brooch finale...

 The final two brooches in the 2013 challenge. Boy, has this year gone by fast!

 #51 is  slice of Montana agate topped with an Oregon sunstone. Not sure I want to part with this one... but it'll most likely end up in my shop before too long as there are bills to pay... plus, I'm not sure my sweatshirt will do it justice.  ; )

For the year end finale, the Blue Bird of Happiness in labradorite perched on a stick pearl to wish you all a happy, healthy, and creative 2014!

phew!

45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50

I've taken a loooong break from blogging and there's a 6 week back up of brooches...

With 2 weeks left in the etsymetal brooch-a-week challenge year, here are brooches #45 -50. 

#45 is a lightweight sterling silver dotted "wreath" in time for the holidays. Well, it was in time for the holidays when I completed it 6 weeks ago...

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#46 features a dark Montana agate set in sterling with three 14kt gold rivets

#47 was a commission using the customer's ocean jasper and coral. It's designed to be converted to a pendant as needed!

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For week #48 I created a little Cherry Creek jasper tweeter perched on a stick pearl

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Brooch # 49 is a lovely taupe fossil palm cab.

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#50 is a piece of Hell's Canyon petrified wood paired with a lovely little golden South Sea pearl

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This week's brooch is already in the works, Montana agate paired with a very pretty Oregon sunstone...

Home Sweet Home

The brooches march on...

Hard to believe we're approaching the end of 2013 and there are only 6 more brooches to be made for those of us participating in the etsymetal brooch-a-week challenge. Not so bad when you think that those stalwarts in the brooch-a-day challenge can barely see the end of the road yet...

brooch #42 features a beauty of a Morrisonite cab with a pinky rhodolite garnet

brooch #43 incorporates a pink rose cut tourmaline and gold rivets

 brooch #44 is a cherry creek jasper in a clean, modern shape

Picked these up while walking the dog today. Add a ribbon and a straight pin and this could be brooch #45. hmmmm...

(Fall is definitely my favorite time of year...)

a new fossil... and 4 more brooches

I had a nice drive out into the country this morning on a picture perfect Fall day. My goal, to pick up the rock slabs my stone cutting friend Greta had cut for me from some of the rough I had picked up during last month's rock hounding expedition. She has an awesome rock saw that can cut through the big chunks.

While I was there waiting on the last cut I, of course, started poking my nose into all her boxes of rocks. You wouldn't believe how much stuff that is...

I saw this slab of fossil fern wood and asked if she'd sell it to me. Lovely Greta, I'm sure she realized that she has about 3 lifetimes worth of rock to work with so into my goodie bag it went... I never leave Greta's without many things I had no idea I needed until I saw them...

The thing that really caught my eye were the layers along the edge. A lovely blush along with taupe, a darker stripe, and cream. I can see a few pair of drop earrings as well as some very cool cufflinks in that edge.

Something not noticeable in the photos, is that in all of those voids, there's the sparkle of tiny druzy quartz crystals. I'm really looking forward to cutting into this!

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And since it's been a month since my last post, here are the four latest brooches in the etsymetal brooch a week challenge.

Brooch #38

A beauty of a lace agate, semi transparent so you can see into it and the botryoidal formation, those very organic looking globular forms. I've designed it so that it can been worn as a pendant as well as a brooch.

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Brooch #39

This is a piece of ocean jasper with a small pinkish rhodolite garnet.

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Brooch #40 

I think this one can hardly be called a brooch, more of a pin, it's a teeny little thing, 

and is a piece of Picasso jasper.

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Last week's brooch, #41

 is a large piece of mookaite from Australia, paired with a little yellow citrine.

Right now I'm working on this week's design, but I'm not quite sure how it's going to all come together yet, so I won't say more... not yet

some daughter time and 2 new brooches

Both girls were here together last week for a visit. That happens so rarely anymore since they've both flown the nest, and in the last couple of years, the state... but I still managed to get my weekly brooch done for the past couple of weeks. Brooch #29 was a quick one. I used a scrap of fine silver I had cooked up in a precious metal clay class a few years back, and added some sterling petals along the edge for a simple little sunflower.

