Sunday, March 29, 2009

Caught in the swishing waves...


Last weekend we took a little walk down the beach at Pass-a-Grille and picked up several shells. One in particular was speaking to me which set my mind to reeling on how to capture it in wire. It was not all that pretty at first. It was bleached out but underneath all that scale was much hidden potential. I gave it a tumble in some polishing grit which revealed a bit of it's glory, but when I threw it in the shot to harden the wire is when even more of the beauty was discovered!

Being a newbie at the wire wrapping/sculpting, this was probably MUCH too challenging a task for me to bite off...but I was determined! LOL The picture doesn't really show it all that well, but the swirls at the bail remind me of how the waves look as they are breaking as the top tips forward and tumbles onward!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Captured in 20ga square sterling silver.
Measures approx. 2 2/4" from bottom of shell to top of bail.


I thought I'd take this little guy down to the beach and get a pic of it looking more at home! A much happier shell, indeed!

Friday, March 27, 2009

His Promises - Salvation Plan

This is a custom piece I made for the upcoming birthday of a friend's daughter.

Each color represents an element of Salvation's Plan:
BLACK-Sin
BLUE-Gifts of the Spirit
CLEAR-Forgiveness & Grace
GREEN-Promise of Eternal Life
GOLD-Streets of Heaven
VIOLET-His Hours of Suffering
PINK-Promise of a New Tomorrow
RED-Blood of Jesus

Cross is hand formed of 16ga SS, wrapped in 24ga SS, 16ga ring showcasing Swarovski Crystals wire wrapped with hand formed SS balled head pins. SS chain and toggle clasp complete the piece.

Necklace measures 18" plus 1 3/4" pendant.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Netting...Bending wire and my patience! LOL


Well, I have been seeing some beautiful netted pendants lately and thought I'd give it a whirl...I managed to finish this one without throwing it out the window. HA! I don't think it turned out too bad considering I was figuring it out as I went and the 4' of easily coiled and kinked 30ga dead soft sterling was testing my patience. I have determined that 30ga is entirely too fine and have some 28ga ds on order (as of this morning!). I think I'll keep it to see how much I improve. =)

Some of David's Creativity!


Well, I must say, for a man who says he has no eye for style, my husband has outdone himself with wire wrapping! Here is a pendant he made over the weekend - isn't it stunning?!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

My first wire wrap attempt...


OK...So, tonight I took the plunge - I asked my husband, David, to instruct me on how to wire wrap a stone. All I had was half hard 20ga so I had a bit of trouble with the bail but I think once the soft square I ordered comes in that will no longer be an issue! I think for a first attempt it turned out quite nicely! What a great teacher he is!

The stone is 25mm x 35mm Red Fossil Coral that I picked up at a shop in Winter Haven, FL when my mom, sister and I went to Orlando last month. I wrapped it in Sterling Silver.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Mother, Daughter Creation...

This is a choker that mom assisted me with while she was here last week! We are quite pleased with how it turned out.

Thanks Mom!

Crochet sterling silver wire, various round gemstones, ribbon.
Sterling silver: chain; heart clasp; Bali style cones; spacer beads.