What's new today 2-10-11

Well, today was the first day back at work after my two day snow break.  Everything went smoothly.  And we are already to the weekend again.  Wow... what a strange week.

I have a few things to share with you.  I have been working on a custom pendant as a part of a trade I have arranged with a fellow artisan on Artfire. I -finally- finished it this week.  I hope that the recipient enjoys it as much as I've enjoyed creating it.

While I was snowed in my house I also spent quality time with my puppy, Wynton.  He's a little over 4 months old now.  He's a cream colored toy poodle.  We had a good time playing and napping.  I have to brush out his coat once every day or so.  And his hair is so long now I have to band it up out of his eyes.  Normally my boyfriend's mother does his grooming (she used to groom and show poodles for clients) but I have had to learn to take on a bit of the maintainence.  It can be very frustrating, especially when he doesn't want to cooperate. Anyways, here's a picture of him right after he was brushed out.
That's all for this blog entry.  I have several other jewelry pieces in the works, which I will fill you in on at a later date. 

Craft Appeal

This was the piece that was awarded this morning

So, a little over a week or two ago I received an email from a lady named Hannah.  she is the creator or person in charge of a site called Craft Appeal.  It's a great site for artisans to use as a promotion tool.  Basically, you open a free account and upload pictures of your pieces to it.  Then, they are available for viewing on the site and will link to the listing in your shop, wherever that may be.  And in addiction to that, they can be voted on by the viewers of the site.  I woke up to this pleasant surprise in my email box this morning...

Best Jewelry Award | Art & Crafts Awards | Oct 2010

CONGRATULATIONS!

CraftAppeal users think your work is awesome and have voted to award you the "Best Overall Jewelry" Award for your Spring Surprise necklace!
It will now be proudly displayed on our the CraftAppeal home page and continue to give you great publicity!
But wait...there's more!
As an added bonus we would like to offer you this award emblem of achievement, this embeddable widget for you to use on your own site to facilitate ongoing promotion and recognition of your creativity!

Needless to say, I am hoping to get this widget listed on my Artfire studio page and am placing it here for all to see!
Here's the site... get out there and display your work!
http://craftappeal.com/

Well...

... at 107 followers and holding steady... I think it is time to draw a name from my commenters and give someone a gift certificate to my studio.  I will keep at this until I do in fact get to 150 followers, giving away gift certificates to commenters along the way... randomly.... when I feel the fancy take me.  So.... here's your last entry to comment on to get entered.  I'm drawing a name tomorrow morning for a gift certificate.  Get to commenting, readers!

One of my new wire wrapped pendant pieces

Friday Sept. 3rd~ What's happening in my Studio

1.) I'm hosting a giveaway for another artist on Artfire.  Details about the giveaway, how to enter and pictures of the prize for this week are in the posts below!  Check it out and get entered to win fabulous prizes over the next three weeks.
2.)  I myself have begun working with flat wire in my studio.  I've thus far created a small but elegant pendant with a lovely Flourite stone at it's center.  Pictures to come this evening!
3.)  I will out at my local farmer's market tomorrow selling homemade jams, jellies and of course my jewelry offerings.  Here's to hoping Labor Day weekend brings excellent business to the market.
4.) In other news, I will begin working on some new Renaissance festival costumes for myself and my bf this weekend.  We are attending the MN Ren. fest in a few weeks and like to go to fest in "garb".  I've also opened up my other Artfire studio http://www.artfire.com/users/gypsythreads to take custom costume orders for the upcoming Halloween season.  If you need a child's costume (no stuffed costumes please) or something for yourself, get your order in SOON!  I tend to fill up quite quickly.

That's what's happening here at Fools and Jewels!  Keep watching here for more updates!

Piece in progress....

... but now I need help.  I need some input about what to make this piece into.  A pendant?  Necklace?  Brooch?  Something else?

Any ideas out there in blogger land?

A new piece in progress

So, I haven't done a piece in progress post in a while.  And now I have a piece in progress to share.

