Wings and hearts..?

I've always been attracted to wings, hearts and crosses.   I managed to get all those things into one necklace!  I made all of these bronze elements by hand.  I love the rough citrine nuggets with it.  Hope it inspires you! 

REPRESENT.. yeah go for it.

I needed  a drop dead gorgeous  statement piece to wear  with a black maxi dress to a black tie event. 
After all  I can't just wear some rhinestones..  I MAKE JEWELRY!  I need to wear my own work..uhh don't I?  It's awkward when you meet someone and they ask you, "So,what do you do"?  Umm, "well I make jewelry".  Immediately their eyes take inventory.  First my ears, neck, fingers and wrists..looking to size me up.  See?  So i have to R E P R E S E N T!  

 Hmm.. well I've been looking at the beautiful crown I made from Goldie Bronze Clay for months now trying to decide how to finish it! It's regal enough for the event I'm attending. 
   I love the beautiful look I got from my Goldie bronze pieces but they looked flat and boring.   I cringed at the though of darkening all that pretty gold color.  But, on the other hand, I wasn't feeling the love the crown I made deserved. So whats an artist to do?  I dipped my brush into some Novacan patina an applied it  sparingly to selective crevices of my crown and brass bullet casings :)  The results are, well..quite pleasing and give the crown a much richer appearance.  Combined with the hammered wire shank and beads, yeah  I think this will do nicely.   

Here is the back side view of the bail .. equally as important....

Hope it inspires you :) 

Hope it inspires YOU!

Shabby Chic, Just a visit to the hardware store!

So I was at the hardware store buying a can of mapp gas, and a guy comes in and says to the cashier, "hey do you recycle old copper pipe? This one has been nothing but frustration to me!" No.. the cashier said .. we do not!.   I saw the bent and wriggled pieces in his hand, looked like they came from under his sink. 

I replied, "Well Sir, I'll take it and make it into somethin purdy"!  He handed it to me and said "here ya go lady, good luck!"  So I took it home, cut piece off hammered it flat, and torch fired some enamel on to it.. and now its pretty!

Where is your current inspiration coming from?

So where is your current inspiration coming from?     I'm loving choker style necklaces with large focals and long dangles .....This one is Palm 23 set in resin with touches of enameled rings, pearls and wire wrapped beads.....

And,  this one was for  Easter!   I love the message of the cross and God's love for us all.    I also love fashion!  I've been trying to master enameling (which for me was NOT as easy as it looks) and was very inspired by Susan Lenart Kazmer's enameling DVD and her recent Elle magazine shoot.  The  look of her long pendants with large focals sent me over the moon :)  . Here's the result ...some robins egg blue enamel, prenite stacked beads and a very large copper etched  cross.....

I revamped some resin set pieces, adding long dangles and enameled elements using Susan Lenart Kazmer's cone shaped copper looks and mixing kiln firing with  Barbara Lewis immersion enameling method..which is much easier than traditional torch fire enameling since you do not need to counter enamel!

Hope I've inspired YOU :)  !!!!! 

Be blessed!

Love complete:)

Happy valentines day!

Every year I struggle to make a valentine piece with hearts and something "red" in it.  In fact I've been through a few vdays and Christmas holidays dragging out my garnets, and ruby beads, only to return them to their closet.

  This year was no exception.  I loved creating the focal a with Goldie Bronze. And when I pulled the metal out of my kiln the patina colors stirred my soul!   Combing over my red gemstones again I knew they needed a friend.  I introduced them to the Carmel and blue of my  faceted fire agates and fell in love.  BINGO-  putting them together like an oil painting with the garnets and rubies, some sterling and etched bullet casings was magical.. Hope they inspire you:)

Here they are fresh out of the kiln..

A new place for my old rugged cross

I made this cross by hand.. formed the backplate from bronze -soldered on the bezel filled with resin and applied the stamped key hole piece and aged it with patina and looked at, just looked at it - for a very long time About a year in fact!   It needed something fabulous- a big chunky chain- but not blingy, YES YES that's the ticket.  I found these beutiful beads in my stash that I purchased from my very first gem show.  Now they found their place on this beautiful necklace.  They were just made for this big cross :)  Hope it inspires you!

Wrapping up the old into the New Year

Wee!  The beginnings of a new necklace and a new life! 

Feeling so blessed to finally be  cancer free! 2014 is certainly a year of NEW beginnings and a fresh start. I am truly loving the freedom to create again. I usually make my pieces from a collaboration of inspiration of items I've made through different seasons of my creative process.  I'll experiment with a new technique and then make several things with it, then add them to my collection of TBC  ( to be continued ).  This is a piece of annealed wire that will progress into a necklace. I felt kind of drawn to it with all the negative space.  I had to leave it like this for a while.