For brooch #30, I used the Montana agate from the previous post, pairing it with a .22ct rose cut diamond, and a cool little stick pearl. Mostly sterling, with an 18kt gold bezel surrounding the diamond, and 14kt gold rivets through the pearl. I'm really pleased with it, and the backside of the agate brings into crisp relief what appears on the front as the fuzzy insides of the stone.

Does anyone else see a cartoon character here...?

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oops, I did it again... and brooch #28

well.... I bought more stones today. I walked in to my friends stone cutting workshop ( ie: candy store) to pick up a couple of stones she had recut for me and I walked out with this...

...oh, and I got to look through her rough and ordered cufflink pairs, in petrified woods, fossil coral. So PLEASE BUY MY CUFFLINKS this Fall, I should have a slew of them!  ; )

Meanwhile, I'm eyeing that Montana agate in the center, that'll make a beautiful pendant, or maybe brooch #29 or 30... stay tuned for that.

Meanwhile, I created brooch #28 after looking through some old sketches for another project, and making a few changes. Mainly adding the little gold balled rivets scattered about.

the brooch measures 3" across

etsymetal brooch-a-week challenge

brooch #27

Brooch #27 is actually a commission piece for a friend who picked up this neat little Japanese netsuke or ornament of some kind. It's either carved ivory or faux ivory set in a bamboo "bezel". The rabbit depicted, has a red eye and I added a deep red garnet in an 18kt gold bezel to the sterling bezel surrounding the piece. The placement of the garnet, and the addition of several 14kt gold balls makes for a pleasing a-symmetry.

Measuring aprox 1 3/4", it'll make a nice conversation piece when worn!

etsymetal 2013 brooch-a-week challenge

three new hires and the half way brooch...

I recently hired on 3 new staff to help take up some of the work load...

budgie in particular is feeling the need for a short vacation.

Here he is promoting the halfway point in etsymetal's brooch-a-month challenge

brooch #26

The lime green stone is called Atlantisite, it's made up of serpentine with purple bits of of stichtite. It's found in Tasmania. I liked this particular stone for it's shape, and the few little spots of stichtite. I knew I would pair it with amethyst somehow. In this case, I've used an amethyst bullet, 4mm in diameter to pick up the purple in the Atlantisite. Lots of texture and oxidation help to pop the stone.

You can see the amethyst bullet pokes up and out of the frame. The pin mechanism allows the brooch to be worn at various angles.

off to work then...

I surprised myself!

wow, it's Sunday and I finished brooch #18 YESTERDAY!! That hasn't happened since the etsymetal brooch-a week challenge began way back in January! I was an eager little beaver in those days... Now it seems like everything is last minute. I'm not sure I've ever had a first quarter as busy as this one, will all kinds of work coming my way. This is not a complaint, simply a wonder!

Brooch #18 is a big piece of Nevada boulder turquoise set in sterling silver within a sterling frame. Three little 14kt gold balls and some serious oxidation help to create a very mid century modern feel. 

This brooch measures just over 2" wide.

a sturdy pin mechanism allows it to be worn at various angles.

Surprise #2 is that I'm actually blogging about it in what's practically "real time".

Onward and broochward...

four more brooches

The etsymetal brooch-a-week challenge marches on, with team members and non-members coming up with something new in the brooch department every week! Time flies, and here we are are just entering week 16 and I last posted 4 brooches ago!

Brooches 13 and 14 continued my love affair with fossils...

Two very different fossil palm stones. Brooches #12 & 13 

#12 with a large freshwater pearl...

#13 has an adaptor for use as a pendant.

#14 features a sparkling druzy navette in sterling with 14kt gold touches

Brooch #15 is textured sterling with a rose cut tourmaline set in 18kt gold. A light oxidation really enhances the surface texture.

On to #16...