One more, with love

One more Rainbow Moonstone pendant under my belt.  I created this one for a dear friend who's moved far away and is now expecting a new baby!  Hopefully when she wears this she will feel warm fuzzies and garner strength, confidence and positive energy from the love I channeled into the making of this piece.  I should have taken this pendant outside for photos but due to the fact that it's only around 10 degrees outside I opted to shoot some photos in my little studio instead.  It's amazing how much more the blue fire inside gleams through when hit with the suns rays.  

....And now for something completely different!

So I found this leftover handmade glass eyeball laying around (you know, as you do) and it made me think about this crazy eyeball ring I had when I was a teenager.  I've been wanting to figure out how to create something at least slightly masculine and I guess this ring is my first attempt.  I think it passes for unisex at the very least.  It's a size 10 so it fits on my husbands ring finger and is large on my thumb.  This piece is the first one in which I've explored the world of patina! This is a Sterling Silver ring with a fairly dark patina.  This first picture is work in progress but I wanted to show what it looked like before the patina.  The rest are just different angles and fancy pants pictures.  Enjoy!  Happy Monday!

Micro Pendant and the history of Goldstone

I finished this commission last night so today is picture day! This is another Blue Goldstone. It's a tiny little pendant- the smallest I have ever created. Making a pendant this small was a bit of a challenge but I think it turned out just lovely.

I also have to say how cool I think Blue Goldstone is, so sparkly and deep blue it reminds me of Space.  Goldstone, all though sometimes listed as a gem stone actually isn't a stone at all.  It's the result of adding copper to molten glass. The copper crystallizes and viola! Goldstone! There are three interesting stories regarding the origins of Goldstone.  The first:

Sometime during the early 1800's an Italian monk was making glass in his monastery when he accidentally spilled some copper filings into his molten glass and BAM! Goldstone was born. The recipe for making Goldstone was kept secret by the monks, but handed down through time.

The second:
Also long, long ago in Italy molten copper was accidentally spilled into molten glass at a glass factory in Murano. The result of this accident? Goldstone. 

The third (and my favorite) is that Goldstone was created by Alchemists. One of the many problems that alchemists attempted to solve was how to turn iron into gold. Goldstone is thought to be the result of one of these attempts. Neat.

Goldstone's heydey was during the Victorian era when women wore brooches, necklaces and stick pins made out of this super sparkly glass.

And now- PICTURES!

Rings and Things!!

Rings, dear readers!  Rings have arrived!  I've created this prototype with a Blue Goldstone and Sterling Silver wire and bead work. It turned out so well I can't wait to start making lots and lots more rings in all sorts of styles. I'm sure my creations will still nod toward Nouveau....I can't seem to help myself.

Valentines Day is coming up so I am hoping I'll get to do at least a few custom commissions for rings this year! Now I can offer to match rings with cabochons for pendants like I am doing with this one for my personal collection. (Stingy me, I'm keeping this prototype ring for myself and matching it with a large Blue Goldstone cabochon for a pendant!!) Please enjoy lots of pictures of this creation!  All the love, from Great Horned Owl Design.

A New Blog For A New Year

Now that the Holidays are officially over it's time for me to get back to work.  My husband had a nice break from his work up in Cambridge MA. and since he was home all day I didn't really get as much done from GHOD as I usually do.  Not to mention we both managed to get sick for pretty much the whole break. Neither of us are particularly prone to illness so when it happens we are both sort of grumpy about it.  Anyway....here are a few photos!  Enjoy and Happy New Year!

 These are photos of a last minute custom order from Christmas.  It was a surprise from Mother to Daughter which I think is really special.  How thoughtful of this lucky lady's Mom to keep up with what her daughter liked on my FB page and ordered a special pendant just for her.  I haven't posted pictures of this one because I wanted to make sure it stayed a surprise for her!  It's a gorgeous Labradorite wrapped in Sterling.

These next few photos are of the Sea Sediment Jasper cabochon I wrapped up in Sterling for the winner of my Great Horned Owl Design "like" contest over on my Facebook page. Here is the link in case anyone wants to head over and have a look: https://www.facebook.com/GreatHornedOwlDesign I will be having more contests and give away deals in the future.

 This is a fairly large pendant and I'm fairly happy with the way it turned out.

 Last but not least is this beauty.  It came in the post a few days ago.  I'm going to be wrapping it in 14K Gold for one of my long time friends who's recently gotten engaged!  I'm so excited for her and I can't wait to get this spun up for her as a special present.  It's a Bronze Mojave Chrysocolla. It is made in the same way as Mojave Turquoise in California. The Chrysocolla is crushed and bound together with high quality bronze resin. It makes the cab. more durable. Great stone.  It will make for a pendant just as gorgeous as my lovely friend is.