Here's what I made over the week.
Anemone Earrings
My dainty little anemone earrings were made with little brass cups that I made using my new shaping tool and the dapping punches. I then filed them and sanded them into shape and drilled a hole into the centre. There's a little moonstone rondelle set into each cup and it hangs from brass wire that has been hammered to keep its shape. The cups have been lightly oxidised to give them a deep old gold colouring. The longest stem also holds a crackle quartz, drop shaped bead and I've used small, very dainty ear wires to hold them. The jump ring is as per usual handmade too. The earrings are fairly long, but not too long and very light. The flowers dangle beautifully when worn.
Below you can see how filigree the wire is and you can see the moonstones and quartz in more detail.
Below you can see the cups and their lovely scalloped edges close up.
Willow Earrings
These must be my favourite earrings I've made so far - although it's a close run with the anemone earrings, which are so sweet and dainty.
The earring are made from oxidised copper. I made two heavily textured willow leaves and added a lovely chartreuse green flower with a little Japanese seed bead in olive with a copper lustre. The second dangle holds a lovely large chartreuse dagger bead. The ear wires are so cute with the little spirals (also handmade) and I think they match the earrings perfectly.
Below you can see the texture on the leaf and the beads in more detail.
And even more detail. Note, these earrings are longer than I normally make them, however they are so light and lovely and sway when worn just like real willow. Anyway, long earrings are the latest trend...
Blue Ginkgo Leaf Necklace
I have a thing about ginkgo leaves, I love their symmetrical shape and the detail in each leaf. So here's another example.
The gingko leaf was cut from copper sheet, I then shaped it using my new tool and pliers and bashed it to get a lot of texture. I then shaped the edges using files and sand paper and drilled a hole. At first it was going to be another bangle like the Ivy bangle I made recently, but when I looked at the shape I thought it would work better as a pendant. I haven't quite given up on the idea of making a ginkgo leaf bangle. So watch this space.
I added the deep blue quartz faceted beads in two sizes, and the lovely pale blue chalcedony faceted bead. The chain is bought, the jumprings handmade. A lovely handmade clasp in a new design finishes it off.
In the two pictures below you can see the pendant hanging and also all the detail of the texture (almost like bark) of the copper leaf. To add more depth the leaf has been oxidised and then polished to bring back some of the original colour.
Fire Seed Necklace
This is my lovely Fire Seed Necklace.
All the little cups were shaped and cut from copper sheet and they are very dainty and took ages to file, sand and shape. They are so very small (the largest is just over 1 cm in diameter) and each one is an almost perfect sphere.
Below you can see the beads I wired into each of the little cups. There is bright red coral, deep red ruby, bright orange fire opal, and lovely muted red jade. The beads are all very small, some smooth, some faceted. The beaded cups have then been hung from fine chain and handmade jumprings and attached to a deep red frosted glass ring. The glass rings have been handmade (not by me) and I have used them throughout the necklace. They are all a little different in shape and colour; they range from deep red to rusty red to coral red. The dangle of fire seeds feeds through the large ebony ring to close the necklace allowing the length of the necklace to be adjusted at your pleasure.
I've used lots of of different types of chain, handmade large copper rings, handmade copper jumprings, the glass rings and one large ebony wooden ring for this lariat style necklace. I like the different textures and shades of copper. The little spheres have been oxidised twice until they had a lovely charcoal shade. The large jumprings are oxidised with a blow torch and are therefore different shades of deep red to very dark red. The jumprings have been oxidised and then lightly polished, the chain ranges from antiqued to bare copper, all adding texture and colour to the necklace.
Constellation Necklace
Okay, this is not quite botanical, but the pendant looks a bit like a flower... on a dark night. LOL
I started off with thick copper wire and made a spiral which I then shaped using my new shaping tool and a dapping punch and a hammer to add texture. Next, I oxidised the pendant and then added the big lava bead that fitted perfectly in the half sphere of the spiral. To add more interest I wired on the little moonstone beads in a pleasing pattern.
Antiqued copper chain, handmade jumprings and clasp finish the design. It's a simple design and wood work well every day as well as for a night out.
Here you can see the pendant hanging.
I will try my best to get all my recent designs into my Etsy shop this weekend, so if you're interested check back soon and hopefully the little Etsy shop window in the top corner will have changed to lots of new designs.
Newsflash - Etsy Mini has changed!!! :-) All the items in this entry are now available in my Etsy shop with more to come.
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