Last of the summer roses, another batch of brooches

In Portland, summer is tip toeing into Fall. Days of rain interspersed with hot sun. The tomatoes are about done and the cooler, wetter, weather is causing them to split. I just cut the few remaining blooms from my Evelyn rose. they are sending off the most wonderful fragrance...

I've finished 3 new brooches since my last post 3 weeks ago. 

Week #35's brooch is a sterling silver and glass combination modeled by a lovely little kudu gazelle.

Week 36 features a narrow turquoise... daintily supported by one of the hardest working members of my crew.

And week #37 focuses on another piece of turquoise, this one from Broken Arrow mine in Nevada. This frisky zebra colt was constantly in motion and hard to keep still for the photo shoot...

Bye! I'm off to smell the roses...

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

dreaming in turquoise

I just had to share a recent turquoise purchase... All from Nevada, and mostly boulder turquoise, one of my favorite materials to work with. So keep an eye out for new work to be arriving in my etsy shop as well as my local galleries!

I can't wait to get my hands into this stuff! 

A few completed pieces from the past couple of years...

and a lot more here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/betsybensen/sets/72157626172661687/

This week's output...

Last week I finished the majority of my orders and this week I strove to make one new piece each day. Some of the work took several days, some could be completed in a single day. Thanks to a CD of music my daughter made for me I was able to saw, hammer and solder, and set all while rocking out to "mama mix". Thanks Caelen!

posted to etsy on Monday, fossilized coral

these turquoise and pearl earrings were also a Monday addition but sold within a few hours...(!)

Dalmatian jasper drops on Tuesday

these pretty little coin pearl studs appeared on Wednesday

Thursday- Cherry Creek jasper and freshwater pearls

And today I finished a stacking ring set in sterling.

I'll definitely be back at it tomorrow! You can check out more of my work at betsybensen.etsy.com.