The question of reworking existing designs

No matter the reason, whether an old design leaves something to be desired or it is good enough to inspire further ideas, it's cool to rework older designs. Just so happens the Texas Star earrings (right) fall into the latter category and were recently the target of such reconstruction. My ears are currently adorned with them since I love the smaller dime-size and bouncy sparkle; still, resistance was futile as a new idea for these lovables pushed its way in, simple as it was, resulting in what you see in the photo below.

Called Texas Star Banded earrings (kind of sounds like the name of a snake...co-o-ool....), the irregular surface of the band reminds me of rough stone. Limestone is what comes to mind since I love the Hill Country, and along with the star, the two elements add up to a real Texas flavor piece of jewelry. The Texas star inside a circle is a classic design, and you can see it everywhere--people love putting these stars on their houses and while they are kind of getting like icicle lights were a few years ago (you see 'em everywhere), I still love the design and am happy to incorporate it into these earrings. I also took the originals in another direction, carbon copies but now the size of a quarter. I will stop there with these. The demon is exorcised! And I sure hope you enjoy these newfangled regurgitations. Both these new earrings will be on the site soon.

Any other plans in the works for a reworking? Yes, one, but I'm not talking about that...yet.

Just Dropping In

I had insomnia (again) which resulted in some very early morning jewelry work. I have been buried with lots of other things to the detriment of exorcising jewelry projects but am exerting myself to make up for it, which has resulted in some long-awaited revamping of a couple of pieces. The first photo shows, among others, a larger "Heartbeat" drop that is now nickel-sized compared to its original 3/8" diameter. Other changes are to the Texas Star earrings, seen in the second photo. The smallest pair is the original design (just under dime-sized); for another avenue of interest I added a band around the outside, and for the last pair the original is blown up to about an inch. The new windmill and swirl pieces will be part of a new piece (not telling here!), and I keep making Texas for one of our best sellers, the Alone Star State necklace.

The fired pieces in the photo above have a satiny sheen because they have been brass brushed right after firing. When silver clay is fired, the particles are not properly aligned to create a smooth and shiny surface. Pieces in unbrushed state can be tumbled or burnished, but with brushing the process speeds up considerably, and with a better result in my opinion.

This second photo shows unfired pieces ready to be put in the kiln. They are "green"-- dry but unfired. The large domes have been placed on piles of plaster as a safeguard against flattening. I have always used art plaster for this purpose but there are other materials that work, too. You can barely see the little sterling silver earwire findings in the 2 pair on the left, which I point out for discussion below.

I included the last photo just to show my trusty 5-year-old kiln; it is a Paragon SC2. I usually try to load the kiln with many pieces, up to 2 layers, but these were the ones with sterling earwire findings embedded in them and they have to be fired at a temperature lower than 1470F, the melting point of silver. I torched and pickled the findings to bring a layer of fine silver to the surfaces, which protects the silver and allows it to be fired into the clay. Otherwise it can break afterward, and this happened to me before I learned to depletion gild--and the sterling broke after a couple of years! So it may look fine, but that isn't something to trust.

Keep checking the site for new jewelry! We work on productivity during the spring and summer to gear up for fall shows.

Ciao,

Shauna

Deerskin Lariat

Wrap a lariat around your neck for a quick way to dress up your outfit! This lariat is made out of "dusk" colored deerskin leather which is so buttery soft to the feel! The lariat is 47" in length and you can wear it so many ways. Fold it in half and wrap it around your neck and slide the two ends through the loop. Wrap it up close around your throat and then loop the ends through each other. Wrap it around your throat once and let the ends hang free. I'm sure you could come up with more ways to wear this versatile lariat! At each end of the lariat you will find gorgeous Kingman turquoise nuggets that are just weighty enough to drape the lariat perfectly around your neck. Made by Lisa.

Three Silver Hearts Bracelet

I've just added my latest creation on our website and, as I've decided to do from now on, wanted to update the blog for those of you who subscribe. Thanks for that, by the way! Below is the text taken from the website describing this new bracelet.

