Day Two on a One Day Process

The stones on the left are freeform Amazonite. I just love the color and think it will go well with the turquoise jade I used yesterday with the hand formed links.  Also in the foreground, wired and ready to go, are three lovely Czech glass crystals in a deeper shade of blue with a bit of green.  The small white beads on the right are white crystal gemstones.  Also today I finished the steel clasp.  It was formed around an old brass bullet casing my friend gave me, since I don't have a pair of bailing pliers. 

Here are three of the freeform Amazonite stones wired, the end of a string of white crystal beads, and a cross I may work into the design. 

So I have worked about 4 hours already on this necklace. 

Whew!

A New Day a New Benchblock....

Who would have thought it could take 2-1/2 hours to pound out this tiny 6 inch length of necklace.  I thought I could do it in 30 minutes.  

For the S-links I started with a length of #22 dark annealed steel wire.  It is first unwound from the spool, then it is straightened, cleaned, polished, cut, the ends were hammered, bent, hammered again, polished again, and maneuvered into the final shape.  That is ten steps.  Looks simpler doesn't it? 

The wired beads are made much the same way.  Unwind, straighten, clean, polish, cut, bend end loop, hammer, thread on bead, bend other end, hammer, wrap each end, polish.  Whew!

Then each jump ring is made.  Wind wire around the old crochet needle, cut, polish rough ends, polish sides, join beads and s-links, bend together.  Done.

Love it!

HALF PRICE SALE ON SEVERAL ETSY ITEMS

I fell in love with these stones when I found them on eBay.  They are called dragon veins agate.  Being a fan of Anne McCaffrey's dragon world Pern I couldn't wait to see them.  They look just like I think a dragon egg would have looked before hatching. 

And to celebrate the New Year (22 days into it) I'm putting a lot of my Etsy earrings on half price.  Check it out!

Looking Back over a wonderful year and Looking Forward to another.

Here's a great way to start off the new year.  Stop by these two great blogs.  Both of these ladies are so very creative and have been a great source of inspiraton for me.

Rebecca Sower:  Life. By hand.

Deryn Mentock:  Something Sublime

They each had a wonderful mosaic of their work over the past year.  So, to be in good company, I decided to try my hand at a mosaic of my work.  Here it is.

2010 Attempts at Creating Jewelry

I had so much fun in 2010 putting together jewelry.  This year I want to learn about creating pieces from just basic supplies, and move beyond being an assembler to a maker.  I know that's a big leap, but it's my goal for this year.