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

Heceta Head

On November 2nd, Bill and I drove up to Yachats, OR to take in some views and check out some parks. Mostly it was to just get out of the RV. We’ve been having some pretty nasty wind and rain for the last 10-14 days or so…straight….non-stop. We experienced wind gusts up to 40-50mph. Let me just tell you how much a lightweight RV gets knocked around in that kind of wind, we’re lucky we’re still upright.

On our drive back we stopped at the Heceta Head Lighthouse. It’s a half-mile hike to the lighthouse that we didn’t do that day because it was cold, windy, and the storm was moving in. We did take some pictures though. The southern Oregon coast is beautifully breathtaking. Storms and wicked weather just seem to add to the wildness and beauty of the place. There’s just no other place like it that I’ve ever seen, although, I’ve said that about most the places we’ve been. Watching the storm roll into Heceta Head was awesome; especially knowing that it was bringing heavy rains and Gale Force winds with it. Nothing like watching it come right atcha.

We got knocked around for several days by that rain and wind. It’s seemed to calm a bit, at least for a day or two. The lake we are on has risen significantly with all the rain. I hope that at least the winds still for a bit.

Saturday I drove up to a yarn shop here in town and found a treasure chest of goodies for any of you who like that sort of thing. http://www.yarn-store.com/ The woman who runs this is a really cool lady, I had a blast looking around her store and chatting with her. Check out her website if you like yarn, knitting, crocheting…anything like that.

Sunday I spent the day at the local rock/gem shop, run by a husband and wife duo. They are just awesome people. If you get down on the Southern Oregon Coast and you like beads, rocks, gems, jewelry, stop by their shop. Usrey’s Rock Bin on Hwy 101 in Lakeside, OR. I spent the day there because Bill (the husband, not my Bill) was teaching me how to cut Cabochons. He said I did an awesome job, especially for my first time out. He let me keep the rocks I cut and I’m looking forward to making them into jewelry. That’s my latest venture for those who don’t know. I’ve started making jewelry. I’ll post pictures of both my stones that I cut and my jewelry in the next post. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to photograph them, I might have to enlist Bill’s help.

Hugs~
;-)K