Adobe Sol Designs ~ the BLOG ~

A new design… with a Polka Dot Agate cabochon. This stone reminds me of lava flow, under the sea. It is truely a beautiful stone, one that the camera has a hard time showing the real depth of.

I put this stone in a bezel setting with fine silver embellishments. It seemed to go with the “flow” of the percieved lava. This necklace is nice and heavy. Nearly 22 inches in length, patinaed and accented with high quality, very clear quartz crystal.

Now available in my Etsy Shop:

Lava Flow Necklace

Lava Flow Necklace

Back View ~ Lava Flow

Lava Flow Necklace

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

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!

NOTES:

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Hand saws are awesome. I really like Rio-Saw-Blades available at Rio Grande. They are local to me so I’m able to visit their shop!

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I prefer sheet solder to wire.  I like to cut pallions and it is flat and easy to get it where you want it, or just as easy to ball up on your pick.

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:

Cactus Blooms Necklace

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!

This is a piece I made for my dear friend Sharon Hodgson. She’s a fabulous mutitalented Canadian artist with  a very big heart! Find out about her new work and the stories behind it in her Blog. If you are in the Halifax area check out her schedule. Sharon is one of the people who make this planet a better place to be, seriously!

Completely handmade with fine and sterling silver, dichroic glass cabochon.

Muse

Muse

Muse

One of my daughters has an extremely small finger and it is always impossible for her to get “off the shelf” rings. So, I made her this one with one of Lisa Hodges’ Dichroic cabs:

I had the AMAZING opportunity to get some fabulous handmade dichroic glass cabochons from Lisa Hodges of  “Shattered!” on etsy! OMGoshhhh that girl can make some beautiful glass! Dichroic glass takes quite a long process to make involving several layers of different glasses and high temperature kiln firing. The result is a multi-layered piece with magnificent depth and color.

Here is the first piece I have fabricated using one of Lisa’s cabs (It is way prettier than the pic). I used a copper backing with fine silver bezel. This will be made into one of my front-closing toggle necklaces: