Well, one more anyhow…this half formed ring was sitting around the shop waiting to become “something”..and tonight was THE night! Just happened to have some beautiful hematite stones on hand and they look scrumptious with the etched silver! Working on some new designs but keep coming back to this one-looks clunky but wears beautifully. This is a design from Leslie Kail Villarreal whose course I took earlier this year-a must for any metalsmith!
It’s been an insane 4 months and it was so relaxing just to get a couple hours to play tonight. Had some things I wanted to try out and this was one of em’…I had seen something similar online and was dying to try my version. I had already etched a sheet of sterling silver and made a batch of ear wires in advance so just had to cut out and form-giving these a trial run tomorrow!
This lapidary stuff is becoming an obsession, like I need another one in my life….I just can’t help it. There are piles and stacks of some of most delicious looking rock slabs I’ve ever seen, at the Creston Valley Rock and Lapidary Club . And they let you touch them–and buy them–and cut them —
Here are a couple cabochons I did yesterday, and today, finally made some settings for them. Not exactly sure what the stones are but I don’t really care-they look amazing with my stash of copper, brass and bronze.
The monthly meeting enjoyed a fabulous presentation by local goldsmith Tony Mulder, where he shared all kinds of tempting tidbits on gem stones (natural and grown)-who knew you can make these things??? Thanks Tony for sharing-your knowledge and talent is impressive.
If you are in the Creston area and think you might like to give this “rock thing” a try, come on down to the club where there’s always someone willing and delighted to help you get started…if you are not local, look up your town’s own lapidary guild and jump in-the water’s fine 🙂
Hard to believe it was nearly 40 years ago that I cut my first piece of rock – and I still have it (and all my fingers)…Life took over and after all those years away from it, not long ago I was able to join the Creston Valley Rock and Lapidary Club. Getting a glimpse into the storage area where boxes and boxes and tubs and buckets of rocks are kept nearly gave me heart palpitations! Piles of jasper, agate and petrified wood-all calling my name.
Will take awhile and lots of practice to get my pieces to where they should be, but in the meantime, I am having a blast building the bezels for the stones to be placed in. My “new” love is bronze–I adore the warm and soft colours that it produces, and it etches and takes patinas beautifully. Look closely at the first setting-the etching was done with the Lord’s Prayer and the word Amen just happened to surface right below the agate…I didn’t even notice until I looked at the photo-Love the little surprises in my life!
Just a bit exciting-had some of my work featured in Cloth Paper Scissors ZenDoodle magazine. Sure didn’t expect the beautiful 6 page spread!
What a fabulous way to start 2016…
2016 certainly is off to a fabulous start-back doing some lapidary work and creating new designs around these absolutely yummy cabochons….Agates have always been on the top of my most favourite list and this one has gorgeous gold and silver tones running through it. Smooth as silk, I can’t wait to see how it looks in a silver setting! ..or maybe bronze…or?
The second one is a Jasper, and it looks just like a Fall leaf with delicious earth tones. This shape is a bit of a pain to cut but it was worth the extra effort- I already have a design in mind for this one!
Now to get the shop cleaned and ready-it’s in dire need of a purge….
I’ve made similar pieces before but not with this many layers-these are made from Nickel Silver, both plain and etched . The patina lent a pink tinge to everything, and I just love it- took awhile to figure out where it was coming from, for ages have been blaming my pickle solution-nope, was wrong on that one. And dragonflies-everything is better with a dragonfly or two-
These were custom pieces, all of them came from the same etched piece of metal and won’t be repeated, but sure gave me some ideas for others…sure wish there were more days in my week-
The hours are ticking but I still have a bit more shop (play) time! Busy getting the last of my Christmas pieces finished, boxed up and delivered. Here’s what’s keeping me away from the eggnog this week-
All that marathon etching came in useful, was nice to have lots of already prepared copper and brass on hand to jump start the production! Can’t seem to get enough of layering and shaping this stuff. Each of these pieces are layered and curved and etched, and textured and– to top it all off, dug out my stash of silver and some crystal beads and added “just a bit more”…
What a day-I am sure every piece of equipment in the shop was going full tilt! The class left with a nice dent in their Christmas shopping list finished-we played with layers of metal, some etching and a lot of texturing. Tried out a few new texturing tools and ideas, learned how to shape and make the metal do what they wanted it to, a bit of flame, and lots of laughs. Some great ideas, and very creative and beautiful pieces were the result. I am always so impressed with these folks-and for some, this was their FIRST class–wow.
Lunch was a big hit-thanks to MIchele Romano’s fabulous Italian Zucchini soup and Fergosa Bread recipies..check out her site, everything on it is amazing..and will be trying out more of her creative dishes at our next session- .http://www.micheleromanorecipes.com/dinner-ideas-blog.html
Can’t help it, silver just makes me smile..adore working with the easy way it “goes with the flow”…and it plays nice with other metals, always a good thing! This is what came out of the studio this week, a bit of silver, some Nickel silver, some recycled African Glass beads and a raw Quartz Crystal….
Some new designs for me, including some lumps and bumps I refer to as Toad Skin,… hope you like!