Broken Heart...

NOTE:  After reading the comments on this post I realized I forgot to mention the reason I make the "Broken Hearts"...so for those who aren't aware of why I make them...

Heart disease is prevalent in my family, my father, both grandmothers, my paternal grandfather, died from heart disease, one of my twin brothers had a major heart attach at the young age of 43...he is good now but my other two brothers have high blood pressure. I decided to do my small part to help the cause, so when I make anything with a heart I give a donation to the Heart & Stroke Foundation...the "Broken Heart" is my signature piece for this foundation...each and every one I make is made with love!   

It's that time of year again...Valentine's Day is just  around the corner...

Here is one of my Broken Hearts... all hearts are hand cut, then cut in half and mended.  This one as you can see has been hammered with two different textures for a bit of detail.    I used to mend the each heart with rings but the last few times I've used sterling silver wire...I rather like the difference...the wire makes the heart more sturdy, less floppy.    The heart previouse to this one was mended with a 26g wire but I wasn't completely happy with it so this one is mended with 20g argentium silver wire...it does take a bit of pulling but I think the outcome is nicer and cleaner looking...I even added a little curly cue on the right hand side!

This particular heart can be found at Soul Sisters on Oak Street, here in North Bay!

Enjoy your day!
Cheers

Pretty red...

I'm not much of a "red" person but I like this color of red...it is what I like to call a "blue red".

This is actually marble that has been dyed...I've placed it in a sterling silver bezel, to which I've soldered a U shaped sterling silver bail to the back. Very simple, but eye catching I think!

A matching pair of earrings to compliment the dyed marble pendant.

The stones are set in a sterling silver bezel to which I've soldered sterling silver ear wire.

I rather like this style of earring as it has it's own safety feature...


Cheers

Gorgeous give away...

A blogging friend, Heather Pyle, from "My Muse, Aquariart" is having a fantastic

"2012 Celebration Giveaway"

in honor of her 2nd year blogging anniversary!

Heather is giving away these gorgeous fingerless gloves she made.
This is what she has to say about them...

"I assure you they are stretchy, stylish, soft and luxurious

made with Berroco Lustra

a 50% Peruvian wool/ 50%Tencel (Rayon) blend yarn."

Grape Lacy Knitted Fingerless Gloves by Aquariart

Love these...I often wear a pair when I'm on the computer in the winter, (not this year though, much warmer winter) as my right hand in particular gets cold!

Stop by Heather's blog and enter to win!

Good luck!

Cheers

note: photo/info courtesy of http://aquariart-chocoholic.blogspot.com/

Here it comes...2012...whether you are ready or not!

glitter-graphics.com


I can't believe it is that time of year again...another year has come and gone! It really is true..."the older you get the faster times seems to pass!
~~~
I would like to extend sincere wishes for health, happiness, prosperity and peace to my wonderful customers, family and friends in the coming year!


Happy New Year!
Cheers

For you...

I would like to extend warm wishes to all, for a safe, happy, healthy holiday...may you spend it with those you love!

Peace * Love * Hope

Cheers

Something different

When I go to shows/markets I try to come up with something for the younger crowd...such as... stretchy ringed bracelets, leather cord bracelets, age appropriate pendants, or earrings... something simple, while in their price range!

This year I chose feathers for my last few shows and the teenagers liked them...the gorgeous rich jewel colors drew attention!

Cobalt blue feathers with pearls dangles...

Gorgeous purple feathers with dyed jade dangle...

I'm not a fan of green but I've been drawn to it more and more recently...nice rich green with dyed turquoise dangle...

These are dyed Guinea feathers ...they have been sanitized and the color is permanent, in case you were wondering!

Cheers

Circles, folding, different!

Below is a variation of one of my earrings styles that I often make... large, small, medium, with a stone, or without, sideways or facing forward like these! They are an everyday "go to" kind of earring made from fine silver ...as you can see this pair have onyx dangles which jazzes them up a bit!

Two of the fold forming cuffs...

If you are one of those people who prefers consistency these earrings are not for you...I had a number of the turquoise stones that sorta, kinda matched at least in comparison to these two and then there are these two stones, which as hard as I looked I couldn't see them matching in any way. I thought about doing two pendants but then I decide...these would make great earrings because they don't match...I'm a huge fan of the matrix and color difference so I really love these stones.

It was settled, I soldered the bezel to the brushed sterling silver rectangles and set the stones!


Enjoy the day...
Cheers

Starfish, lapis and scrap!

I managed to take a few photos yesterday on my iPhone...I was at my studio and forgot to bring my camera...it was either go home or give the iPhone a try. I'd taken a few photos with it a few weeks ago so I felt it was worth a try.

You know the iPhone actually takes good photos, in fact all I did to these photos below was crop them! That is amazing...my camera has never taken "great" photos" I always thought it was the operator but now I'm not so sure. With my camera I could take 10 photos, sometimes more, of something before I took a photo I could use...all of these are first shots...while not perfect they are much better than what I usually get from my camera!

My signature starfish...cut out, stamped, brushed finish and tumbled on a sterling silver chain.

As most of you know I'm a fan of cobalt blue...these lapis stones are gorgeous...I only had four stones like this...the first pair of earrings sold so I made these...they could be mine, you just never know? I've always liked this particular style but was a bit unsure of making the ear wires...they actually were not difficult once I sat down and thought about it.

Another "scrap" piece...fine silver fused together.

By the way the starfish came from the east coast...my daughter brought them back for me when she visited there last summer with her family!

Have a great day!
Cheers

Another collage...

I did this collage last week for someone...a bit different from what I usually post. All of these pieces are older and long gone but it is fun sometimes to look back and see how your direction has changed! While silver is the direction I would like to follow, I still work with gemstones, pearls and Swarovski crystals...

My daughter will be arriving shortly to pick me up as we are going to the "23rd Annual Downtown Christmas Walk".
It runs from 6:00pm to 9:00pm on the main street of North Bay, which of course is closed to traffic for the event. There is the lighting of the CIBC Downtown Christmas Tree, Horse & Wagon rides, North Bay Hydro Bucket Rides, the JOY Band, 547 Squadron Cadets, Music throughout downtown, snacks, hot drinks, all the shops decorated for the occasion and best of all friends...hope to see many of you there!
After our walk we are stopping at Cecil's Eatery & Beer Society(corner of Main & Wylde :~)) for dinner...will be great!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend...
Cheers

I did it again!

Well...what can I say...time flies!!!

I've one more three day show this coming weekend and then I'm done for the year...can you hear me sighing? Well, I am...

I've a few things I want to do for the next little while and if I'm happy with the results I'll do a few posts.

I'm not taken photos for the last few months(which is not a good thing) so I don't have much to show you in the way of new pieces...

This bracelet is one I wear...Just Breathe! Which is how I was feeling this summer... :0)


As many of you know the starfish is part of my logo so I decided to make myself a starfish pendant...this is my first attempt. I wear it all the time and while I've had many compliments I'm looking forward to the day I can use my saw...right now I cut the metal with a pair of shears and that doesn't allow for a great deal of control!


One of my favorite pair of earrings to wear...of course purple, my favorite color! I love the kidney wires as I can wire wrap any color bead I want and I have a new pair of earrings! I made myself a bit longer ones at first but I find I like this length...still a nice dangle but not too long!


Enjoy your day.
See you later...
Cheers