I got this nice glass cabochon from a friend of mine, Paul Bailey. I just love this pattern with it's organic look and thought I'd do this one as a ring.  Funny thing, lots of inquiries about rings lately.  I have had some inconsistent results with a few rings lately, and I guess I needed some time away from them. I am planning to do some in the near future and "get back on the horse" so to speak. The big rings are really in fashion now, and if any of them don't come out just right, I will get a few pretties to wear for myself. I guess you could say I sometimes get the "second" quality pieces. Funny though, people don't see the mistakes like I do. Some of the second quality items could probably be sold, but I just keep them for myself or give them away to friends:=) Are you wearing big rings? 

Sasha

Emmaus Cross

I finished the Emmaus cross I had been working on and then got orders for three more :-) I will repost the Emmaus concept :

The Walk to Emmaus is a spiritual renewal program intended to strengthen the local church through the development of Christian disciples and leaders. The program's approach seriously considers the model of Christ's servanthood and encourages Christ's disciples to act in ways appropriate to being "a servant of all."

The Walk to Emmaus experience begins with a 72-hour short course in Christianity, comprised of fifteen talks by lay and clergy on the themes of God's grace, disciplines of Christian discipleship, and what it means to be the church. The course is wrapped in prayer and meditation, special times of worship and daily celebration of Holy Communion. The "Emmaus community," made up of those who have attended an Emmaus weekend, support the 72-hour experience with a prayer vigil, by preparing and serving meals, and other acts of love and self-giving. The Emmaus Walk typically begins Thursday evening and concludes Sunday evening. Men and women attend separate weekends.

During and after the three days, Emmaus leaders encourage participants to meet regularly in small groups. The members of the small groups challenge and support one another in faithful living. Participants seek to Christianize their environments of family, job, and community through the ministry of their congregations. The three-day Emmaus experience and follow-up groups strengthen and renew Christian people as disciples of Jesus Christ and as active members of the body of Christ in mission to the world.

I often design pieces for my customers based on things they have seen elsewhere. This necklace is based on a piece in a recent Athleta catalog. The original, at $159, was made of amazonite. My version is designed with some beautiful turquoise beads that I found especially for this project. Don't you love how the bunch just "flows"? It is made with an adjustable cord to let the wearer adjust the length and choose just the right spot for the beads to hang. 

The Name is the Game

Wow, Christmas was busy with lots of metal piercing to make personalized name pendants for people far and wide! I'm beginning to recover and creative juices are beginning to flow again.  Obviously the pic above wasn't a real name, but I heard "Mom" liked it.  So many options when something is hand made, and I truly feel I put a little love directed to that person while I am drawing and making their piece.  I have orders to fill and will be getting started with those, but always glad to take more orders. It really makes me happy to make special things for special people.  One new order is for a pierced "Emmaus" cross. For those who have never heard of this:

The Walk to Emmaus is a spiritual renewal program intended to strengthen the local church through the development of Christian disciples and leaders. The program's approach seriously considers the model of Christ's servanthood and encourages Christ's disciples to act in ways appropriate to being "a servant of all."

The Walk to Emmaus experience begins with a 72-hour short course in Christianity, comprised of fifteen talks by lay and clergy on the themes of God's grace, disciplines of Christian discipleship, and what it means to be the church. The course is wrapped in prayer and meditation, special times of worship and daily celebration of Holy Communion. The "Emmaus community," made up of those who have attended an Emmaus weekend, support the 72-hour experience with a prayer vigil, by preparing and serving meals, and other acts of love and self-giving. The Emmaus Walk typically begins Thursday evening and concludes Sunday evening. Men and women attend separate weekends.

During and after the three days, Emmaus leaders encourage participants to meet regularly in small groups. The members of the small groups challenge and support one another in faithful living. Participants seek to Christianize their environments of family, job, and community through the ministry of their congregations. The three-day Emmaus experience and follow-up groups strengthen and renew Christian people as disciples of Jesus Christ and as active members of the body of Christ in mission to the world.

I know this piece will be special to the person who has asked for it, making it special to me as I make it as well. Wish me luck as I work on it.

Sasha

Getting ready for a show!

Here's something I will show this Saturday at the MainX24 holiday festival on the Southside in Chattanooga.  It will be a cold one according to forecasts and I dread that part, but hopefully I will get to share my work with a few good folks.  I will be located in the building with the Blue Orleans Restaurant which is across from the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo.  Lots of activities going on for 24 hours and almost all of them are free to attend! Bear the cold and come out.

A Charm Necklace for a Purse!

I was recently asked to work up a "necklace" for a purse, and here is what I came up with. This is not the purse it was made for, but you get the idea. I chose the parts and colors based on what Sandy told me about herself and her preferences.  It was a follow up to a piece I made for my massage therapist, Sarah, who needed a "bracelet" for her new cowboy boots. So far, both customers appear to be happy with the results. 

Makes me wonder what else we could make jewelry for! 

Cheers,

Sasha

The necklace with the funky blue shells has found a home, but the earrings still are orphaned. They turned out pretty cute and are hung with sterling silver. Maybe I should make another necklace to go with those! Well, anyway, here they are :-) I don't think this is really a great picture, but I don't have time to fiddle with that right now. They are very cute in person. I sure thought I might do some time in the studio today, but we're also getting ready to paint a couple of rooms in the house, and the extra duties do call.

Feelin' those funky beads

Got a wild hair to do some beading and couldn't resist using some funky shell beads this week. I have a thing for funky shells, but sometimes they are a little harder to design with because of that funkiness. I loved these blue dyed shells that I bought recently on a trip for my lapidary class (lapidary is an artisan who forms stone, mineral, gemstones, and other suitably durable materials (amber, shell, jet, pearl, copal, coral, horn and bone, glass and other synthetics) into decorative items (e.g. cameos, cabochons, and faceted designs).

My friend, and college pledge daughter, Tina liked it so much that it is now hers:-) Well, it's on it's way to her anyway. I also have brown shells of the same type, but I didn't get a chance to use those yet, so more fun for later. I had hammered this focal piece quite a while back and hadn't used it, so why not now? I added a mix of jasper and copper beads and crafted a sterling hook clasp in back.

Cabochons and other musings

So, a friend of mine comes here to check out my new blog. He had read the posts of how I went to the class to learn some new skills. He says, what is that, the cabochon, that you were talking about. I guess we all sometimes forget that every area has it's own vocabulary. Well I looked up the definition in different places, and the one I chose is this: a gem or bead with a smooth curved surface, highly polished but not faceted. So, now maybe there are others out there who wanted to ask the same question, and can now rest easy to know the answer.

I did a pair of stamped sterling silver earrings this past week, and thought I'd pop them on here. There is actually one small extra stamp on one of them. I guess I'll discount them slightly for that (but no one would notice it), so let me know if you are interested in them:-) They are a little over 3 inches but I really like the shape, and have some like it myself.

It's a Bella Day!

You may or may not know that I make "Name" pendants. That is, a pendant with a name or other word pierced out of the metal. This week is a tight squeeze to recover from vacation before going back to the "regular" job next week, but I wanted to get this necklace done for Lori P's daughter, Bella. Since the word makes me think of Italy, I believe I had a bit of a Momma Mia swagger as I sawed, and I did have pasta for lunch as well! Here it is Bella. Hope you like it:-)