Melissa Muir – Week 17
Here is the necklace that matches the earrings and a picture of the complete set.
So Late-Week 17
By now I have realized that I can create but the time to take the picture and write the description seem to never be squeezed into my day. I have been busy applying to teach at some shows etc, so that is another thing that keeps my time occupied. These three earrings all use wire.. of course! I have a wedding band earring that is wide, but small… a long gypsy style earring with copper and silver and then a hoop using copper armiture and silver wrap.
Week 17 – Pod Necklace
Another Kathy Frey design. Sterling silver framework is given the LOS treatment, and then wrapped with fine copper wire. I also make matching earrings…
Jean Power- week 17- double loop wire earrings
Simple wire and bead earrings- I really like the simple lines of these and the ‘unusualness’ of the double loops
Jean Power
http://www.jeanpower.com
Maria Zurita…Growth!
It was exactly a year ago when I found out about Eni Oken’s work. I was searching the web very interested in taking up again my wire work since I was pregnant at that time and I wasn’t able to work with enamels and I didn’t want to be close to the flame either. I remember thinking my jewelry was to symmetric, to planned up and therefore sort of…boring! Looking at Eni’s work made me wonder. How did she do it? How could she mix components is such a creative way? that sort of “messy” look that I would wear in a blink let me stunned. Just a few days later I found Magdalena’s and Iza’s work. I got to say, man, those girls had my chin hanging many times. So I just had to keep trying with wire until I could do something “decent” to my eyes, something that after seeing this girls work would let me live in peace.
This past year I think I have grown, I see my pieces today and the pieces I did a year ago and definitely my wire wrapping is 100% better thanks to Iza, my pictures and design a lot more feminine (something I always wanted) thanks to Magdalena, and my over all style a lot more colorful and fun thanks to Eny… people like this three ladies make us wonder, and that wondering is the strength we sometimes need to make a step further in our journeys.
For this piece I made several attempts, this one is the one I like best, I used brass and copper with a Prenite teardrop. It was a lot of fun to make, it is definitely a tutorial material. Check out my blog for more info….any comments are well appreciated! 
Week 17 – Growth
I picked this piece for growth because it looks like the fluorite donut has a growth on it. Actually, it’s an Apache Tear. The combination of these two is excellent for protecting the aura. It’s hard to wrap a tiny little Apache Tear and make it look good. They’re slippery.
week 17 april 27
Silver and gemstone earrings.
Moonlight Sonata
Ludwig van Beethoven is one of my favourite composers and Moonlight Sonata has a special place in my heart. Especially the third part, so full of passion and impulsive evokes strong emotions in me – here’s a link to this part on youtube: Wilhelm Kempff plays Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata mvt. 3
Ispired by this music I’ve created a necklace with a central pendant focused on an unusual briolette of rock crystal. You’ll also find a smaller briolette of white topaz and rondelles of AAA quality microfaceted rainbow moonstone. All in oxidised and polished sterling and fine silver. More pictures in my gallery.
Thank you 🙂
Iza
Week 17 – Growth
A customer emailed me and asked if I could solder a silver heart to a brass tag, so I thought, "sure, why not?" without ever having sweat-soldered. (I sorta skipped that part in silversmithing because I never needed to do it before). Then I got nervous because I wasn’t entirely sure how rich low brass would act with heat and silver solder, and I have a tendency to over-melt stuff in general. I actually thought about riveting on the heart with a piece of heavy sterling wire, but the customer wanted the boy’s birthdates on the back and that would reveal my rivet. So, I cut the heart out of silver, stuck a piece of solder between it and the brass oval, and torched it until it melted together like a panini. (Melting stuff is fun, huh?) But, when I pulled it out of the pickle the brass looked pink like copper! Oh no – my piece was ruined. I freaked out for about 2 seconds before brushing off what I came to realize was a thin layer of pink to reveal the yellow brass again. (I’m told that heating brass brings the copper part to the surface.) And the extra solder along the seam (my heart overflows!) is now but a shadow due to a dunk in the liver of sulfur and a good polish.
So how does this follow the "growth" theme for the week? I love natural motifs, so I originally planned something with leaves and berries, but growth for me this week is trying something new, stretching myself to break out of the comforts of cold connections and plier work. Comments welcome!
Anne
Growth week 17
Um… well it was an experience, if not
growth. I was playing with the coloring on copper "Tuesday
Tutorial" so thoughtfully provided by Janice of Doxallo Designs, and came
up with this. This is actually the better of the 2 that I was working
on. I was using Acrylic Gesso, and it left lines instead of the smooth
surface that I was somehow expecting. (I think next time I will try a)
smoothing the gesso out with turpentine while it is still wet or b) doing
several layers, and lightly sanding the surface after it is dry. The
alternative is to paint a design with the lines…that might be fun too.)
The colors took several layers before they began to show up dark enough, but
it was sort of fun to watch the color build up. This hangs on my
Ashiko drum as a decoration. (The base is brass sheet; gesso and
coloring pencil, with a future wax finish, and base metal jump rings.)
Cwj's Year of Jewelry Blog 