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 Blossoms and Pearls

So here are some finished pictures of a few items I gave you a sneak peek of. The mother-of-pearl is hand engraved by me. I then set them, like stones, in fine silver bezels.
Trying to take pictures of mother-of-pearl can be difficult--as you can see the lighting makes a huge difference. Of course, mother-of-pearl looks best when worn-- I love how it's constantly changing colors!
This one has a double strand of tiny white freshwater pearls-- it's really beautiful! I really like the bail that I made on this one!
I have to again thank my aunt Haruko for the wonderful book about cherry blossom designs through out Japanese art history! As you can see--it was very inspiring! Thank you!

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!

More Pearls!

Just whipped up this necklace and I can't wait to start on the earrings! I have some smaller "blossom" medallion designs and I'm just trying to decide if I want to put them on french wires or posts. Who knows--maybe I'll end up doing both! I love the little fringe of white freshwater pearls! I'll be adding this one to my Etsy store soon. Matching earrings are coming!

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!

Loop in Loop Sailor Chain Set

This is a set that will be up for sale at the Shop People Gallery in Portland. Each loop of chain is hand made--fused, folded, pinched, and connected to the next link--it's a time consuming process but worth all the work! When you're first learning, you melt a lot of your loops--so it takes some practice. It's a very ancient process--you can find examples of this loop in loop work in museums and art history books. I like to think that some of my stuff might last that long:)

Filigree and Me!

Look familiar? These little filigree medallions look fabulous as a clasp for a necklace (as posted earlier) and also as earrings! Lots of ideas for these little guys! I'll keep you posted with new ideas as soon as I get pictures!