FREE PENDANT!

Now that I have your attention, Tracy Harmon of Harmony in Metal at Artfire is hosting a giveaway for me in her blog this week.  The fabulous prize?  A gorgeous handmade copper wire pendant with fresh water pearls made by yours truly!
We need to bump up the entries... so get over there and check it out!
http://www.harmonyinmetal.com/blog/2010/09/15/enter-to-win-a-fabulous-handcrafted-pendant/

Here's the fabulous prize.... in case you were curious....

New pieces!

I have been a very busy bee creating lots of new pieces! Here are some sample pictures or two new pairs of earrings and a large statement pendant based on a "challenge" someone suggested to me in the Artfire forums.

The earrings are simple sterling silver chain and wire with faceted gemstone briolettes. Briolettes are one of my favorite things and I love the cascading effect the chain allows me to create with them.

The pendant is based on an idea given to me by a couple of artists on Artfire in the forums. I was looking for some inspiration and they provided it. With the idea of using briolettes in a new fashion (though on that count I'm not sure I succeeded) and giving it a Brazilian Carnival flair I came up with this wild looking square pendant that reminds me a little of confetti being thrown in the air.

Featured studio piece 4-7-10

I haven't been able to keep up with my studio featured pieces lately... life and my day job tend to get in that way sometimes.

Today I would like to feature a necklace I made with blood quartz, cherry quartz and some copper wire. I made some little floral designs and attached them to a larger copper wire frame, then added some copper colored chain and some fresh water pearls for extra sheen. A lovely piece that is large enough to make a statement but with just the right amount of feminine touch! $40

Featured Studio piece 3-23-10

Today I would like to feature a ring from my studio which has been featured elsewhere as well. This past November this piece was photographed and featured in the magazine Bead Trends. It a very simple and lovely design. A simple copper wire ring made by making a swirl pattern and then wrapped in smaller gauge copper wire. I used one of my favorite gemstones to adorn it: Jade. The green of the Jade perfectly compliments the bright shine of the copper. $20

Featured Studio piece 3-16-10

Today's featured piece is a LARGE necklace I made while selling at a craft show this past November. It is composed of three different sized copper wire wrapped paisley tear shapes with garnet and freshwater pearls. It is attached to atiqued copper chain and adroned with some garnet coin shaped beads. This piece is fairly large (the quarter is for size reference) and is a real statement necklace. $100

Featured Studio Piece 3-15-10

Today's featured studio piece is a personal favorite of mine I call Garnet Bubbles. Its a smaller, more dainty pendant made from copper wire with both green and red garnet beads. The circular shape of the frame and of the beads make it look like a bunch of bubbles trapped in copper. $25

Carnelian!

Another of my best friend's favorite stone, the bright and cheery orange and red of carnelian is definitely enchanting. Orange is the color of happiness and red is the color of passion. This stone truly encompasses both.

Often considered a stone of protection, carnelian is actually a red form of chalcedony. It was worn in ancient Egypt to still anger and jealousy. It also counteracts negative thoughts.

Carnelians are most often worn by those who are a bit more timid to promote courage. It brings out self confidence and can also attract people to you. Its also said to promote sexual impusles. RAWR. ;)

I normally use carnelian in cabachon form. I think this is the best way to see its agate like variations, which I find VERY appealing. I also use small carnelian beads to enhance the look of paler stones, like moonstone.

Featured Studio piece 3-11-10

Today's featured studio piece is a very simple little flower. This stunning copper wire rose ring turns lots of heads. Its one of the few pieces I make using a jeweler's vice to create. It is multiple layers of small gauge copper wire, braided and twisted to form this delicate little rose. I also make them with a small focal bead at the top of the rose, though I have long since run out of that style and have yet to get around to making more. Perhaps that will be on my agenda for today! This lovely ring can be yours for just $10 plus shipping costs. I can also make them in brass, sterling, or color coated copper and in any custom size!

Metal magic #1

I'd like to blog today about how the metals a designer chooses to use can also effect how a piece of jewelry feels. Gemstones are not the only minerals out there with supposed "magical" properties. Metals do too!

