Lemon quartz globes

Lemon quartz rondelles, Bali silver, and handmade sterling earwires. These are light, swingy, and sparkly. I'm not totally happy with these photos. The quartz is not dull at all - it is clear and sparkles nicely.

Ruby Slippers revisited

I was unhappy with the colour in the photos I posted previously so I redid them. These are much better.

Ruby Slippers

More Wizard of Oz earrings - each with three ruby brios and a single faceted ruby rondelle dangling from sterling chain beneath a slightly peachy pearl.

Hand knotted turquoise

Turquoise beads, silk, and a sterling clasp. This was my first serious attempt at knotting, although I have practiced on some trial runs, and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Etsy front page!

This bracelet made the front page on Etsy this morning. I missed it but managed to find a screen shot of it on Flickr. You can see the screen shot here if you are interested.

Yellow Brick Road earrings

Carved citrine, deep golden citrine brios, and gold filled wire. I'm having fun with this Wizard of Oz theme.

I'm liking the way earrings look hanging with this setup. Still needs a little tweaking - this pair is a bit far apart - but the potential is there.

Emerald City earrings

I've been hanging onto these incredibly sparkly quartz crystal brios for a while now, knowing that they needed to be paired with something smaller but unsure exactly what to use. Then I got some tiny little (real) emeralds and I knew what exactly what to do.

Prompted in part by a joke with a friend (Connie, this one's for you) I'm embarking on a Wizard of Oz theme in earrings. These will not be the last in the series. The earwires and headpins are handmade.

This second photo shows the earrings hanging naturally. I need to tweak my setup so that they hang closer together, but I like the overall effect.

Etsy front page!

This stunning treasury by
backwoodsophisticate made the front page on Etsy yesterday. It looked slightly different than this, as at least one item sold, but I took this screen capture before it went up on the front page.

Not much new in the jewellery department as I've been working on my website. You can reach it through the links in the header on this blog. I'm still tweaking things, but I am beginning to suspect that will be a never-ending process.

Last post I was tagged by three enthusiastic members of the eSMARTs team - Tanya Ross, Robin Schiltz, and Kimberly Ries. I'm afraid that I'm not going to tag six more people, like the game requires, but I will tell you six things about me.

1. I love bright colours but most of my clothing is neutrals.
2. I've lived in the high arctic.
3. I didn't like ice cream as a child.
4. I'm allergic to cats, guinea pigs, and porcupines.
5. I love to plant things but I'm not so good at watering.
6. I wish I took better photos of my dogs and kids.

If anyone reading this wants to join the game just let me know - I'll be happy to tag you.

Ametrine earrings

Long sleek earrings of sterling chain and ametrine, made with my handmade earwires. These may be the longest earrings I've ever made.

I am experimenting with photographs again. This was taken in RAW, and I confess I didn't get it quite right. Don't have time to redo it tonight, so I'm posting this as is. The colour is off, just a bit, but I like the effect of the earrings hanging in mid air.

ETA: I just realized that I took this with the wrong settings on the camera. No wonder it looks off!

Technorati Tags: earrings, ametrine, quartz, chain, rondelle, faceted

A bead, just a bead...

My first metal bead - isn't it pretty?! This started off as two 1" diameter sterling silver discs. I had a devil of a time getting it soldered but it worked in the end, and I couldn't be much happier.

Technorati Tags: sterling, silver, lentil, bead, solder

Carnelian ring

This ring has been in the works for a while now but finishing it kept getting put on the back burner. 14g wire, hammered, and a basic bezel set oval carnelian. It would work well as a stacking ring except that I didn't make any more of them. I'm going to have to find this ring a home as it doesn't fit me.

Technorati Tags: bezel, carnelian, ring, stacking, sterling, silver

Front page!

Right around lunch time today this was on the front page of Etsy. I was too excited to think straight and didn't get a capture of the whole treasury - just this. By the time I went back to do it right, just a minute or so later, it was gone.

At least I got to see it.

This is turning into a pretty good month!

It's Yard Sale Season!

Ginko earrings

These are my first post earrings! My first successful ones anyway... I ran into some issues getting the first pair done and kind of seriously over cooked them. These ones turned out okay though!

Tube set pale blue cz and sterling silver. The ginko pattern was printed with a rolling mill. I don't actually have access to a rolling mill - I made this sheet at a class in BC - but I'm starting to think I might need one.

Hmmm... I just looked at this photo at full magnification and it looks like the settings still need work. I shall fix that now! Have a look anyway to compare to the ginko pendant below - these aren't nearly as scratched up. I'm learning...

Pretty simple ring

I'm working on a number of silver items out in the garage right now. I've made some incredible mistakes, but that's what happens when you just jump in and try things. This had several hiccups along the way but I'm happy with how it turned out.

On a roll!

My chartreuse bracelet is in a treasury chosen by scarfitup. How exciting!

Treasuries and giveaways

I was included in a treasury on Etsy this week. It is only the second time (that I know of) that I've been in a treasury. Treasuries are a bit of a mystery to me - part game, part thrill seeking, part bragging rights, part hopes of a front page jackpot. All I know is that it is very exciting to find out that I'm in one. Thanks catrocks!


The TransCanada Etsy Team is giving away a book next Wednesday. The Boss of You: Everything a Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run and Maintain Her Own Business by Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears is a book I would really like to read, so I'm half hoping no-one reads this until after next Wednesday.

Kidding. Really. Go, enter, and good luck!

Tube setting

I finally got to mess around in the garage yesterday for the first time since last summer. This is rather badly scratched (although looking much worse in the photo than to the naked eye) because I was just playing so wasn't as careful as I should have been. I'll probably clean it up a bit more but my mom has already claimed it - she says (correctly) that since she was watching my kids while I did this she should get to have it. Sounds good to me!

Tube set 3mm CZ pendant, on ginko imprinted sterling sheet. My first tube setting as well as my first time playing with a bunch of new toys I have. Life is good!

Photography

I struggle with photographing my pieces. I know this is a common problem, but it is still very frustrating. Today I got a neutral grey background. I only had time to try it quickly, and most of the photos didn't turn out, but this one has me pretty excited. This is the sparkliest I've managed to show these Oh-So-Sparkly stones.



Of course - now that I've posted them - I see a dog hair in the photo. Oh well, just another opportunity for improvement!

Tourmalines from November

I made these several months ago and forgot all about them until now! Tourmalines and sterling. I am still messing around with my photo setup. The colours are brighter than in the photo. If I get a better photo the next time I'll update this.

Back in the saddle, sort of...

I've pulled out all my stash and I've started playing. I haven't actually made anything, mind you, but I have some ideas and I will be soon. In the meantime I took a bunch of photos with my new camera. I was trying something new for lighting, and I don't think it worked fabulously. This was adjusted in Elements and while the colours are not particularly accurate I think the sparkle comes across.