Either way, the fact that I failed to delete a page from the website when the piece sold (even though I deleted all references/links to the page within the website) was a serendipitous thing.  Nothing ever really disappears from the web and neither did the page showcasing the piece I called Stamen.

Stamen - the original

It was one of my first forged pieces – I was just learning to shape and had gotten a little bored with just rounding stuff out so I was playing around and a petal emerged.  Hmm, I said, and promptly bedecked it with a slim stack of garnet rounds.  And, tomorrow, 7 of them will be going off to a bride in New York for her bridesmaids.

Stamens for the bridesmaids

I’ve never made 7 of any piece before – I have a hard enough time making two of each earring – so it was an interesting challenge to get things relatively uniform (it is handmade, after all, perfect uniformity shouldn’t ever come into the picture – where would be the art in that?).

Here’s wishing all the best to the bride for a wonderful wedding and a long, happy, and fulfilling life with her groom!

Cheers,

K2

A Different Kind of Mother’s Necklace

Where is it written that mother’s jewelry – jewelry that’s supposed to celebrate the love we have for our children – should, by definition, be filled with little letter blocks and Swarovski birthstone color crystals?  Ok, so it probably is written somewhere.  But I’m pretty sure it isn’t a law or anything!

Earlier this year, I was asked to create a necklace for a mother that was as unique as her love for all of her children.  We emailed back and forth for a while and she sent me a sketch.  She wanted to incorporate  the Taureg cross idea into a very organic shape/texture, probably in silver, and include gemstones that had personal meaning for her.

This is what we wound up with.

handforged sterling silver, amethyst, citrine, quartz

The silver curves around on the edges and at the top as a mother would curl around her child.  The halo above the top stone shares a piece of her personal story.

citrines are at the top and bottom, amethyst to the right, quartz to the left

She specified a beaded ‘chain’.  I tried several combinations but the traditional rounds just looked too stiff for the organic shape of the centerpiece.  I finally discovered some carved amethysts in the back of the amethyst drawer that did the trick.

citrine, quartz, carved amethyst, sterling silver

I made the clasp by hand too – it just seemed to ‘fit’ better stylistically.

clasp for the necklace

So, no, you don’t have to resort to letter blocks and crystals (though you certainly can if you want – I’ll only cry a little on the inside).  You’re unique, so are your kids – why should your jewelry be the same old, same old variety? 

Ooooh!! Chalcedony Drusy!!

So, a friend comes to me with a piece of chalcedony drusy.  It is gorgeous with a capital G!  (I seriously considered swiping it and telling her the cat ate it.   Damn scruples!! )  She asked me to set it for her in a necklace.  I asked her what sort of look she thought she’d like – something a woodland fairy would wear.  Ok.  I can do this.  Breathe, breathe.

Getting started was really difficult.  The drusy was so beautiful that I was worried about damaging it by experimenting or doing something that simply wouldn’t work for it.  I tend to prefer simple settings for elaborate stones but that is SO not what I wound up with here.  Still, I think this suits the stone and will suit my friend really well.

In this piece (besides the drusy) are 202″ of sterling silver wire in 5 gauges and 2 shapes (square and round), 84″ of leather cording, 17 moss agate rounds, 19 moonstone rounds, 28 pearls, 9 oval moonstones, 23 teeny tiny labradorite rounds, 9 wood rondelles, and 1 moss agate tube.  Oh, and 6 sterling leaf beads, 3 sterling maple leaves, 1 sterling ladybug, and 1 sterling dragonfly.  Yep, it’s a busy piece.

Hope you liked it!  (Got a similar piece of cool something you’d like set similarly (or differently, for that matter!) ?  Email me at info (at) silveryeverafter.com !

3 Kids = No Time (But A Little Jewelry)

Oy!  Months, it’s been, I know.  Bad blogger.  Bad jewelry maker.  Busy mama.

About all I’ve been up to is commissions, gifts, and donations for charity auctions.  So, let me post a couple of the latter with a couple of the former to come upon completion!  (If you click on the pictures, it brings up a little slide show – but please come back to read the text!)

