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!

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.

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?!

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.

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.

Weekend projects...

I had a quiet morning this morning so I thought I would wrap up a couple of projects I've had lurking around my soldering/tumbling station!

This first pin is one of my Swirling Energy Chakra series. It is made of balled sterling silver wire, soldered construction and has been tumbled to a high polish. The design is a modified Celtic symbol called the Spiral of Life.

The Spiral of Life was found in the remnants of an old temple from the Bronze Age in Ireland. The sign is drawn in one single line without beginning or end.

The circle, spiral and wheel are all powerful symbols representing the cycle of life, death and rebirth, including the seasons of the year.


This second pin is also part of the Swirling Energy Chakra series. It is a sister piece to the Swirling Energy Pendant Necklace and is designed as a lapel or scarf pin - for those who prefer a pin rather than a necklace. This pin was used in making the CD cover graphic for Elle's CD -- "Toning...A Journey toward Self-Discovery".

It is made of twisted and balled sterling silver that has been tumbled to a high polish. It has a simple twist pin fastener.


Then I decided to try my hand at making the heart pin in the March 2009 Art Jewelry edition. I made my pin a slightly smaller scale than published but I think it still turned out well!

It is made of wire wrapped sterling silver and has been oxidized and hand polished. I will most likely use this to build on my next Chakra series to go with Elle's second CD that I had the pleasure of being a part of -- "A Heart Centered Sound Experience".

Creativity other than with pliers and wire...♦

It looks like now is the time to have creativity spilling over into the house...My mother and sister are coming to visit later this month so we are renovating the Florida room to accommodate guests. It has been nothing but a storage area since we purchased this house 2 years ago. Between painting the walls, laying tile and making new sheer grommet hung window coverings, that room will be an entirely NEW space! My husband solved a dilemma I've been trying to come up with a solution to -- how to hang 16' of window coverings (on one wall!)...He came up with the idea of using copper pipe as a curtain rod (how kewl was that?!). I found copper grommets to match! Everything will turn a nice patina in time rather than RUST like everything out there seems to be doing. LOL

We are excited about it all and fortunately work is quiet enough to allow us to dive into this project. We painted the ceiling and walls Sunday and last night was taping and priming the trim. Hopefully today we will be able to get the trim painted and put the paint cans and equipment away so we can start laying tile! It will be close and a lot of work, but I think we can make it and be glad we did! The colors are nice and bright yet airy and will be great with the pool and palms in the back yard as the backdrop! I'm excited!

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An update to the Florida Room progress!

This was the state of the space when we purchased the house (2 yrs ago)...kinda sad! We ripped out the carpet and busted out the tile (throughout the entire house)...this was definitely what one would consider a "fixer-upper"...















Well, here is the outcome of our efforts! I think it is the nicest room in the house so far!







Here is a nice night shot...You can see the pool and palms all lit up. I can't wait till summer!

I'm a Daisy!

I am a Daisy What Flower Are You?

"You are just a sweet person. When a friend needs a shoulder to cry on, you are happy to offer yours with a box of tissues as well. Once in awhile, you wish you could be a little more dramatic but then sensibility sets back in and you know that you are perfect the way you are.

"Well, that was a fun little distraction! It's nice to know that someone thinks I'm perfect just the way I am...Even if it is computer generated warm and fuzzies. LOL It pretty much hit the nail on the head! Try it out and see what it says. If nothing else, you'll be amused by the choices you have to select from in it. LOL

Auction Donation!

I was recently approached about contributing a piece for a package Elle had put together to donate to a silent auction fund raiser. I was so honored to have the opportunity! I made up a swirling lapel pin of twisted sterling wire. It was a simple piece but turned out quite nice! I didn't get to go to the auction but hope to hear how everything went sometime this week. I will try and post a picture in the next few days.