I like working with leather, and more, I like wearing it! My three hearts bracelet is 12mm wide (just under 1/2") and is cut from a hide of chocolate brown distressed leather. The focal point for the bracelet is a handmade fine silver plate featuring three hearts and is stitched to the leather using red Tenara thread (previously known as Gore-Tex). The buckle is also handmade from Argentium sterling silver wire, which is polished to a high shine. Next to the buckle is a loop to pass the end of the bracelet through. 

 

This bracelet comes in 2 lengths to accommodate most sizes by featuring 4 punched holes. The lengths will accommodate sizes 6 to 7.5" and 7" to 8.5", respectively. A nice feature of this bracelet is that it is made to buckle comfortably on the outer side of your wrist so that when you lay your arm down on a table the feeling is smooth, as the buckle is out of the way. If you find the need to, the end of the leather can be trimmed off. Made by Lisa.

The Outer Rim Territory

I'm a Star Wars fan and this explains the name of this necklace. Tatooine is in the distant Outer Rim and is a desert planet. Tatooine has an endless desert environment and twin yellow suns. The soil is very parched, yet life persists. You can find all of this information on the Internet or from the movie itself, if you're a fan like me. 

The necklace has a free swinging disc in the center that shows off a beautiful Chrysoprase cab. The outer rim has many small silver planets and the texture on both the inner disc and outer rim represent the parched landscape.

OK. Enough. Here are some facts about the necklace. The pendant itself is approximately 1.25" in diameter. The Chrysoprase cab is 6mm. The inner disc is attached by balling each end of a small piece of 20 gauge silver wire. The outer ring (or rim!) is dotted with handmade silver balls. Double jump rings form the bail and the chain is sterling silver balled chain. It's finished with a sterling lobster clasp. 

This necklace took a long time for me to finish. I wasn't sure which stone I was going to use but just love the green of the Chrysoprase so it won out over the other choices. It sat lonely on my work bench for the longest time because it was so pretty without the patina that I dwelled over that one decision for a long time. Finally, the desire to have the texture really stand out won over and it took it's dip in liver of sulphur yesterday. I spent a long time polishing it because I wanted those silver balls to be very bright and shiny against the textured background. 

First Copper Clay Pieces

Just as you can create beautiful pure silver jewelry from PMC (precious metal clay), you can now create beautiful copper jewelry from Copper Clay! There is also another jew product - Bronze Clay - but I haven't tried it yet. I believe Shauna is working on a bronze clay piece.

Anyway, the copper clay is a dream to work with. You have plenty of time to work with your piece before it starts to harden and refining the piece before it's fired is...well...easy!

With silver clay you have less time before it starts to harden so you must know what you're going to do before you open it up and get started. Also, in the hardened state before being fired in the kiln, you must work with great care so as not to break your piece, especially if it's delicate. It's a totally different world from working with copper clay, and I suspect, bronze clay.

But, enough going on about that. The first pair shown above are just simple little hearts with a large open bail. It's a design I've had sitting around for a couple of years. I must have known then they were meant for copper clay. Ha-ha! I wish I were that intuitive! Anyway, they are thin and about 1" tall, including the bail. They hang from sterling silver ear wires.

The second pair are more delicate and are my favorite of the two. They are about 1-1/4" tall, including the twisted bail, and elongated. This design is also a couple of years old and I actually tried making these out of silver clay but they were just too fragile. They work great with the copper clay. Yeah!

So, if you want to visit our website to see better pictures of these then just click on the Title of this blog entry and it will take you right to them. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Hanging in There

'Lo. I am trying to stay in the loop, but as happens in life, priorities must shift periodically. My husband's new business over the past few months has been eating most of my time, and my elderly mother and 10-year-old boy demand the rest. I need a maid and some sleep, but this will pass. Finally pried myself away one recent afternoon to visit the bead shop down the road that is called Antiques, Beads & Crafty People (http://www.abcraftypeople.com/). My purchase was a couple of inexpensive magnesite and howlite stones for some practice with bezels. This one is magnesite, and larger at about 1.5" in diameter. The back is partially covered with silver sheet. Typically the hole in a pendant-sized stone like this is utilized vertically, but I was forced to find another solution when I made a mistake and one part of the bezel ended up looking less perfect than I like. That section is now hidden on the bottom, so that is why the hole is oriented horizontally now. I like the solution, but sometimes it flips and shows the back, so the next one I make will ensure the front is always visible. The clasp is magnetic.