I’m still behind with posting, and I’m remembering that it was at about this point last year that I gave up on the YOJ because other parts of my life were overwhelming me.

I’ve been doing interviews for the next College Review issue of MAGazine this week, and talking to the instructors in various Canadian metals programs. One of the questions I’ve been asking everyone is how they balance their academic life with their own creative work. Across the board, all have commented about how challenging it is.

At the moment, I’m juggling work on MAGazine with trying to get ready for the Lake Scugog Spring Studio Tour. I’m trying to strike a balance between production work and some more involved one-of-a-kinds. I’ve been working on a challenging woven piece for about 1 1/2 weeks now. It’s a dry run for another piece I want to make to submit to the HSTA Faculty Show in June. It’s taking up more time than I expected, and I’m becoming very conscious how quickly my deadlines are approaching.

So, I’ve had to set it aside and go back to production work.

This bracelet is a repeat of one I made for YOJ 2004-05, only more refined and simplified. I love bracelets, and this one lends itself to being worn in multiples. I made them quite small, but they are still quite loose on my wrist. Surprisingly they fit my husband’s wrist comfortably as well.

I’m still determined to keep up with YOJ, and hopefully between now and next week I’ll be caught up again.

The Starving Jewelry Artists Etsy Street Team is kicking off the holiday season with their second annual “Wrist Candy” Giveaway!  From October 17-November 28, 2010 each time you make a purchase from one of the participating team stores, your name will be entered in the draw to win!  This year’s theme was flowers, and once again team members pooled their considerable talent and enthusiastically contributed!  The result is this very lush and colourful bracelet!

I had the opportunity to play “official photographer” of the bracelet, so I’ve seen and handled it!  I have no doubt that it will bring a lot of cheer and compliments to its lucky winner!

The SATeam blog will have updates over the next few weeks about the giveaway, as well as featuring some of the artists and their work.  Watch for interesting theme articles and collections! Full contest details (as well as how to enter without purchase) can also be found on the blog.

For this piece, I took the idea developed in Week 48 and extended it to a bracelet.  The design looks simple, yet it surprised me how much work was involved in adding the copper beads.

I like the bi-metal toning – it’s a nice effect, and would really sparkle on tanned, warm toned or dark skin.

Like the project in Week 45, I alternated the links in mirror image; however, the alternating pattern sets up an issue for sizing.  I noticed it with the Week 45 bracelet as well, but because it’s all one metal it’s not as obvious.   With this bracelet, because there are two metals, it becomes clear that there can’t be an odd number of links: it throws off the pattern.  This design will fit either a very small wrist (like this bracelet does), or a very large wrist.  On my wrist, which is a little thinner than standard, but not small, the bracelet fits comfortably with room to move easily, but I generally like to wear my bracelets loose so that they jingle.

The design would look stunning with the Swarovskis I used in Week 48, but adding them will also add to the price of the finished piece.  If you’re interested in a Swarovski version, please email me for a quote.

Marquise Series:  Bracelet 2

The next step in developing the Marquise Series was to add some form of embellishment, like a spiral.  To give this bracelet a bit of visual interest, I decided to alternate the links in mirror image.  They remind me of fish, and a bit like the stylized birds from the Partridge Family tv show.

I debated about using solder to join the spiral to the frame, and then decided that I wouldn’t save enough time doing that to make any difference in price of the finished piece.

Marquise Series:  Bracelet 1

I’m doing a serious push to get caught up on my YOJ projects before the end of the year.  It’s sort of cheating, because I’m working on a bunch of things all at once, and posting it all in a very short time frame, but so be it.

The other week I was working on my Secret Santa project for this year, and it inspired me to explore some other ideas.  (I can’t post the SS photo until after Christmas, so it will be a few days yet.)

This week, I started working on what has become a new series of pieces,  all using a marquise shape as the starting point.

This is the first bracelet from the series, which is just a simple marquise link.  This is such a basic shape to make that I can’t imagine it not having been done elsewhere.  It’s a good start point to develop other designs though.

A bunch of members of the Starving Artists Etsy Team pooled their talents for a Christmas Promo this year.  We all contributed a charm, and put together this wonderful bracelet.

Valued at over $400, it will be given away to one lucky customer!  With each purchase at one of the participating shops, your name will be entered into the draw!

For a list of the participating shops, check out the SATeam’s Blog.  Or, do a search on Etsy using the tag SATEAMWRIST.  Members have also contributed items to the SATeam Etsy Shop, so be sure to check it out as well!

This holiday event runs from October 26 to December 6, 2009!

I’m pleased to announce that my newest tutorial, Art Nouveau Bangle, is now available!

This bangle features lovely flowing curves and Celtic elements that were common in the Art Nouveau period.

The project was a big hit with my students at the Haliburton School of the Arts! Once you have the basic technique down, you can easily adapt the design and let your creativity flow to create your own variations!

16 pages, 103 photos, 110 steps, plus design notes
USD $15.00

Level of Difficulty: Advanced

Tools and Materials you’ll need:

Tools:
Flat Nose Pliers
Round Nose Pliers
Flush Cutting Wire Nippers
Permanent Marker
Measuring Tape/Ruler
Bracelet Mandrel
Penknife
1/4″ dia. Masking Tape
Rouge Cloth

Materials:
96″ (240 cm) 20 ga Soft Square Silver wire
69″ (175 cm) 22 ga Half Round Silver wire
22 x 30 mm cabochon

Substitutions:
22 ga Soft Square Silver wire can be substituted for the 20 ga. wire.

Available from my tutorials page and my Etsy Shop.

Not really much more to say than that.  Oh, and if you’re interested in purchasing my jewellery, click this link.

Although it’s supposed to be a calming stone, I’ve always found bloodstone to have a kind of overpowering “in-your-face” energy that’s difficult to deal with.  For the last few weeks, though, I’ve been wearing it while working on my tutorials, and it’s been helpful for keeping my energy levels up and focused.  I love the red spotting on this cab, and the slight yellow cloud overlaying the green.  This was part of a group of cabs I bought when The Nautilus closed 10 years ago.  The Nautilus was *the* place in Toronto to buy rockhounding and lapidary supplies.  Located in the far, far east of the city, I remember it taking an obscenely long time to get there on city transit from where I lived in Little India.  But what a treasure trove!  The owner, Roy MacLeod, was a passionate rockhound and filled his store with all the bits and bobs needed to work with and admire rocks.  Sadly, Roy didn’t live to see the millennium, and the closing of his store left a void that still hasn’t been filled.

In designing the Level II course for Haliburton, I was thinking about what skills would be most useful for the students to learn.  In Level I, they learn the basics:  working with single wires, developing dexterity with tools, etc.  There are very few multi-wire projects.  In Level II all but two of the projects are multi-wire pieces, and the students have to deal with doing steps early on that don’t actually come into full use until much later in the construction. Wire control becomes very important.

One of the things Level II focuses on is settings:  half of the projects deal with some form of stone setting.

I think this is by far the most complex of the projects I’ll be teaching.  Hopefully by the time we get to this point in the course, the students will have enough confidence to tackle it.  If not, it’s easily adapted to something simpler.  I’ll let them decide how energetic they want to be.

This tutorial will be available for purchase and download off my website after I get back from Haliburton.  I’ll post the link when it’s up, along with more photos.

I’m hard at work on the tutorials for my class, so this week’s project is the product of that work.  I’ve been doing a lot of photography, and editing and layout.  I’ve been pretty much eating, sleeping and breathing the project.  The first tutorial is finished, and the second is well in hand.  Four to go… and six weeks until the classes start.

More photos: