Contrariwise ramblings

The person who originally commissioned this pendant decided not to purchase this piece. The silverwork on it was bigger than she expected.  So you'll be able to find it listed in my Etsy shop.





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I’ve been working on the pendant for the past couple weeks. It should have taken me much less time, but I’ve had some problems.

1.  It took me forever to get the bail into a graceful shape that approximates the vines in the rest of the design. Every time I would get the front part right, the back of the bail didn't sit in the right position. But worse still, once I finally got the bail on, the chain wouldn’t balance properly, making the cab look tilted. So I had to “unsolder” the bail and make a new one.

Twice.

(After ruining 5 bails, I’ll know better in the future.)

2.  I also learned that an adjustable chain should not be directly attached to a necklace if you want it to hang straight. (It hangs straight at 18 inches, but is off-center when the chain adjusted to any other length.) So I had to add a jump ring to the bail and string the chain thought it, so that the pendant can move freely.
And then I didn’t have any beads for accents that were the right color. So I made a special trip to a bead shop and bought 2 beads. Just 2 beads. (I spent more on gas to get to the shop than I spent on the beads.)

3.  Thank goodness there’s one mistake I didn’t make. I remembered to oxidize the silver before the turquoise cab is in the setting. (And, oh yes, I learned this the hard way. Most stones aren't stained by the oxidizing solution. Most. Not turquoise.)

It's late now.  I know enough not to work on a piece when I'm tired. Otherwise I'd do a little more fininshing of the sterling,  set the cab, and finally be done!

And now for something that went right – despite me!

This was a custom ring. The buyer purchased this mookaite cab and I worked with her to design the ring. The buyer really wanted the little hemispheres I used in another piece, my Dark Side of the Moon ring, and wanted to incorporate them in her ring.

To be honest, this was not at all the way I envisioned setting the ring. Never in a million years would I have thought of adding those little spheres on either side. But it works!

And right now, it's on the way to the buyer. (I hope she likes it.)




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I think these are amongst the best cabs in my collection.  Each is so unique and would make an incredible ring or pendant.

I'm offering these for custom designs.  They'll be listed in my shop on Wednesday.

1. Amethyst Sage. I love this stone and  can't seem to pass them up.  This cabochon contains both purple agate and feathery plumes with gold highlights in a lovely assymetrical shape. Size: 25 x 30 mm

2. Galah porcelain agate. This is a very special agate from Agate creek in North Queensland Australia. The pink color combined with the banded patterns is so beautiful. (Collected 15 years ago by a well known opal and agate seller from Queensland Australia.) Size: 20 x 22mm

3. Blue Moss Agate - This Blue Moss is features blue and black mossy inclusions in a clear/milky white agate base.  An exquisite cab. Size: 17 x 15mm

4. Morrisonite Jasper. UPDATE 6/17/2010:  this one is now sold.  It's been replaced with a bright yellow and red Mookaite in my Etsy listing

5. Ocean Jasper. (One of my favorite stones) Here's a striking and unusual green and white Ocean Jasper cab with green orbs outlined by a white lacy halo. It also features a milky white agate covered druzy pocket. So icy. Size: 27 x 18mm

 ALSO, tomorrow I'm planning to post some things I've been working on.  One is a finished ring and the other is a work in progress.  (Yes, that turquoise pendant.  It's been giving me all sorts of headaches, but I think it's finally coming along.  It's been quite a learning experience for me.)

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I just finished a few custom orders and have almost caught up with everything in my shop.  The "Design your Own Ring/Pendant" listing in my shop was so successful that I had to stop taking custom orders for a while, but now I'm ready again.

I'm planning to list these in my Etsy shop on Monday.  They're all cabs in sizes suitable for pendants or, in a couple cases, large cocktail rings.

I tried to get a good mix of different stones and these are amongst the favorites in my collection.  They are, from top to right:

1. A frosty colorless agate with green orbs.   Some of the orbs have orange centers. Size: 33mm X 22mm

2. A Tiffany Stone (Bertrandite) in cream and golden browns with some picturesque dendrites. Not your usual purple Tiffany Stone. 40 x 24mm

3  A bright pink Rhodonite from Nevada.  Super color on this one.  Often seen in the lighter rose color, this one is a bright, bright pink. 27x37mm.


4. A Tiffany Stone  with "chicken track" dendrites. The color of this cab ranges from light lavender to a deep bluish purple.  40 x 24 

5.  (Best for last?)  I've been saving this one.  A Graveyard Point Plume Agate with Druzy from Oregon.  The druzy is out standing in this cab!  50 X 25 mm.


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Just a quick post to show you a custom pendant I've been working on.

It's still very rough, so please don't mind the unsanded edges and the lack of finish.   But here it is, warts and all!  I'll be working on it some more over the next couple of days and I PROMISE it'll look better.

