Work & Inspiration

I have a couple of new items in my shop that I want to show off, as well as this weeks inspiration. I have been spending a lot of time on Pinterest and Etsy just browsing lately and there are just so many beautiful things! I can't help but share the things that inspire me.

Both of these pieces are in my shop, which you can visit by clicking here. 

 

 

Spring is right around the corner (March 20th!) and I think we are so blessed to have access to so much beautiful and inspiring art. Here are a few of my favorites from this week:

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Old Soul

Inspiration for this snowy day:


Happy Sunday! There is a huge snow storm right now. I feel inspired by the contrast outside, the dark weather lit up by the bright white snow...very calming. Take a look at these gorgeous shops featured here today, lots of beauty to behold!

A Pinterest Post!

Here are a few beautiful/delicious things from my pinterest feed! If you are on pinterest, lets be friends!

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Have a fabulous and inspired weekend! Happy pinning!

Bronze Clay Experiment Part I

I’ve been experimenting with bronze and copper clay lately! While I was getting ready to start with the bronze clay, I thought I’d take some pictures to post here on my blog. The first picture (step 1) is the clay as it comes out of the package, before I’ve done anything to it. Then I took a chunk off, kneaded it a little and rolled it out to about "four cards thick."

The next picture (step 2) is after I’ve rolled the clay and used a brass leaf charm as a template to cut out the leaf pattern and veins. I also cut out a larger outline of the same leaf charm for the backing and put them on my mug warmer to dry. After the pieces have dried they’re leather-hard and this is when I do all my filing, additional shaping, clean-up work and then “glue” the two pieces together with bronze clay slip that I made by mixing a small amount of clay and clay filings with a little water. 

At this stage each clay is different. Silver clay has no flexibility and will break easily. Copper clay isn’t quite as unforgiving as silver, but isn’t as flexible as bronze. After gluing the two pieces together I put it back on the mug warmer to dry again. The leaf in step 3 is ready to go into the kiln, but I need to do some test firing first. More photos to come!

Happy Sunday! 

Something Blue

Check out this blue bridal set! Blue themed weddings are so gorgeous and timeless. See these and other blue items in my shop by clicking here.

Valetine's Day Part I - Red

Out of one Holiday rush and right into another! No complaints here! Valentine's day is in a month and I want to share some of my favorite items from Etsy to celebrate. This is part one of three, so make sure to check back for more colorful fun!

1. emmalamb 2. VeraVague 3. IlluminatedPerfume 4. newnanc  5. tookies 6. TheDrifterLeather 7. sandmaidensleepwear         

Featured Item from My Shop:

Fine Silver Bar Dangle Earrings

Treasurys

I wanted to share a few gorgeous treasuries! Two I made, and the last I was featured in. "Brightest" is a Treasury Titans team treasury! Can you spot me in the last treasury? Enjoy! I would love it if you would visit these lists and check out the featured shops! They all have beautiful items.



Share a link to your latest treasury in the comments so that I can visit them and comment!

New Year Updates!

Happy New Year! I am very excited about what 2013 holds for my growing jewelry business! 

Back in December I ordered a jewelry kiln! I think it’s going to make a huge difference in my jewelry making, especially since I’ll be able to experiment with bronze and copper clays, and hopefully combine them in jewelry pieces. I’m pretty excited to try it out. 

I have 5 or 6 pieces that are in the greenware stage – formed and ready to go into the kiln or be torched – but I haven’t started anything new yet. I want to get these finished before I start something else. I’m also taking a Craftsy class on kiln-fired precious metal clay and learning a lot of new techniques that I couldn’t use with the torch. One of those things is using cork clay to make hollow silver pieces. There are so many opportunities on the horizon with the kiln!

Here is the one I ordered from PMCMetalClayKilns:

 What goals do you have for you business in 2013? I would love to hear about it!