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Jewelry / Fun with my torch

« on: February 26, 2013, 05:10:28 PM »

I've really been enjoying the new torch I bought last year

and just wanted to post what I've been up to with it. Some of these I made last year but hadn't gotten around to posting them yet.

Sterling silver, Petoskey Stone, and Aventurine Half Persian 3-1 Extra (borderline micromaille) chainmaille and silver-smithing bracelet. Handmade, open-backed cabochon prong settings.

Sterling silver, Moonstone, and Aventurine Half Persian 3-1 micromaille and silver-smithing earrings. Handmade, open-backed cabochon prong settings.

Inspired by the form of the Scottish dirks and Scottish dirk kilt pins, this stunning sterling silver chainmaille necklace is entirely woven by hand with each ring is also entirely handmade. The necklace is a Half Persian 4-1 weave chainmaille necklace with Black Onyx and Garnets interspersed on the chain. The centerpiece of the necklace is an Orthoceris fossil and a .75 carat oval faceted Garnet; settings for both stones are open-backed and entirely handmade. The clasp is an S-hook clasp and has been hammered in the centered for added detail. (This was my first time making a setting for a cut stone; up until this piece I'd only ever made settings for oval cabochons.)

Sterling silver European 4in1 chainmaille bracelet with a hand embossed copper sheet centerpiece. The copper was textured by hamming wire swirls onto it and then was coloured using Prismacolor pencils. The clasp is a three-ring hook-and-eye clasp and entirely hand smithed.

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Handmade Artists' Shop (HAFshop) / Super Excited!!!

« on: February 03, 2013, 09:15:21 PM »

Super excited!!!! Turned on my phone this evening and checked my e-mail to find an order notification!!! And not a low price order either! My sterling silver wire-wrapped green and clear seaglass earrings sold at $165. Soooooo happy!!!

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General Discussion / Finally!!! At long last...........

« on: January 26, 2013, 02:17:40 PM »

........... I have a website!!! This has been on my 'to do' list for a long time. I get asked continually if I have a website, but I've always had to answer 'no.' The time was right to start working on it (as I finally have all the business registrations, etc. behind me!!) so that has been my big project for this month and it is finally finished enough to launch! (I'm still going to keep open my store here, but the other ones I have on a few other sites I will be closing.)

My new website: www.handmadendesigns.com

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General Discussion / Opinions on Polyvore?

« on: November 07, 2012, 08:08:37 PM »

I've really enjoyed seeing the interesting outfits people have pinned on Pinterest that were collaged on Polyvore, and had a thought. Using Polyvore to collage an outfit and show how well our handmade jewelry, clothing, etc. goes with the outfit. From what I've seen, when you click to look at the outfit colages they also show you each of the individual pieces in the collage, how much it is, and where you can buy it. Thoughts? Opinions?

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Jewelry / Sterling Silver Explosion

« on: July 27, 2012, 02:40:38 PM »

Hi, all! I'm still alive, just haven't posted in quite a while. Been busy getting ready for a Fine Art show I have next week (eek!). I got so tired of buying sterling silver wire in small amounts and ended up placing the largest order of sterling silver I've ever done at one time: 36 troy ounces split between 16ga, 18ga, 20ga, 22ga, and 24ga wire. Sooooooooo much fun!!

Sterling silver Arts & Crafts (circa 1860-1910) inspired chainmaille necklace. Acute Mandala and wire-wrapped Amethyst geode centerpiece with freshwater pearl and a Bee Stings variant I'm calling Bee's Nest.

Sterling silver and freshwater pearl Bee's Nest weave chainmaille and wire-work bracelet. Arts & Crafts and Victorian inspiration. All the S-hooks have been hammered for added detail.

Sterling silver Moria weave bracelet. All the rings are handmade as well as the clasp. The S-hook clasp has been hammered for extra detail. Moria is one of my own weaves.

Art Deco inspired Dragonscale and Byzee Helm chainmaille necklace. The necklace is made of sterling silver, Black Onyx, and Rock Crystal. Rock Crystal is the term used for transparent, colourless Quartz (as apposed to Quartz that is milky or translucent to opaque). Byzee Helm is one of my own weaves.

