Loose ends . . .

The Cricket Cage

I'll admit it - a lot of stuff (a LOT) has gotten pushed to the back of my bench for far too long and getting caught up in the rush of the Christmas with the looooong to-do list is just claustrophobic for me.  Now that things are getting back to some semblance of normal, I'm trying to take each project that got set aside and give the attention to those things that really satisfy my creative itch and not simply fill a spot on my show display.

Last Fall, my friend Linda gave me a little silk bag with old rings and pieces that held jade beads and cabs and she gave me free reign to create whatever I saw in them.  Removing them from their settings really freed them up and these are the pieces I'm sending her.

These little beads of jade were post-drilled and needed to be free yet somehow constrained so I created a Cricket Cage for them from wire and a hand-forged half-dome cap.  Now they can move freely inside their little cage pendant.

Lily Pads

The two jade cabochons are just a millimeter or two different in size so they really couldn't be matching earrings, I thought.  Earlier in the season, I had created a Peace Jade necklace for her to give her 11 year old granddaughter and I thought that perhaps down the road a ways, she might like to have matching charms.  So here you have two Lily Pad charms with watery, reflective, textured and curled edges.  What is wonderful about charms is that they don't necessarily belong on a necklace or a bracelet.  They are sweet accents on a watch, a little bag or anywhere that some color and flash is needed.  Love these.

I'm so satisfied.  Why again don't I do this more often?