Jewelry and Stones

My latest venture has been in learning to make wire wrap and wire sculptured jewelry. So far I think I’ve done pretty well. I’ve only made a few pieces so far but they have all turned out extremely well, if I do say so myself. Well, I’m not the only one who says it, I’ve talked to a few shops and galleries on the coast about selling my pieces and they all are amazed at how well my first tries turned out. I already have three shops interested and I’m hoping to get an online store in the not-too-distant future.

So here they are, my first four creations, two bracelets and two pendants. The white stone is Howlite and the red stone is Carnelian. They are both wrapped in 14K Gold Fill wire. Gold Fill has about 100 times more gold than gold plate, but is not solid gold. Gold Fill won’t chip or wear through in this lifetime, or the next for that matter, and will wear just as beautifully as solid 14K. Creating pieces in Gold Fill makes it affordable for everyone as solid gold wire is currently selling for around $50/ft. To give an idea, the Howlite pendant has almost 8ft of wire in it and the Carnelian pendant has almost 5ft of wire in it.

The bangled bracelet (with the clasp) has a sterling silver patterned wire in the center and is bordered by 14K Gold Fill wire. The hook is sterling silver as well. The ‘Elephant Hair’ bracelet is sterling silver.

I’ve also just started learning how to cut my own Cabochons (style of cut stone). The awesome people at Usrey’s Rock Bin on Hwy 101 North of Coos Bay, OR are teaching me. They don’t have a website, but if you get to this area, stop in…they’re great.

Here are some really crappy pictures of the work I’ve done on Cabochon cutting so far. The oval blue stone is Lapis, the teardrop light blue stone is Amazonite (a piece that Bill and I mined ourselves in NC), the white stone is Howlite, and the other stone is Picture Jasper. I’ve had a lot fun learning how to do this and once I can afford the machines I might just buy them, it’s really a lot of fun and messy to boot. Any chance I have being messy…I’m there!

So that’s it for this time around. Bill and I went lighthouse viewing yesterday, but you’ll have to wait until I get the pictures sorted to hear about it.

Hugs~
;-)K