Satyr

The Satyr piece has been completed, except the extension of adjustable chain and hook in the back. This piece took a significant amount of time, because I hand wound and individually cut each link used in the chains. The links are 22 gauge gold colored wire, roughly 2mm each.

This design hit me in bed one night, after thinking for days on ideas of how to use the Satyr stamping. I'm overall happy with it. The design required very little tweaking from the pen and paper stage to the final product, which is not common. Most of my designs have kinks that need to be worked out, I encounter problems with structure and whatnot. This one gave me no trouble, and came out exactly as planned.

The stamping didn't have any holes in it to begin with, so I drilled three of my own with a hand held pin vise to serve it's intended purpose in this piece. All the chains it's 'resting' on are linked to a single 16 gauge loop laying behind the stamping. Some day I'll get a picture of the back.

Step one

I know every crafter has their methods, their workspaces, etc. My workspace... is my couch. I throw in an inspirational movie, like Vanity Fair or Phantom of the Opera, put my bead board on my lap and go at it all night long. Yes, I work at night. I can't remember the last time I made something while the sun was out. My boyfriend and I are on a third shift schedule, so that's when my alone time is, that's when I work. Sleep can wait when I'm in a creative mood. I sometimes watch a movie two or three times a night, because I don't want to get up to put a new DVD in lol. It's just hard to get off the couch when I have all kinds of things in my lap. So I just hit play over and over.

So anyhow, I just got this fantastic piece in the mail, I ordered it from a fellow Etsy member. " jlyndesigns " has a great shop, wonderful pieces, and she sent a little baggie of free gifts, which I also ended up using on this piece. She's wonderful, I fully intend to buy from her again in the future.
These pictures are from the very beginning of my process. Once I have my design in my head I look for the colors I want to use and put them all on my board. I wrapped all my beads, and placed them on my felt square (Keeps the beads from rolling away from where you set them) to see how they'd look in the shape the necklace is inevitably going to be. With the Satyr focal pendant, I went with mostly greens because it reminds me of the forest. I was also watching Pan's Labyrinth at the time, because what's more inspiring concerning a piece that looks like Pan?
Not that you can see the green beads in this picture lol.

Latest commission

This request was for a 14 inch chainmaille piece, with my frequently used japanese chainmaille 'flowers.' She wanted 5 flowers, each with 3 freshwater pearls in between.

The freshwater pearls have TINY holes drilled in them, naturally, so I had to resort to using 24 gauge wire to wrap them, praying it holds. The erst of the wire is 22 gauge, as with most of my stuff. I used to work in 20 gauge, so the flowers are a little smaller than the ones I've made in the past. It makes the necklace dainty as a whole, but it worked out perfectly as to her specifications. Had I used the thicker wire, I would have had to make adjustments to the design to keep it within the 14 inches with 5 flowers and 3 pearls. So it all worked out, I hope she's happy with it.

We could all use a little help sometimes

Behold, my tuckered out little helper lol


















And my not so tuckered out and not so little helper

This is my latest piece. I've been researching a jewelry crafter by the name of Diane Hyde. She specializes in the replication of vintage designs, with an emphasis on bead work. I don't currently have the materials to do proper bead work, I need some stiff stuff and a good deal more seed beads and things of that nature before I can start down that road. But I'm working on it, doing some research, planning what materials I want, making some sketches. Hopefully something will come of that soon.

In any matter, this necklace is made of 22 gauge gun metal color coated copper wire, including the draping chain which I made and cut every link myself. I used three prong connectors, bugle beads, and bronze Czech glass, both 4 and 6mm. The centerpiece is a resin flower cameo.

I'm pleased with the design but I'm undecided if it should go up for sale. I don't fully trust the integrity of this piece, the chain it rests on is made of bugle beads connected by 2mm jump rings, and 22 gauge is not the sturdiest of wire. I am going to go back and double all the joining links. The necklace itself is light weight, but I'd be afraid any kind of tug would sent it tumbling to the ground. There's nothing I dread more than an unsatisfied, or sad, customer.

First post

I'm not a blogger by nature.... but I'd like a place where people can go to get a better view of me as a person and as an artisan. Here I will be posting my methods of craft, my works in progress, as well as my finished pieces. My hopes are that people can get a better idea of my inspirations, of my personality, and of my love of jewelry crafting.