Live model

My good friend Marnie commissioned a custom order of the Bronwen earrings and matching bracelet in sterling silver for her sister Ilisa's birthday gift. I was very excited to receive pictures of Ilisa modeling the pieces for the blog. Doesn't she look fabulous? Thank you, ladies!

Custom

I finished a custom order for a birthday gift. These are similar to the Bronwen earrings and bracelet, but in sterling silver instead of vermeil.

Sold pieces

It's been a busy, whirlwind summer with personal projects, birthday parties and all kinds of other things, so I haven't had too many chances of updating the blog of late. But I have been wanting to post an update for a while on my recently sold pieces. Business was pretty brisk the early part of the summer, which was exciting. My metals were particularly popular. I was also very excited when the Uhura bracelet sold! I worked hard on this piece and loved how it turned out, so I was happy to know someone else shared my love for it.

Cuff bracelet

I made a cuff bracelet for the first time. I've been thinking about the design and construction for a while but didn't have the courage to actually pick up my torch and start creating one lest it ended up in the discard pile, like a lot of my metalwork attempts. But on Sunday I spent the whole afternoon at my workbench, and this is one of the fruits of my labor. My sister has been bugging me to name a piece after Star Trek's Uhura, but I've been waiting until I made something sufficiently funky and sassy and space age-y. I think this one finally looks like an Uhura, doesn't it?

Butterfly bracelet

I have a newly-listed goody at the shop, the Harlow bracelet. Made of ivory bone butterfly and pale green chrysoprase nuggets - check her out!

Also, one of my favorite artists, Betsy Carr of Foundling, was featured on Etsy. I love her work and try to check out her blog often. Her shop is chock full of jewelry and accessories with a decidedly vintage flavor - I've bought a pair of her red poppy bobby pins in the past and they are absolutely adorable.

Hope you are all staying warm on this chilly winter's day!

On real people

My friend Camille posted a couple of pictures on Hazel Designs' Facebook page from her wedding that showcase the jewelry she commissioned from me. Here is one of her wearing the Anne bracelet that was her "something blue" during the dancing of the horah (the other arm is her hubby Jeremy). Isn't it pretty?

And here is one of her bridesmaids wearing the smoky quartz bracelet and earrings!

Check out the rest of my live models on Hazel Designs' Facebook page, including Camryn wearing the Camryn. And a huge thanks to Camille for giving me permission to post her lovely photos.

The sun will come out...

Not this weekend, that's for sure! The weather didn't cooperate with me at all the past two days (except for that one hour we were out running errands), so I didn't get to photograph my new stuff. Luckily enough, I took this picture last weekend so I was able to list a new item at the shop today - the matching Bronwen bracelet. Buy her now and be my instant BFF!

And finally, the one surefire way to tell that you are old: when you get so excited by the idea of buying a new vacuum cleaner, and get even more excited about bringing it home, putting it together, and trying it out.

Wow. I need to get out more.

Pearl bracelets

Here are the bracelets I made for my friend Lisa's Christmas custom order. I loved how they turned out so much that I'm planning on making more and selling them at the shop.

Fall wedding jewelry

It seems fitting that I would finish my friend Camille's bridesmaids' jewelry order for her fall wedding on the first official day of fall. I played around with the design all summer, adding all kinds of embellishments here and there, but in the end, I decided to go simple so as not to compete with the bridesmaids' necklaces, dresses, and gold pashmina shawls.

In total, I made 4 bracelets and 4 pairs of earrings (3 bridesmaids and 1 maid of honor).

For the bracelets, I used smoky quartz faceted beads and gold-filled chain. The facets on the beads are really sparkly and the rich brown color complement the gold of the chain really well.

The maid of honor bracelet has little 14k gold-filled beads as additional embellishment.



The bridesmaids' bracelets. They are adjustable from 6" to 8".



The maid of honor's earrings, made of smoky quartz brios.



The bridesmaids' earrings.

Chalcedony charms

New shop item! The Anne bracelet, named after one of my favorite childhood books, Anne of Green Gables. She is made of fourteen gorgeous chalcedony briolettes whose color is called peruvian opal (according to my vendor). This is a charm-style bracelet measuring an inner circumference of 8".

