2015 Year End: A Few Final Projects

Beaux Cadeaux went well for me and I think I'll try it again next year!  I've been out of touch because I was getting ready for the show, and then custom orders have been flying in.  Yay for me and Silver Serpent Studio!

Here are a couple of the many pieces I've been working on - to see the rest of my new designs, please visit my Facebook Business Page and gander through the photo albums!

Spencer Opal in Sterling Silver Wire Weave - custom order

Art Bookmarks - copper and flame patina, original artwork

Lapis Cross and Enhancer - sterling silver, hand fabricated for lapis necklace

I can't promise to post very regularly for the rest of the year, but I'm sure I'll return to posting and showing what I've been up to come the New Year!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Hannah

Back to the Wire

Crazy Lace Agate Pendant in Sterling Silver Wire

I entered another juried exhibit last week - if I get in, I'll have an 8 foot x 5 foot display that I need to fill up with jewelry and artworks!  BAH!

Turitella Fossil in Sterling Silver Wire, Viking Knit

So, I'm busy busy busy creating bookmarks, pendants, other jewelry, and hopefully some smaller wall art in the next couple months!

Variscite Cabochon in Sterling Silver Wire

I figure, even if I don't get in, it's good to keep working and expanding my skills, my stock, and the types of pieces I offer! 

Thanks for stopping by!
~Hannah

Introducing Filigree!

I've been keeping busy - making more custom metal bookmarks, designing new pendants, and coming up with a fun home decor project.  More on the home decor later...but I will have my large scale serpent panel in the local state fair in a couple weeks!

Sterling Silver Handmade Filigree Pendant with Genuine Turquoise.

The only photos I have to show right now are of this new filigree pendant, featuring a small, genuine turquoise cabochon.  I love how it turned out and already have 2 more filigree-enhanced pendants in the works.

Handmade Filigree Pendant with Turquoise - about 1.5 inches tall.

The summer is quickly coming to an end and work is picking up for me - with my children, with college classes, and with my business.  I will soon have a couple days a week for myself and my studio work - whoohoo!

Happy creating,
~Hannah

May's Custom Orders

This month I had a couple of really fun custom orders!  One was for a set of purple kingman turquoise cabochons and the other was for a pair of matched Australian lightning ridge opals!

This turquoise pendant features 2 of the 4 cabochons the customer had - we drew up many designs and she found this one.  We're both happy with the end result!

Purple Kingman Turquoise set in sterling silver - handmade setting.

The next order was for cufflinks for my customer's father's birthday - he buys jewelry for his wife quite often but never for himself.  I thought it was a nice gift and was excited to work with these gorgeous opals!  I didn't photograph the fire very well - they flash blue, green, and red!

Australian Lightning Ridge Opal set in sterling silver - handmade setting.

I'm hoping my next post will finally show the serpent wall piece I've been working on, on and off, for over 6 months!  I'm down to the finishing details!

Thanks for stopping in and happy creating!
SSS

One of my custom pieces and some newly acquired cabochons that I've set!   The custom piece has a porcelain pendant strung on a handmade, beaded copper chain with a matching magnetic clasp.  The beads are agates and Czech fire polished glass.

The two cabochons were purchased from a local rock hound at the local Rock and Mineral Show - I love the way he cuts and polished his cabs and the fact that he usually mines his own rough, too.  They are very fun to design around!  I've wire wrapped the first one in a viking knit with rose gold-filled wire and the second in sterling silver.

Custom Piece - features a porcelain pendant from Ireland.

Peruvian Turquoise Pendant in Rose Gold-fill and Sterling.

Painted Rhyolite Pendant in Sterling Silver.

More custom pieces on the way - hopefully I'll have photos next week.

Thanks for visiting and happy creating!
SSS

Continuing with Wire Designs - Pendants

I'm really loving setting cabochons in wire this year!  Here are a couple more designs I've completed to date:

Chevron Amethyst from Mackay, ID in sterling silver.

Fossilized Coral, sterling silver, and rose gold-filled wire.

Obsidian conglomerate in sterling silver setting - custom order.

This last pendant was a custom order - the "stone" is a manmade conglomerate of obsidian, quartz and nickel.  These conglomerates are very interesting and can be gorgeous to look at - I've seen some featuring turquoise, coral, a purple stone, and brass!

