New Earring Monday ~ weeks 35-36

OK - I know it's Saturday and I'm 5 days late, but at least I'm here.
I was in major production mode for an event, so I made plenty of earrings - even took pictures. Time to edit those photos and write this post eluded me for a bit.




First up is a collection coral and sterling silver earrings. I love to dress io simple beads with Bali bead caps. These are 10mm. I soldered and hammered the rings in the middle and used 8mm coral.

These were created to go with a collection of coral necklaces.
 













Next, is a mixed group - fluorite, vintage Himalayan glass and carnelian.
Yes, they, too, have necklaces!














Finally, you know I had to play with the big machine!*

So, we have a long county heart (2") that I annealed and curved around a mandrel (I see a channel dapping block in the near future.) and teardrops.

I love, love, love the satin finish on the first two. I discovered it by accident using a large wire brush from Harbor Freight on my dremel.

*"big machine" = hydraulic press





Please visit, my friend, Sarajo's blog to see who else has played along this week.  click here

New Earring Monday.... ( through week 16)

Yeah - I lost track of what week it was, so I checked Sarajo's post for dates.
I'll try to get back to bi-weekly posts ~ but ~ no promises.
And, since I should be preparing for my very first North Carolina Art & Craft fair, I'll try to make this brief.

First up are my offerings for April's birthstone.
I acquired (purchased) a bunch of Herkimer diamonds in Tucson. For those who don't know, Herkimer diamonds aren't really diamonds. They are faceted quartz that come out of the ground just like you see them here. They are mined in Herkimer, NY.
 (Yay! NY!)

New earring cards for Ollie's Cafe & Gift Shop
Inspired by Sarajo Wentling

created for a 6 year old's April birthday!

I love these sterling silver discs I created with my disc cutter!












Since May is just around the corner, I had to dig out some emeralds.

Aren't these sweet!










A few weeks ago, I demonstrated flame painting copper at Ollie's during Art After Five.  Here are a few of the pieces I created...

I love the way these came out.  I tried a different technique.
I put the torch really close to the metal and pulled it away quickly.

demonstration mode

heavy equipment!

The shapes were cut on my Harbor Freight hydraulic press using pancake dies from Potter USA.









Finally, I've also had a lot of fun with my disc cutter and wooden dapping blocks.
Someday, I'll figure out how to photograph shiny sterling silver.

I might oxidize the next batch. But I do love these shiny!

Looks like I just might have enough inventory foe "Spring Daze" arts and crafts fair in Cary, NC this Saturday 4/25.

Stop by if  you're in the neighborhood!

Don't forget to click here to visit Sarajo's blog to find all the other earring artists!

New Earrings 2015 ~ Weeks 9, 10

Isn't it great to take a class and get excited about what you learned?
That's what happened in Tucson this year. I fell in love with die cutting shapes and enameling. Last time you saw the enameled earrings I made at the workshop.  This time I took it a step further.



Since I don't yet have a hydraulic press, I dug out and oiled my disc cutter. I actually had to punch out 3 to get two that match.  No worries, no waste - the third will become a toggle clasp or pendant.
After doming with my dapping set, I torch enameled with Thompson's "opaque aquamarine green". (yes, it does look somewhat turquoise).  I was so happy to find a nice selection of Thomson's enamels at Ornamentea in Raleigh.






This pair started with the purple trillion shapes I enameled in Tucson, but they needed something more.
Remember - No Waste?  I enameled the small circle left from the first pair (Thomson opaque bitter green)







Of course, I had to revisit silversmithing. The next two pair were forged from 20 gauge sterling silver wire... soldered, hammered and textured. Both sets of rings were actually formed on the same size mandrel.

I'm excited to say that all of these earrings are now for sale at Ollie's in Downtown Wake Forest, NC. (as of yesterday!) 

And I'm even more excited to say one of my necklaces has already been sold!

Ollie's is a great little coffee shop/gallery/gift shop. Denise offers unique items from local artisans.

Thank you, again, to Sarajo Spurgeon Wentling for hosting this challenge. 

Please click here to visit her blog to see what the other talented designers have created.

And check back soon to see what else I've been up to!

Earring Monday ~ Weeks 5, 6, 7, 8

Yep - I missed a deadline while in Tucson - so - here I am catching up with 4 weeks of earrings...



First up ~ I also participate in Andrew Thornton's Allegory Gallery Design Challenges. About a month ago, we had the Desert Sands Challenge .Here's my post for that. I finally put together a pair of earrings with some great teardrops from that kit.





I love to take classes and learn new techniques when I visit Tucson for the gem shows. This year was no different. I took a torch enameling class from Joni Kisro at her studio.

We learned how to use Kevin Potter's hydraulic press and pancaked dies to shape earring components before enameling. I am in love with big tools!!!
I love the idea of transforming metal and adding color.
We were able to press out shapes for 12 pairs of earrings. Each pair could have an enameled shape and a back plate.

After "flame painting" these, I decided the colors were too pretty to hide behind anything!











I absolutely love these elongated hearts! One of the dangers of torching outside is that nature sometimes does unexpected things.  Can you find the the fried fly wing?


I know there's definitely more enameling in my future!

This last pair I designed for a friend who asked for something simple to go with her royal blue Mother of the Bride gown. Understated and elegant...

Thanks so much, Sarajo Wentling for encouraging me to take on this challenge.
Please visit her blog for the other participants!

See you in two weeks with more earrings!

New Earring Monday ~ weeks 3 & 4

How exciting is this?!

I’m posting my new earrings on time!!!

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I decided to dig out my heart collection. Of course, I wasted over an hour searching for the red glass hearts I found in Portland last April. 

You see, when I moved from NY to NC, my method of packing up my workbench was to just dump everything into a plastic box.

I gave up on the red and chose 2 sets of silver hearts that have been around for a while.

I love these faceted pink opal disks I got from Rocky's Designs at The Whole Bead Show in NYC.  

Then I decided to pair the Bali hearts with February's birthstone - amethyst.

And.....

Drum roll, please...

Guess what I found when I was all done???

That's right - 

The red lampwork glass hearts!

They're dangling from hammered silvered rings that I soldered.

All of my earrings hang on my handcrafted earwires.

Yes, these will be listed on Etsy in time for Valentine's Day. 
Please visit Sarajo's blog to see who else playing along!

New Earring Monday - 2015

Since my blogging really needs a kick in the ----, I've decided to join Sarajo Spurgeon Wentling and participate in the "New Earring Monday" Challenge. My understanding is that every two weeks, I post some earrings I've recently created.

I know I’m late getting started, but at least I’m starting!

And since it is January, I put together some simple, yet elegant garnet earrings. 

This first pair has 8mm round stones and Bali silver bead caps.

For the second pair I wrapped small faceted rondelles (that I found at the Whole Bead Show in NYC) onto sterling silver chain.

I love how they sparkle!

Thanks for looking!

Check back next week to what's new on the bench!

*Don't forget to click Sarajo's link above to see what she's created and link to other participants!