Contrariwise ramblings

I got home from work today and guess what was waiting for me?!

A box of new toys for making jewelry.

All of this is stuff I've never used before but I've been dying to try.  I just put in an order on Monday with Contenti, and I wasn't expecting to see my shipment for a week.  But here it is!

It's just like Christmas at my house.  It took me about 5 minutes to rip open the package. 

Whoo hoo!  What did I get!!!???

• A DRILL PRESS.  Although this is their economy model, it should make it easier for me to make holes in metal and cut-outs in metal (for example, the settings behind my cabs).   

I've wanted it ever since Contenti started carrying it, but it's been out of stock for months.  Until this week.

I especially appreciate this description in their listing:  "The instruction booklet provided with the unit is written in incomprehensible English. For the sake of clarity, we have re-written them."  (So true to life that it's almost funny.)

Yup, no more using my dremel, which is pretty inaccurate for drilling and has made me ruin more than a couple pieces.

• A NYLON HAMMER.  No, not for me to whack my husband.  But for me to whack silver without marring it.  I'm hoping it works even better than my rawhide mallet.

• BINDING WIRE.  To place little bits of silver into bondage for me to solder them more accurately.  Never tried it before.  This might prove to be very interesting, fun and, probably, oh so frustrating.  

Or, as those of us in the corporate world are taught to say, "This will be an opportunity."  (ARGH!!!!)

• A CHARCOAL BLOCK.  Yes, I'm going place my leftover scraps of sterling on this and melt them into little balls of solid silver goodness.

And, best of all, something I should have gotten long ago:

• AN OPTIVISOR.   5 x, with a loupe.

And yes, my daughter literally just threatened to disown me.




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This is similar to another bracelet I had in my shop.  I was going to "discontinue" it, but I had a special request from someone.  So I went ahead and made two:  one for her and one for my shop.  (Oh, and then I went ahead and made another one in copper!)

I'm making an attempt to be better in creating some of my jewelry in multiples.

For example, it used to be that I would only make a single pair of earrings.  "Why should I make more", I'd think.  "If I make several and they don't sell, the silver and gemstones will be a loss".

Now that I've established my shop and have a little more experience, I know that I should keep some items always in stock.  (Can't do that with those one-of-a-kind cabs though!  I think that's one of the reasons I love them.)

Right now my sales are a little slow, but that's usually the case in the summer months. (No, no, no, I'm not complaining.) Come December, I'll be rushing around trying to keep up with orders.  I know it's only June, but I want to promise myself to start preparing for Christmas.




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After having worked on an elaborate turquoise necklace, I felt the need to go minimalistic. So I put together this sweet little pendant. It's a lovely nugget of turquoise that I purchased long ago.   It's been waiting patiently in my bead box for far too long. Perhaps it can find an owner and finally feel loved.

Summer has really taken a bite out of my hours on the workbench. I used to have time in the evenings when my daughter was busy with her gymnastics, but during the summer she practices during the day when I’m at my full-time (non-jewelry making, corporate America) job. Plus my older daughter is back home from college and they both want attention from me when I get home from work.

Not only do the kids want attention, but my yard needs attention! Spring and summer is when I make my pathetic attempts at gardening. This year I’ve sworn to get the back yard in shape (I’m sure my husband is laughing as he reads this) although I doubt that I’ll be able to tackle my side yard. (Only one side of the house per year.  Neither my attention span nor my gardening abilities will allow for more!)

And, of course, there is the temptation to just enjoy the summertime. I was definitely doing some of that, this past weekend.  We have an artsy area of town and I was there checking out these  cute little shops that sell hand-crafted jewelry. And there were so many lovely pieces!

One of the shops I visited had some bezel-set pendants under the counter. There were ocean jaspers, laradorites, moonstones, and others. I thought the quality of the cabochons was pretty poor. (Not to brag, but the ones I've acquired put them to shame.)

I asked to see the pendants because I was curious about the prices.  I like to think that someday in the future I might try to market my work to some boutiques and I wanted to check out the potential competition.

