The Price of Silver

The price for silver keeps going up, up up! Don't even ask about the price of gold....

It's sort of depressing and really makes you think twice about committing to your designs. I need a new pendant--maybe I'll use these teardrop gray moonstones?

Luckily, my favorite designs are petite in size. I'll probably have to put off the idea of silver bangles for awhile.

Here's a new moonstone earring that I'm working on-- just something that I can wear with everything. The bottom, oval stone has not been set yet (hence the bezel standing up around the stone) but I have a feeling that I'll get a lot of use out of these!

Opals and Pearls

Sometimes it's hard to get work done during the winter months-- it's too cold and freezing in the shop just doesn't sound like much fun.

I started working with this dainty little 3-leaf flower motif a few months back. They look really easy to make, but you have to be careful--they are easy to melt with a little too much heat!

Here it is again but I've added a few more. I love how it looks! Sometimes you just have to play with a design and it's amazing what new ideas spring up! I've added little seed pearl drops to this one-- can't wait to wear them! I'll have to add some updated pictures of it.


Here is another new little design that I'm playing with. Since this is the time to celebrate Chinese New Years I created a "money plant" necklace. Still playing with the design.... I really want to incorporate more mother-of pearl into my work. We'll see what happens!

Little Drops Part II

Sometimes I just want a little earring that I can wear with whatever....

These little drops are made in fine silver with little 4mm light blue Swiss Topaz stones

Rubies!

So I just got these beautiful man-made rubies. What are man-made rubies? These are identical to natural rubies except instead of being mined from the Earth, these were created in a lab. They have the same physical characteristics (hardness, color, crystal formation)-- it would take an expert to distinguish a natural-found ruby from natural man-made one.

(Check out the article in the June issue of Art Jewelry magazine too)
http://www.artjewelrymag.com/en/Magazine/Current%20Issue.aspx

These cute little Ruby Flower Drop Earrings are for sale at Spindle in Seattle--check them out!
She also has lots of cute items for yourself and your home!
http://www.spindleshop.com/



The great thing about these stones--they cost less than a found ruby but you get great quality--amazing clarity and color, plus the environment isn't destroyed searching for these!

These are little Ruby Jacks. As soon as I get my home studio up and running (I figure later this month)-- I'll make another pair to post on Etsy! I also have a matching Ruby Flower Drop Necklace in the works!

Little Drops--April Showers....

Just completed these for a custom order! They're so cute-- little 5mm swiss blue topaz drops set in silver

These will be so easy to wear-- I think I'm going to have to make me a pair!

As you can see in this picture-- the weather in Oregon has been a bit dreary! It would almost be perfect for working in the shop-- but man, it's still cold! I'm looking forward for the temperature to increase a few more digits!

Jewels in the sun!

Finally got one of the bezel rings done! Swiss blue topaz, white moonstones and green peridots. They looks just like little candies!

Still have work to do on the other ring. Also working on a chakra necklace pendant-- I see lots of stone setting for me in the future!

I meant to take pictures to post of the clip-on earrings I made for my dear friend, Michelle. But, alas, I was in such a rush to leave town that I forgot! I will have to make another pair of clip-ons for her so I can take some pictures for my blog!

Busy doing work--just slow at posting!

I really have been working! Really!

I've had several ambitious projects that I've been working on. In the mean time--I threw these little earring together--made with some beautiful onyx drops that I found last year. They remind me of vintage earrings.

Next week I promise to add some work-in-progress pictures of these other projects-- I'm excited. The soldiering is finished, now I have lots of stone setting and sanding/polishing to go!

Precious Tanzanite!

Tanzanite is a stone that I wish I could use more of-- but finding nice stones is difficult and usually really expensive.

Luckily, I caved into my lust and bought these fabulous faceted rondelle stones several years ago-- I knew they would come in handy one of these days (my excuse for far too many stones and beads!),
More pictures to come-- we were having such nice weather that I thought I would take some pictures outdoors.

Carnelian Drops

My Mom bought these carnelian drops. I made a few necklaces for her and she gave me the extra stones that were left over. They say that carnelian is the "travelers stone" and will bring good luck to them. Protects the wearer from negative emotions (like rage and envy) and increase ambition and drive--assisting in decision making!

