Denim Lapis Lazuli, Lapis Jasper and Onyx Necklace

I have some unfortunate photos of a new necklace of mine that I want to share.

I call them unfortunate because...well, they really stink. This was another case of 'I just finished it, and almost forgot to take photos, and it's grey outside today and I need to get a few shots and oh god, hurry up, you're already late.'

Hence, these junky pics. Sorry, all.



For this necklace, I used a huge chunk of denim lapis lazuli (it's called denim in the industry because it's a lighter version that standard lapis). I especially like how this pendant looks...like a rock! You can see all of the striations of color, the whites and blacks and shades of blue.



I picked up the blue with flat squares of lapis jasper, and the black with larger rounds of Onyx.



All metals are sterling silver.

Price: $42 (sold! Blue always sells well).

ps: one of the photos shows the pendant with a weird spike-y shadow. That's the stone finial on my balcony! You may have noticed it in other shots. Kind of funny.

Rhodonite and Rose Quartz Necklace...Pt. 2

So, I can finally write up the necklace I already previewed a few days back.





Like the matching earrings, I used flattened ovals of rhodonite, a mauve-y pink color





and paired them with rondelles of light pink rose quartz.




Unlike the earrings, I added a large rose quartz pendant. All metals are sterling silver.

I put this piece into the sale during the end of the second week, and it sold within a few days.

Price: $38.

Newsletter

I just signed up for these 2 free online newsletters. I know Colored Stones magazine only slightly, but I'm very interested. Take a look!

Time for Bed!

Time for bed!

Rhodonite and Rose Quartz Earrings

One constant in design is to use different shapes or colors when creating a piece. It's all about creating visual interest. In the case of these earrings, I did both.

 

I paired flattened rose quartz rondelles with larger flattened oval rhodonite beads. I hinged the sterling silver wire to provide more swing.

 

Price: $10. I think. Or $12. It's so hard to remember sometimes, and I'm too lazy to go look at my notes!

Lucky Year, Indeed

Well, it WAS this piece's lucky year, because it finally sold! Yay!

Magnesite, Orange Aventurine and Carnelian Necklace

I got a strand of these great aqua blue magnesite flat oval beads a while back, and knew I wanted to pair them with their opposite on the color wheel. So I strung them with orange aventurine chips, and added a pewter toggle clasp.






Then, I added a cool, faceted, oval pendant carved from treated carnelian. The treatment gives the stone that cool 'spiderweb' effect.


Price: $36.

A Great Deal

AND, I forgot to tell all y'all about the best part of the turquoise necklace selling. The woman who bought it took it up to the sales desk and was surprised by the price of the piece.

At the Arts League, each item is marked with a sticker bearing 3 bits of information. Seller's initials, inventory number and price. So, my sticker read

$46
JES
72

The customer transposed the inventory number and the price! She was willing to pay $72 for the necklace! Yay! It's good to know one's work has that kind of appeal. And, again, turquoise is a pricey material and I've seen many people charge a lot for it. Though I could've gotten more money, I'm pleased that my piece sold and my customer got what she clearly thought was a great deal.

Back to the Turquoise Necklace

So, last year, I worked with a fair amount of turquoise. Certainly I like the color blue, and turquoise IS my birthstone, but I've never designed much with it 'til now. Turquoise comes in a variety of blues, and these stones are more like the robin's egg (or Tiffany box) blue of the high quality material that comes out of the Sleeping Beauty mines in Arizona.



I made this great lentil-bead necklace for the Arts League sale. I bought a strand of graduated beads (they overlap one another just slightly, by design) and connected them with a sterling silver clasp. Turquoise is expensive because it's so hard to mine, and while the bead strand I purchased was pricey, the work required to string the materials didn't take overly long. As a result, I could sell the necklace for a very reasonable price, for turquoise.


Price: $46.

Unrelated to Anything Else

So, I ran across these beautiful matched stones yesterday.

They're Manchurian Peridot---peridot mined in Manchuria, obviously. Rough from that part of China is prized for its intense color, and it can be mined at night, they say, because the stones actually have a kind of glow to them. More to the point, these stones haven't been treated at all--the rough comes out of the ground this color. Amazing. I think they're beautiful and am toying with buying them and setting them in some silver castings. The lore behind the stone is interesting, too: it's said to heal the heart, give strength and make dreams come true. And all of those things are of particular interest to me at this point in my life.

(plus, the stones are pretty reasonably priced! As in, $29.99 for the pair)

Jewelry Personnae?

 

All right, here's another teaser. I wanted to post it mostly because a friend sent me the image last night. He shot some of my pieces while he was visiting last week. Anyway, what cracks me up about this shot is the book he used. Now, I've seen it done before and I like the effect. It's classy. What's less classy is that the text is Camille Paglia's Sexual Personnae. Less classy, more academic, I guess. I hope none of you can read upside down.

Teaser

 

Just a teaser!

Cranberry Freshwater Pearls and Garnet Necklace

So here we have the necklace that matches the earrings posted a few days back.



I used baroque (i.e., delightfully imperfect) cranberry freshwater pearls...





...and roughly faceted garnets.



The finished piece was approximately 18 in. long.



This necklace was purchased fairly quickly, but the earrings were not. They lingered in my display case for at least a week, and I feared they'd become orphans.




I needn't have worried; they sold before the end of the sale.



The 2 beads match each other beautifully.



















Price: $28.

Happy New Year!

Let me be the 347th person to wish you a Happy New Year!

















I've had a very good holiday season, starting with Christmas in Chicago, and then my birthday and the New Year back home in Philadelphia. I got to see both my family and a good friend of mine from out of town. I feel very lucky for both. I hope you all had a wonderful few weeks as well, and are planning a great 2010.

And now, back to the beading!