Summer in the Studio

Usually things slow down for jewelrymakers in the summer, but it hasn't for me yet. The pool beckons (boy, does that water look good), the house could use a lot of TLC (those things I always put off until summer because of years of teaching and usually opting not to have classes at that time), and I have new paints and a new easel that I'm dying to use. But I have many, many jewelry pieces that I have got to get listed on the website and other bits of paperwork/office work that I must get done. I also made the mistake of deleting a lot of photos that I had taken that now I will have to retake! C'est la vie.
Here are a few things that I've recently added to the website.
Above, a coral bracelet with lampwork beads by Suzette Celestin. Below, a cloisonne bracelet with cherry quartz and vermeil.

Above, a coral necklace , Song of the Tropics, with lampwork beads by Lynn Nurge. And finally, a unique bracelet with a mixture of turquoise, rhodonite, and lapis accented by vermeil and goldfill.

Another view of the coral necklace from above.


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Blog Award Received

Thank you Glitter Glow Beading for the Arte y Pico (Peak of the art) award received today! What is this award, you ask? The first rule below will tell you :D

The rules for passing the award on are (you can copy&paste):

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter of language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award-winning has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the ward itself.

4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) Show these rules.

So I've decided to pass this award onto these following 5 blogs:

The Lone Beader
Mei at Wirebliss
Sculpted Windows Jewelry
Helmetti
Delia Stone's Studio

About cutting rocks

So a few days ago I bought a new tile cutter to cut smaller rocks with it, for tumbling and for - later on - cabbing.
Yesterday hubby bought me a sort of drawer to put on the back balcony, to put rocks inside, and my machines on top, so I don't have to cut in the house.
Today I've plugged it in and as I had a quartz rock that wouldn't tumble nice as it's too big and it has too many small crevices which the tumbler will never smoothen out, I took that piece to cut it in two. Put on my apron, and my ear muffs and got working in the balcony. It only took a couple of minutes, and although I was a bit worried about neighbours, soon I got so into it, that I forgot pretty much about everything else but fixing up that rock. It's amazing how alive I feel when I'm working with this machine. I truly enjoy it. I cut the rock in two pieces, and then polished up a bit both sides to smoothen them. Next time I'll open my Chicago tumbler, I'll pop both pieces in. I bet they'll tumble nicely this time.

In the meantime I've also ordered the Ameritool cabbing machine from John at Johns Gems, and as I am on the rock tumbling forum as well, he gave me a tiny bit of discount as well. Even so with shipping included and the 17% taxes I'll have to pay when the machine arrives here (hopefully in a couple of weeks), it will have cost me around $700. Ouch...I'll eat bread and butter for the next few months, and no chocolate icecream for me anymore :(
But still, I can't wait for the cabbing machine to arrive! I've ordered the 8" once, plus two sticks of dop wax, so I can have everything I need to get started with cabbing. If I'll enjoy it as much as I enjoy cutting rocks, I see myself with a new great hobby in the future :D

Yellow drop agate freeform pendant

I made this piece today for a pendant swap in a jewelry forum. I'm not saying who it is for, in case the person checks out my blog :p

Yellow drop agate with sterling silver basket wave freeform.
If interested in a similar piece, leave me a comment so I can contact you.

Amethyst earrings - simple and fun

I felt like making something light and fun for summer, so I came up with this pair of amethyst earrings, wrapped in sterling silver.
Each amethyst bead is 1cm. The whole length, including the silver earwires ist ~4.5 cm.
I haven't done something easy in eons and I really had fun working on this pair. I'm working lately on more complex pieces which take a lot of time and material, and I simply forgot how fun I used to have creating light and cute pieces like this one.

