Thought I’d do a quick post on my newest piece, just listed in my etsy shop.
Taos Garden feature a gorgeous Owyhee Jasper cabochon with a very southwest looking pattern. I embellished it with some handmade garden delights and richly colored citrine.
Owyhee Jasper, fine and sterling silver
Handmade Garden embellishments
Back detail
Taos Garden Necklace ~ 20 inches
Close detail
OMGoshhhhhh I am having so much fun setting some of the most beautiful stones I’ve ever seen. Each and every one of them give me a unique inspiration that I use to make one of a kind pieces.
Right now I’m designing a necklace using an Owyhee Jasper cabochon. It is polished on both sides so I’m considering a cutout on the back. It will have flowers… of all sorts! I’ll be blogging it very soon.
Here’s a few pieces I’ve made recently. Available in my Etsy Shop:
Ocean Jasper, Fine and Sterling Silver
Wild Horse Magnesite, Sterling Silver
Vintage Button, Sterling silver
Carved Bone, Silver
Here is the basic process in the making of my new Pebbles Ring. It features a magnificent Tarvertine cabochon with earthy color and brilliant patterns!
Cutout for the back of the ring
The bezel soldered on to set the stone
Checking the fit of the stone in the bezel. Sanding where needed.
Fine silver pebbles soldered on
Shank soldered on
Finished ~ Front view
Finished ~ Back view
Pebbles Ring ~ On my hand, comfy, big, bold!
When I look at my various cabochons ( I am a caboholic) I visualize the design possibilities. I chose to make something with a large Cripple Creek Jasper cab. It has the shape of a pot for planting something in, or…the blue could have been a body of water or the sky… This one had many possibilites. In the end of my brainstorming I made it into a flowering cactus pot.
The inspiration are my mountain bike rides in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. With every ride, in spring and early summer, there are a variety of new blooms on the cactus, changing every day!
After three pages of sketching, hand sawing, soldering, melting, forming, texturing, setting, oxidizing and polishing… Here is the result:
I got some of the most amazing cabochons last week. I purhased them from The Agate Works, an etsy seller who cuts his own cabochons and does a tremendous business on etsy. His work is top notch and you can always count on some really nice and unusual cuts.
One of my favorites is a TeePee Canyon Agate cab with magnificent color. I made a necklace with it and took a few pictures of the work in progress…
It is currently available for purchase in my etsy Shop.
Here is the first step in the process… After careful measurement and soldering of the bezel, I soldered the bezel to the back plate.
Next I made fine silver balls of different sizes and soldered them on the back plate to accent the stone.
Next step… sawing. I wanted the back plate to be winding and non-uniform like the pattern of the stone.
The back…
Soldered on the ring for the toggle closure. I put the stone on top just to check the design.
After completing the toggle, attaching to a double chain and oxidizing, here is the finished necklace:
Notes:
The piece must be pickled after every solder session to remove fire-scale and flux.
Different solders must be used for each solder session so that the previous solder doesn’t run (melt) eg: Hard, Medium, Easy and Very Easy.
The last thing that is done, besides polishing, is setting the stone.
I prefer using sheet solder as opposed to wire solder. With sheet I can cut pallions that lay flat.
I like to solder, for the most part, on a charcoal block as it reflects the heat for a fast and uniforn flow.
Thanks for reading!
