Small but Mighty

I made this little thing today.  I love it.  I have it for sale in my shop, but I may keep it....*love*

Going Higher End

These are my latest creations.  Now that all the rug rats are in school and the weather has cooled off a little I have more hours in the day to spend out in the studio.  This was my work from yesterday. 

I have an opportunity to wholesale to a high end market somewhat close by so I'm working on more substantial pieces that also don't require customization. 

I'm also trying to build up ready to ship inventory for the holidays.  Who knows, maybe I'll even do a show.

New from the Bench

Its been a while, I know.   Lots of things have been happening around here, not the least of which was sending my middle child to college.  How is it that we raise them and then they leave us?  I know it's the order of things, but, it seems a little ungrateful.  How can she want her own life?  Doesn't she know she needs to stay here?  At times like this I tell myself,  "I'll tell my kids not to have kids...it's just too hard" but, truthfully, I'd never exchange a moment, not one!

So, I've been busy working on getting her ready to leave home and live in a dorm.  It took more work and time than I realized.  I also just wanted to spend time with her so I wasn't out in my studio much.

Now, she is gone to school and is having a great time.  My last remaining rug rat is in high school band so there is not much time for me between practices and school work.

Today was the first day I felt like getting out in my studio and working.  (I spent most of last week on my butt feeling sorry for myself and watching a lot of Law & Order.)

I've had these ideas in my sketchbook for a couple of weeks and decided to put them to work.  I am pleased with two out of three, but the star one...not so much.  It looked great on paper but in actuality it's missing something.  I'll probably deconstruct it tomorrow and re-work my idea, but I thought I'd share anyway.

I'm really pleased with the turquoise and the fleur-de-lis.  I think they are lovely. 

I like the texture on the band as well.  I'm still loving my rolling mill that can make such interesting textures on pieces. 

New from the bench...

A stunning rose cut citrine set in dark antique finish sterling silver.  A custom piece. 

More Earrings and other things.

I have collected these fun vintage pieces for over a year.  I've decided to use the remaining pieces and make earrings. Yay. They are so fun and very summery.

I've also added to my "looking glass" necklaces.  They are bigger and in different shapes.   

From the Bench

Although it may look like I haven't been productive in the last few weeks I have actually been working my tail off on two custom orders.  I didn't take pictures of the first order because it was the same stuff I have in my shop.  I've finished the first part of the second order and was so glad to have it done I rushed it into the mail to meet my deadline.  Hopefully I'll have pictures of the second batch (crossing fingers) that will be done today. 

My hold up is I am stuck on one pretty large piece.  It is a 1.5 by 2.5 piece with details and embellishments and, honestly it is killing me!  For those of you who don't know, in order to get things to stick with solder a piece needs to be heated evenly and to a high enough temperature for the solder to melt and "glue" the pieces together.  Well, with such a large piece I am having a lot of trouble. I've melted two already.  Today will be my third time and, hopefully, third time's a charm as they say.  I've worked it out in my mind how to do it differently so hopefully it will all come together smoothly.  Here is the sketch I worked up:

For my mental sanity I had to take a break and create a couple of things that have been in my mind, just so I could get them out of the way and concentrate on this one last piece.

 This stone is called Pinolith.  It's is big, chunky, and round.  I love it.  I added the filigree on the side that mimics the white "feathers" in the stone.  It's pretty fun to wear.

A couple of months ago I bought two gorgeous strands of graduated turquoise nuggets.  They have sat and sat, tempting me into creating something but everything I have put them in just didn't do them justice.  I think these finally do it.  I clustered the smaller pieces together and the varying colors and matrix seem to really show them off. 

These aren't many pieces but they get me refocused on the work at hand.  Enjoy!

From the Bench Today

I try, I really really try to not make rings. But, the truth is, I love them. I love all kinds, small ones, big ones, gem ones, silver ones. I love wearing them and, truthfully, I LOVE making them.


I know they are more work, and the nice necklaces and earrings that I make I can ship out right away. But, I love rings. There. I said it. No more denial.



That being said...I finished this today. I love how it is a little rustic but still so girly. I love how it is big but has such tiny details. It is really comfortable to wear and, if it doesn't sell soon, it will probably become mine.


Or, truth be told, I'll get in the studio and make another ring that will become my favorite. I just can't help it.

More Earrings

f...and while I like the ready to ship items these are NOT and easy thing to make!

When setting stones in rings I can place the ring shank into the holder and have a tight grip so that I can really muscle the bezel tight around the stone. With earrings....nothing, nada, zip, zilch. I just have to hold these tiny little things and work and work and work the metal. The muscles in my thumb and fingers cramp, hands shake and the skin of my thumb really gets sore!

But, I think the results are worth it.

Studs

New from the Bench

I've postponed my vacation updates for now to share something new from the bench. We had a cooler day yesterday and that combined with a little fixing of the air conditioning system in my shop I was able to work more than a couple of hours yesterday. I got some orders done as well as some things I wanted to make.


These are the beads and focals I wrote about here. I'm still tweaking, but I am pretty pleased with the progress so far. The green one is up in my shop but I may add to it and/or the others. I think they still need a little something.

This is new, too. A gorgeous lace agate with colors of the Painted Desert.

All-in-all I'd say it was a pretty productive day at the bench.