Silver!

It got here on Tuesday, just like they said! I am absolutely in AWE - from Indonesia to my door in 4 business days. Seriously the USPS should take lessons from FedEx.

Here's the loot:




You don't want to know how much it cost. Multiple hundreds of dollars. I got it because I will be at the DC Craft Mafia Unusual Suspects Arts and Crafts Festival on November 3rd in Bethesda, MD, and I desperately need to make more inventory. A lot more inventory!

Here is a sample of what I've made so far with my new supplies... all of these are in progress. Note the lack of a clasp on the picasso jasper and pearl necklace with the lovely silver centerpiece (in the top left corner), and the fact that the burgundy pearls are not finished being strung yet.


And, for those of you who thought that I, the perfectionist, worked in a lovely neat little creative space, this will enlighten you - a picture of my workspace as it really is. Note the snippets of silver - I occasionally drop those in my keyboard.

I want my silver!

I ordered nearly $400 of sterling silver from Indonesia last week. Although the company shipped promptly (they were awesome, seriously), my box of goodies is now in Anchorage, Alaska! I know I should be patient, and it's supposed to be here by tomorrow, but I want to play now!

I guess I shouldn't complain... 4 business days isn't exactly slow, considering that it's coming halfway around the world. But still... I AM impatient!

Sales!

Hurray! All three of these pieces sold in the past week! I can make duplicates of some of them, so if you're interested, please just let me know!

I just listed another ring on Etsy. You can see it here - purple quartzite and sterling silver wire.

Twilight - Amethyst and Sterling Silver Asymmetrical Necklace

Luxurious faceted amethyst pillow beads drape dramatically from delicate sterling silver wire. The asymmetrical design is bold and sophisticated. The necklace measures 16.5 inches, including the full length of the top section of amethysts, and is finished with a sterling silver hook clasp.

You can buy the necklace here.

Pictures of Rings!

These are the rings I made. The first is purple quartzite, the second rhodonite, and the third rose quartz. All the metal is sterling silver, handmade and wrapped (actually it's all one piece of wire per ring!) and accented with tiny little sterling beads. The first one turned out larger than I had planned, about a size 9, but the others are about a 6.5 and a 7. I'll have them all listed on Etsy in the next few days. I also made a whole pile of ACEOs today! I'm excited - I started several new series. Right now all the ones that involved paint are being "booked" (new word!), being smushed under some heavy books so they flatten back out. Hubby wanted them flat before he took pictures of them for me. Imagine that!

ShyViolet.net

Abundance

This is my most recently listed item on Etsy and on my website. It's a pretty simple necklace, but I really like it. The stunning green stones are actually green (grossular) garnet! It also has little faceted flat squares of labradorite (one of my favorite stones), tiny faceted amethyst rondelles, and tourmaline heishe beads, all on sterling silver. The chain is also sterling. You can see it here or here on Etsy.

Soooon, I will have more pictures! Stephen's still working on doing the photoediting for items that he photographed a while ago. Several of the items have recently been sent to galleries, so that's kind of annoying - there's no point in listing the items now, although we have good photos for them!

I'm working on several new things now. One is a design for reading glasses holder / brooch. I'd like to have it be at least semi-easy to replicate, since one of the galleries thinks that they can sell quite a few. But first I have to come up with an idea that works and is open to quite a bit of decoration, since apparently the ladies who are interested in them do NOT want something boring and cheap! If I can find a design that works, this could be really helpful.

More updates to come...

ShyViolet.net

Rings!

I made my second, third and fourth rings today. The first I made several years ago. I used a lapis bead and did something similar to the ones above. Sorry - credit goes to whoever made and photographed those - I don't have a picture of the one I made. Neither do I have a picture of the ones I made today (yet!). But they are similar to this design by Eni Oken, except I didn't build up the nest so high. I didn't buy the tutorial for the ring, since it seemed pretty easy (it was). But her tutorials are great, and her work is exquisite. I love looking at it, and although I obviously am not a copycat, her work is one of my great inspirations. I've used several of her tutorials, and they're great - clearly written, great photos, etc. The rings I made today used purple charoite, natural rose quartz, and rhodonite with sterling silver wire and little sterling accent beads.

And I've also spent entirely too much time working on a crazy idea I had - a riveted piece with bits of silver and rubber and.... it's driving me insane. I had to stop before I got frustrated and threw the whole thing out. I don't know what I'll do when I gather up my courage to approach it again. I need to do something easy to conquer my frustration.

www.shyviolet.net

Wild Rose Tourmaline Bracelet

The newest addition to the Garden Collection, Wild Rose is subtly sophisticated. Two strands of small translucent tourmaline rondelles range from deep rose to delicate pink, yellow, and through shades of light and deep green shading to black. It is finished with a delicate square sterling silver clasp. It is 7.5 inches long. You can check it out at my Etsy store or at my website.

I've been working really hard to promote my jewelry recently, but I'm unsure whether it will pay off. I've joined EtsyLux, a group of Etsy sellers (Street Team) focused on promoting the finer works on Etsy. It's not just about pricing (although that is a large part of it). Part of it is a mentality - although there are sellers who sell gorgeous stuff for pennies, we're trying to promote the idea of Etsy as a place to get quality artisan pieces, not just handcrafted steals. Some of it as about the quality of the work, but sometimes artists (who make beautiful things - not just beginning crafters!) drastically undercharge for their time, expertise, and materials, either consciously in order to be competitive or simply because they don't value their work as they should. EtsyLux is NOT about overpricing - in fact many of us are STILL undercharging. But we're trying to recognize the value of craftsmanship, and promote that value to others as well. We value our own work enough to be confident in charging a price that's fair to us and to buyers.

