Scrap . . .

I just could not bring myself to throw away this little scrap of Arches paper even tho' it measures less than 2" wide by 12".  I taped it to a board trying to leave anything white to paint on and ended up getting about an inch to play with.  Clearly not a masterpiece but working smaller scratches my 'tightness' itch in my hand/eye and lets me get as much impact in a small area as possible.

Thinking I'll have this matted and framed and see how it turns out. 

High Wind Warning . . .

High Wind Warning

Trying my hand at quick watercolor to start to loosen my grip.  This one took maybe 15 minutes, my personal time limit.  The subject particularly apropos lately as the wind will not let up and grass fires are everywhere, sadly.  Destruction has been minimal but this always has the potential to be devastating.

Be careful out there.

Bubbling Blue Agate . . .

Yep, delish.

This was a little bit of leftover agate from a previous cut - typical of my lapidary, there are all kinds and sizes of leftovers.  Piles, actually.  Baggies full.

(I think the crossword puzzle word for leftover is ort so I call these gems Orts.  I'm a word freak.)

The little thing had no flash and barely color and I came just this close to cleaning the bench and tossing it but, long story longer, Ed was in the workspace we share in the garage shop and it was warm and I was in the mood to share and play nicely so I picked up an Ort and started polishing.

Oh baby, what a sweet piece it turned out to be!

Simply set and accented with twisted and vined sterling bails, a dyed Soocho Jade bead that picks up tiny flashes of burned red.  The necklace is a go-to piece for that blue jean and white tee outfit.

Buy me here.

Azurite Malachite . . .

Again, a stone that has been sitting on my bench and tossed around in my big box o' rocks for such a long time.  I'd get it out, play with it for a few days and put it back.  Not happy with any ideas and it wasn't speaking to me - in clear terms, anyway.  

My problem?  I judge myself by the work of others and think mine is too plain so I sometimes have a tendency to overwork pieces but this time, I resisted and let the beauty of the stone do its job.

Happy that the cutaway bezel worked to showcase the bubbly, rolling, drusy interior of  this beautiful stone.  Nothing could have been better.

Love this completely.

Simple.  Modern.

Looking for Elvis, or elves, or any help at all, please . . .

True.  I've been away from the blogosphere for months now but trying to juggle so much just gives me fits.  My muse has wandered through occasionally; however, not with any constancy so I have to wrestle her to the ground whenever she strolls casually through.  So much has been on my bench.  So much.

Project: a ring of jade given to me by a friend last summer who wanted a necklace for her tweenage granddaughter.  It was to be my choice of design and when I took one look at the ring, it spoke to me.  (Well, my muse but dammit, she's been so busy lately.)  It needed to be youthful so I gave it a scalloped bezel and it needed to be current so I gave it a peace sign and it needed some texture for contrast so I hammered it.  (Okay I melted it once.  Just once.  Things don't always go as I want.)

My dear friend also gave me a little bag of rings and old earrings to play with and I found these moonstone cabs to be so lovely and a great size for a pair of dark and swingy earrings.  I set the moonstone in scalloped bezel and built a scalloped wall around the circle of silver.  Darkened a bit with silverblack and buffed on the edges to give it some life, I drilled out the backside of the stone's bezel so the light shone through.  I think I may work this design a few more times.  (Please love it!)

Special orders went out late last week for aquamarine sets and I used up all of the chunky aquamarine I had left for this hefty necklace, save for a few pieces that turned into earrings.

Next week : one big three day charity show that I am the organizer for along with a friend who I feel does even more than I do to prepare for the artists and the benefit evening.  It will be a wonderful Thursday, Friday and Saturday but I'm seriously looking forward to Sunday the 4th.  Also to go out in one week is work for an Omaha Gallery and there is a two day show at The Sheldon Gallery on the University of Nebraska campus Wednesday and Thursday just prior to the three day event.  Oh, did I mention that there is a four hour show at a local business on the 8th?  No?  Oh yes.

Help me Elves.  Or help me Elvis, either one.

Buttermilk sky . . .

I bought a handful of tumbled Blue Lace Agate tumbled stones at the Farmer's Market last summer thinking they would surely be good for something, sitting prettily in a glass tumbler on the windowsill for several months. On a whim, I took one to the lapidary bench, flattened the back and rounded and smoothed and polished until I had the sweetest little bit of sky blue agate ever.  The dotty patterns emerged so perfectly!

This stone has the pale, faraway look of a Spring sky, dotted with high puffy clouds, what we call around here a buttermilk sky. I set it in sterling silver with soft lines, a cloudlike line surrounding the scalloped bezel and hung it with a softly rounded pinned bail so it swings gently hung around your neck.

This lovely little pendant is just another of my developing series of work inspired by the Nebraska Prairie landscape. More to come and certainly more of the Blue Lace Agates. I have a windowsill full.

Bluebell Earrings . . .

For Lorraine.

Sweet little pair of faceted lapis and sterling silver earrings.