My New Earrings

I've been subbing long term for a teacher since the 31st of January. The job will finish the 9th of April. During this time I haven't been able to get much jewelry done, but I did do these earrings. Above are pearls dangling from textured copper rings with sterling silver wire. The rings started their life as washers and I pounded them with a hammer to texture them. These and the opal glass ones below are inspired by Sharilyn Miller. The opal glass ones have been antiqued. The antiquing gives the copper a nice rose gold look.

These are clear sparkling CZ drops with sterling silver in a twisted bird nest wrap. I love these cubic zirconia and have them in several colors.

Lava is kind of a new bead on the market. I imagine it is hard to polish it. Here I've made a spiral for the front.




These are wrapped in sterling silver wire.

Broom Straw Casting, or Ralph is Melting Things Again

When we went to Maker Faire we saw several Austin jewelry artists demonstrating techniques. Michiel Rushing was demonstrating broom straw casting. Ralph was inspired to do some himself. The first picture shows the silver being melted.




Now he's pouring the molten silver into a broom head that has been soaked in water and bound with twine.




This is the resulting casting. I'll probably cut the piece into two pieces. They will have to be cleaned with a brush and then a pickle solution. Then they'll be either drilled or have a ring soldered onto them for pendants or maybe I'll make that top one into a pin.

Sometime in the future I'll have a blog going up on Metal Chik showing our photos of Michiel Rushing doing the broom casting.

Quadrangle

It's crunch time as I try to finish up a few more things and get all my gear ready for my first fall show. Naturally it's raining, so I won't be able to waterproof the canopy as I had planned.

This weekend I'll be at the Quadrangle in Texarkana, USA. For those who aren't aware, Texarkana is on the border literally between Texas and Arkansas. Even the show will straddle the border. Here are some wire bracelets that I've been working on:

My aunt and cousin, of Tejas Trade, will also be showing with their jewelry.

Nose to the Grindstone

I don't know what's been wrong with me this summer, but I've had a real problem getting any jewelry work done. I have been learning some new techniques. I did finally get a website up, but I'm way off the mark on production. Yikes! My biggest shows are coming up in September and October. I need to make money. This is my job, or at least the main one.

Finally I've finished some pieces with wire worked donuts. These are all necklaces sets and there are matching bracelets.