New Year...New Stuff!

Hello, everyone. I've taken last year off to rethink a few things. Then, life started happening. I had a pretty bad year and I'm still trying to get over it.

I dabbled a little with this and that in jewelry making. I've come to the conclusion that I really like making chain maille jewelry. It is so relaxing to sit down and watch something beautiful come together. I also played with copper wire. I like how it looks with stones and other stuff I throw at it.

I'll be getting some pictures of items I'm making for my next show. I hope to have my next show in March or April. It should be really interesting. I'm working on having an 'economic crisis' show to make my jewelry more affordable during these trying economic times. I've got a few ideas down solid. I've got a few more to think of. I'm trying out a few 'guy' items to see if they work.

Oh! I've got a commission for a man's necklace to go with an earring I made. I'll have pics of this soon as I'm nearly finished with it.

I've also talked to a few people who make jewelry, too. I need to get to know them a little better because they have interesting techniques.

I'll be back with you later.

Take care. Happy jewelry making!

Necklace Pics

Hello everyone. I finally took my pics to attach to this blog. This is the commissioned piece that I was asked to do. It was a necklace and bracelet set in silver plate. Mind you, the photo was a rush and I didn't take the time to set it up beautifully, so please bear with me.



I also made a pair of earrings to match in case she wanted a pair. If not, they are for my next show...maybe myself ;)



As best as you can see, what do you think? I love doing chain maille. It is such a chunky look and is different than anything on the market. There are so many options and there are actually a lot of people who do chain maille. A lot of them are those who participate in Renaissance Faires and such. It's hard to buy chain maille off the rack to go under your suits of armor these days. So, you make it yourself.

I plan to buy stainless steel links to start adding glass and stones to the finished product. Stainless won't tarnish like sterling and copper. I feel most compelled to create these kinds of items. I'll keep you posted on the outcome of that.

So, for now, take care. Happy jewelry making!

Michelle

Crazy Season

Hello, everyone. This was one crazy holiday season for me.

Thanksgiving it starts. I have friends and family over for Thanksgiving dinner. This year, it was only family, but that's a few of us.

I decided to craft to give as gifts for Christmas. Some relatives received jewelry. Co-workers received cookies and homemade soaps. I gave away tons of cookies...but, then again, I made tons of cookies.

I've finished the chain maille necklace and bracelet that was commissioned. I will post that photo soon. I haven't been working on too many items. I made a pretty pair of earrings to match some clothes I have. I wanted something new. I have so many favorites that I wear all the time. I needed a change. I'll have my next jewlery sale sometime in March. I have an overstock of some items so I'm going to bundle and sell to move the stock.

I've pulled up the last of my winter crop of radishes tonight. The size of them was really small, except for one. It was huge! But now it's the time to get ready for the spring crop.

I have to go now. We're having a small crisis right now.

Take care. I'll post photos soon!

It's Cold Outside!

I hope all of you who celebrate Thanksgiving had a really nice day! We had relatives over to our house. We ate too much and have lots of leftover turkey. I'm sure you can relate to that! We also fired up the Wii and had a bunch of laughs watching everyone play it. I really enjoy hosting the annual Thanksgiving dinner.

Even though we live in a temperate area called 'The Low Country' of South Carolina, we are getting some cold weather. It is frosty out in the morning and chilly throughout the day. I can't complain because there's no snow to tackle. That's one reason we moved from Pittsburgh, PA to SC. It is really nice here.

Over our long Thanksgiving holiday, I've been trying out new stuff. Sorry. Not jewelry. I made my first batch of soap EVER! I love cooking and it is as technical as that but a bit more dangerous. I have a really nice bar of soap curing in my laundry room. The batch made 2-1/2 pounds. I was able to try it out because of the process I used to make it. It still needs to rest a while in order to dry to a harder bar.

Yesterday, I had another jewelry commission requested. I LOVE commissions! Especially when I get to see how people respond to the finished product. This is a copy of the chain maille bracelet below. However it will be a bracelet and necklace. This is a really nice chunk of chain and it really gets noticed. I hope the recipient enjoys it. I will try to remember to take pictures and post it. It should be a day or two by the time I finish. I only have a couple of hours a night to work on it by the time I get home from work. I finished about 8 inches of chain last night. I may be able to finish the necklace tonight. I still need the measurements from the recipient so I know what length she wants.

