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!

An entire month's worth...

Egads! Has it been a month since my last post? Why, that's 4 new brooches! 

A month ago I had a small window of opportunity wedged between house guests going and coming. It was clearly the moment to cut up the old cookie tin I had stashed away for just such an emergency...

Don't let the heart fool you, those "ruffles" could put an eye out... Brooch #31

Pretty rudimentary, but quick!

These next three brooches took a bit more time...

Fordite set in sterling silver with 14kt gold balls dancing around the edges. Brooch #32. I have some other interesting fordite jewelry in the shop as well... For some reason I always think of The Jetson's when I see fordite...

Brooch #33 is a variation on brooch #10. Here I've added a pink tourmaline and a few more gold balls to dress it up.

Finally, brooch #34, a nice piece of fossil coral from Indonesia, and an extra lustrous coin pearl.

I'm thinking about this week's brooch and am not ashamed to admit that I have no clue 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...

more brooch talk...

Brooches #24 and 25 are similar in the way they convert into pendants. The nice round stones look good upside down as well as right side up, so the brooch goes one way and and the pendant the other...

Brooch #24 is an ocean jasper set in sterling silver. And there's that hardworking sheep again...

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Brooch #25 is a piece of fossil coral set in sterling silver with 14kt gold ball rivets, modeled by a delightful little fellow...

The next brooch, #26, will mark the halfway point of the etsymetal brooch-a-week challenge.

26 down, 26 to go...

My one weakness, and three more brooches...

Thursday I paid my favorite stone dealer a visit just to pick up a few high domed stones for some rings I wanted to make.... I left with WAY more then I had planned. And this happens  every.  single.  time. 

But, look, how on earth can a regular person resist THIS!!

The high domes were secured and many other temptations were put in front of me. 

ring ring ring ring ring ring ring!

I'm not a huge fan of tiger eye, but when I laid eyes on these pieces, with their beautiful matte finish, omg, into the "shopping cart" they went... My friends, this is not your mother's tiger eye!

I also replenished my supply of petrified palm wood with these beauties.

I'm finishing up two of the rings today, but honestly, if anyone is right this minute drooling on their keyboard over these stones, and NEEDS a piece of custom jewelry, get a hold of me at my etsy store! 

I need to start selling some of these!! 

Just so I can buy more of course.

And on another note...

Three weeks and three new brooches have passed since my last post. Here are numbers 19, 20, and 21 in the etsymetal brooch-a-week challenge 

Number 19 is a sweet little brooch, and at 3/4" works well as a tie tac or lapel pin.

sterling, 22kt, 18kt, 14kt gold, rose cut diamond

Number 20 is a hunky ocean jasper, with stick pearl and rose cut peridot.

Sterling silver, 18kt, 14kt gold

Last week's brooch, number 21 is a fordite cabochon set in sterling silver. It comes with a handmade chain and can be worn as a necklace as well. (This is the first piece of fordite I've purchased... and of course I just bought more, it's really fun stuff,very Jetsons-esque!)

Brooch #10 and hellebores

Brooch #10 was not going to befall the same fate as brooches 8 & 9... So I kept it simple. Hard to crack a pearl...

Kind of nice and minimalist...

And I just had to share a bouquet of hellebores from my friend, Debra's garden... Spring at last!

Brooches 8 & 9

In the continuing brooch saga there have been a couple of heartbreaks recently...

Brooch # 8, is a very lovely piece of malachite/chrysocola with a wonderful undulating surface. Paired with a very pretty south sea pearl and fabricated in sterling and 14kt gold...

love that movement!

took the time to pierce the back...

measures just over 2"

This week's brooch, brooch # 9, I've been working on all weekend, about 15 hours worth.

It features a piece of Sonoran dendritic rhyolite with a little amethyst up top and a baroque pearl drop. The metal is sterling, 14kt and 18kt gold.

I designed a little converter that slips onto the pin stem and allows it to be worn as a pendant. 

pretty cool!

So the heartbreak in the story is the fact that both stones developed a crack after they were finished, or at least I only noticed them after they were finished...

I spent a little bit of time wallowing in self pity, took a walk and listened to my husband remind me that 99 out of 100 pieces end up unbroken! Maybe I don't have to go find a job at the local grocery store bagging canned goods.

Well, the first brooch had a very happy ending. I offered it in my etsy shop at a reduced price an it went to a very good customer who will love it and wear it.

I haven't decided what will become of brooch # 9. It could go as a second, the crack is hairline, but I don't want to be offering seconds in my shop on a regular basis, I mean, how would that look? She can't be trusted not to break her own jewelry??

I could use it as some kind of prize for a drawing to get more facebook likes, or what?? What should I do with it? All suggestions would be appreciated, and considered with proper gravity...