Superhero Cleavage ring

Sometimes- er, many times, while I'm working in the studio I do things without a plan. I'll sketch out one big project and have great drawings and diagrams for the construction process, and then work on a bunch of fun fiddly pieces on the side. I've always got about 3 or 4 pieces in the works- at least. These little experiments are just a way to explore my materials, and maybe challenge myself without the pressure of making the exact piece I intended to.

Well, this ring was one of those. My superhero cleavage ring was a sibling of the jiggly wart ring I had previously posted. I started out with the same body, and had two pink stones I wanted to use up. I started playing with the design and it ended up looking like the bust of a well-endowed superhero.

Poor girl, they're spaced a bit far apart, but her stones are lovely.

Jiggly Wart Ring.

So here is a silly little ring that I had a lot of fun making. It is all fabricated from sterling silver.

The main body was formed from a segment of tubing which I flared open on each end. I soldered some wart-like features to the center of the piece and filled it with balled up lengths of wire. Five of the wiggly-wire legs are oxidized black and one was left silver, just to mix things up.

The jiggly little legs are free to slide back and forth. It's fun on your finger, and reminds me of an Ugly Doll, a Jim Henson Muppet...and a Tim Burton-esque bow tie.

The shank is lemon- shaped. I like to make the shanks oblong because my rings are typically top-heavy. The ring is put on sideways to get over the knuckle. When it is turned right side up on the finger, it stays in place.

This is what happens when I experiment in the studio. Wierd. I love it though!

Coral Fossil Pendant, And Then Some

I finished the coral pendant I was working on. It turned out very well in my opinion. The majority of the pendant is argentium sterling silver with accents of 14 karat yellow gold. The center is a coral cabochon, and the two bottom pieces were found by Mike and I on our fossil explorations. I have the pendant displayed on a rubber cord, but I'm not sure if that is what I'll keep it on.

The second accomplishment I am excited to post is a pair of delicate garnet earrings that were composed of scrap silver I had laying around. At one point I had roll printed some copper mesh onto sterling silver. This silver now forms the backing of these lovely little earrings. Soldered to the backing of each earring is a circle of round wire shaping the earring. Boldly placed in the center of the patterned circle is a tube-set cabochon garnet. The ear wires were hand made from 22 gauge wire.

I'm still working on the projects I have previously posted. It is very typical for me to start out with 10 pieces and end up with half that turn out successfully.... Alas, I'll keep plugging along and post them when they are just right.

More Progress In The Studio!

I got to work in my studio all day this past Thursday and made some headway on a few pieces. Here is the coral pendant in progress. All of the stone setting components have been soldered in place. I have a silver bezel for the main cabochon and a 14 karat bezel for a fossil coral. There are two 14 karat prongs to hold another fossil coral. The excess silver around the pendant has since been cut and filed, and I just need to finish the bail before I can start setting the coral.

Above are some more of the pieces I had time to assemble. The first is a simple wire ring with two large prongs to hold a fossil embedded with quartz crystals. Mike and I found this fossil on our dig last week. The second ring is for a green ocean jasper. It has granules of silver soldered to one side of the bezel where the shank begins. The last ring will hold a bullet-shaped, fluorite tiffany opal. The bezel has a silver round wire lining and the shank is formed from square wire. Once the pieces are finished and the stones are set, more pictures will be posted.

Using Up Some Rocks!

Now that I've finally finished the jasper pendant, I've got some ideas for my new cabochons. The first piece will be an all coral pendant in silver and 14 karat yellow gold. The oval coral cab is from the gem show this past weekend, and the two fossil corals were found by my boyfriend and I on our fossil dig. The cab will be bezel set with silver, and the two fossils will be set in 14 karat gold. These golden elements will match the color of the sunbursts embedded in the prehistoric cabochon. The bail is going to be a short length of silver tubing, possibly with the ends flared out to mimic the shape of the horizontal fossil. The bail will have some gold embellishments to tie it in with the rest of the pendant. ...We'll see how this piece evolves!

Another design I've had in mind is reserved for this deep blue lapis. This lapis will be set into a ring with a silver bezel. Additional silver elements will be formed and soldered around the corners of the stone. 14 karat yellow gold tubing will be soldered at each corner, and also east and west of the lapis. I'm planning to cap the tubes with small round diamonds (approximately .02ct each). Lets hope I don't mess this one up! These two pieces are just two examples of the many projects waiting for me to tackle. Many drawings, stones and metal bits are laid out on my bench anxiously waiting for me to get working!

It's Finished!

Haleluia! I finally got the stubborn thing finished! The 20 gauge sheet that I used for the bezel soldered just fine to the base. It was much harder than I predicted to push the bezel walls neatly over the stone...had to take a hammer to the butt of my prong pusher to secure the stone. I was waiting for the jasper to crack in half, but it didn't! And I'm done with it! Now I can finally move on to a new project.