Rose Quartz Swirly Mega-Heart

Okay, I probably wouldn’t label this piece that way for the shelf, but it really is the best way to describe it.

As I mentioned earlier, this piece ended up being a little larger than I had envisioned.  In the end, it did mean that I decided not to add the original piece that was the whole reason for building this.  It would have made the whole thing about 6 inches long and while I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, I do think it would be a little intimidating for most people out there.  It would turn it into a piece that was worn perhaps only rarely which would make me sad.

As is,  this piece is light and feminine while still a little funky.  It’s something I definitely could wear every day.  And that’s how it should be….hiding your jewelry away in your jewelry chest or in that dish on your dresser is just hiding your light under a bushel.  Much better to let it shine.  Shine baby, Shine!.

A Lonely Little Guy

When I did my last batch of pendants, I missed one.

This pretty little agate had a bezel that was a bit too high.  When they’re too high they crimple when you bend them around the stone, especially on sharp corners like those on the ends of this stone.

I found him sitting on the back of my soldering-shelf and finished him off.  I lowered the bezel significantly on both ends, lowered it a hair on the long sides, and popped in this lovely little agate cabochon.  Pretty, isn’t he?

Pop by tomorrow.  If we’re both lucky the Rose-Quartz-Swirly-Mega-Heart should be finished.  How’s that for a handful of a name?

I’m late, I’m late…

NO, not that way!!  OMG.  Perish the thought.

I meant to post this yesterday but I got so caught up in the building of it that I barely remembered to take pictures of the process, let alone edit and post them.  I think perhaps it is a good sign though, that maybe I’ve got my groove on again.

So.  It all started with an oopsie.  Several years ago I was practicing soldering large bezels onto sheet.  It can be a little tricksy. (Yes, I know that’s spelled wrong….blame Gollum.)  You have thin little bezel strip made of fine silver, which is extremely melty, and you’re trying to solder it onto a big hunk of sterling silver that takes forever to heat up enough for the solder to flow.  Long story short, I was so excited to get the bezel on the sheet properly I gleefully popped the stone in and set it.  Without.  Adding.  A bail. (Hangs head in shame.)

The reason this is a problem is that in order to solder anything else onto the piece, I really should remove the stone.  If I heat the piece with the stone in it, it will scorch.  It will kill it.  So this piece has been all by itself in a lonely little box on my desk since I built it feeling sad that it’s basically useless as-is.

So I needed a piece that I could add this to by simply drilling a hole and threading a jump-ring through it.  I couldn’t just do that and then sell it as-is…perish the thought!

You all know I’m into swirly things right now.  I generally don’t go for heart-designs, perhaps because I’m too jaded and cynical, but I had a weak moment and thought “I should do something with a heart design”.  I then checked for other symptoms of an aneurysm or perhaps possession, and finding this was a stand-alone symptom, I decided I was probably just having a weak moment and was feeling kind of heartish.  I suppose stranger things have happened.

So there’s the rough design.  I seldom do perfect sketches of what I want as I’d rather get to the building.  It’s sort of the shape I’m after and we’ll see how it morphs as we go along.

I pulled this photo in nice and close so you can see how the wire is bent to the design.  It’s not unusual for designs to change a little at this point as working with 3-dimensional wire is a little different than just tossing down a 2-dimensional drawing.  It’s springy, when you cross pieces there’s depth and joining issues.  It sometimes just looks very different than what you thought it would.  Scale is different too.  We perceive drawings differently with regard to scale than we do 3-dimensional objects.  At least I do.  I’ve placed a quarter in the picture so you can get a better idea of the size.

The round bezel at the top is for another Rose Quartz.  As you can see, the design has again morphed to include a center-swirl on the bottom.  It’s all nicely soldered into place, with little silver balls in the centers of the swirls for some added depth and interest.  The problem now is this.  It’s much bigger than I thought it was going to be and I can’t decide if I still want to put the original Oopsie that was the impetus for all this onto the bottom at all now.

Sigh.  I think I’m gonna do a Scarlett and just “Think about it tomorrah”.

OMG OMG OMG!!!

I’m soooo excited.   Can you tell I’m soooo excited????   And the reason for the excitement??  One word:  CRAFTGAWKER!!!

Craftgawker is a website that features all manner of handmade artistic goodies.  It’s a great place to go for inspiration and I tend to hang out there a fair bit drooling over all the pretties that are on display.  If you’re someone who is creative or just likes looking at handmade smorgasbords of talent, it’s definitely a place you should check out.  Just click the link at the beginning of the paragraph.

You can submit photos of your creations for display, and I have to admit I’ve submitted in the past and been rejected.  *sob*  The good news is, it just made me try harder when I re-submitted.  And can you guess why I’m so excited now?

You got it.  I WAS ACCEPTED!!  Wahooooo!!!!!   The little boys in my husband’s rock and roll band class are extremely confused as to why I’m tigger-bouncing and squealing, but I just don’t care!

Thank you so much Craftgawker!  I’m so thrilled to be accepted I have now used up my exclamation-point quota for the next 3 weeks.  You ROCK!!!!

(4 weeks of quota now  :))

Damn the Torpedoes!

Onwards and Upwards!!  You can’t keep a good woman down!!  Tally-ho, Pip Pip and all that rot.

Along with those torpedoes, damn the guilt, the laundry, the housework, and the hundred other things that can keep us from doing what we really want to do.  Well, ok….except for the laundry.  I can do laundry and still do other stuff at the same time.  Gotta pretend to get SOMETHING sort-of domestic happening in order to maintain my delusion that yes, I can do it all.  Suddenly that bad commercial from the 70’s with a woman in a red dress singing something about bringing home the bacon just flashed before my eyes.  Every so often I forget how horribly tacky the 70’s were and then I have a nostalgia flashback.  But I digress……

These are the stones for the next batch of jewelry.  Spiffy, huh?  That is a massive Rose Quartz and it’s got tons of rose colour.  Sometimes they can be pale, but not this baby….she’s plenty rosie.  The two Labradorites may end up in one piece or in two.  I haven’t decided yet but it’s sure to be quite lovely as Labradorite has that gorgeous glow to it.  As for the Tiger’s Eye, it may not make it to the shelf.  It’s a really unique stone;  those dark bands you see are actually what appear to be Hematite…..deeply glossy and shiny Hematite.  I’m not sure I will be able to let go of it.

These are pieces of Dichroic Glass that I’ve had forever.  I’m still not 100% sure what direction I’m going to take these, but it’s sure to be a wild ride.  I love the contrast between these pieces and natural cabochons.  Someday I’m going to make my own glass cabs. Glass is, after all, just one more thing I can melt, right?

Now I’m going to ask you all for some feedback.  These are another round of big and chunky pieces.  Which do you prefer….*Big and Chunky* or *Pretty and Delicate*?  I’m going to let you decide what will come next after these are done.  Leave me a comment and let me know what direction YOU think I should take.  These creative journeys are always more fun when I have some company.  🙂

So here we go…another jewelry blitz.  Damn the Torpedoes!!  Full Steam Ahead!!!