Catching up...

More than three months have passed since my last post.

Here's what I've been up to in the meantime:

Made my first brass jewelry:

Played around with some new designs:

And some old ones...

Made some gifts:

And fulfilled commissions:

 

 It's been a busy three months. :)

Garnet and Peridot Flowers on Wire Netted Leaves

New product available in my Etsy and Breslo shops.

Initially designed as a pink-wine combo... but my Rhodonite beads were just too large, so I had to improvise... again. This is the result: garnet and peridot flowers in a netted Silver Filled Frame.

Update: These earrings now have a new look after LOS-treatment and hand polishing.
 

Peridot Feathers

Netted copper feathers. The pendant was made out of a leftover frame from the mixed metal "Endless Road" necklace (made to order). It's quite long, but it looks just perfect on a long copper chain.

Stained Glass

These remind me of stained glass windows in a Gothic cathedral, they have a bit of a medieval feel to them...

It's a style I plan on developing further.

Here is the first pair of earrings with necklace to match.

Amethyst, Garnet, Labradorite, Peridot and Smokey Quartz in LOS oxidized copper.

 

Peridot "Snakes"

I ordered some AA 3 mm Peridot rondelles a while ago from Beadsonsale.com, but they've sent me some (probably) A+ grade 4 mm faceted rounds instead. It wasn't worth the trouble of sending them back, so I've put them away - they've been lying around in my drawer for months now, never knew what to do with them. 4mm is the worst possible size in beads for me, I'm always having trouble finding a use for them. I tend to use either smaller or larger beads in my designs. Then I remembered the "Christmas Tree" earrings I made last December....

...and going through my sketches I found a variation I planned of doing, but completely forgot about. And the 4 mm Peridots seemed just the perfect size for it. The earrings turned out a little on the large side (and there seems to be a larger demand for earrings than earring and pendant sets, anyway), so I've decided not to make a pendant/necklace to match...

...instead I made a bracelet. It is light, delicate, with an understated elegance, and it looks great on the wrist.

Click on the images for larger pics.

Peridot Hoops

I'm out of small coral beads, and couldn't wait for another order to arrive. I just had to see how a pair of "double helix" hoop earrings would look like. So I made them (two more days of wrapping) with another one of my favorite gemstones: Peridot. I realize now that I've made only two pairs of hoop earrings over the past two and a half years, since I've started making jewelry.

These hoops were painstakingly woven with 28 Ga over 20 Ga copper wire. When the frames were ready I added those really tiny Peridot beads I was sure I couldn't do anything with (they're about 1.3 mm in diameter), twisted them in a double helix, formed the hoops then oxidized and carefully hand polished them.