The Brew at the Bench

Somehow between all the motherly duties, dog fiascos, and tax forms, I produced at the bench this past week. An amazing feat, I know. I'm lovin' my Dot Collection. The addition of high karat bezels and precious gemstones provided a much needed kick in the butt to these lumps of recycled sterling. Yup, I'm happy, however my eyes could use some snazzy new 10x magnifiers! Sorry for the poor photo quality.....BAD lighting in my new digs.

Ah yes. Another button cluster creation. Gosh, I love making these pieces. The next direction will be cluster brooches. Wait for it....

New earrings (well, designs are not new, but it is new stock). Strangely enough, I am applying to summer craft shows already! I'm so not ready to think about swelting temps and my craft show checklist, but to avoid that last minute crunch, I am building my inventory.

Finished cluster piece. I listed this yesterday. It is absolutely smashing on the neck. I need to wrangle up my model from her nursing duties to supply you all with proof positive that this is perhaps the loveliest necklace ever made! :)

The Reveal or.... What Not To Do When Making Bezels

The finished product. I fumbled, stumbled, and fouled during the fabrication of this piece. On a scale from 1-100, I'm giving this a 64. When making the bezels, I stretched a few so they were a bit too large and a few were a bit too tall for their buttons. The result: poorly fitting bezels with too much metal to move onto the button. These are all things I know... I could have remade and file these down, but I was racing towards the finish line. Silly, silly woman.

I considered leaving the whole piece in brushed silver. However, the bright silver bezels (read: bumpy, uneven, warped) distracted from the symphony of the buttons. To match the, lets say, "rustic" look, I gave the necklace a nice antiqued patina. Whatcha think?

I think using thin gauge fine silver bezel wire creates a rustic, handcrafted look. When using 26 gauge sterling silver, the bezels retain their clean cylindrical shape. I just may use sterling bezel wire on another neckpiece like this to compare the two looks.

I lost one cluster of 18k loops while setting the buttons. I really didn't notice until I found the cluster in my drawer. I'll save that cluster for the next piece.

My willing model! However, she had on a fushia top, so we pull it off just for a moment to take the photograph.

Perhaps I'm too critical of this piece...we all do that, right? If we didn't, we would never grow as people and artists. Creating this piece was a great lesson, but also got the old creative juices following. I have more ideas, 2 similiar pieces in production, and thousands of buttons waiting for a good home.

One last thing.... this neckpiece needs a name. Any suggestion?

Work in Progress

Welcome to my latest project....a button cluster neckpiece that will look gorgeous on a winter bride. All the buttons are all vintage or antique white mother of pearl with various hues of peach, ivory, cream, and mink.

This is how I work out designs. I like to map all the components (in this case, buttons) onto some sketch paper and label each button's location.

Next step, many, many, many fine silver bezels! Did I mention bezels?

I love to solder....really, I do. If I did not, this piece would still be a mere sketch.

After soldering, I just had to take a picture of the piece on my chest (my plus sized chest, that is...on an average woman, this necklace will look bigger and more grand...my fleshiness dwarfs its actual size). Also, the finished piece will actually sit a tad bit higher.

Ah! Daylight photos!

I wish I had documented the process of tapering this 12 gauge sterling silver wire, but alas, I was too deeply engaged in the process to think of the camera.

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The home stretch! To give this piece a bit of richness, I added some 18k gold loops and balls in three spots. After adjusting the neckwire's curvature, I'll bring up the finish and set the buttons. Check back mid week for the "reveal"!

New Work

New necklace!!! Oxidized sterling silver, vintage mother of pearl buttons, and 18k gold rivets. Hand pierced filigree frame, roller print textured background. To be listed soon!

Good Vibes

Drea's cupcakes...oh yummy!

When the stars and planets align to create positive energy, I'm always first in line to absorb it up like a sponge! Last night, Etsy Maine Team members and twins Jamie and Joy hosted craft night (make this part of your New Year's resolutions...host a craft night immediately...the world would be a happier place if more people came together to chat and create!!!) at their Sweetland Retreat....a gorgeous cape farmhouse that they are magically transforming into a bed and breakfast!!! Chatting, laughing, singing, squealing, eating, crafting, eating again, more chatting. Just a lovely night for a gathering! In attendance: Drea, Kim, Peggy, Jamie, Joy, and me!

Dioramas by Kim...more about this in a later post!

Quench needlework!

After returning home from our craft night, I received this email. In short, the following excerpt beautifully summarizes why I create jewelry:

Hi Jen, Someone has already written the story, "The Necklace," I am quite certain. But here is my version. Jen was shocked when she opened her beautiful little package. She even commented on the wrappings and how pretty the tissue
paper was. Then when she saw it, she was couldn't believe it. She was speechless for a second, and then just kept saying she couldn't believe it, and we shouldn't have done that. (All the while clutching it to her.) She wore it several times while home and said she got many compliments. It was very pretty
on her. So, thank you again for creating such a unique treasure for us to give Jennifer.

This is the necklace! A worthy receiver and a generous giver. Both lovely souls who urged me to return to jewelry making! Many heart-felt thank you's to you both for your support, enthusiasm, and good taste :)!

To top off all this good karma, I had a sale today from my friend, Jes! Ah, I'm floating! Here's a good helping of positive energy for you all this evening! ~~throwing good karma dust into the virtual world~~

One Step Forward, Two Back

These last two days have been challenging. The little princess of the house decided that napping is wasteful and she would much rather play, or eat, or generally work on her early evening meltdown. So, mama's time in studio has been close to nil. ~sigh~ This week's 'to do' list remains intact...and has grown longer with NEXT week's projects.

However, I just finished this necklace 20 minutes ago, now that dinner is done, she's in bed, and all is quiet. I should be jumping for joy, right? If I had only waited until tomorrow: awake, freshly showered, and a mug of hot coffee for fuel. This lovely necklace's center piece button is unquestionably OFF center! I thought it looked centered (did I mention that I DID NOT have my glasses on? duh), marked the spots, and drilled. I even made 18k gold rivets! In the morning, I'll have to drill out the rivets, and fix this somehow. geez...

This bracelet above was a commission from this past summer. I thought this design would be a nice addition to the Vintage collection, so I have 3 ready to list next week on Etsy. I could try to work on them tonight, but with the above disaster (ok, not quite a 'disaster') looming over me like a dark cloud, I think that they can wait.

Now that I have finished boo-hooing my mistakes and time issues, here's 5 things I'm thankful for:
1. My family, awake or napping
2. My glasses on my face, not in the other room on the table
3. A warm home on a cold, rainy night
4. My friends
5. Memories

Sweet Dreams!