I've also joined EJA, Eclectic Jewelry Artisans (another Street Team on Etsy). This group is more focused on jewelry (as should be obvious by the name).

www.shyviolet.net

Week 28 - Offtheme (as usual)

So simple it doesn't really deserve to be part of the FSOJ project, but it's one of the few things I have pictures of at the moment. I've recently sent a pile of new things (that actually involve wirework and that I didn't get pictures of!) off to a gallery in Houston, so at least you can imagine something involving wirework! Comments welcome, of course!

Shy Violet

Week 29 - Offtheme

This necklace is peridot chips, freshwater pearls dyed a lovely green, and sea green serpentine with small sterling silver beads and a Hilltribe silver pillow centerpiece. All comments welcome.

Shy Violet

Week 30 - All in the Details

Freshwater pearls dyed a lovely cranberry color, sterling silver beads, and a pendant I made of sterling and fine silver wire with more small sterling beads. I really like making these pendants - they look really dressy with just a simple strand of something to accent them, and they're relatively quick gratification, too! All comments welcome as usual.

Shy Violet

Week 31 - Ceramic, Onyx, Silver Bracelet

Another ceramic and onyx bracelet. The ceramic beads are from Peru, I think, and of course bali silver and silver wire/clasp/etc. comments always welcome!

Shy Violet

Week 32 - Turquoise

Turquoise, sterling silver, and Hilltribe silver. It's pretty small (it's actually my size!), so whoever buys it will probably want me to adjust it for them.

I haven't been making much jewelry lately. It's the last two weeks of the semester, and grad school is kicking my batootie. I have another 45 or so pages to write on two term papers and then I'm jetting off to DC for a 10-week internship and then visiting family and THEN Guatemala for three weeks for Spanish study. Talk about craziness! I'm catching up a little bit on the project in my next few posts, but I'm still several weeks behind.

Deepwood Art Challenge Entry

Here's my entry in the Deepwood Art Challenge, using lampwork beads and hand dyed cord by glass artist Fran Lizardi of Deepwood Art. The frame is handformed sterling silver coiled with hairthin fine silver wire. The glass beads are accented by handmade sterling silver faceted beads. The clasp, not pictured, is an s-clasp that I handforged from sterling silver. You can see the other entries here as well as vote for the one you like best. My entry will be available on my website in the next few days. If it's not up and you're interested, just email me.

FSOJ - Week 26 - Celebrate Different Cultures

The theme this week was Celebrate Different Cultures. My hubby worked forever on this photo, and we're still not happy with it. Gr! The bracelet is sterling silver links, a handmade sterling clasp, nephrite jade, black onyx, and handmade ceramic beads. The brownish coin shaped bead has a Chinese proverb (something about a flower opening) on the side showing and a brown and green flower/leaf on the other side. The picture doesn't show the colors well, but the nephrite jade is a gorgeous deep green - it kind of deepened into black. The round bead on the lower left is supposed to be green!

Available at Shy Violet.

FSOJ - Week 24 - Atlantis Sunrise

Since the Four Seasons of Jewelry project is through the Creative Wire Jewelry forum (at Delphi), this bracelet is a little out of place, being strung and involving no wirework whatsoever. BUT, I did make matching earrings that use a minimal amount of wire (no photo yet), so I'm going to count it anyway!

The theme this week was Atlantis Sunrise. I'm actually inspired to do something else on this theme, so I might revisit it later. But for now, this is what there is. It is Baltic amber, faceted black onyx, and faceted sterling silver beads, finished with a sterling silver toggle clasp.

As usual, all pieces are available at ShyViolet.

FSOJ - Week 25 - Off-Theme

Obviously I'm a bit behind on the Four Seasons of Jewelry. I'm posting this in week 25, but I'll be catching up on the last *counts on fingers* um.... 6 weeks in the next few days, I hope. I'm waiting for my hubby to finish the editing, etc. Since he does it (and I don't have to!), I'm not going to complain when things get a little slow!

This is blue lace agate and crystal quartz with sterling silver beads (bali) and my first swirly clasp, made of 16 gauge sterling wire and then hammered. I LOVE the matte finish from hammering. All comments, criticism, etc. are welcome as always.

Available at ShyViolet.

FSOJ - Week 19 - Off Theme

Well, it's not on theme, but I like it anyway! The blue ovals are gorgeous blue kyanite, with freshwater pearls and handmade sterling silver beads. The links are of course handmade, which for some reason took longer than usual on this necklace. The kyanite is a bit funny to work with, it scratches easily, so you have to pay attention where the ends of the wires are waving. The clasp in the back that you can't see is a sterling s-hook.

Shy Violet

FSOJ - Week 17 - Leaves

It's a bit late, but better than never. Here's my take on the Leaves theme. The pendant is Thai hilltribe silver, accented by freshwater pearls dyed green and gold. It also has matching earrings, not pictured because the bust/neck seems to not work with French hooks. The holes for the earrings are photoshopped out because I thought it looked silly for there to be holes with no earrings in them! All comments welcome, as usual.

Shy Violet

FSOJ - Week 16 - Spring Maiden

And I'm finally caught up! This is Spring Maiden in the Seasons Collection, sold over Christmas break while visiting family. It is an 18 gauge sterling wire frame coiled with 28 gauge fine silver - accent swirls are 22 gauge sterling with 28 gauge fine silver coiled over it. Beads are pink Peruvian opal, rhodolite garnet rounds, white opal chips, and sterling 2mm rounds. It's pretty substantial, about 2 inches from top to bottom. There's also some criss-crossing fine silver wire on the back to stabilize the Peruvian opals a bit more (they're held in through holes, but they just seemed a bit loose). It's quite stable now, even though it looks very lacy. I'm very pleased with how this turned out.

Shy Violet