Happy Creating,
SSS

Fordite Pendant in Sterling Silver

After posting about Fordite way back in August 2013, Sue from Fordite Fanatics UK sent a fordite cabochon my way.  I was surprised and delighted - I really wanted to showcase the cab well and it took a while to come up with a design that I liked.

Fordite set in sterling silver with garnet accents.

I knew I wanted to bring in garnet because I love garnet, and because the fordite has so many colors in it that I wanted to bring out one to the forefront.  I might add some more garnet to the chain, I haven't decided.

I do think that I will keep this one for myself, though.  Fordite is becoming difficult to acquire and this is a rather pretty piece!

Happy Creating and thank again, Sue!

SSS

Viking Knit Pendant in Copper

I'm really enjoying working with the viking knit weave - I set an odd-shaped stone with copper wire the other day.  It looks round, but the surface is actually wavy which made setting it interesting to weave around!  I'm not sure what type of rock it is, but it's very smooth and mostly a mauve color, undyed (natural).  I asked when I bought it, but the lady wasn't sure.

The wire frame (heavy gauge wire) looks out-of-round because of the wavy surface of the stone.  It was actually a large focal bead, but I'm liking it better treated as a cabochon....  I haven't yet decided if I'll make a chain for it or not.  Currently it is being used as a sample for my students' perusal.

Happy Creating,
PZ

Pietersite Pendant and Viking Knit Rope

For my birthday, several months ago, I was given a beautiful pietersite cabochon from one of my best friends.  It lay around for weeks, just waiting to be set.  I drew and redrew sketches, and finally settled on a layout and design.  This is the result - it's all mine and I love it!

Pietersite Pendant in Sterling Silver

The rope chain is viking knit and used over 30 feet of wire!  I love the flexibility and intricate look of viking knit - it's my new favorite way to make custom chains.

The pendant has also been set using the viking knit technique.  It's a little more difficult than making the rope chain, and it's definitely more time consuming than other wire wraps for cabochons, but the end result is worth it.

Pietersite Pendant in Sterling Silver

If you are interested in having a stone set for you, or a viking knit rope, please don't hesitate to contact me through my Etsy Shop!

Happy Creating,
PZ

Remaking a Design

Today I'm showing some designs I restrung for my sister.  What I should have done was take before and after photos, but I didn't....

The first one features a dragon pendant, and another little dragon charm at the end of the chain!  It was on waxed cotton cord with a few red and green wooden beads.  My sister wanted something more sophisticated to wear, but still fun!  I chose to string it with gemstone nuggets, crystals, and seed bead spacers.

Dragon Pendant - redesigned and restrung with gemstones and crystals.

The next piece is a multi-strand necklace.  Originally it was all teal and green, about 10-12 strands of seed beads and chunky glass beads strung randomly and all twisted together.  There wasn't really anything wrong with the design, but some of the beads were loosing color (cheaply painted beads) and it was too bulky for my sister's taste. 

Multi-strand Necklace - redesigned and restrung with a removable pendant.

So I remade it with only 5 strands, and a couple of those are very light.  I reused the salvageable seed beads and some of the smaller glass beads, and added bugle beads and gold beads.  My sister also had a pin she wanted me to do something with, and I thought it would work perfectly with the necklace as a removable pendant! 

She loves both designs, so my work here is done!  Until she give me more jewelry to remake - or until I redo some of my old designs!  Don't be afraid to remake a piece - practice brings you closer to perfection!


Happy Creating,
PZ

Chrysocolla Pendant

At the local Rock and Mineral Show, I met a local rock hound.  He goes all over Idaho and the western states finding his own rocks, which he then slabs, cuts into cabs, and polishes.  He does beautiful work, and best of all, he'll except custom orders!

Sterling Silver Wire Wrapped Cabochon with Czech Glass Beads

I have ordered several cabs from him, but every time I go I pick out from his stash of already made cabs, too.  I just can't help myself!  This cabochon, a chrysocolla, is related to turquoise but is naturally more stable.  I don't recall if he mined it in Idaho or not, but he does have a lot of it!

Chrysocolla Cabochon - wire wrapped in sterling silver with beads

This is my first setting of this sort, woven wire and beads.  All the wire is sterling silver.  I'm still debating on whether or not I should make my chain, or buy a sterling silver chain for it.  It's a lot of work to make a chain, but it also brings out the handmade uniqueness of the piece.

I'm not sure what next week will bring - hopefully another post!

Happy Creating,
PZ

More Metals - Yes Please!