Ok, so what do we have here?

The copper “peace” piece (hee hee) is one of a set of four I made for my fellow altos at one of my church gigs.  Each of the hang tags at the back was personalized with something that was appropriate to the singer.  DW, for example, always says “Peace be with you, nanu nanu.”  (If you understand the nanu reference, you’re at least as old as I am…)  It’s copper with a sterling silver tube rivet at the hole, the chain and hang tag are sterling, and the hang tag is accented with a drop of amber (for memory, as I’m moving  to a different choir next season).

The other piece was made for the CONCORA fundraising auction.  It’s an upcycled antique ivory piano key (cleaned, polished, and edges rounded) accented by green tourmaline and pale blue chalcedony on a sterling chain.  Among other things, green tourmaline and chalcedony help inspire creativity – seemed appropriate for a music fundraiser!

Alrighty, back to work!  Enjoy your time!

Cheers all,

K2

P.S.  And, yes, despite 3 kids, I am still doing house parties!  Drop an email to inquire!

One More Before The Show Goes On The Road

Alrighty – yay, me!  I am hereby managing to get a couple more pieces posted before the baby arrives – whee!!

Going back to my traditional silver theme here, we’ve got some minor metalsmithing going on.  Let’s start with Orrery…

Orrery: hand-domed silver discs align their orbits gracefully at the end of a handmade silver chain

The center disc is shiny, the others satin/matte.    It adjusts from 17-19″ long and the drop is 3.25″ from there.  (In case you’re wondering about the name, an orrery is a model of the solar system.)  I am particularly proud of this one as I slogged through the making of the chain as well!

From there we move to Swoop!  Hand-hammered curves cradle a rutilated quartz round.  This is a lonnnnnnggg baby!  22″ plus another nearly 5″ in the drop.  It’d be great over a bulky sweater for fall!

Swoop: hammered sterling silver with rutilated quartz

I think this will probably be it before the baby comes and, as it turns out, the hospital I’ll be at doesn’t have wifi SO you probably won’t be hearing from me for a while.  I am hoping to make some jewelry while I’m there though – the repetitive things that I don’t usually have time for.  I owe a cousin a rosary (which are incredibly, time-consumingly tedious to make – no wonder they have to bless them afterward) and there’s a chain maille pattern I want to try.  See?  This is how you can tell a c-section veteran… we know the cable in the hospital is lousy and we plan for it!  Also, we know this is as close to a vacation as we’re likely to get for months so we’d better enjoy it!

Cheers all!

K2

Back to the Beach

At least briefly before the summer’s over!

We used to get to our favorite beach at least 2-3 times a year before the little ones came along making such trips more hazardous (and expensive!).  Maybe that’s why I was inspired to combine these little blue and cream shaded opal rondelles with a mother-of-pearl backdrop!  It just seems like an early morning sky at the shore to me.

The pendant drop is about 2 1/4" and the chain adjusts from 16.5 - 19.5".

Blue and cream opal buttons against mother-of-pearl: necklace

And because we all need to be coordinated in our beachwear…  matching earrings!

Earrings have sterling silver earwires and hang a mere 3/4" from the top of the curve

Pretty soon, it will be time to back to the warm tones of fall.  I’m having a hard time letting go of the cool summer colors though (probably because it’s SO flippin’ hot and muggy out) so you may see more summery stuff before I reluctantly move to fall.  I know, I should’ve gone to fall already.  The business aspects of jewelry design seldom occur to my creative side.  Unfortunately.  Still, let’s enjoy what’s left of the summer.  Before I know it, I’ll have a newborn in the house again and life will be crazy (well, crazier!).

Cheers all!

K2

Gardening… Jewelry Style

Ok, first up today,  we have the Cassie Rings… Cassie’s in the Garden and Cassie at Work.  Why Cassie?  Well, Cassie Donlen, a very talented lampwork bead artist and jewelry designer, developed the design for these rings to show off cool lampwork beads.   She then taught the technique in a jewelry making magazine and even sells the little brass screws in her online shop.  So, yes, with time, patience, and the right tools, you too could make these!  But, honestly, it’s easier to get someone else to do it… I promise!   The band on these is a bit heavier than in Cassie’s version – mostly based on what I had on hand.

