a wrapturous blog

YOJ09-41 Goddess Jewels

Goddess Jewels (2009)
Constructed, cold joined
Sterling silver, Preciosa crystal

The opening of the Metal Arts Guild of Canada exhibition “MAGC 2067 – Crafting the Future”, held on November 7 at Arta Gallery in Toronto, was a costume ball.  In connection with the theme of the show, people were encouraged to dress up in character.

I originally planned to wear a costume, but then, in the week before the opening, the issue I had been dealing with in my personal life came to a head.  Although able to attend, I didn’t have the emotional or physical energy to dress up.

My character was “an acolyte of the Goddess” – a jewellery maker for a matriarchal society devoted to worshiping a Gaia-centred deity.  As part of the costume, I made a couple of “Goddess Jewels”.  These are very loosely based on Bajoran earrings, of Star Trek fame.  My version has a chain of handmade spirals, two Preciosa crystal drops, because I love dangles and sparklies, and is worn via an earcuff on the centre of the ear, and a spiral earwire through the lobe.

I used to wear these a lot, and had forgotten how much fun they are.  It’s been several years since I made one.  Usually only worn on the left side, this time I wanted the pair.  Someone took this photo of me at the opening, where you can see one of them.  The whole set of photos from the show is worth a peek.

Tags: Arta Galery, bajoran, bead, briolette, cold connections, cold joining, constructed, dianne karg baron, earring, earrings, exhibition, jewellery, jewelry, MAGC 2067 - Crafting the Future, Metal Arts Guild, silver, star trek, sterling silver, wire, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, wirework, wireworking, Year of Jewelry Project

YOJ09-40 Knotted Tourmaline Earrings

Knotted Tourmaline Earrings (2009)
Constructed, cold joined
Sterling silver, fine silver, tourmaline

Recently members of the Starving Artists Etsy Team did a critique of my Etsy shop.  One of the comments that came up a couple of times was that my descriptions tend to be a bit on the sparse side.  I generally give information about the piece, what it’s made of, basic sizing, etc., but only rarely is there a “story”.

My reply to one of the ladies who asked me about this was “Well, sometimes the design is the result of nothing more than “I had this idea and decided to play around with it.” ”

The truth is that I just have no talent for writing bullshit.  What I write has to feel authentic, otherwise it doesn’t work for me.  Hmmm…. maybe I need to look into a creative writing course…

Anyways… I was playing around with some scraps of wire left over from working on my Clip-on Earrings tutorial.  I tied the wire up in a small knot – not quite as tight as I would have liked, but it worked.  I have a “thing” about dangles, so I added these little tourmalines.  I love the vibrant pink – they’re just juicy!  The result is a cute pair of earrings that works for everyday wear.

The SATeam critique did confirm one thing: my photography is pretty good. It never stops surprising me how much time it takes to get the photography done. Nowadays, I’m not only doing photos for my regular record keeping; I’m also doing set up for Etsy. “Product” photography is different from jury photography – attention must be paid to angles, and multiple positions. A lot of people on Etsy photograph on elaborate backgrounds. I have yet to find one that works for me, so I’m still working with the “jurying grey”.

Photographing studs is difficult at the best of times, but these earrings were particularly challenging. There was just no good way of laying them nicely to get a straight-on shot. Finally, I decided to cut a upright display card out of an old layout board and poke holes in it. Voilà! It worked!

Other views:

Tags: bead, briolette, cold connections, cold joining, constructed, dianne karg baron, earring, earrings, etsy, fine silver, jewellery, jewelry, photography, silver, sterling silver, wire, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, wirework, wireworking, Year of Jewelry Project

YOJ09-39 Oblong Purple Jade Pendant

Oblong Purple Jade Pendant (2009)
Constructed, cold joined
Sterling silver, fine silver, purple jade (dyed)
L 2.2 cm x W 2.5 cm

Okay, so life fell apart for me two months ago, and I’m just starting to recover.  I have not been making much new jewellery, but I am going to still try to keep up with the YOJ postings.

I got this purple jade cabochon through a Bead Box swap several years ago.  Those Bead Boxes were lots of fun:  the idea was to put in things from your stash that you weren’t using and swap them for beads that other people had put in from their stash.  I was the Bead Box Mama who organized the whole shebang for Bead Box North, which traveled around Canada and the Northern US.  It was a lot of work, but every time the box arrived on my doorstep, it was like Christmas Day!  I managed to keep it going for about three years.

Purple is my favourite colour, and I’m always drawn to it.  For this pendant, I wanted to work with the same sort of weaving I did on the Moonrise pendant, but on this smaller cab.  Well… the cab’s shape proved to be quite a challenge:  getting the wire to fit around the pointed ends was very tricky.  After multiple attempts to get a pendant that hung lengthwise, I gave up and set the stone sideways.  It ends up looking a bit like a genie bottle

Other views:

Tags: cabochon, cold connections, cold joining, constructed, dianne karg baron, jade, jewellery, jewelry, pendant, purple, silver, sterling silver, wire, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, wireworking, wrapture, Year of Jewelry Project

Tutorial – Clip-on Earrings

For people who don’t have pierced ears, finding handmade earrings they can wear is a real challenge.  Back when I did shows, I’d occasionally get requests for clip-on findings, and lost sales because I didn’t have them.  Commercial findings were not an option for the types of shows I was doing.

So when, about a year ago, someone posted a message to one of the forums I’m on asking if there was a pattern for clip-ons, I thought “What a great idea!”.  I got out an old pair of my mom’s clip-ons and studied them to figure out a way to make a pair in wire.   And today I’m very pleased to announce the release of a new tutorial – Clip-on Earrings!

The Clip-on Earrings tutorial includes two variations:  Variation 1 makes a basic spiral, with a loop for adding a dangle.  Variation 2 forms a base on which you can add your own embellishment, so if you have a favourite bead, or button, you can add it.  Variation 2 also has a loop for adding a dangle.

13 pages, 45 photos and 40 steps
USD $8.00

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Tools and Materials You’ll need:

Tools:
3-Step Pliers
Flat Nose Pliers
Round Nose Pliers
Flush Cutting Wire Nippers
Permanent Marker
Measuring Tape/Ruler
Jeweller’s File
Rouge Cloth
10 mm Dowel/Knitting Needle (for Variation 2)

Materials:
15″ (38 cm) 20 ga. Hard Round Sterling Silver wire

Substitutions:
20 ga Half Hard Silver wire can be substituted.

Available from my tutorials page and my Etsy Shop.

Tags: clip-on, clip-ons, clipon, clipons, DIY, earring, earrings, earwire, earwires, findings, how to, jewellery, jewelry, non-pierced, pattern, silver, tutorial, Tutorials, wire jewellery, wire jewelry, wirework, wireworking, wrapture