New Jewelry for the New Year!

So, I made these about a month ago but they were snatched up so quickly at open studio that I never got a chance to post them.  You may be wondering why I titled this post "New jewelry" then.  Well,  I thought I'd start the new year off writing about my plans for some new jewelry pieces that were inspired by these beauties!  And it would give me a chance to share photos of them, even thought they sold because I'm excited about how they came out.

A while back, I ordered a bunch of vintage glass stones and the vendor was kind enough to throw in some extra stones.  Of course I was inspired the most by the unexpected ones, like these textured blue glass stones.  My husband and I had a sketch night and if you look closely you'll see the sketch for these earrings along with a bunch of other ideas that I have yet to make in reality.

So, for 2016, I'll be incorporating more stones in my work, using some of the natural cabochon and vintage glass stones I've had kickin around for a while so get ready for some new one of a kind pieces to hit my shop soon!  I'm also going to be working with more cast pieces and copper, of course.  I got a fold forming book for christmas and a big sheet of copper that's just been waiting for me to make something out of it.  Before I end, one more photo of these earrings!  I'm really happy with how they came out.  It's been a while since I've done any stone setting but it's just like riding a bike!  As always, I used green earth, recycled, sterling silver for the majority of the design.

Anniversary Commission

 I love seeing the process of other artists and jewelers and I don't post much about my process because I tend to get so engrossed with what I'm doing that I don't stop to take pictures.  I did this time because it was a commission for a friend so I thought I'd share!  This was a special anniversary gift and he requested a set of either a necklace and earrings or a necklace and ring.  I was given some basic parameters, nantucket, the beach, baskets, a daisy and blue and green colors (along with a few others) to work with.  When I think color I go straight for stones and since the beach was on the list and I had these lovely paua shell stones in blue and green I went straight for those.  I did A LOT of sketching.  I only included a couple of the ones that led to the final design here because this post would be ridiculously long if I included every sketch.  I like making notes about my designs in my sketchbook as you can see.  So I experimented a bit with the idea of basket weave, waves, daisy petal shapes and I got a little crazy with wire designs. (photos not included)

At this point I was given some feedback to go with the daisy design, try to include the entire flower and get away from the blues and greens so, round 2 of sketches looked like this......

He decided to go with the necklace design in the bottom photo, bottom right as well as the single petal ring AND dangle earrings because he liked the designs of all of them and couldn't decide.  So, I got off to work......

 creating granulated daisy centers for the earrings and necklace. 

A stamped back with the words "HE LOVES ME!" and their anniversary date.  Ultimately this had a heart shape cut out in it as well.  The hole was functional but I always like to try to incorporate it into the design if I can.

I always try rings on while I'm working on them, even if they don't fit me well, just to check how they wear and look on.  I really like the concept behind this design, the single daisy petals acting as the symbol for the "he loves me, he loves me not" game.  Perfect for an anniversary.

And the final products...... A single petal ring with a few silver beads to tie it into the granulated detail of the earrings and necklace.

New Circle Series items

I'm working on a few new items to add to my circle series made from repuroosed copper pipe and sterling silver including pendants and cuff bracelets. Here's a sneak peek at some of the new designs. 

New items listed on Etsy!

I added a few new items to my Etsy shop yesterday!  Check out the listings in the Etsy Mini to the right.  

The copper gyroscope pendant is made from reclaimed copper pipe with sterling silver wire and chain and a Swarovski crystal bead at the center (or not) There are a few options for this listing and they're made individually to order so you can customize your pendant just the way you want it.  They're super fun to wear, it's like having a little toy dangling around your neck.  Just so there's no confusion, these will not spin and balance the way a real gyroscope does.  Sorry, I wish I could make that work.  I posted a video of me spinning one on my facebook page and instagram about a week ago.  They make a cute little tinking noise as the pieces spin.

  

These little bits are a new addition to my seed pod series.  More post earrings!  The sprouted seed pod posts are still up in my shop, this simpler version comes in the same 1/2" size as the sprouted posts AND a Mini 3mm size.  If you like studs that fit ON your earlobe, go for the minis!  The ones pictured are polished but they come in different finishes.  That's all for now but as usual, I'm working on a few more additions, some made to order items and I've been dying to work on a couple more sculptural jewelry pieces so expect those to come soon too! 

Holiday Sale

Even if you missed the big sale in my etsy shop on Cyber Monday, you can still get a sweet deal for the holidays!

Cyber Monday Sale!

I'm having a sale in my etsy shop, 15% off everything in the shop until Tuesday. Make sure you enter CyberMonday at checkout for the discount!

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.

New Etsy Listings

For the past couple weeks I've been working hard on a deadline for restoring an antique stained glass window.  Not something I do often or for just anyone because it's delicate and tedious work but I made an exception this time.  Now that it's finished and been delivered I am back to working on my jewelry pieces!!  I promise to post some before and afters of the restoration project soon.

