Something Old, Something New

And in this case, the old is what's new! I'm starting a new, small line of antique-style jewelry that will include Victorian and Georgian styles along with the occasional Edwardian and Art Deco piece. Of course, I will continue with my main line of gemstone jewelry because it is the closest to my heart; I love gemstones and will always want to work with them. The new line represents my interest in history - both of jewelry and other cultures and will include jewelry styles from other countries as well as Europe and America. One caveat: most of this jewelry is made from vintage materials and components that have been plated or even painted or finished by me. For the most part, the pieces are not sterling silver and goldfilled although I will be incorporating those elements at times. So when they are on the website, read the descriptions carefully if you are a purist and want only precious metals.
Above, a filigree upon filigree gold cross that dangles genuine freshwater Baroque pearls. Below, a silver bracelet with a large blue Swarovski rhinestone in the center of the flower.




Above is a gold filigreed circle with a butterfly and Pacific opal rhinestones set into the wings. Below, a Victorian-style necklace that is a collage piece with some elements such as the green givre marquises which were not actually around in Victorian times. Below the necklace is a gold cameo-like bracelet with pink rhinestones.


In the Gemstone Jewelry category that you are accustomed to seeing here are a peridot bracelet and rainbow moonstone necklace. The peridot bracelet is 3 strands of peridot with one strand sporting a focal of genuine abalone whose shiny iridescence picks up the glow of the peridot and adds a rainbow flash of colours; there is also a small abalone charm that hangs from another strand near its middle. The rainbow moonstone necklace is full of flashing rainbow moonstone with a rainbow moonstone pendant set in sterling silver. The necklace is accented with Swarovski crystals in Azores, a very pale clear blue that picks up the flash of the rainbow moonstone. Gorgeous and such fun to wear!



I will be traveling to Arkansas in the next week or so and it will be interesting to see what gemstones and components I've got there to be creative with (I tend to forget when I've been gone). And big surprise!!! I'll be bringing my cats, Cluny and Cuervo, back here with me. I've missed them like crazy!

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Isn't It Charming? Aquamarines, rubies, and Swarovski Crystals

I am a great fan of charm bracelets. I personally prefer them in gold with weighty charms, some encrusted with gemstones; they are especially endearing when the charms have been collected over a long period of time and have a special or sentimental value for the wearer. The charm bracelet above is gold and has gemstones, but compared to those sentimental trinkets, it was put together rather quickly. Still, my favorite gemstones are in here, and the bracelet is rife with 14 karat goldfilled components so that it gives a nice golden glow on a wrist.
Below is a combination I'm quite fond of. Swarovski crystals in mocca, golden shadow and Indian sapphire combine to make this Swarovski crystal bracelet a real "shiner"! I've mixed it with 14 karat goldfilled accents to complement the colours of the crystals - and best of all - I made 2 of these! They are quite fetching when worn together for maximum sparkle (see the next picture). The first bracelet has larger elements than the second, but, boy, do they look great together!


Below, I so enjoy creating with aquamarines, especially when they are the true aqua blue colour. The aquamarine bracelet below is a true aqua blue; it would be a simple bracelet, but the special reticulated Bali beads of sterling silver and the many little aquamarine charms going around the bracelet give it a special status beyond simple. All sterling silver, of course!
I'm still working with rubies and have two offerings today: a sterling silver ankle bracelet with rubies for some lucky girl, and a pretty ruby bracelet with 14 karat goldfilled elements that is the epitome of simple elegance. It's small enough to be worn everyday, elegant enough to wear when you are dressed up!Yes, I'm working hard and will have more to blog about soon. Meanwhile, stay cool, but enjoy the summer days. I'm hoping to go kayaking on the Potomac tomorrow!

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Warwickshire Arts Week - Part 3

After visiting some artists/designers in various mediums last week I have been feeling really inspired. There is a an incredibly talented bunch around Warwickshire.

Below are three people myself and my friend went to visit.

Andrew Flint makes gorgeous human scale forms and vessels from ceramics. He had them displayed in his garden and they looked absolutely amazing.

www.andrew-flint.com

Jane and Neil Moore were both exhibiting their work in their beautiful home. Such friendly people, we had a chat with Neil about his large figurative paintings and Jane was so helpful with her advice for me and Sam and our jewellery careers as well as making us a teeny bit jealous of her fab studio space!