Now the cabs were simply set in bezels - I like to think that I put some effort into customizing each setting to bring out the best in each cab.  Still,  when I saw the prices of the pendants I was a little disturbed. They were priced at almost half of what I would charge for my bezel-set cabs!

All were made in Indonesia.  Considering that the shop’s mark-up must be twice of what they paid for the pendants, and that the distributor was making a profit as well as the original shop, I can’t imagine how little the workers must be paid - although it's so likely that the wages they're receiving in Indonesia, although so minimal, are probably crucial to their families' well being and survival.

Right now, based on the cost of materials, equipment, and the amount I pay for taxes, I'm pretty much breaking even.  I can't imagine selling my works to a boutique/shop for 50% of what I charge on Etsy.  Nor can I imagine increasing my prices on Etsy just so that I can reasonably sell to a shop.

I guess I'll just continue to be an independent artist on Etsy for a while longer.


(Sorry for the rambling post.)



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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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After placing a "Pick your cabochon and design a ring/pendant"  listing in my Etsy shop last week, I got a few new commissions.  One of the commissions was to set a gorgeous deep-blue labradorite as a ring.  I worked on it over the weekend and had it almost completed - except for the last step, setting the cab into the ring.   

When setting stones, you need to make them fit tightly and make sure the bezel is the correct shape for the stone.  I always check the fit of the stone by laying a piece of dental floss over the bezel and inserting the stone over the floss.  The floss keeps the stone from becoming stuck in the bezel and makes it easy to pop out.

I placed the stone into the setting and the fit was good and tight.  Very tight.  I had to use the floss to get it out.  Out it popped, up into the air, and then downward, toward my hard concrete floor.

I didn't see it hit the floor but I heard it.  

It took me a few seconds to find it, and I had a bad feeling in my stomach while I was looking for it.

Yes, the unthinkable happened, what I always fear: the cab was broken.

Of course it's irreplaceable.  It's a designer cabochon and not a standard size. I felt absolutely horrible and sent a message to the buyer.  Luckily she was very understanding.

In the meantime, I have a lovely ring with an empty place where a cab should be. 

I hate melting it down, so I'm checking with lapidary artists to see about cutting a stone to fit the setting.



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In my last post, I wrote about sketching out new designs.  Well, here's the work in progress.

When it's finished, it'll be going to Hope.

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Each cabochon is unique and I try very hard to carefully create a design specifically for each stone. I think every cabochon has a voice that needs to be heard.  Sometimes the voice is loud and strong.  Other times, it whispers, almost unheard.  Some cabs don't speak for a while, but eventually, perhaps when they warm up to you or when the moment is right, they let you know what they want.

One trick I use to coax out a design from a cab is sketching around a photocopy of the stone.   This works especially well with unique stones.   Seeing the natural patterns of the stone really gives you a better idea of how the overall design of the setting should flow.

And if you're making a custom design for someone, it allows the buyer to better visualize how their piece of jewelry will eventually look.

This cab is going to be a ring and I'll be working on it over the next week.  I'm planning to post updates on it to show you how it progresses.  (And to tease Hope, who's been patiently waiting for me to begin work on her new ring!)

So which design do you think Hope chose?



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Every time I list a new ring in my shop, I get emails from people that want the ring in a different size.  Unfortunately, it's not usually possible to resize the ring, and since the stones are one-of-a-kind, a can't make an identical ring.


So I decided to try something new for my shop.  I now have a listing that offers cabs that will be incorporated in a custom ring for the buyer.

I don't know how well this will work, but I thought I'd give it a try.

In this first attempt, I tried to select cabs that are as different as possible from each other:  I have a druzy, a labradorite, a mookaite, a Morgan Hill Poppy Jasper, and a Priday Plume agate.  All of them are gorgeous, and each would make a lovely ring.  (I personally can't pick a favorite.)

Do you know what will be the hardest part?  It will be waiting for someone to claim the cabs and NOT setting these stones right away.