So, about those new listings...... You may recognize the earrings below, I posted photos of them on my work bench in progress a couple weeks back.  Here they are, all finished and photographed for Etsy!!  Check out my Etsy shop for more photos and a description.

I also added a listing for the Chemists Secret Weapon Belt Buckle I made for the Steampunk show a few years ago. 

I even updated a few old listings with some new photos, descriptions and altered my pricing a bit.  Click on the Etsy shop link to check out the new listings described above and the updated listings.

New earrings.

I've been working on a pair of silver and hammered copper earrings.  The design again inspired by the fiddlehead that appears so much in my work.  Here they are on the work bench in my studio.  They need some finishing touches but look for them soon on my etsy shop!

My new Etsy Shop is up and running!!

I've been talking about it for a while and I finally have some items for sale up on my new etsy shop, Onoclea Studios!  Please check it out and let me know what you think!

I'm baaack!

The long hiatus is becoming my trademark.  But, I swear it was for a good cause this time.  I spent an ENORMOUS amount of time planning and making things for my wedding!!  And then crashed immediately after and went into a creative rebellion.  I am still working on that etsy site and I promise I'll share some of my artwork soon but for now, check out some of the amazing photos of my work from the wedding courtesy of Nikki Nicole Photography.

I made the necklaces for myself and the four women in the bridal party.  Mine is all sterling silver, the bridal party necklaces have Swarovski crystals in our wedding colors, lime green and rusty red.  I also made six pairs of earrings with the same design is the bridal party necklaces only on a smaller scale.

The wedding favors were hand poured resin sculptures designed by my husband and I based off of the logo we developed together for our wedding.  My husband sculpted the original, which we used as our cake topper and I helped pour and clean up the resin copies.
We made 100 of them for our guests and they acted as part of the centerpieces at the reception.  The design is based on a fiddlehead (which I'm obsessed with) and the two halves represent the two of us.









You can see our logo on the pin attached to the front of our invitation.  Which, by the way, was a book we constructed from chipboard and copper.  We also used the logo for the first page of the invite and pretty much branded all of our wedding materials with it.



A bit over the top, but I guess that's what happens when two artists get married.  Lots of handmade, unexpected things.......

 

Playing catch-up

So, I've taken yet another hiatus from blogging. And now I have TONS to catch up on!! I've done some traveling this summer.... I spent ten days driving around Ireland taking almost 1000 photos! (no exaggeration) I've also been in a few shows since the last post. Most noteworthy, the Steampunk Bizarre at ArtSpace Hartford last month. Here are a few photos of the work I did for that. A little bit of a departure from what I've done previously, all sculptural jewelry pieces...semi-wearable. They're sterling silver for the most part, going back to my college days of silversmithing. I think teaching jewelry and metalsmithing the past five years is starting to influence my work too! I can't seem to escape the influence of what I do at school. First the glass, now jewelry..... maybe soapstone carving will be next......Not likely though.
Getting back to the jewelry......There are found watch parts and brass filigrees included in the necklace but other than that, each piece is handmade from sterling silver wire and sheet metal. The fork and spoon rings are obviously made from a silver spoon and fork set and they have cast pieces incorporated in my attempt to balance the mechanical and the organic. What looks like water or glass in the photos is a polyester resin and these also have found watch parts. Since I've never made a belt buckle before, I said, why not try it for the steampunk show! So, here are my first two belt buckles! I'm very proud that I was able to make a functional belt buckle. It was touch and go for a while, I've found they're not as forgiving as a ring or a necklace. The one with the three glass viles is the "Alchemists Belt Buckle." Each vile is filled with resin and a collection of pieces that can be swapped out for the alchemist to have on hand whatever he/she may need for a particular situation. The belt buckle with the hoses is called the "Chemists Secret Weapon" and the sprayer in the center would be activated by the person wearing the buckle to mix the two "chemicals" to disable an unsuspecting attacker! (Can you tell I dorked out a little with the Steampunk aspect of these?) Being belt buckles I decided on nickel silver instead of sterling. There are brass and copper pieces on the Chemists buckle and both incorporate resin, glass viles and found watch parts. These are just a few of the pieces I did for the show, I added a few detail shots into the slide show at the bottom of the blog. If you want to see more of my work, or more of any of the other work in the show, check out the online gallery for the Steampunk Bizarre 2010. There's some great work by a few of the artists whose work I admire and whose blogs I follow....and you should too.
I'm also working on setting up an etsy account to sell some of the stuff I've made, so look for more about that and check back soon for some photos from my travels. It's taken me a while to whittle them down to a few favorites but I'm getting closer!