 But not for long!  Dived into my TBC stash collection of mixed media, I found a lovely brass daisy I was holding onto for a few years, some pearls, crystals and this stainless steel stamping I made from Hadar's stainless steel powder and a TCHULA postage stamp imprint… all wrapped up from previous years of learning and collecting- This too will go to the TBC pile and eventually it this will be the focal for beautiful necklace.

Well- heh that didn't take long- finished the chain today.. Once again from  things and links I made on my art journey last year and have now found their place. Hope it inspires you!

Adventures in Bronze fired metal clay

So doing some experimenting with different clays. The charms ( stamped coin and heart) were made from fast fire Bronz clay   And was the easiest to Fire but in, wet clay mode it wasn't as easy to work with as Hadars powder Bronze fast fire XT clay.   However Hadars clay is more difficult to fire than fast fire Bronz (from metal clay adventures.)  The thinner rings on here are made from 12g wire. The chunky 6g links toggle and doughnut assembly  are from Hadars powdered clay.  I do love it! I plan on trying Goldie bronze also.

Base Metal Pmc and powders!

Oh so much to say, and still so much to Learn!  There are stainless steel , white bronze, Goldie bronze (wowza!!!) 

powder formulas and they are amazing!  While silver is the easiest to fire, the others require a sintering process in charcoal and some kiln temperature experimenting us necessary- the possibilities are endless. I'm defiantly moving forward to Learn more skills in this medium. Here are some of the fun pieces made with base metal powders in my kiln. Hope they inspire you! 

Copper anyone?

I don't usually work in copper, but its great to practice on.  I was making a practice pair and fell in love with the look of these hoops!  Hope they inspire you!

Earrings !

Shifting gears to the earlobes! Working like a busy bee..are your ears itching for adornment? 

I'M BACK ART IS YOU PETALUMA WAS AWESOME!

It feels so great to be back on my feet!  First on my list was  ART IS YOU classes ~  JOY!!!!!!!

Spending two fun filled days with art sisters from around the world was like 2 days in heaven!  I made a beautful sterling rings and charms from PMC. Even mastered some stone setting:)  I'll be going back next year for sure!  What a lovely group of artists I met! Back to doing what I love ..making da jewelry!

Half way through!!!

God is so faithful and carried me through very successful 12 weeks of chemo, i kept all my hair thanks to cold caps-Hurray!   It sucked, steroids and drugs caused weight gain stomach troubles and major fatigue along with  numbness well,  need i go on? but I'm bouncing back!  The chemo was so effective it melted the tumor no mastectomy!  Just some minor breast surgery and ill be on my road to making things again!  Managed to make this piece for my chemo buddy who took me for 10 wks and took care of me..soon it will all be behind me.  Here is the piece I made for her followed by me surviving chemo with all my hair;)

Are you a Believer?

When i was a child I loved a song by Monkees the called I'm a Believer.  Maybe you remember it too, if your my age.  Believing in something is a powerful thing.  Having great faith that someone, or something, such a promise will come to fruition.  As I continue to fight my battle against breast cancer i know that I am a believer in the promise of God's word to deliver me. Psalm 103:3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. A few months ago I posted about making a stick bezel and turning it into a beautiful piece of jewelry.  Well today its day has finally come.  It bonded with resin, and paired with sterling silver and blue lapis and a proclamation of faith.  Hope it inspires you!

Simplicity with 10 gauge silver

Recently at my metalsmith class our teacher gave us a project requiring 10 gauge sterling silver.  Why waiting for my sterling order to arrive I did the project in 12 gauge bronze for practice ( see circle cuff below) It looked so much better in 12 gauge and was certainly more practical.  I was wondering what I would now do with the thick sterling I had already paid for.  I simply made it into bangles and i just love them :)  .. The weight of the heavy silver looks rich and fabulous with all my rings.  All turned out alright :)

Cuffs!

Finally moved to decorating the wrist this week :)  This Circle cuff bracelet was a really learning experience.  Should I add some bezel set gemstones in side the circles or jsut enjoy the simplicity of it as is?   Hmmmm.  

More citrine's, resin and mixed media.

  

This piece is inspired by Psalm 34:7

"The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them".

My Pendant du Jour, The French Church Pendant!

