Jami's Blog

Sharing a photo of a custom necklace purchased by Patty. The original necklace had a larger focal and dangle beads that hung off the back. I hope to someday find more citrine as nice as these rondell beads. I am hoarding the last of it.

 

 

Flowers

Random pics of a piece I've been working on.

Firescale is making me polish this way more than I should have to.

I love this piece!

Gotta love macro!

Making stuff with bronze clay

I have been busy making lots of experimental stuff. It has been fun but sometimes you just get way off track and before you know it you have five days to get ready for a show. So I am making boro beads to fill in blank spots in my usual inventory. Se la vie!
Here are some bronze clay experiments. The three columns on the left are the first firing, using maybe 120 grams. The right three columns are the second firing, 180 or so grams. I have a couple other pieces floating around from the first firing. I used the acid washed coal and am liking the colors better in the second firing. This bronze is incredibly hard after firing. I learned the hard way that 99% of the fabrication needs to be done when it is soft. Drilling holes later is a real big laborious pain, even with a foredom and diamond bits.
Love it! Don't you?

What's in a name?

I am sitting here trying to take photos and name a new pendant and the part I hate the most is naming jewelry. Really, I do hate it badly. So, here is another hunk of silver and glass, call it what you want. Sterling airtrap implosion pendant. 22 gauge sheet, hand made bezel strip and a jump ring from my bench. The glass is borosilicate glass, amber purple I think.
The pictures turned out so good I had to have DD look and make sure it wasn't false advertising or something. Boro rocks!

Canon S5IS super macro

Testing photos

Testing out photos. Me and my camera just don't see eye to eye sometimes.
Photographing silver is so difficult!

Clay Play

I have been playing with clay, specifically white stoneware clay. I like it better than the heavy stoneware clay body I had leftover from class at the Lawrence Art Center. It is a bit softer to use and smoother.
I can't wait to glaze them. I hit a good sale a few weeks back at KC Metro Pottery and bought glazes. I had only a couple so I needed to get more.

Dyed and gone to heaven!

Silk duponi, velvet silk & rayon color experiments.
Ribbons destined for jewelry designs.
Two days of very fun work. I enjoyed playing!

Before

After!

Silk & Clay

I have been playing lately with silk & clay.
White stoneware pendants and glazes and silk and dyes... Oh My!
I am so in love with color!

Staying Productive

I have a new "thing" to show. It was a wonderful, large, attention getting ring. Then it decided to become a non-ring. As I was hammering (gently) the bezel to conform to the glass cab, it broke off the ring base. I knew it was not soldered as well as it could have been to the back plate. It is difficult to solder reticulated silver sheet to a bezel or ring shank. It is bumpy and lumpy and not even, but darnit, so gorgeous!
Anyway, I think I will drill a hole and make "another" pendant. I am tired of pendents! I want rings!
Also here is a scarf I knit using a chevron pattern. Love the colors and repetitiveness!

Hammered Pendant

A new project finished!

Ribet Ribet

This has been in my head for about a year and I finally sat down and played with the idea.
I made this off mandrel boro piece and then drilled a hole, riveted it front and back
and then set a chrome diopside 4mm stone in the center.
Sorry for the pictures. I am experimenting with lighting and obviously my camera doth protest!
I was just too excited to mess with the white balance and all that.
I'll take better photos later after I polish it some more.
Is this just to weird to wear??

Stopping In

Just stopping in to post a quickie. I'm supposed to be doing several other things but the Mac has me tied up lately. I am sitting here looking at Leopard and reading Apple boards and all the horror stories and I kind of got scared to install a new operating system. So I installed Abobe Photoshop elements instead and have been playing with that. I did mow the front yard and shower and clean beads and talk to neighbors on both sides and then I took midol and screw the rest! lol
I have to find a recipe to cook DD for dinner and pick her up from work.
We might have to buy ice cream and blockbuster!
Well, now that I've blabbed a bit I have a new show & tell.
These are two sawed in half beads bezel set in sterling.
One needs a bit more polishing.
The long bead is a boro bead by Nancy Tobey.
I hope she can forgive my massacre!
It is a pendant.

New Pendant

This is something new I have been working on.
I love the concept and will be working on tons of ideas I have.
Made with a lampwork bead and sterling sheet and bezel wire.
Love this color of opalino glass! Yum!!

New Glass & Jewelry

After a lull during summer I have new show & tell.
A bracelet made with a raku bead.

And some new glass cabochons I just made.
I figured out the flower implossion but need to practice more!

Purple shell & ruby necklace

Winter, will it ever end? I want to be outside and not cold! I want spring breezes and warm soil. Flowers blooming and birds singing. It is almost here, we just have to have patience!

I have another finished project to post.

It is a purple star ruby with a shell cabochon. This was interesting to make because originally I had made the bezels to match the height of the cabs. The shell cab was very skinny and the balance looked off so I made another bezel for it that matched in height of the ruby. I raised the shell up by making a platform for it to sit on. The unconventional platform was plexiglass cut to shape and inserted under the shell. I was going to do brass but didn't want the weight, then paper but worried about longevity and thus plexiglass because it would hold up better and be a stronger base for the shell. Once again I had firescale issue and I plan on making some prips flux to try and see if that will protect the silver better.
The chain is called Jens Pind and it was the first time I have made that pattern. My fingers suffered hand sawing the jump-rings because I hate using my jump-ring maker. I keep screwing up using it and that thing is scary!

Rizzi Ring- Glass & Sterling United

In February of this year, I visited California and one of the stops we made was to John Rizzi's Glassworks in Guerneyville, CA. He has a lovely little building a block off the main drag that houses his gallery and a lampwork studio. He has glasswork from many talented artists and also his own work for sale as well. I could have moved right in because his design ideas and decorating style is just my cup of tea. Daughter Laura and I bought a joint piece that we could share from Bruce St. John Maher.

John gifted me with a lovely cabochon he made and this is what I did with it.

Sterling bezel on 20 ga sheet, soldered onto two 8 ga 1/2 round wire rings soldered together.
I think this was the second ring I have ever made and the hardest part was getting the ring soldered to the bezel back. First try went wonky. Second try wonky again and third try was a bit better but in the eyes of a perfectionist, it is still a bit wonky, but it doesn't show when wearing it.
I love it!

Star ruby & amethyst pendant

A quick drive by post to show a project I finished a few weeks ago. This is a bezel set purple star ruby and small amethyst flush set into silver

Enamel Class

Yesterday I took an enamelling class from Emily Jungden at Gennie's studio.
I loved the design possibilities with the technique. We used copper sheet as a base to layer enamel in several different ways. We used a stencil, wet packing and sgraffito. I can hardly resist jumping full force into playing with all the possibilities! Must resist until I have other projects finished! :)