For example, I just got the yellow and red mookaite in the mail yesterday, and it's like a juicy piece of candy.  I'm dying to set it in a sleek and modern design. And I almost started setting the Priday Plume agate last weekend.

Oh well, it's not like I don't have any other cabs in my collection that I can work with.  I'm at the point that I have to commit to STOP buying more cabs.   (At least, that's what I say to myself every time I can't resist a new cabochon.  I promise myself that that'll be the last purchase for a while.  Ha!)

You can find this listing here, in my Etsy shop.  There are more details about these cabs in my shop listing.




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Yes, I finally finished it!  (If you check my past few posts, you can follow the progress of this ring from a few sketches, to the finished piece.)

The centerpiece of this ring is a Bazooka pink druzy of rhodochrosite . It's covered all over with a shimmer of crystals. To its right is a blue topaz which forms the center of a handcrafted flower. The flower is three dimensional - the petals curve inward toward the topaz and there are more petals underneath.

(More photos of this ring can be found here.)

So what's a druzy? It's a blanket of tiny, sparkling crystals most often found inside a geode or an agate. The sparkle looks like spilled salt or sugar. The tiny crystals are made after molten rock begins to quickly cool, trapping gasses within it as it becomes a solid. The trapped gasses make crevices and cavities in the cooling rock. Later, groundwater flows through these gaps and crevices, layering minerals which crystallize on top of each other. The crystals are druzy (or drusy). This process doesn't take days or weeks, but a few hundred or even a few thousand years.

(BTW, I got this one-of-a-kind stone at Mountain Glory Gems, a great seller on Etsy.  I haven't seen another one like it, but I've bought other lovely and unusual cabs there. )



(If you're interested in how to oxidize silver with egg yolks, I wrote a tutorial about it here.)



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Well I got an email from someone who really knows about this agate, Terry from LostSierra.  (Check out his Etsy shop.  He cuts great cabs which I've been trying to resist buying, very unsuccessfully.)

Terry states:
"The info in your blog about the Prudent Man is incorrect. I happened to live most of my life quite close to the mine...
1) Mine location: Central Idaho (Lost River Valley)
2) Status of mine: Active during summer/fall or when snow melts.
3) Owner of mine: Steve H. (Lives in Idaho Falls) know him well.
4) Vein #2: "Your Cabochon" variety is readily available.
5) Vein #1: Closed,mined out.(Highest Grade RED/SAGE color Plumes)"

First: many thanks to Terry for correcting my post.  It goes to show that you can't believe everything you read on the internet. 

Second:  I envy Terry.  Can you believe living close to these wonderful mines, being able to personally collect these rocks and rough gemstones, and then being able to bring them to life!

Third: this means that I should be able to easily buy MORE or these wonderful agates.

Fourth: wow, someone actually reads my blog.



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Another long day at work (are they ever short?) followed by dinner at home (thank god for leftovers!) and all the other activities one usually might expect (or not) while school is coming to a close for the kids.

Toward the end of the day, I was so close to heading out to bed and vegitating in front of the TV.  But I also wanted to work on my latest project.

Until this past December, silvermaking meant I had to head to the garage - and dress appropriately for the weather.  Now that I've moved to the basement and arranged a work area, it's so much easier and the weather isn't an issue.  So now if I have a couple of hours, I don't have much of an excuse.

It was a pretty close call, but I decided to continue working on my latest ring.  A couple of  hours later, and this is what I have so far.


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Both my day job and new commisions I've been working on have kept me pretty busy.  Plus my daughter is graduating from eighth grade, so there are all kinds of activities there. (Rehearsals, recitals, plays, and parties - oh my!) 

I'd bought this dainty pink rhodochrosite a while ago without knowing what I was going to do with it - but it was too pretty to pass up.  It was patiently waiting for me, until inspiration knocked me upside the head and told me what I was supposed to do with it.

Seriously, this is the way it seems to work with me.  An sudden idea.  A few drawings to get the idea on paper.  But then after the drawings,  I still have to figure out how to make the design work with silver and solder.

