Adobe Sol Designs ~ the BLOG ~

After finding my grandmother’s sewing box with bunches of very cool vintage buttons I decided to go in search of some for sale, that didn’t have an emotional connection for me. This way I can make jewelry with them and sell without feeling like I was selling off my heart and soul. I managed to find some from a fellow in the Czech Republic.  I bought a small lot from him so I caould see what the quality was before making a larger investment. I am very pleased with these! They are all in good used condition, appear to truely be vintage and are certainly glass. I will be ordering more from him!

Here are a few necklaces I’ve made so far. A few of these can be found in my Etsy Shop.

Heirloom Button Necklace

Heirloom Button Necklace ~ Small

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

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!

With the bloom of the flora and the song of the birds, I was inspired to make something ”Springy” but with a bit of rustic. I have had this milk glass cabochon for some time and love the way it looks with oxidized silver. I’m gonna make one of these for me too! This one is available in my Etsy Shop.

Here is a new piece just listed in my etsy shop today.

I wanted to set the lovely blue of the turquoise off with both silver and copper. I bezel set the turquoise cabochon with fine silver on a copper back. I made the toggle clasp with the mix of metals as well. There’s plenty of texture and lightly oxidized to show the detail. Here is the result:

Obsessed with direction… It all stems back to when I learned to fly. Compass readings/directions were the hardest part of the training. I love all things with a compass on them. So… here are a few more compass charms.  Made with .999 fine silver and hung on chains. Currently availavle in my etsy shop.

Vector Home Series

Vector Home Series

Vector Home Series

Vector Home Series

Next in my series of bezel set dichroic glass cabochons and the first of the series to get listed in my Etsy Shop…

A Ray of Sunshine Necklace

This is one of many handmade front-closing toggle necklaces I have recently made. The pictures really don’t bring out the color of the Peruvian pink opal. In fact, this was a hard one to photograph (at least for me…). I added some interest to the chain by wire wrapping Swarovski pearls in between different link-styles of chain. The pearls look so soft along with the opal. This is one of my favorites.

Pretty in Pink is available in my Etsy Shop.