Another bezel set in resin with some beautiful garnet briolets and gemstones! The focal on this piece is a large one around 3" but looks fabulous on this 18" short gemstone chain. I seriously need to work on something besides pendants, but i'm on a creative roll and really enjoying it. 

Hebrews 4:12 metal-resin-gemstones united:)

This one has several elements all put to together! My golden angel wings which I sawed from a piece of bronze with my trusty jewelers saw & sent off to be coated in 18k gold, holding a knobbed bezel with one of my favorite verses  (quoted at the bottom and it's reversable too) All suspended on a chain made from peridot gemstones, and faceted moon stone chlacedony gemstones.  I just love this mixed media piece, because it represents all my love and talents for mixed media, stones and metal all in one.

Hebrews 4:12 "for the word of God is alive, is powerful and stronger that a two edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit"...

Garnets and stick bezels oh my!

I'm just in love with the addition of gemstone chains into my mixed media pieces, they are pricey but really complete a stunning look to my bezels! I just love keeping the elements of my faith in each piece.. here I used garnets to represent the covering we have by the blood of Jesus, this one is called simply:  In love with the Holy Spirit...

stick bezels :)

It so rewarding to make my bezels.  I'll take you on my journey from start to finish minus any frustration.. it all begins with a piece od 22 ga sterling sheet & some 16 ga wire. Add a nice hot flame and some solder and a little flux and here ya go!   These little beauties will be filled with resin and embelished later... :)

RINGS RINGS RINGS...We'll I hate to admit it but I'm loving me some sterling silver.  I was recently blessed by the sweetest woman I met in my art class who was selling a lot of her supplies.  Today I sorted though the bags of beautiful beads and silver findings and was almost moved to tears at her generosity as I kept finding little treasures in every bag I opened!  I certainly got a good deal, but there is something so special about going through somone's "collection"of things.  I have always prefered yellow metals but now that I have some silver I'm really enjoying the simplicity of it.  It's really nice to work with. It melts and solders so nice!   Here are my latest pieces.  lots of rings..

Valentine bracelets?

I'm bored with pendants this week and chose to make some bracelets for Valentines day.  Using my fat swarovski crystals, brass bezel strips, and resin.. oh resin.. I can get lost in resin. The anticipation of waiting to see the finished result of each pour is a trip in its self!  It took me 5 days of just poring layers of resin, paint and epherma on top of each other to create a textured 3'd look.  If anyone tells you "resin is a crafting skill not an art", They are very mistaken!  Especially if there is depth and detail involved.  Paint, ink, paper..oh yes, there are so many little secrets inside my treasured little heart charm:)

My bezel cross filled with resin and crystal chain, this was fun to make

My Fur Babies Miss Daisy & Teddy Bear

It's a new year..Whew

2012 is gone.. I can barely believe how fast it went!  For me, it was a year of discovery as I began making jewelry exactly one year ago this month.  Last year I was diagnosed with agressive breast cancer.  I did not accept the recommended treatment of chemo and radiation.  I knew I would not survive it.  I started juicing carrots, fruits and greens, had few lumpectomies. and a LOT of prayer.  I believe in the power of prayer, and the awesome promises of God.  My faith is bullet proof now :)  It's a year later, I'm still here no signs of cancer, and I feel healthy.  If anyone wants to know details I'd love to share them with you, just leave a comment and I'll be sure to reply and open a dialouge.
Now then, back to why I'm still here!  So last year  I had a journey to find my gifting or talents given by God.  Mine has always been all things art, but for some reason I did everything but art!  Now I'm learning everything I can and working my way through it.   I'm not a purist by any means :) I'm more eclectic.  My house is not stark, it's full of color! I love the wild an whimsical, as long as it's tasteful ..and as far as jewelry goes,  can be warn with any of my Hermes cuffs.  (beautiful gifts from hubby over the years). I can hardly wait to see what this new year has in store for me.  Anyway this is my first creation of 2013,  a beaded choker . I hope it inspires you!

Heart to Heart

I'm all about my family. Taking care of my husband, son and my two furry Shih Tzu's keeps me from most things that involve time away form home. But today I made an awesome decision to attend a 3 day Art retreat this May.  I'm really looking forward to spending 3 days with some art sisters totally immersed in jewelry making projects.  (If any of you follow Diana Frey, she has a Petite retreat in may of 2013 in her studio in California which you can find here http://dianafrey.blogspot.com/p/classes.html I just love her work and this time I'll be learning bronze metal clay, something I can't wait to try.  Here are some pieces that Diana's classes and her work have inspired me to make from her Heart to Heart class.

Working with beads this week :)