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!

Getting Some Work Done--cherry blossom necklace

Here's a new necklace that I just finished to match all those cherry blossom earrings that I've been making! These are made from sterling silver, cast from an original design. I used a fresh water pearl drop, but as you can imagine, there are a lot of different drops you can choose from! I just bought some amazing black onyx drops-- can't wait to start working with those!

I can't wait to make more! I have a lot of ideas for these little guys...

sorry for the delay

So Sorry for the delay in new posts! We just moved into a new house--and it's taking a little bit of a priority over the usual leisure activities-- like playing with the cat (clearly, Miles does not approve) and creating new and exciting things in the jewelry shop!

I promise more is coming!

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 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!