A friend of mine from back in MN was looking over one of my recent steampunk pieces and remarked that it was lovely.  She then lamented that she has longed to see a steampunk necklace, pendant or brooch that has a skull and cross bones and wings.  Her Steampunk costume persona is that of an airship pirate.  I decided that day to order some brass embellishments and get after that idea. 
I started with an old vintage rhinestone buckle.  A lot of the rhinestones are missing but it still has a lot of shine to it.  I then wired swarovski crystals around the oustide.  I added the brass charms and am now about halfway through adding cogs and other watch parts to it.  I haven't decided yet if it should be a pendant or a brooch.  I also think it needs some additional wire work and perhaps some more beads....

New "steamy" pieces to come

I have had a longing to find some new way to steampunk out my wire wrapping... create some kind of new pieces for my shop.  I tried my hand at one this week and the result is now listed in my Artfire studio.  I am hoping to take and expand on these ideas and designs in the near future.  It feels like it's been AGES since I created something new.

Featured Studio piece 4-26-10

Today I am featuring another of my lampwork creations. This is a lovely abstract heart shaped pendant that I made myself. I was practicing trying to create heart shaped lampwork beads and this was as close as I got. The colors remind me of fire with the slight hint of orange combined with the bright red. I them added a few faceted glass beads for fun and voila! A lovely pendant on a brass chain! $22.50 (sale price)

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 4-10-10

Today's featured studio piece is a newly listed pendant that is based around a lampwork bead I made myself. I was trying my hand at making lampworked heart shaped beads and ended up with this slightly abstrat heart figure. I then added some faceted czech glass and gold toned wire and voila! A heart pendant with style and interest in a bright vibrant color. $25

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.

I've been Indiespotted... AGAIN!

This is the 3rd time that Indiespotting has used one of my submissions. I keep submitting one every 7-14 days and they keep adding mine! That must mean they like my work... or they put everyone in the rotation but I'm going to pretend its the first option! YAY!
Check it out!
www.myshoppingconnection.com/indiespotting/2010/index.php

Featured Studio piece 3-9-10

Today I would like to feature a wire wrapped pendant from my studio. This pendant is built around a soapstone cabachon. Soapstone is the stone of choice for worry stones, since you can rub on the smooth surface and over time wear it down. Putting this in a pendant is unusual but its lovely green and yellow color makes it an excellent focal. I cradled the cabachon in brass wire frames held together by tight brass wire wrapping. I then added some little labradodrite and iolite rounds for a splash of contrasting color. This piece will come with your choice of a brass or copper chain. $40

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.

Quartz crystal

Today I would like to blog about a stone I have had a long time love affair with: quartz crystal. Let me start with my childhood, since that is where I first was introduced to this LOVELY shiney rock.
I spent part of my childhood in a town called Butte MT (please spare me the jokes about the name). Its nestled in the Rocky Mountains and its a lovely place to be. Butte is/was sort of a dying town but being up in the mountains, there were all sorts of mineral goodies to be found. I used to walk along the railroad tracks, much to my mother's dismay, and pick up shiney clear quartz crystal points on my way home from school. As I got older, my grandparents and aunts and uncles would take us camping up in the National parks. There was an entire park set aside just for the digging and finding of quartz crystals! I was in rock heaven.
We moved away from Butte when I was still in elementary school but we often go back to MT to visit family. And every year I go back I make sure to visit Crystal Park and dig for more shiny rocks. I bring them back to Kansas with me and do my wire wrapping magic on them.

Now, quartz comes in all sizes shapes and colors but the kind I want to focus on today is that clear, terminated variety, the crystal point. Crystals are more highly valued if they have what is known as a termination, or a naturally occuring point. Double terminated crystals have a point at each end and naturally double terminate crystals are very rare. Many companies and stone workers often grind the terminations onto a chunk of quartz crystal to increase its sale value.

Quartz crystals are often called the "Witch's stone" and are said to have many magical properties. It is supposed to clear the mind and allow for true visions. This is perhaps why the sterotypical gypsy fortune teller used a sphere made of clear quartz to looked into people's futures. It has even been used as a milk stone to cause more productive lactating in nursing mothers! Quartz crystals are most often used to balance the mind and body as well as increase psychic abilities.

No matter what your thoughts or beliefs on the quartz crystal are, they are a beautiful stone that I continue to mine myself and wrap.

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.