Week 8: Whirly Whirlies

Back on time and on theme! Plus, I really, really like this piece. It's really heavy and substantial, but feminine.

Started out with some Green Jade donuts that I wanted to put in a Byzantine weave - after making one section, I decided it needed more. Adding rings in various places gave me the effect I wanted, and then I just needed to try to remember what sizes (because they are fairly tight - 3.0, 3.5, 5.5) I had used in each design.

Big rings are 16g 9mm...really fun to cut. After adding a clasp, the whole thing was tossed in the tumbler for about an hour to shine it up.

Week 8: Atmosphere

Well, the intention and idea were good. I'm not so sure about the execution.

The donut is one I picked up last year in Kansas City at the Bead Blast in May. It's blue goldstone, and is a really deep, rich navy color with flecks of silver embedded. I wanted to wrap the donut a little differently, and it really looked raw in the center.

Based on that, I coiled some half-round wire into a spiral and fitted it into the center. It did make it look more finished, but wouldn't stay put. The half-round wraps from the center to the outside were supposed to look like a star, and they do...but I'm not happy with the way they look.

And the bail is just awful, IMO. It looks sloppy and just wrong, but I had a hard time getting it to finish right. I may redo this one at a later date, or I may just pull it apart and do something completely different with the stone.

Final pendant was oxidized with hard-boiled eggs...if nothing else, the resulting blue tones from the egg did work nicely with the navy blue of the stone.

And finally, I'm caught up and back on track!!!

Week 7: Stormy Weather

Getting caught up after being behind. I've been creating, just not on YOJ theme, so I wanted to get something that was somewhat close. :)

This ring is much better than last weeks - it's the right size at least! Angie had given me this moonstone when we did a swap last year, and I was going to put it in a bracelet, but I like this application better.

The base of the ring is 18g hh round, wrapped with 18g hr. I curled the ends down to use as a frame for the stone, and can see that one of the curls didn't quite make it all the way down. Not sure how I missed it when I was making it (it's so darned obvious now!) but it may have loosened up in the tumbler.

The stone is set on a 24g wire and then wrapped down to the next half-round wraps on both sides. It does flip around if I want to switch which side is up. No visible difference from the front to back of the stone, however.

No LOS in the house, so I used hard boiled eggs. They were really fresh, and I left the ring in the bag with them for quite a while and got a really nice, deep blue finish. Finished up the ring with a polishing cloth and then tossed in the tumbler for about 30 minutes.

Week 6: Wild Winter Winds

I forgot to put this entry up - it was late due to a holiday trip to Florida, but I didn't post it here!

Sterling silver with Swarovski crystals encased in a swirling open bead wrap that made me think of winds blowing like crazy. While I love the look of this ring, and the feel (it's super smooth to wear and despite the overlap on the back, it doesn't catch on anything!), it taught me something about wrapping a ring like this - keep a handle on the size! It went from being a 7.5 that would have fit me perfectly to an almost 12...too big for my pointer or my thumb!!!

Someone suggested I make it into a pendant, and I did think of that. It's a pretty piece, so perhaps that is in it's destiny.

Week 5: Breathe

It may seem like I am working fast, but this one's been on the table for a couple of weeks. I started out making it for another board's challenge: Make a set using pearls/shells...and 70% of the components have to be purchased from a specific retail hobby store.

The real challenge (for me) was that the choices at the store for real pearls and shells are pretty limited, but I did like the rectangular shells and thought about doing a stretchy bracelet with the Swarovski double-drilled crystal spacers. The bracelet was a snap, but I was kind of stuck trying to figure out a necklace to go with it...and earrings to boot.

After trying several different designs, I finally came up with a mosaic/puzzle pendant using a square frame. Because the shells spun on the thin wire, it didn't turn out exactly as I'd planned, but close enough. I then used seed beads, the shells and Swarovski components to make a necklace to pull the whole thing together.

The earrings were simple - I just used wire to wrap the double drilled holes on either end like a briolette. Dangle a shell on a headpin at one end, and a post/wire on the other end. I like this style of earring finding - it's super comfy.

All in all, I'm pleased with my results...and I can finally "breathe" again knowing that the challenge is on the books as completed!

Week 4: Fairy Wings

Well, maybe not quite, but I can spin it (maybe).

Dyed African Agates and sterling wire that can be seen as a wing shape. ;-) I love these African Agates - they are in so many colors that a necklace like this can go with any thing!

I'm also really working on photography. In the past, I've stuck with just using my scanner, but I really want to use my digital camera. That's why I bought it!! My first photographs of this piece were on a black velvet necklace bust...and every single piece of dog hair and lint showed up. Yuck! As a result, I adjusted my display, and decided I needed to do some serious cleaning of my displays. They didn't look that bad to my naked eye!!!

At any rate, I'm very pleased with this piece of jewelry. I think it calls for very simple earrings - don't want to overpower the necklace.

Week 3: Take Flight!

Got a jump start on this week's theme, but I did have something in mind. These Adventurine butterflies have been hanging around in my "green" bag for some time - I've made a couple of simple strung pieces with them, but hadn't found the right design to let them "fly" yet.

I like this design - 14g sterling frame for the cuff bracelet, tiny pearls and sterling seamless rounds along with the Adventurine are woven using 26g sterling wire. I can't LOS this piece because of the pearls, but I like it just fine the way it is - bright and shiny.

The one thing I am NOT happy with is the end wrap. To my eye, it looks messy, and I need to find a better way to end these wrapped pieces. They need to be secure, but neat...something to keep working on.

I really like this piece, and received compliments from my boys on it. It's simple but elegant, lightweight but has enough heft that I'm not afraid to wear it.