If you go to the Met, you can see jewelry made by the Etruscans and Romans using these stones.
I think they turned out great! I used my original, hand-cast cherry blossoms in sterling with these. I have a few more stone combos-- pictures are coming soon.

Coin Pearls For a Cherry Blossom Girl

I have a coin pearl necklace that needed some earrings. I didn't want to do anything to matchy-matchy...
These are easy to wear. The silver goes with just about everything. I worn these several times now.

Four Point Moonstone Earring

I've been meaning to make a pair of earrings to match the necklace--finally got around to it.

Though I have to admit that I usually don't wear necklace and earrings matched sets, I just had to see what this design would look like in a miniature earring version!

These are made from sterling and fine silver with a moonstone set in each one!
I really want to make these with a gold bezel! More to come!

New Favorites (something different everyday!)

These are my new favorite earrings! I made these from the cherry blossom castings-- the possibilities are endless!
Also new is this dark freshwater pearl necklace.

Cherry Blossom Earrings with Pink Tourmalines

Here's another variation of my cherry blossom earrings. These have pink tourmaline briolette drops!
These are a gift for a friend. I'm planning on doing another casting soon-- so I can make a pair for myself:)
My aunt in Japan recently saw the Renee Lalique exhibit in Tokyo and she was kind enough to send me the exhibit catalog! I will be posting some of my new ideas soon!

Almost Finished!

Just about finished with the earrings! All the little granules are fused into place. Here's a picture of the backs. you can see how I repoussed the backs to give the leaves more detail.

Now all that is left is to shape the ear wires! Only have to take a few more pictures and then these will be posted on Etsy for sale!

In the Works--Repousse Leaves

Above is a pair of repousse leaf earrings. I made a pair of these last summer and I love them! They're total show stoppers and I can't part with them so I would like to make another pair to sell!


As with most of my pieces, it starts with a drawing. Then sheet metal and wire are formed and eventually I have the basic features done. All the work here is done by fusing-- no solder. That means you have to be careful-- you want the metal to melt enough that it will fuse with the surfaces, but not melt!
Then I have to make many little granulation pieces! These are slightly bigger than grains of sand!

I almost finished them today-- but fusing granulation can be finicky! right when you think everything is fused on-- a little piece pops off! Hopefully these will be done next weekend!

Cherry Blossom Post Earrings

You might remember these little flowers from an earlier post! They originally started as the cherry blossom medallions--then I made waxes modeled from them-- I love these little guys and will be making more with them in the future! These have fresh water pearl drops-- but I'm sure you can imagine all the other combinations that are possible!

Cherry Blossom Hoops

I've been busy today and finally finished these wonderful little hoops! These little charms can be easily swapped out for other little charms. These are pink sapphires. I have other pictures of pearl drops and flower medallion charms that can also used, see--Hoop hoop Horay for more pictures:)

Check back soon-- I have more pictures to post!

http://cherryblossomgirljewelry.blogspot.com/2009/01/hoop-hoop-hooray.html

Black Star Sapphire

No, black star sapphire is not the name of my favorite band-- they're fabulous stones that I can't get enough of! As you can probably tell from the first photo-- this pair is not perfectly matched but I decided to do earrings anyways. I figured since they will be on either side of my face-- you won't be able to closely compare them against each other. Why didn't I get matching pairs? Well, I got these stones for a deal! Retail-- these stones would probably run about $50 a piece. I love them and I can't wear them enough! Maybe I'll spurge for another pair!

They sort of remind me of little turtles!

Blue Topaz--Blue as the ocean!

I love these swiss topaz earrings! I only wish I could get a picture that shows exactly how fabulous the blue color is! It's like atropical ocean! Please bare with me as I continue adding photos of this one! I recently bought a new camera-- so I have a lot of new homework and little projects to work on--besides my jewels!

These are made from fine silver with a fringe of fresh water pearls shimmering below!

Dreamy Moonstones

These pretty little jewels are up for sale on my Etsy page. They're white moonstones with pink tourmaline fringe--very lovely to look at and and easy to wear. I have a pair with a purple tanzanite fringe and I wear them all the time. I would love to keep these too--but I'm beginning to realize that I've been making more earrings than any one human can possibly wear! Funny how that happens!