Labradorite Ring

I finished up this ring on Sunday night. I'm getting the hang of making these puppies really perfectly, very little waste of Sterling wire when the formula is worked correctly! This particular ring features a really nice Labradorite cabochon which I chose to match my own personal favorite pendant!  My order from Rio Grande arrived today, including a new pin vise which will be really helpful when I'm trying to make different variations of this particular style.  Prepare, dear readers for an onslaught of this ring design.  I'll try to keep it interesting but I am going to be producing a mass quantity of this type of ring. I'll be presenting them to a local brick and mortal shop in Pawtucket Village RI that sells local artisans work and various bric-a-brac.  I'm also gearing up for the summer festival scene.  I'm going to try to have enough product to take to a show or three for peddlin.   >:-P

                          

                                                 

Moss Agate ring- New Design!

I wrapped this Moss Agate cabochon in 21 gauge square Sterling Silver wire.  This is a new ring design that I've been in the process of figuring out the technique for.  I think I'm finally beginning to understand the formula.  I really, really do hate math.....which is one of the reasons my pendants and rings have been quite abstract to date.  I felt like it was time to step up to the plate and learn a more formalistic technique.  I'm actually super happy with this!  Now that I have the technique down I can tweak it anyway I like to make different and interesting variations.  So, dear readers- I hope ya'll like this new ring style!  There will be many more to come. I've already put in another order for more square sterling silver wire and a handy little gadget called a pin vice. More on that later.  Happy Friday!!!

A quick note on tools for beginners

Last week I purchased a very comprehensive tutorial from Tumbleweed Glass Studio.  They are a husband and wife team who, according to their website traveled the country in and RV full time for five years! I guess that's where the name "Tumbleweed Glass" came from.  I live in a tiny house as it is- I would LOVE to live out of an RV and travel!  Anyway- all fantasy aside for some of the projects in the tutorial I needed to go out and get some new tools.  In particular I was on the hunt for a small anvil (which I did not find) a small butane torch, a rubber mallet and some new flat nose pliers.

So just a note to anyone out there in internet land that is beginning their journey down the road of metal working/wire wrapping/art making in general.  ALWAYS CHECK THE HARDWARE STORE FIRST!

Always, always, always have a look at your local hardware store before you go to some place like "Michaels" or heaven forbid "JoAnnes Crafts."  Here is a prime example why.

This set of tools all came in one package from Harbor Freight Company.  Grand total for 4 different types of pliers and two sets of nippers? About seven bucks.  

 The purple handled pair of pliers pictured below I purchased about two years ago from Michaels. I paid $12.00 for these just by themselves!  

So here they are next to the exact same pair from the set I got at Harbor Freight. They are exactly the same apart from the color.  

Sorry this post doesn't include any interesting pictures of pretty rocks or shiny things....but I just wanted to get this out there-- fancy and expensive tools aren't going to make your art any better, trust me.  One of the wire wrappers whose work I am immensely fond of said once that their favorite tool is a pair of regular old nail clippers.  She thinks they work better than any snipper or nipper out there!  So don't waste your money at the craft store buying purple handled round nose pliers or any other junk like I did.

Last boring example- this set of locksmith files set me back a whopping two bucks.  They are perfect for smoothing down scratchy wires. The nippers pictured were only around a dollar fifty.  Any of these items from a "craft store" would have been MUCH more expensive.  Also, you can always just use a plain old emory board as a metal file.  

Hopefully someone, somewhere out there in internet land will find this blog post, if not super interesting- at the very least helpful.  <3

Baltic Amber Ring

I created this Sterling Silver ring with square wire and an awesome piece of Baltic Amber. 80 percent of the worlds Amber comes from the Baltic Coast. This piece was collected in Russia and judging from the insect/animal inclusions from this region (this piece has a mosquito in it) the amber dates from 44 million years ago! I have another piece that is much smaller that I will be wrapping soon as well.  These are custom ordered rings.  I was really shocked when I received these pieces of amber at how affected I was to be holding something in my hand that is SO beautiful and has been tumbling around on this earth for so long.  The energy of this ring is really breath taking.  Too bad it's impossible to capture that feeling in a photograph. 

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Maxfield Parrish and Valentine Cameron Prinsep paintings!

I stumbled upon these three glass cabochons a week or two ago and just had to pick them up.  This first one is a print of a Dante Gabriel Rossetti painting. Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, translator and painter. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848.  I've wrapped it in antiqued craft wire/beads. The finished pendant is available for purchase as are the other, yet to be wrapped cabochons. Please click on the images below if you desire a larger view.  

The cabochon pictured below houses a lovely Maxfield Parrish print. His artistic career lasted more than half a century and helped shape The Golden Age of Illustration and the future of American visual arts. (July 25, 1870 - March 30, 1966)

This last cabochon is a print of "At The Golden Gate" painted by Valentine Cameron Prinsep. (Feb. 14, 1838 - Nov. 11, 1904) Prinsep was a British painter also of the Pre-Raphaelite school. In 1876 Prinsep was commissioned by the Indian government to paint the durbar that was held to proclaim Queen Victoria the Empress of India. The result was the painting in this cabochon...turns out the original painting is huge!!

Slithery Serpentine

I completed this pendant last night- my lovely Sister in Law mentioned a while back that she really liked Serpentine so I'd been on the look out for some for a while and eventually a "rockhound" friend of mine happened to cut one! So I grabbed it and wrapped it up in Sterling Silver for her just in time for Valentines Day! I actually had never heard of Serpentine until she mentioned it!  It's aptly named- the Latin "Serpentinus" means "Serpent Rock."  Super cool.  Also while I was researching this particular stone I discovered another really awesome looking stone called "Lizardite!" It too is aptly named but far more rare.  Also, this pendant is pictured with a drum my friend sent to me from Galway, Ireland.  :)  Fun stuff.  

Art Nouveau Inspiration

A 41mm Bronze Mojave Chyrsocolla cabochon wrapped in 14K Gold wire with 14K Gold bead work. Once again I was inspired by my love of Art Nouveau style jewelry.

In the 1890's jewelers began to explore the potential of the growing Art Nouveau style. With the emergence of the Art Nouveau style, a different type of jewelry emerged, motivated by the artist-designer rather than the jeweler as a setter of precious stones-- there was less emphasis on precious stones like diamonds and that made way for less familiar semi precious stones, ivory, horn, molded glass etc.  Please enjoy pictures of my latest handmade creation.