Contrariwise ramblings

I've just been fascinated by this particular stone. The detail is amazing. I've had people look at a cabochon and tell me that they can't believe that it's a stone and not a painting.

Because I liked these agates so much I started buying cabs whenever I could. But lately, two things have happened: 1. It's getting more difficult to find cabs 2. The price has gone through the roof.

The stone is mined in Oregon and the owners of the land no longer allow mining  (at least that's one of the stories I've heard.)  so there  is no more new stone to be had.  Only the earlier mined slabs are available right now.

This is the third agate that I've set and this one is a beauty.  Each has been in a different setting but, because I was inspired by the forest scene in each stone, I've always cut a leaf pattern into the back of the settings.

I just listed this necklace tonight and it can be found in my Etsy shop.   (More pictures are there.)



But you may ask, where did the name, Prudent Man come from?   I've wondered myself and just found out. (All hail google!)  The name "Prudent Man" is a reference to a clause in the 1872 mining law that states a claim can only be filed on a lode or vein that a prudent man could earn a living from by working it.




Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise Follower and see what trouble I might be up to or what I'm working on? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.

I'm taking a little break from soldering.  I had a frustrating couple of weekends and my brain and my metalwork were at odds with each other.  So I decided to go back to wirewrapping, which I haven't done for a while.

Although wire-wrapping briolettes may be agonizing to some, I find it soothing.  Looping the wire carefully around the stones is almost relaxing to me.  I love getting it just right and ending up with a neat line of wrapped stones lying on my workbench.

I dug out my boxes of beads and gemstones and looked for something to work with. My boxes are color-coded and, being inspired by the spring, the box with pinks and purples called out to me.

These new earrings are of amethyst and peridot and their particular shades of purple and green are a perfect contrast to each other.  They remind me of hyacinths.  I also made similar earrings in rose quartz and amethyst.

After finishing the wire-wrapping, lining up my little creations on the workbench, and sitting there gazing at them,  and felt much better and happier.

I might be ready to tackle soldering again now.





Just listed my my shop a couple minutes ago, more photos of the amethyst earrings can be found here, and photos of the rose quartz are here.


Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise Follower and see what trouble I might be up to or what I'm working on? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.

Just listed these in my shop a minute ago.

I have a handful of Sleeping Beauty cabs I bought about a year ago and, while they last, every once in a while I get around to making another pair of earrings.  Each pair of earrings has been different in design.  (To see the other earring styles in my blog, go here and here.)  And I think each new pair has been better than the last.

These latest earrings were an experiment in stamping metal.   They look simple, but I probably made them in the most difficult way imaginable!  (It's all in my learning process.)  Next time, I'll know better.

More photos of these earrings can be found here.

And, right now, I have several new pieces in my tumbler:  a couple different gemstone earrings and a large Prudent Man Agate pendant.  I hope to be listing them in my shop in the next couple of days.


Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise Follower and see what trouble I might be up to or what I'm working on? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.

I'm still playing around creating setting with graceful vines and flowers.  With this one, I used recycled sterling to create the flowers.


If you'd like to see more photos of this pendant, they can be found here.


Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise Follower and see what trouble I might be up to or what I'm working on? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.

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.





Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise Follower and see what trouble I might be up to or what I'm working on? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.

But, of course, before the haircut, comes a bath.






Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise Follower and see what trouble I might be up to or what I'm working on? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.

I spent about 6 hours making/finishing pendants on Saturday and even with all the time I spent, I didn't complete a single project.  What you can see above are pendants in varying stages of completion, as well as earrings/earring components.  Several pendants only need chains, but I still need to make/attach them, decide upon what kind of clasps I want and then make them.  And I know its going to take longer that I really want it to. 

In case you're wondering what kind of stones these are, going clockwise starting at the upper left: a blue/green chrysocolla, a bird's eye rhyolyte, a Prudent Man Agate, and a Flower Jasper.

I wonder if other metalworkers are as slow as I am?  Lots of times I don't have the entire completed piece in my mind, but I'll create it as it develops.  So I'll often be at a loss as to what to do next.  This means that a half-completed piece will go on my shelf, waiting for inspiration to hit me.

I'm feeling a little bit of frustration and it may be time to take a break from soldering.  I have a couple of wirework commissions and maybe I'll focus on that area for a while.


Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise Follower and see what trouble I might be up to or what I'm working on? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.

This past weekend Indianapolis featured  annual Mutt Strut  which  benefits the Humane Society.   You get to walk your dogs on the Indianapolis 500 Speedway.


These photos are from our local paper.  And even though it was raining, it looks like the participants, both 2 legged and 4 legged, had a great time.


I missed out this year.  But  next year, MooShu and Indy will definitely need to participate.


And yes, there is nothing "so ugly I'm cute"  than a Chinese Crested Hairless.  Except maybe one decked out in rain gear.  







Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise Follower and see what trouble I might be up to or what I'm working on? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.

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.


Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise Follower and see what trouble I might be up to or what I'm working on? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.

Like I wrote in my blog a few days ago, I've been busy lately.  This past weekend, I went through my bowl where I keep all my cabochons and this particular stone called.

It's weird.  I'm sure I've owned this cab for over a year, and I've ignored it.  But suddenly it insisted to be made into a ring.

One half of this particular stone is Prehnite in a luscious pistachio green and the other half is a chocolate-colored matrix.  I loved the stark contrast when I first saw this stone, and I though it needed (wanted?) to be set in a clean modern setting. 

But I couldn't resist adding a little extra detail;  so I created a band to evokes an Art Nouveau feel. And, of course, dragonflies are often themes in Art Nouveau - so my stamp fits right in!

(Those little curlicues in the band were the hardest part.  They just didn't want to stay soldered in place at first.  But I eventually throttled them into submission.)

More photos of the ring can be found here.

Today I've been taking photos of more new stuff and I hope to post more on my blog and in my Etsy shop in the next few days.  But I'll also have a new post on MooShu. 

Because of the winter cold weather, he hasn't gotten a haircut in the past several months and his coat has gotten really long.  Because the weather has gotten warmer, he seems to be really hot. Although his water bowl is kept filled, he still pants a lot.  So tonight, we're taking drastic measures. 

The shampoo is out, the shears are ready, and the camera is fully charged!

All we have to do is catch him!

Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise Follower and see what trouble I might be up to or what I'm working on? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.

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. )

Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise follower and see what I'm up to? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.

Creating each piece of new jewelry is a unique experience.  Sometimes a design comes from seemingly nowhere and almost creates itself, and sometimes the entire process is a struggle.  This necklace has definitely been the latter.

I bought this stone almost 2 years ago.  It was in a pile of tourmalated quartz cabs.  I picked it up because I liked it and it was different than most of the other cabs.  (Honestly, I'm not sure that it's tourmalated quartz.  Any thoughts out there on what it might be?)

Two years ago I was just starting to learn how to solder and set cabs.  So I when I initially created the bezel for this stone, I was really disappointed.  It was a great stone but it looked so boring and I didn't have the skills to do anything to help enhance it.  So I threw it into a box of silver scraps and half-finished works.

About 6 months ago I took it out again and started playing with it.  I drew a lot of sketches and eventually decided on the details - leaves, flowers, a bail that curves behind the stone, and an assymetrical hand-made clasp.

But even after I finished the necklace, it still proved to be obstinate!  I've spent several session trying to photograph it, and I still haven't been able to capture the unique patterns within the stone.  So far the photo of the necklace sitting in my hand is the closest to what the cab looks like in person.

If you want to see more photos, they can be found here.


Do you want to receive my blog by email? Click here!

Would you like to be a Contrariwise follower and see what I'm up to? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.