I'd like to talk about my favorite metal to work with, COPPER! I spent a portion of my childhood in the Rocky mountains of MT in a city called Butte. Butte was a mining town... and what did they mine? COPPER! My mother always loved copper so I grew up seeing a lot of it. Its bright orangey color just sparkled to me. When we moved to northern MN, I missed seeing copper everywhere. The only place it was displayed was my mother's kitchen then.

Copper was regarded and linked to gods and goddesses of the sky and/or heavens in many ancient cultures. It was said to be a link to the divine.

Its also a known conductor of electricity. Many people believe that wearing a copper bracelet or other jewelry piece can ease arthritis and other aches and pains. When worn for its healing powers, copper piece are said to be worn on the left side of the body for those who are right handed or on the right side of the body for those who are left handed.

Copper is also supposed to attract love to its wearer.

I use a lot of copper in my jewelry designs. It is a soft, easy metal to work with especially in wire and sheet form. If I am going to be doing a piece in sterling but want to do a mock-up first, I will often do it in copper. There are several examples of my copper pieces pictured here.

Whatever your reasons may be, copper is definitely a metal worth wearing!

Featured studio item 3-8-10

Today, in honor of my previous blog about quartz crystals, I would like to featured one of my necklaces made from a quartz crystal point that I dug out of the Rocky Mountains of MT myself. I took this little single terminated quartz point and wire wrapped it in copper 18 gauge wire. I then wove garnet beads onto it with a much smaller gauge wire and kept on weaving to ensure a secure cradle for the crystal was created. I use no adhesives in my wire wrapping and allow only pressure to hold the stones fast. This pendant is dangled from an antiqued copper chain and is a dainty and grounded look for any neckline out there.

Edit: I would like apologize for the fact that this blog will only allow the WORST picture of this piece to be uploaded. If I could get my better picture of this piece uploaded, I would love to be able to show that one instead. Stubborn blog.

Featured studio piece 3-7-10

Today I would like to feature a piece I just listed last night. This little wire wrapped cabachon was inspired by my best friend, Amanda. She adores carnelians. Everytime I come across a carnelian in my sotkc, I think of her. She also is drawn to amethyst. She has a LOT of amethyst pieces around and about her wardrobe. Now, if/when she read this I know she's going to disagree with the amethyst thing, insisting she's more drawn to Sodalite (which is another of her favorites). However, I see a lot of purple colored stones in her jewelry drawer and I think subconsiously she's drawn to it. The little bit of garnet in this pendant is my little bit of flair kicking in. I love garnet. It also kind of represents our hair, as we both often have our hair colored red.

This piece is available for sale in my studio on artfire. (http://www.artfire.com/users/divapixie) and comes with an antiqued copper ball chain. Cost is $40.

Some of my older pieces

I often concentrate so much on the new things I have in my studio and what I am working on next that I forget about all the things in my studio that have been around a while. When I started wire work, I originally started out stringing beads onto wire and making a sort of beaded chain. It was a good, simple way to get familiar with the wire tools and learn how wire sometimes can have a mind of its own. Today I would like to show you one of my oldest pieces. I made this adorable little necklace with simple czech glass beads and copper wire. It features lady bugs in a deep purple color and accented with some pink and teal beads. I have always wanted this necklace to go to a good home, maybe for a little girl to enjoy.

Featured studio peice 3-6-10

Today's featured piece from the Fools and Jewels studio on http://www.artfire.com/ is a pendant called Spring Surprise. It is made from copper wire, twisted into a spiral pattern and pounded to add a little texture. Its then wrapped with a smaller gauge copper wire and adorned with pink chalcedony briolettes, jade rounds and freshwater pearls. I then added an antiqued copper chain to it. It is for sale in my artfire studio for $45.

A few finished pieces for Art Auction consideration!

I have put the finising touches on a couple of those focal pieces I was working on for the Art Auction. Now, I am not sure they are both the pieces I will be donating but they are finished so.... here goes.

With the blue piece, I played with the idea of doing a swarovski crystal beaded chain but once I got it together and set it beside the focal, it looked way to gawdy and cluttered. So I settled for simply putting the focal on a streling silver knotted wire chain. It looks stunning!

For the copper woven heart, since it is such a large piece, it absolutely NEEDED a long chain and some additional embellishment. I added some wired pieces with the same swarovski crystal beads dispersed with the bright copper chain to acheive a more balanced look. Its become a real statement piece I believe.