Sterling silver bands, cool lampwork beads, and brass screws make for fun rings!

In putting my own touch on these, the bands of the floral rings are stamped with leaves and the plain bead has a plain band.  Theoretically, the screws can be removed and the beads changed out.  Frankly, this would be a royal pain in the bahooty so I’d suggest against trying it unless you have the patience of a saint!

Ok, and now back to one of my own designs… also floral themed.  This is Garden Volunteer… featuring hand-stamped leaves in copper riveted to sterling silver hand-stamped with dragonflies.  (Why, yes, it is the same leaf stamp as in the Cassie rings!)

copper stamped with leaves meets sterling silver stamped with dragonflies via copper rivets and dangles on a sterling chain.

I’m getting more and more used to working with copper.  It has a great organic quality to it that I’m liking more and more.  It will never replace sterling for me – because I can’t wear copper without looking sickly – but I’m definitely enjoying it.

Hope y’all enjoyed these!

Cheers,

K2

Shimmer in the Moonlight…

Not sure that’s the best post title but my mind seems to be drawing a blank at the moment!

So, what do I have to show today?  Two newish (i.e., new to the website but created a couple months ago) bracelets that couldn’t be more different.  Ok, well, maybe they could, but they’re pretty disparate!

Let’s start with some hand-hammered silver leaves and labradorite.

hand-hammered sterling silver leaves interspersed with small labradorite rounds form a bracelet. Rivets and a handcrafted toggle add a touch of industrial chic

The labradorites are small but, boy, they’ve got flash.  Mmmmm!  I love labradorite.  I’m also particularly happy with my little hole-lining tube rivets and my happily-whanged handmade toggle.

Alrighty, looking in the direction of more stone, less metal, may I present Moonlit Sand?

moonstone and pearls with a shell toggle bring to mind the beach in the moonlight

I love the toggle on this.  I can’t claim credit for it – I don’t have the skills or the equipment to shape shell like that – but it’s perfect for the feel of the bracelet, don’t you think?

Hope you’re all well!  If anyone’s looking to do a jewelry party later this fall, I’m booking for mid-October (i.e., after the baby) and beyond!  It’s a great way to get yourself a pretty cool discount on some pretty cool jewelry and, unlike the mainstream jewelry parties, I won’t guilt your friends into hosting parties.  Just think about it, ‘kay?

Cheers all!

K2

More Copper! (Is that Proper??)

Alrighty… I seem to be in a copper mood this summer.  Go figure!    I just put these two casual beauties up on the website.

First up is “Pretty in Paisley”…  I love how this one puts me in mind of bohemian chic but, unlike the true thing, in an understated kind of way.  A simplification of the fun and flair for those times when we can’t go over the top!  I am proud of the clasp on this one too – like the necklace, all hand-crafted, but not the typical hook and eye either!

Small faceted apatites adorn a copper paisley, 2 strand necklace with hand-crafted, apatite-dotted, clasp: necklace

hand-crafted copper clasp dotted with faceted apatite

Pretty in Paisley is about 18 1/2 ” long and the paisley itself drops about 1 3/4″ from the ‘chain’.

On to necklace number 2!  I’ve been wanting to do more with this set of letter stamps I bought (because, after all, what fun are tools if you don’t use them??) and, while noodling around with my saw one day (yes, I noodle with my saw – take that as you may!), this emerged!  Sapphires were the obvious choice to accent the copper as sapphires have long been associated with thought.

Satin-finish copper disc with polished insert stating "think", accented with smooth polished sapphires, on a satin cord.

The necklace adjusts from 17-20″ long and the pendant drops about 2″.  The adjustable bit in the back features a couple more smooth deep blue sapphire droplets to give it a polished look behind you as well.

Hope you enjoyed these!  Check them out in more detail at the website!