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
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 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:
