More recycled copper tubing jewelry!

 Another successful Photo Friday!!  I added a few new listings to my etsy shop, these are the two new pieces I finished just this week.... More recycled copper tubing and sterling silver designs.

The possibilities are endless with this earring design, I'm playing with more asymmetrical ring arrangements so stay tuned for more of those.....  The rings are hand cut from the recycled copper tubing and I hand made jump rings in different sizes to work with the copper tubing.  The are extremely light weight and comfortable to wear.  

The necklace is put together with 20 hand cut and shaped pieces of the tubing and at the back of the necklace there's about 7" of handmade sterling silver chain.  Extremely labor intensive but well worth the effort I think.  I really like the way this necklace sits on the collar bone, it has a really nice weight to it and like the other jewelry pieces made from the tubing, the pieces are assembled on beaded wires so the move and spin.

As always, check out my etsy shop for these and even more of my jewelry and sculptures.

Photo Friday!!!!

So yesterday was Photo Friday and I shot a bunch of my new jewelry pieces and uploaded them to etsy.  Check my etsy shop for all the new listings.  Here are a few of them....

I've been playing around with this recycled copper tubing, cutting into sections and creating jewelry components from them.  I love the geometry! So different from my organic pieces I know, but I love the warmth of copper and this tubing is speaking to me right now.  I'm combining it with sterling silver, hanging the cut tubing pieces on beaded wire so there's movement to them.  (Here's where the organic part comes in...)  These necklaces change as they move, the pieces spin and it looks completely different.  I'm also playing with asymmetry as you can see above, sometimes symmetry is too expected and I think it really makes this necklace into a statement piece.

And then of course, my usual organic pieces, the fiddlehead and seed pod forms I've been playing with for a while in mini pendant versions and post earrings......

I have plenty more copper tubing so expect to see more of that in the next jewelry pieces......

I already have a pretty good pile going that are just screaming "Make jewelry out of me!"

Seed Pod Madness......with Mannequins?!

I started a new jewelry series of pieces based on seed pods.  The form is a simple round cup form, I'm using my new dapping block to dome the circles.  I've been using hand made silver beads for a few years now, melting them down from the scrap silver pieces left from making other things so nothing goes to waste.  In this first set of dangle earrings I gathered the silver beads in the center of the cup but I never work on just one piece at a time, so..... I have several more pieces going that all have that same cup form with silver beads and/or beaded wire to add a little more depth.  I'm working on making charms for bracelets with this design, post earrings, complete bracelets and rings that are a little more dramatic.  The sculptor in me can't help but to make something that is just on the edge of still being wearable but I know there's someone out there that will be able to pull it off.  If you like the dangle earrings, they're for sale on my Etsy shop and there will be more coming VERY soon so stay tuned!!
Fun Fact..... I have a new jewelry model!!!  I've been struggling with getting a live model to pose for me recently and she's just been lying around the studio for years now just waiting for a purpose until my brilliant husband made the suggestion I use her as a model.  She even has her ears pierced!!!!  Who knew!?  Expect to see lots more of her because she's life sized, does whatever I want and she's available 24/7.

Stained Glass Window Restoration

I don't specialize in stained glass restoration but now and then, possibly a family member or friend of a friend convinces me to tackle a project like this.  I have done much more of my own stained glass work than restorations but this is by far the biggest restoration project I've tackled. Here are some of the before pictures for the stained glass restoration project that occupied most of my studio time this spring.  There were two panels, both the same shape and similar styles and colors.  As you can see from the photos, there were quite a few cracked glass pieces that needed to be removed, the cement around the edges of the panels was crumbling, as was the lead came underneath.  A lot of the leads needed to be replaced around the outside of both panels and some of the interior cames as well.  You may not be able to tell from the photos below but the window in the large image was buckled and pressed out in the middle, the leads broken.  I posted the after photos below showing how the restored windows were installed.

And here are the afters.......  Hope you enjoy!