Jane's work is enamelled silver jewellery. She is incredibly talented and uses a really unique way to make her pieces.

www.janemoore.co.uk

Neil is a very talented painter, they were all really large and he framed them himself as well. He had a real way of making the eyes on the paintings look so alive and bright. They really captured your attention

www.neilmoore.co.uk

Ruby: The July Birthstone

Rubies are wonderful! Most of the rubies that I get are an opaque colour and usually a dark red or a pinkish red. I wish that I could find more rubies in different sizes (especially larger sizes) and shapes, but I do jump on any opportunity to get some that look out of the ordinary.
Rubies belong to the corundum family of gemstones and are generally the most valuable of that type. They register a 9 on the Moh's scale (with ultimate hardness a 10), so they are a perfect gemstone for jewelry. Almost every ruby is enhanced in some way (unless you are dealing with very rough natural stones), and you can assume that most rubies are heat-treated.
The lore surrounding rubies is legend. Rubies are believed to be able to ward off evil, to protect health, and to imbue a warrior with strength and courage. A ruby under the pillow is supposed to ward off nightmares (I love that one!) And of course rubies represent romance and passion to this day.
The first ruby bracelet features a hexagonal ruby at its center and lots of sterling silver as well as a ruby cabochon bezel-set in the toggle clasp. The ruby bracelet, below, is quite simple and symmetrical. Below the bracelet are three pairs of ruby earrings featuring shield-shaped rubies, faceted rondelles (with great drum-shaped sterling beads), and smooth teardrops.
Lapis bracelets, below, are as deep and intense blue as the ruby bracelets and earrings are red. The first lapis bracelet is an especial favorite since it features 2 strands of variously shaped lapis stones and a Karen Hill Tribes strand dangling sterling silver charms. The second lapis bracelet features large, beautifully coloured lapis nuggets, smoothly polished and matched perfectly to some lampwork beads I commissioned from artist Robin Weber. Its pretty bird clasp makes it really special!

Stay cool, and stay tuned; my family, including my darling grand-daughter have left the country to be abroad. I'm going to have a lot of time on my hands!

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Warwickshire Arts Week - Part 2

Following my blog from yesterday I am including some more people that I went to visit on Saturdays trip out to see some artists.

These lovely people were all exhibiting in the same location and were just fantastic.

Bren Boardman works with screen printed fabrics and stitching which is then melted to create the most amazing pieces of art.

She is a very talented lady and gave me a lot of inspiration and help on getting my ideas down on paper.

www.brenboardman.com

Tom Hare uses willow to create stunning outdoor art pieces and sculptures.

www.tomhare.net

Nicola Richards is a ceramicist. She makes her items by using a variety of smoke firing techniques. She gave us a quick demo and made it look a lot easier than I know it would be!

www.nicolarichardscermics.co.uk

More very inspirational people to be featured tomorrow.

Warwickshire Arts Week

Yesterday me and my friend Sam went round a few local artists open studios. I was absolutely amazed at the talent there is around Warwickshire. 

Over the next week I shall be blogging about my favourite designers we saw yesterday.

Peter Lovelock is a very talented photographer and also does some amazing drawings using a stippling technique.

This is my favourite by him.

Check out Peters website www.peterlovelock.com

We also saw Andrea Thorpe who happens to be our tutor at college. She has some gorgeous chunky silver jewellery with various designs including Cherry Blossom, Bamboo and Protea.

These are from her Cherry Blossom range.

Take a peek at her items at www.akthorpejewellery.co.uk

I have loads more people I want to give a mention to so will do over the next week.

Fashion Colorworks 2010. Winners !!!

The first international Fashion Colorworks 2010 Beading Contest is over! We would like to say THANK YOU to all entrants, jurors, and sponsors who helped us make the contest successful. 83 participants from 20 countries submitted 132 entries! Today we celebrate our bead holiday together, with our winners, all participants, jurors, sponsors, and bead lovers. In general, we reached our goal and feel happy! We are looking forward to seeing all of them in 2011 and hope that the next year contest would attract more artists!

FASHION COLORWORKS 2010 BEADING CONTEST. WINNERS

FIRST PLACE WINNER
Olga Vinnere Pettersson, Uppsala, Sweden
vinnere.pettersson@gmail.com
mamma-foxan.blogspot.com

Legends Of Lothlorien Necklace

SECOND PLACE WINNER
Evgeniya Semina, Orenburg, Russia
semmenity@mail.ru

Waltz Of Flowers Tiara

THIRD PLACE WINNER
Larisa Berenshtein, Ramat Gan, Israel
med55-55@mail.ru
beautiful-beads.livejournal.com

Midday Set

PEOPLE'S CHOICE
Alexandra Sydorenko, Cherry Hill, NJ, USA
alexander_sydorenko@hotmail.com

After The Rain Set

BEST USE OF COLOR
Tatiana Naumchik, Astana, Kazakhstan
kleo62@mail.ru

Spring Tenderness Necklace

BEST USE OF MATERIALS
Viktoriya Katamashvili, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia
vikka.nn@rambler.ru
master-raduga.nnov.ru/katamashvili

Hope, Footsteps On The Sand Set

FASHION COLORWORKS 2010 BEADING CONTEST. WINNERS

Birds of a Feather - Folksy Friday

Todays Folksy Friday follows a bird theme. I get woken up every morning by birds singing in the tree outside my bedroom window. I have never seen theses birds so this is what I imagine them to look like!

Wee Bird Pendant by Cherryloco

Cartwheel Bird Print by Bird & Bridge

Bird Cushion by Sew Gorgeous

Bird Hairclips by Bbel

Who?What? Bird by FruteJuce

The Song Bird by Terri Lowe Design