Finished projects

These are a couple of custom projects that I've been working on, and that I've finally completed. That bracelet you see in the pictures is made of 25mm kyanite coin beads and sterling silver links. The stones turned out to be much bigger than originally planned, but I think the piece turned out great. I hope the new owner thinks so too!

The necklace is similar to Abigail, but much longer, and with a blue teardrop stone as the focal bead instead of a crystal.

Whew - it's been a busy, busy few weeks for custom orders.

I have a couple of more things on my plate before I can turn back to metalsmithing. My head is brimming with ideas for new rings. I have my eye on some pretty stones that are going to look wonderful in bezel settings, and I can't wait to work on them!

Soldering and metalsmithing

I had an exciting day - I took a five hour soldering class today, and it was amazing.

I finally know how to solder!

I also learned how to make my own jump rings as well as a nifty new clasp design. I learned what kind of torch, flux, and other equipment to use. Apparently I was using the wrong type of soldering tool before, which was why I couldn't get it working.

Below is the bracelet I made in class. It's made of sterling silver and I formed all the links by hand. After it was put through the tumbler it came out in a highly shiny, beautiful silver finish, but I ended up giving it an antiqued finish because I wanted to learn how to oxidize sterling.




A close up of the clasp I made.



It looks very vintage.

My teacher was extremely talented and the next class I want to take with him is ring making (not the wire rings, but the actual handforged rings). I have so many new ideas bouncing around in my head now! First I need to collect my tools and supplies, then set up a space where I can safely use a butane torch, and then start creating new designs for the shop!

I am excited.

Aqua charm bracelet

It's hard to get back in gear after vacation, but my friend Lisa told me I had to produce this weekend. I managed to get just one piece finished (another one I was working on didn't come out like I had envisioned, so it's back to the drawing board for that one).

As I have also finally ran out of friends and family names for my pieces (I hope I didn't forget anyone), I am now turning to both literature and celebrities for inspiration. Like peas in a pod, right?

Hence, this new bracelet is called "Eloise," after the little girl who lives in the Plaza Hotel. She is made up of aqua chalcedony and aqua quartz in a charm bracelet style, and can be extended from 7" to 9" in length.

The colors remind me of the Caribbean Sea. And I'm not just saying that because I still have the post-vacation blues!

Eloise is now available at the shop!

Pearl bracelet

This is the pearl bracelet that I worked on forever last weekend. I finally got some good photos of her, named "Margaret" after a cousin. She is made up of approximately 30 button and nugget pearls, on a sterling link chain and toggle clasp.

This piece turned out to be rather pricey, definitely one of the priciest in the shop and the priciest bracelet yet. Blame it on the huge number of pearls involved!

More details and pictures of Margaret are now available.

And be sure to check out that "hand model" in the pictures!

I also finally finished a second custom order: another pair of the Ahila earrings, requested by my friend Meridith for mother's day. I think I may offer Ahila again, as she seems to be a popular item; this is the third Ahila I will have sold. Thanks Meridith!

Earrings, a bracelet, and a book

First up, the earrings that are a custom order for Meridith, which feature sapphire blue faceted briolettes in the style of the Victoria. I named these "Lauren" in honor of the recipient. I hope she likes them!


Next up is a chrysoprase bracelet, named "Melanie" after an aunt (I am slowly making my way through the names of my mom and her sisters: Bella, Mila, Kathleen, now Melanie, and then Lorna will be the last in the series).


I love these aunts - my mom and her sisters are, to me, the epitome of all that is competent, fierce, brave, commanding, kind, and capable, all perfect examples of what motherhood and womanhood should be. My sister, my cousins and I all stand in fear and awe of these wonderful women. So I'm proud to name my designs after all of them!

And last up, Mr Hazel's mystery Valentine's gift finally arrived in the mail. Remember when I was unsuccessfully searching for a French novel to use for my photographs? My search is done! Because his gift is a book of French love poems:

Quelle merveilleuse!

