New designs - Hammered Petals and Flowers

I thought I would share with you some of my new designs which have been evolving at my work table recently. I also have a tutorial on these in the pipeline but just have not had the time to finish it yet.

Hammered Petals Necklaces (all of these are sold but the last 2 are in my Etsy and Folksy shops as ''Made to Order' items or can be custom made with a gemstone of your choice)

I'm calling these 'Funky Hammered Flowers' (with curled back petals)

'Green Aventurine Hammered Flower' (a large pendant with rectangular petals - there is something quite industrial about this design)

'Garnet Hammered Flower' (another big flower with shaped petals - the two photos show the stages of before and after I added some coiled jewels of rubellite garnet rondelles)

I'm a 'Power Teacher'!

A few days ago I got such a lovely surprise when I logged on to Jewelry Lessons and found out I had been given an award of 'Power Teacher - November 2009'. It is a real compliment especially as I am in the company of some excellent teachers on JL who have also been given this award this month.

The last leaves of Autumn

During a recent clear out and tidy up of my work area, I found these sterling silver leaf charms in my collection. I have had them for quite a while and when they arrived from my supplier, I thought they were a bit uninspiring (flat-shaped, cut-out charms with rough edges).

So I got out my sanding pads and started to sand and polish them to a lovely shine... they started looking better already. Then I decided to give them a more realistic 3D shape by creasing them in the centre and curling the edges a little.... yes, much better. (This photo shows the before and after.)

Feeling much happier with them, I think they are now worthy to be included in my jewellery for sale (Etsy and Folksy). I have teamed them with beautiful deep orange carnelian nugget beads to make these delicate, dangly earrings. They remind me of the last leaves of autumn waiting to fall.

AUTUMN LEAVES - Carnelian & Sterling Silver Leaf Charm Earrings

Flowers in my garden... but it's November!

I was out in my garden this morning taking some photos of my latest jewellery pieces, in the best light I could find on such a misty day. After I had finished, my eye was drawn to all the flowers still surviving in my garden - in fact, I think some of them have got a bit confused and shouldn't be flowering at this time of year! It is probably due to the mild autumn we were having up until the cold weather came to the south of England this week.


I even found one of my dead-looking raspberry plants had few raspberries on it! They are not quite ripe yet and the birds will probably get to them before I do. I suppose their needs are greater than mine.

Ice Maiden - Tanzanite and Crystal Quartz Coiled Jewel Pendant

I was rummaging through my stock of gemstones the other day and re-discovered these tanzanite rondelles I had bought ages ago. I had forgotten how special they are - such a beautiful lilac colour, almost iridescent.

This is my Ice Maiden Pendant and I have teamed the tanzanite with a perfectly clear and sparkling briolette of crystal quartz. For more details please click on the photo or head over to my Etsy or Folksy shops.

Earrings on a budget - Duo Earrings

Preparing for my recent table sales and up coming Christmas fairs, I have made some lower priced earrings. I have them displayed on a stand I call 'Pick 'n' Mix Earrings' and offer reduced prices for buying 2 pairs or 3 pairs together. The idea of this stand is to draw the attention of customers to my stall and hopefully they might browse around my other jewellery.

Here are 3 of those earrings which I am called my 'Duo Earrings' (Amethyst Duo, Rose Quartz Duo and Kyanite Duo) which I have now listed in my Folksy shop.

Autumn Walks & Carnelian Wire Flower Necklace

We are having a beautiful autumn in the south of England at the moment with some fantastic weather this week, which is just perfect for those lucky ones on half term holidays. I love walking in the local countryside at the best of times but autumn walks have to be my favourite just for the sheer beauty of all the different colours on show.

I also love the beautiful shades that carnelian comes in, from light shades of orange to deep russet red - a true autumnal gemstone. Here I have adapted my 'Wire Flowers' design to create this double petal flower with wrapped and coiled gemstones around the central bead.

As usual, you can find this necklace on sale in my Etsy and Folksy shops.

Jewelry Lessons - front page feature and my tutorials at sale price

I'm feeling dead chuffed today. For international readers, 'chuffed' is an English expression for feeling pleased and gratified. I don't know how the word originated... anyway, I digress!... I switched on my computer this morning and logged on to my usual sites and there on the front page of Jewelry Lessons is a feature on my Coiled Jewels tutorial... there it is halfway down, under the heading 'RECOMMENDATION'. It doesn't get much better than that!

The other good news is that following my Weekend Sale on Etsy, I have now put both of my tutorials at a SALE price on Jewelry Lessons - click on the pictures below to be taken direct to their page.

Whilst you're there, take some time to have a look around the Jewelry Lessons site. There are some great articles, a Q&A section, a huge gallery of jewellery pieces and lots of tutorials for sale by some very talented jewellery artists - just what you might be needing to inspire your next creation.