This juicy pink druzy is going to be part of a floral motif on a ring.  I'm going to pair it with a small blue topaz which is going to be the center of a flower.  I've also got some ideas on adding some depth to the petals and the leaves - different than I've done before. 

I hope to have some time to work on it through the week and will try to post some photos as it progresses.



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I used to keep all my cabs in a candy bowl.  Everytime I got a new one, I'd drop it in.  Then when I wanted to design a new piece of jewelry, I'd start rummaging through the bowl to find what I wanted.

This was OK for a while, but when my collection grew, I started forgetting about what I had.  And sometimes cabs would be missing because it was so easy to leave them lying about all over the house. 

When I  showed my cabs to someone,  I'd just spill out the contents of the bowl on a table and we'd sift through all the pretty stones.  Fun, yes, but not very efficient or professional.

What to do with them?!

I thought of organizing my cabs in those acrylic organizer boxes that are used for beads or embroidery thread.  But that would just mean that the cabs would still be strewn in little containers - just more of them!  Then a friend of mine suggested using a scrapbook.  Why didn't I think of that!

I found a couple of scrapbooks for $1.99 on a clearance rack.  These look like photo albums but have clear plastic sleeves that you can slip things into. 

And I found the best time to do a little organizing.  Our family was planning a long car trip, so I brought along my cabs and the scrapbooks for the ride.  Rather than sitting around bored or looking at scenery, I spent several hours happily organizing the cabs into the books and labeling them:

The cabs are roughly organized by color or type of stone and each has been labeled with the type of stone, where it was purchased, and how much I paid for it.  I secured them with double-sided foam tape which holds the cabs firmly, but allows me to easily pull them off when I need to.  Plus they're protected in the plastic sleeves. These scrapbooks are expandable which is helpful, as the cabs are bulky and they're easy to page through.

And, happily for me,  I still have plenty of room to expand.





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I've been in a frenzy of activity lately.  It must be the springtime as well as the longer days that help bring me out of the doldrums of winter.

I bought these Red Creek Jasper cabs over a year ago, set them as earrings almost 6 months ago, and only photographed them this week!

But now they're finally ready to emerge, like the butterflies that they resemble.

In lovely shades of pinks and reds with touches of yellow and rust, these cabochons are not only shaped like butterfly wings, but they also seemingly have the delicate veining seen in many butterfly wings!

I could't bear to set them in anything but a sleek and contemporary setting.  The stones are just so spectacular, that any embellishments would just detract from them.  Then I hung the wing-like cabs from flowing earwires, so that they almost seem to be fluttering around your ears.

More photos can be found here.


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Only two months in the making!

As you can see from the photo on the left, this gorgeous graveyard agate is cut on 2 sides but one side is left in its natural form.   The artist who cut is Michael (a.k.a. Gemcutter), from Michael's Lapidary,  a wonderful shop on Etsy.

This was the first time I ever set a freeform cabochon and it was certainly a challenge. 

The first time I made the bezel, the stone didn't fit.  The next time, I melted the bezel.  Each time I had to reheat the setting to melt my failed bezels off and try again.  Finally, I got it right on my third attempt!

The Graveyard Point Agate is translucent and has so much depth to it.  I didn't want to lose that, so I polished the silver behind the stone to a mirror-like finish.  This means that light reflects from the silver and through the cab, emphasizing the lovely details that nature gave to this stone.  The stone positively glows in the light with a slight peachy-lavender cast.

The natural freeform edge of the stone reminded me of clouds and I tried to cut the silver setting to follow those lines.  Then I carried over the design to the back of the setting. (And you can find my signature dragonfly peeking over the edge of the clouds.)

To the chain, I added some Hessonite garnets, which complement the colors of the agate, and then set the chain with, handmade clasp which fastens asymmetrically to one side.

More photos of this piece can be found here.

(And if you want more background about this piece, as well as its progress, you can read my earlier posts here and here. )

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