The buyer and I started this custom piece by scouring the internet looking for a large Sleeping Beauty cab.  Finding such a nice clear blue stone without much matrix was a bit more difficult than I imagined, but we finally found two that were very close to what she wanted.  I bought both and planned to return the one she didn't want, but it was so nice that I couldn't stand to part with it.  (Can you believe that! )

She liked the designs of a couple of other of my pieces, an ocean jasper pendant and a cherry creek ring, so I started making some sketches.

However, I'm definitely keeping these sketches for future projects and inspiration.  I really like a few of them.  In fact, can you see the middle drawing in the top row?  I've started making that setting already.  You know, I thought the poor turquoise cab that was rejected needed a home.


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A good friend of mine told me about a jewelry designer she knew in Minnesota. She' d purchased quite a few pieces for herself and for gifts, but he'd retired a while back and she never found anyone whose work she liked as much.

Yesterday I started the story about a recent commission I got to make 8 Prayer Bracelets for a friend of mine, my first Etsy customer.

Luckily, I have a pretty large collection of glass beads that I've collected over the years, so finding pretty glass beads would not be an issue. The most important thing was finding prayer box charms.

I checked my local beadstores; only one of them carried prayer box charms - but the store only had 2 and I needed 8! So it was off to the online shops.

I think I must have checked half a dozen online suppliers. In most of them the nice sterling prayer boxes were pretty pricey - about $20 and up! (With the recent increase in silver prices, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.) My friend and I were considering going to silver-plate because of this. But then I finally found some reasonably priced ones at Thunderbird Supply. My friend chose the ones she liked - actually not the typical charms I've seen on Prayer Bracelets at online shops - and I ordered them.

At this point I had 8 days left to make the bracelets.

From my experience, I usually get my supplies from Thunderbird in 5 days. Yes, I was cheap and didn't get the expedited delivery. And, yes, you guessed it, they didn't arrive within 5 days.

I had all 8 bracelets ready and waiting to add the charms.

Then I waited.

And waited.

I got worried and began thinking up contingiency plans if I didn't get the prayer box charms on time: The wedding aniversary party was going to be in another state. Could I FedEx finished bracelets there when I got the boxes?

I didn't tell my friend because she's a worrier. I kept hoping the package from Thunderbird Supplies would arrive before had to leave.

Finally, on the evening before I was supposed to deliver the bracelets to my friend, I found the long-awaited cardboard box containing the supplies waiting on my doorstep! So I spent most of the evening adding the prayer boxes to the bracelets.

The next day I brought the bracelets to work to deliver them to my friend. It would be the first time she saw them. Would she like them? Would she be disappointed?



The bracelets were individually boxed up in gift boxes. She opened them oh so slowly and admired each individually before going to the next box.

She said it was just like Christmas morning. She must have spent half an hour trying them on and deciding which of them she wanted for herself. (It ended up that she couldn't decide. She was leaning toward the blue one. But she still had a few days to make a final decision.)

I was so happy that she was pleased with them. And I can't wait to hear about the 50th wedding anniversary party - and who ended up with which bracelet.

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I haven't been posting as much in this blog for the last couple weeks. Between work, spring break, and a new commission I got, I've been pretty busy.

The commission I received came from the very first customer from my Etsy shop! Yes she helped start my business. She's an old friend of mine. Her parents will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with a small party and she wanted to give prayer bracelets to the eight ladies at the celebration.

I had never heard of prayer bracelets before. So I had to do a little research on the internet. I found out that these bracelets always have a little box on them that contains a prayer. And while you wear the bracelet, it reminds you of the prayer and God's blessings to you. Here are the boxes that are often used in these bracelets:
Most of the bracelets available on the internet seemed to have a similar style, which I thought my friend would expect. The bracelets usually were made of swarovski crystals or round beads with spacers. So I sent her some typical examples from the internet, thinking she could pick out the style/beads and then I could make something similar.

Well she didn't like any of them very much.

Uh oh.

Apparently her idea of a prayer bracelet was not what was typical on the internet So I then sent her photos of all kinds of styles of bracelets, examples of styles from the internet as well as some of my own creations, all of which could be used as a prayer bracelet by simply adding a prayer bos.

It turned out that she liked my work better than any of the others!

On the left is a picture of the bracelet she liked.

Now I had about 10 days to make eight bracelets for her, including getting supplies.

My suggestion was to make them all similar, using identical prayer boxes, clasps, and silver spacers for each. But then make them unique by using different types and colors of glass beads for each.


Luckily, I have a pretty large collection of glass beads that I've collected over the years, so this would not be an issue. The most important thing was finding the prayer boxes and finishing the bracelets on time.

Tomorrow I'll write about my search for the prayer boxes and tell you about how this commission turned out!

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