Sterling silver, freshwater pearl, and Amethyst Acute Mandala earrings.

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Jewelry / Newest Wire-wrapping

« on: June 08, 2012, 09:45:11 AM »

I made a couple wire-wrapped pendants as gifts recently and just wanted to share.

Sterling silver wire-wrapped pendant made as a birthday gift for my mom. I'm not entirely sure what the stone is, but it is likely either some form of Jasper or Rhyolite.

Sterling silver and copper wire-wrapped copper Shire penny dated S.R. (Shire Reckoning) 1404 with a leaf-shaped carved Moss Agate drop. The coin is an artist's interpretation of the currency of Middle Earth (in this case the Shire) and the company that made them did so in limited production. The pendant is reversible and is a graduation gift for one of my cousins who happens to be a major Tolkienite.

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Handmade Highlights / June Bugs!

« on: June 04, 2012, 04:18:17 PM »

I've been waiting to do this highlight for about a week now! "June Bugs!"! to celebrate the creepy crawlies we all love.

http://handmadeartists.com/highlights-details/June%20Bugs!/?id=20120604171323cc509

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Jewelry / New Steampunk necklace

« on: May 26, 2012, 03:23:56 PM »

Recently, I bought a box of 20 pocket watches and 11 wrist watches which I gleefully tore to pieces and I've now started to use the bits. This is the first of many new Steampunk pieces to come!

Steampunk and Barrelweave chainmaille necklace. Materials are copper, Garnets, and pocket watch/wrist watch parts. There are even a couple tiny rubies in the pocket watch parts.

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Jewelry / Copper Orc Sheet bracelet

« on: May 21, 2012, 01:04:45 PM »

Copper Orc Sheet chainmaille bracelet. Orc Sheet is one of my own weaves.

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Handmade Highlights / Stylish Sterling

« on: April 30, 2012, 02:24:20 PM »

First time creating a "Highlight."

http://handmadeartists.com/highlights-details/Stylish%20Sterling/?id=2012043015183509a6f

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Jewelry / Copper Ilkorin Sheet bracelet

« on: April 27, 2012, 02:07:50 PM »

Copper Ilkorin Sheet chainmaille bracelet. Ilkorin Sheet is one of my own weaves and is very closely related to Elfsheet.

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Jewelry / Fun with crystals and historical inspiration

« on: April 20, 2012, 05:12:39 PM »

I love my raw crystals!

Inspired by the festoon necklaces of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. This set is a chainmaille (weaves: Ilkorin and Not Tao 4 Chain) and wire-work set made from copper, Black Onyx, Hematite, and raw Quartz (I think) crystals only recently dug up. (Ilkorin is one of my own weaves).

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Jewelry / Copper wire-work pendant experiment

« on: April 12, 2012, 12:44:37 PM »

These pendants are a bit of an experiment. Last year, I took apart some copper wire-work candle holders I'd made, but no longer needed and started experimenting with the wire. After reforming the wire pieces into pendants I let them sit inside a window for almost a year letting them be exposed to the sun, rain, and snow to try and oxidized them as dark as possible. Some are still in the window, but I've finished off four of these pendants by using fine grit abrasive paper (8,000 grit) to remove some of the oxidation and then spray coated the pendants with Fixative spray so the pieces would keep the two-tone affect and not re-oxidize.

Pendant 1:

Pendant 2:

Pendant 3:

Pendant 4:

I still have 6 more to finish.

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Jewelry / Steampunk/chainmaille/wire-work set

« on: April 09, 2012, 01:26:01 PM »

Something a little different. I'm so happy with how this turned out.

The chain is made from handmade copper chain, sterling silver Half-Byzantine chainmaille segments, and brass clock gears. The centerpiece of the necklace is a sterling silver and copper wire-wrapped either clear Topaz or Quartz crystal set in Remmington 22 calibur bullet casing. The earrings, are also either clear Topaz or Quartz crystals set in brass clock parts with a handmade copper and sterling silver chain.

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