I was busy this weekend and it felt great!  I finished a bracelet for my husband, a bracelet for a friend, and a pendant for a customer!  All work was in metals and I loved it - I miss working with metal and am happy to be getting back into it.

Viking Braid Bracelet - 3 strands of viking knit, forged clasp

First up - the bracelet for my husband!  This was a tester piece, and I say it is a success!  He loves it, says it fits him the best of all the bracelets I've made for him, and it's been quite a few....Now available in my etsy shop; made with copper, sterling silver wire, and yellow gold filled wire (I'm also offering to use rose/pink gold filled wire instead of copper).  My husband's has a handmade copper clasp, but the ones in my shop will have sterling silver.  All handmade and all metal and fabulous!

Dragonfly Cuff - roller printed, stamped, hammered

Next is a bracelet for one of my very best friends - and I hope it has arrived on her doorstep by now!  Roller printed and stamped copper cuff, featuring one of her favorite creatures, the dragonfly.  A lot of detail is lost in the photos - the copper glows and the scene is more obvious in person.  Cattails, water, a sliver moon, and lots of dragonflies!

Goldstone Pendant - hammered sterling silver, goldstone nugget (shown on viking knit chain)

Finally I'm showing off a pendant.  It's not my usual style, but I love how it turned out!  Goldstone nugget wrapped in sterling silver wire.  What I really love is the hammered wire on the bottom half of the briolette wrap!  It was tricky to work with, but I think the end result was worth it.  The hammering adds interest, texture, and a stronger nature vibe with the goldstone nugget.  I think I'll have to try it again, maybe with an actual briolette!

Happy Creating,
PZ

Wire it Up!

After completing some custom strung necklaces, I decided to start practicing my wire wrapping again.  First, I made several ring samples for an upcoming class - simple, fun, fast, easy.  Perfect way to get back into wire!

Wire and Bead Rings

Next I tried combining different metals and materials in this bracelet - chain, filigree, and a bead.  I wanted to add more beads originally (so there would have been more wire wrapping), but it looks complete to me as is!  Instead of forcing the design, I decided to move on to something else....

Bracelet - dyed howlite bead, brass filigree, chain.

Now that I was all warmed up, I moved onto more difficult wire wrapping - binding.  I love the look of square wire, but it can be frustrating to work with!  Getting all the twists out is especially difficult and time consuming - and very necessary for a clean, finished piece!

The above bracelet design is simpler and more clean-lined than most of my work - it was a practice piece from the following book, Wire Wrapping. 

The authors of Wire Wrapping suggest stacking their bracelets, and I have to agree that they look good like this!  They also make working with square wire seem easy....

My latest piece was a large mystery stone pendant.  I've wrapped pendants before, but it had been a little while.  This is probably my best piece to date - practice makes almost perfect!  The stone is highly polished and has a wood grain pattern to it - more like rings than lines.  It has a lovely moonstone/tiger's eye sheen to it in dark purples and deep greens, reminding me of a peacock eye feather.  It was given to me years ago, unlabeled, so I had no idea what it was.  It has since been identified as rainbow obsidian!

Mystery "Peacock" Pendant - Large Stone (3")

Happy Creating,
PZ

Custom Pieces - Designed for You!

While I love making jewelry that I've designed just because I can, I REALLY love making special pieces for a person, whether I know them personally (family and friends) or not (customers)!  I love custom requests - to use a certain type of bead or gemstone, color combo, style, technique..... The challenge is grand and the added stress is worth it because the satisfaction of a happy customer is priceless.

Custom Sky Blue Topaz and Sterling Silver Ring

I had a couple custom requests at the end of last year and this ring is one that I'm truly proud of - I took an older simpler spiral design and made it unique while keeping the same feel to the piece.  It's made from sterling silver wire and sky blue topaz.  The customer seems very happy, too!

Gabrielle's Neutral featuring gemstone focal and faceted gemstone accents.

My sister and I often shop for beads together over the holidays, or really whenever I'm in her neighborhood.  We both pick out beads, and then I take them all home!  She was wanting some longer necklaces in neutral colors, and this is one of them that I've completed (2nd design of the New Year!).

Gabrielle's Turquoise featuring dyed druzy beads with pink accent  and a simple beaded chain.

She is a bright, fun person and couldn't be pulled away from some bright turquoise druzy beads - so not all her new necklaces are neutral in color!  This was my first design of 2014, but I really like them both.

And I still have more beads from her so I can happily keep designing for another couple weeks.....

Happy Creating,
PZ