Tela Formosa Designs: FREE MINI TUTORIAL !

Tela Formosa Designs: FREE MINI TUTORIAL !: "This mini tutorial will demonstrate how to make a whimsical, person pendant. The finished size is about 2 1/2 inches. You can attach a ba..."

SOMETHING NEW IN TURQUOISE

I recently  completed this turquoise set in argentium sterling silver.  I wanted to create something a little different (for me)!  It is not exactly what I originally had in mind, but that's fine - all creations start with an "idea" and develop on as we go!  I torched the ends of my wires to create the ball ends, slid on the beautiful turquoise beads.  The  wires were looped and twisted and set onto a crafted sterling silver neck wire, each wire piece separated by sterling silver beads.  The wire pieces were tumbled for hardness, and the neck wire was hammered for hardness.  The necklace would have to be stored on a flat surface in an area where it would be protected from damage by other items that could mar or bend the rounded shape of the neck wire.  The coordinating earrings are also created with argentium sterling silver with hand made ear wires.  These items have all been listed in my Artfire store!   Blessings, Anita

PRECIOUS METAL CLAY PEACE SIGN PENDANT

Knowing my daughter's artistic abilities, I recently asked her to carve a peace sign into molding clay for me so I could use it to make pendants in metal clay for my jewelry shows. I am so proud of her and the design she came up with. It's unique and measures about 1" in diameter as pictured here in the silver metal clay. She made this piece herself with the exception of the patina and cord...those were done by "mom." We were both very proud of the end result. This brings me to another thought - we should never quit challenging ourselves to try something new, whatever our age. I found the rewards of creating jewelry in my retirement years and it has given me great joy and a sense of accomplishment. I hope my daughter continues to be interested in challenging herself artistically, whether it's in jewelry or some other art form. It's a great outlet after busy schedule of parenting and working. She has also been doing some chainmaille....perhaps we have another jewelry artist rising through the ranks! Challenge yourself - TODAY!

Egyptian Coil Necklace

Completed this a.m., this Egyptian coil necklace is created in jeweler's bronze wire and embellished with a beautiful multicolored Fenicio Flat Oval Venetian glass bead, purchased from http://venetianbeadshop.com/. The bead is wire wrapped in jeweler's bronze square wire. There is a rainbow of colors in the bead including blue, green, orange, red, and a sparkling gold leafy vine interspersed. A wonderful spring necklace! As always, thank you for looking! Blessings, Anita

NEW IN MARCH!

I have been attempting to learn the basketweave wire wrap and after tearing several wraps apart and starting over, I am reasonably happy that I am starting to get some good results with this technique. These are some cabs I completed for a friend and for myself. FYI - if you are learning a new techniuque, don't get discouraged - just practice, practice, practice. It does get better!!