Well...it's time for me to get ready for work. Take care and, for those of you who do it, happy mailleing.

Lazy Day

Hello everyone! I was really really lazy today. I didn't do much except go outside twice to feed the chickens (Yes. I really have some.) and collect the eggs. I did manage to take a few pics of my practice pieces as I mentioned in my last post. Don't laugh! They're not too bad. This one is a picture of a pendant I did after seeing something similar. Sorry. I don't remember where I saw it, but it was on a search I did for 'artisan jewelry'. It was easy and fun.

Here is my first attempt at the Tree of Life pattern. I made it of copper wire and labradorite chips. The labradorite is so shiny and pretty. This turned out so much better than the crystals. I also made earrings to match. This is one of my favorite pieces. I wear it to work and it draws attention and comments from co-workers.

This one is of a Tree of Life pattern I found on beadstudio.com. This was my second attempt at it. I wanted to try with the 4mm round crystals. The crystals are too uniform and don't fill out the tree as much as I would have liked. I also used thinner wire than I normally would, just because I had it to practice with.

Ah! My first attempt at organic wire wrapping. This is very large and really noticeable. I pulled out some amazonite and dumortierite to play with. I was told that the copper swirl covered too much of the focal stone. Hmmm. I like it. It's mine. I love blue! OOPS! I had my clock and stone box in the picture.

This is my second attempt at organic style wire wrapping. This one I wore to work. I had to make the chain to go with it. I received a few comments and this helps me to keep going. I have used this style to make cell phone charms as gifts. They were in copper. So, they should tarnish well and the stones should stand out.

This is definitely one of my favorites. I love playing with chain maille. This pattern is from the site cgmaille.com. They have some really detailed instructions for creating their designs. If you like chain maille, then you'll be a fanatic after you visit this site. This pattern is called 'Scherzo'. I love it! It makes a really beautiful chain, as you see. This is silverplate jumprings...about 100-110 of them. I wore this to work and a co-worker bought it right off of my wrist. I couldn't believe it! She's done it a couple of times since. I just received a new shipment of rings so I can make one for myself or try something new.

I'm going to call it a day, for now. I've done so much of nothing which makes me more tired than if I worked in the yard all day. Take care. Thanks for stopping by. The best of everything to all of you! -- Michelle

Not Much Going On

Hello everyone! I haven't much going on lately. My husband and I were invited to a birthday party tonight. We just got back about 1/2 hour ago. Anyhow, this was a chance to make a wire-wrap piece (which I didn't take a picture of :( because I was in a hurry to get it done and out of the house). It was a pendant made of amazonite (I love the light blue of it) and autumn jasper 6 mm rounds. Our friend has an allergy to nickel alloy and I made the pendant out of Zebra wire in natural copper finish. I think the copper really makes the blues and greens stand out. The amazonite is about a 12mm x 16mm bead surrounded by the autumn jasper rounds. It turned out really pretty. I made a double strand, black leather necklace with a copper closure for it to hang on. Earrings to match, of course, with handmade wires. I hope she liked it. I did. I'll have to post some of my wire wrap inspirational pieces. Actually, these are my practice pieces that no one should really see. They aren't too bad. This would give you an idea of what today's pendant looked like.

I have a show coming up in December before the Christmas holiday. I'll be making some new items for that show. This will be my first one outside of my home. It should be pretty exciting and fun to meet new people. The only bad thing is the economy is not too healthy here. I'm going to make a few organic wire-wrap pieces in copper and see how that goes. I've never seen anyone wearing wire-wrap pieces in my area. Wish me luck!

That's all for now. Take care, all of you.

Michelle

A Couple More Pics

How have all of you been doing? As promised, here are a few more pics from last Saturday's show. These top two pics are of what I call 'Orange Sherbet'. They are sparkling Czech crystals with some chain maille flowers. It is hard to see the lovely color because of my lousy choice of backgrounds. The necklace is a choker of about 16". A co-worker wants this style but in a different color. Here is one commission! I LOVE commissions!


This necklace is aventurine with some curlicues to join. This is similar to the necklaces in my last posting. I love the color of aventurine combined with silver. These, too, are silverplated.

I have been trying to figure out what I can do with some of my new beads. Sometimes I just sit and stare at them. Nothing comes to mind. That is just what I did with these aventurine stones that I've had sitting around for a while. Hopefully, something will come to mind with the new beads, as well.

So long for now. May you have a creative day!
Michelle