Thursday, March 18, 2010

Storque Appearance

Shakespeare sterling silver bangle braceletOn Monday, March 15, I was checking my view stats on CraftCult. I was blown away by the number of views and hearts. I thought "What nice artist friend has included me in their treasuries?" LOL

Couldn't believe it, but my silver bangle "But Never Doubt I Love" was featured on a Shakespeare themed Storque article on Etsy. I want to thank all the love I received in the past few days; it is very encouraging, especially for solo artists like me. I've blogged about this bracelet before and you can read more about it here. The bracelet is available at both my Etsy and Artfire stores.

Thank you all, once again.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Rings Large and Small

green chocolate brown turquoise silver ring Just finished these sterling rings 2 days ago:

Green and Chocolate Brown Turquoise rings with 14k gold dots.




teal aqua blue amazonite silver ring
Smaller Amazonite ring.







blue labradorite sterling ringAnd a smaller Labradorite ring with a stepped design on the bezel.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Plum Flower Pendants

sterling flower pendant necklace sunstone labradorit star rubyTook me a little while to finish these 3 pendants but I'm pretty happy with how they turn out. The sterling flowers has a black patina and a hand-rubbed wax protective coating. 5 gold (14kt) dots and the shimmer in each the (sunstone, labradorite and star ruby) is a great light-play against the dark patina.

Plum flowers have a lot of symbolic meanings in the Chinese culture. It represents virtue because it thrives in the coldest of winters and signals the upcoming spring. Each of the five petals of a plum blossom stands for the five major ethnic peoples of China - Han, Manchurian, Mongolian, Muslim, Tibetan. Sometimes the five petals refer to the five elements - metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. And it is also the official flower of the Choy Lay Fut kungfu system.

blue labradorite sterling silver flower pendant necklace 14k goldsunstone sterling flower pendant necklace 14k goldstar ruby sterling silver flower pendant necklace 14k gold

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Round Top Rings

Here are 3 new rings where all round cabochons are 30mm in diameter. I used 1-1/2" diameter sterling backing so that there is room for tiny custom inscriptions on the edges adjacent to the bezel. They are huge and will certainly be attention grabbers.

I just bought stones of various types and sizes that can be custom made into rings to fit anyone or necklace pendants. You can contact me through my Etsy or Artfire shops. I've created separate listings at each shop if you want personalized inscriptions. This way, there is no obligation to have a piece of jewelry bearing any messages.

This cabochon is a Chinese jasper with striking maroon red, freeform color spots set against a gray background. It reminds me of the plum blossom painting at my parent's house, which has dark pink and red flowers against a white background. The painting was the work of one of the last Qing Dynasty imperial scholars, Yu Yao Yum. Click here to see a similar painting.

An agate that reminds me of Orange Dreamsicle.

A fossilized coral that looks like a photo of chrysanthemums.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Ikebana & Kusuma Necklaces

Just finished these 4 pendant / necklaces:

1. Ikebana with Red Quartz. This red quartz is really unusual because it has these really sparkly mica inclusions, like pieces of glitters embedded.

2. Ikebana with Labradorite. I thought this half round labradorite makes a perfect "bowl" for this miniature ikebana arrangement.

3. Kusuma is an Indonesian name that means flower. These agatized Fossil Coral is a natural stone formed when ancient coral is gradually replaced with agate. They usually have small flower-like patterns. Each piece of coral can display different colors, depending on weathering/oxidation and original mineral content.

I added some 14k gold dots to complement the warm tones of these coral.

4. The back of this pendant is inscribed.