18 Euros

Cutting rocks with a tile saw

Ok so I finally tried out this too: cutting rocks with a tile saw. And it was fun. But boy so loud, I'm pretty sure the neighbours here (I'm living in a flat) were not amused.
I went today to the local Super Home Center (the local equivalent of the Home Depot for the Americans), and bought a wet tile saw, which is good for cutting rock into slabs (or smaller pieces from slabs). I set it up, filled up the tray with water and off I went. At first it took me 10 minutes to go just through 1 cm of petwood (of course afterwards I've read that petwood is a difficult one to cut anyway) after which I almost gave up. I posted a question at the EIS forum and somebody in the UK who has the same piece told me not to despair, the diamond saw needs to settle. Just to take a cheapo hard rock and try again. Also got a few pointers on how to press the rock against the blade and not downwards. And all this helped, because just in a few minutes, I managed to cut my first rock, 4cm in length and 2.5 in height. Cheapo rock it is, hard it is, and two pieces of it I have :D

I had really fun in the process, even though the machine with this water spitting like a llama, and with the loud noise put me off and scared me a bit at first.
Of course hubby is not yet at home so he is yet to hear the noise. He'll freak out, lol.
And of course, if my dad saw my newest machine, he'd be mighty proud of me, daughter just like the father :P I honestly have more tools and machinery at home than most of the male homeowners around, except those who are handworking by trade (and except my dad).
And I haven't even started cabbing yet. Wait till I buy the Hi-Tech Diamond All-U-Need and start making cabs out of the cut rock slabs...

Happy Birthday 'E'

Happy Birthday to my lovely 'E' who has now put up with me for over 11yrs, married for 9 - today I will spoil him rotten - strawberries and cream anyone??

Sailor's wheel

I went through some older bought tutorials, and as I had this donut lying around, I decided to use Eni's donut wrap tutorial on it. I like the result, it has some nice possibilities and the stone shows quite nicely.
Wrapped in sterling silver, the stone is a beautiful rhodonite donut, 3cm in diameter.
It reminds me strongly of a ship's wheel, so it Sailor's Wheel it is :)
As usual, like with all my jewelry, the pendant comes with a 45 cm silver chain, wrapped in a nice giftbox. Additionally I have free shipping all over the world. So international purchases always welcome :)

To see all my jewelry for sale on one page, click here. Each item can be purchased immediately through Paypal. Following payment, shipping is within the next 24 hours, unless it is weekend or a public holiday, in which case I ship the next business day.

29 Euros

Why I Love Turquoise! Turkoosi, Turquesa, Turkooizen

Turquoise is a wonderful material for jewelry and has been used for thousands and thousands of years. I love to use it for several reasons, not only because the colour turquoise is one of my favorites.
First, I love working with materials that have a sense of history. Not only does one have the sensual appreciation that we who work with gemstones and metals get to experience, but there is the intellectual and emotional appreciation of being linked to those past workers, some in sophisticated workshops, some simply women with a supply of beads and stringing material who made necklaces and bracelets as they watched their children play. We know that turquoise was used as early as 5500 B.C.; bracelets found on the Egyptian Queen Zar tell us this. The Egyptians made turquoise beads. In addition to lapis, turquoise was one of the materials used most often by the Sumerians who inlaid it with gold and precious stones as well. As far as we know, the first mines were in the Sinai region of Egypt.Turquoise probably got its name from "Turkey" although the best turquoise actually came from Persia (Iran), and calling turquoise "Persian turquoise" is still an indicator of high quality. Turquoise was also mined in China and in America and was traditionally set with gold and sometimes other gemstones. In Victorian times it was common to see turquoise set in gold with diamonds; it is recently, probably in the very late 1890's, and in the American Southwest, that turquoise became associated with sterling silver.
I also love the way that turquoise comes in such a variety of shapes and sizes - and that turquoise with and without matrix is considered equally valuable often. Many people value the "spiderweb" appearance of dark veins, while others prefer a clear blue unmarred surface. It also comes in such a range of prices that real turquoise is affordable for almost everyone. Of course, the colour of turquoise can range also from that wonderful "Sleeping Beauty" blue to a dark teal of which I'm fond as well.
Turquoise plays well with others - I love mixing it with lampwork glass, of course - the opaque turquoise and the transparent glass are a magical combination. And we now consider sterling and turquoise to be a classic combination. The second turquoise bracelet is one of my newest creations: a mix of turquoise, sterling, and Swarovski crystals in the new Sand Opal colour. I still like to mix turquoise with gold although most of my customers seem to prefer sterling silver with theirs.All the turquoise bracelets shown here today can be found on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website. Please give me some time to get the prices on them!

Cote de Texas - my favorite decorating blog - check it out!




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