Carnelian bracelet

I finished and photographed this piece and I think it came out well. I love the reddish-brown hue of the stones. This is a bracelet made of carnelian, named "Susan" after one of my funniest cousins.

I'm currently finishing up a few custom projects in the works. My friend Meridith was thinking of getting "Victoria" for a friend's birthday, but was concerned that the green stones might clash with her friend's coloring (she has blonde hair and blue eyes.) So I told her I have several blue stones that may work better, so I'm finishing those up in the same style as Victoria for her to choose from.

Speaking of, Meridith is an assistant editor for TV and her current project, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, is airing on April 12th on the Lifetime channel. So set your Tivos and mark your calendars!

Red and white bracelet

A new bracelet added to the shop today, featuring a mixture of red shell, dark carnelian, pearls, coral, and white jade. I named her "Pia" after my cousin's baby girl. More details and pictures of Pia are available on Etsy!

And for some exciting spring news, one of my hyacinths has finally BLOOMED! Check her out, isn't this a lovely sight?

The tulips, however, have not yet bloomed (I can't see the bulbs appearing yet), so I decided to wait until I can see some measurable progress before taking more pictures, lest my neighbors think I'm casing the joint.

I am also watching the cherry blossom tree on my front yard like a hawk. The buds have begun to appear on the branches a couple of weeks ago, so every day I am scrutinizing them to see if they're any closer to blooming. I think they said the cherry blossoms are supposed to peak in late March/early April.

Peach coin pearl bracelet

I've been meaning to add the matching "Linda" bracelet to the shop all weekend but it has been a very busy weekend all around. But here she is! You can see a full-length picture at the shop, as well as more details.

Last night my sister dragged me to see "Step Up 2 the Streets," where I was fully expecting a cheese fest, but to my surprise, it ended up being a really enjoyable movie! All the dance moves were so impressive and made me want to boogie down myself. Of course, it didn't hurt that the lead actor was a total hottie (he looked like a younger Sark with rhythm) and the lead actress was pretty awesome. I even cried at the end. (Granted, I also cried at the end of Con Air so that's not saying much.)

I've been thinking of my friends and family who are buried under 20 inches of snow in Ohio this past weekend, especially as I stepped outside yesterday morning to sunshine and without a coat on. It was around 60 degrees here (I'm sorry guys, I know I'm rubbing it in) and it's days like these that make me really glad I no longer live in Ohio.

Tulip watch: look how much taller they are from last week!

And my hyacinths are definitely coming out as well:

And on that note, I gotta run - busy weekend steaming along...

New shop item: chrysoprase bracelet

A new bracelet added to the shop! This one is "Pamela," named after one of my cousins. She features a focal stone of chrysoprase and two white round pearls, on an 8" sterling silver link chain that I got from the gem show. I love this chain - it's very light and delicate and so pretty.

I have the day off today and I had all these plans to be productive, but I ended up napping on the couch with Moxie cuddled next to me while "Price Is Right" was on TV. I'm still not used to seeing Drew Carey's mug in front of that giant wheel, screaming about showcases and presiding over Plinko.

I'm now off to think about some lunch...happy Friday everyone!

New shop item: turquoise bracelet

This new bracelet is "Marnie," made of pretty blue turquoise and a silver toggle clasp. She's named after my writer friend from college, who was originally a pair of turquoise earrings but I changed that name to "Meridith" to match the accompanying necklace (named after another college friend who, and I'm not making this up, had Michelle Pfeiffer sitting in her office the other day. I was jealous).

So Marnie gets a new namesake. More details and pictures are available at the shop!

On the train today I was sitting next to a mom and her toddler daughter. I overheard the mom ask the kid, "What did you eat today?" And the kid replied at the top of her lungs, "Ass! Ass! ASSSSSS!"

I thought to myself, "That couldn't have been very appetizing."

It turned out she was trying to say "eggs."

Toddlers are funny.

P.S. on comments

My sister suggested that instead of moderating comments to avoid spam, I should use the word verification feature instead. This does seem like a much better idea, so as Captain Picard says, "Make it so."