Fine silver leaf

Oh if I could make and post flowers, then I think its time to make and post a leaf as well. :-) This leaf is made with PMC...which is 99.9% silver. The stone is a Blue Zircon. The little blossom on the leaf is the one Jennifer (my PMC teacher) made when she was showing me how to sculpt flowers like the ones she made in one of her famous necklaces. The leaf is from one of the trees near my house. I had always been wanting to make a leaf with PMC...ever since I first heard of it years back. Finally gott he nerve to try it out. I have 2 more leaves I need to finish.

My fabulous Pink Topaz, Citrine & Sterling silver pendant!! :-))

Click on the pictures to see them enlarged.

Okay, I know its not very polite to blow your own trumpet. You must let others do that. LOL! But I really really really like this pendant I finished today! :-)))))))))) Took me ages to form and weave this flower. The Citrine is just GLORIOUS! The Pink Topaz looks GREAT! And for once I like the picture I took of my jewelry! LOL!! I guess the trick is in taking it in the highest resolution possible. Ever since I did that, I started liking my pictures. I'm still not sure what kind of chain I should put on it. But for now...that thin delicate chain it is! :-)))

Wooohooooo!!! :-))) I'm happy!!!

My new lapmwork beads!! :-)))

My cousin bought me some lampwork beads from my favorite lampworker: Jennifer of Sky Valley Beads & Designs. These are the first ever glass beads I have acquired....and I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!! When I got them yesterday, I couldn't stop staring at them. I spent a lot of time just touching them and staring at them. The photos are GREAT, but the beads are even more magical in person! I spend a lot of time at Jennifer's shop, just drooling all over her work. It seems like I have many talented Jennifers in my life. In my last post I talked about Jennifer who taught me PMC classes...and how I love her work! And this post is about yet another extremely talented lady called Jennifer who makes the most amazing lampwork beads. She also gave me a free bead which is absolutely amazingly gorgeous!

Something about the swirls and her colors and designs...they take me to a fantasy land of streams of colors that move gracefully and mix into amazing swirls every now and then. And then Jennifer told me something about where she lives, and what she does with her beads that tickled that part of me that lives in a fantasy world forever. She said her house is in the forest, and she makes lots of beads, and often goes and throws many of her beads in the forest. The people who go to the forest to visit and walk by those places find the beads and feel happy to find this treasure! That must be soooo cooool! I would love to go for a walk in a forest and find a treasure of such LOVELY beads scattered on the ground!! It will drive my hyperactive imagination in all directions!! LOL!! I will surely imagine forest fairies flitting around and waving their magic wands and voila! Beeeyooooootiful beads appear magically with a mist of sparkle, and settle gently down on the ground. The fairies then bless these beads with good wishes for anyone who finds them. And when a human does pick up the beads, the fairies (of course invisible to the humans), dance around on the flowers and giggle...sparkly fairy dust flying all around! Oh yes...I really actually do imagine these things! LOLOLOL!! Even Jennifer's description of where she lives makes me wish I had a house there too. This is what she writes about where she lives, and what she thinks about her creations:"My name is Jennifer Setters and I live in chilly chilly northern remote part of British Columbia, Canada. I work from my studio SkyValley here on my acerage. The name SkyValley comes from when I look out my windows of my studio all I see is sky and the huge valley. It takes my breath away everyday. I absolutely love to create with glass and silver. It is a passion that drives me everyday. I create beads and jewelry because it comes from within me and when I am gone I feel that there will still be a part of me still out there." This is taken from her profile from her Etsy shop (link at the top of this post). Wouldn't it be awesome to live where she lives? :-))) I will surely be buying more lampwork from her. Not only are her beads just breathtakingly lovely, something about her, her energy, her creations, her words...they make everything sound very magical and fairytale like :-))). Go visit her shop and see for yourself! :-)).

My first PMC pendant: "Compassion & Gratitude".

I am SO excited! I finally got to try my hand at PMC as well. PMC is 99.9% silver in clay form. When it is fired, the clay part is gone, and 99.9% silver is left.

My teacher Jennifer was REALLY sweet. We had been trying to get together since forever. But I have lots of limitations on my time because I have 2 little kids, and then I have to wait till hubby has enough time to drive me to wherever I want to go. I do very limited driving because I have absolutely no sense of direction. Not even a bad one :-P. So Jennifer said she will come to my place and teach me! Wow!! People really do such things for others? That was so absolutely AWESOME of her! I was overjoyed, and very very grateful. She didn't even really know me. She had "met" me online at a jewelry forum, and I was always in awe of her work. Her work is not very typical PMC work. The "typical" PMC work is lovely too...I have nothing against it. But what I am saying is, her work is VERY different from most other PMC work I have seen. Anyway...so she didn't really know me. I was practically a stranger to her. But because she understood how much I had wanted this class, and yet could not make it to her house for some reason or another, she said (so easily) that she will bring everything over to my place and teach me. And she reassured me that she understands what it is to have little kids...she has raised 7.

So to me, this pendant symbolizes kindness, compassion, generosity...the qualities that Jennifer displayed with such ease. And it also symbolizes gratitude....what I feel for her. She had no need to do what she did. But she did it anyway.

She is an awesome teacher! I highly recommend her to anyone! I think this is a fabulous piece...and its just the first project I did with her! Do go through her website:

http://wearablebydesign.com/Wearable_by_Design/Welcome.html

You'll see amazingly beautiful pieces. And do contact her if you want to learn to work with PMC.

This pendant is 3/4" in diameter. A 4mm lab created Ruby is set in it. I have antiqued this pendant using silver black, and then polished it, so that its beautiful design can be seen. The back has a pattern too.

Agate and sterling silver pendant

This is for a young woman and a young man whose origins are from countries, and religions that have been clashing with each other forever. But they rose above all that, fell in love, and got married...setting a beautiful example of peace, love and beauty. Below is part of my letter to them, I have removed their names and the names of their countries of origin, religions they belong to, to protect their privacy. And changed it so it doesn't directly address them.

The silver beads at the bottom of the pendant signifies the dormant souls of the world who are moving up to awaken to who they really are. The colors at the bottom of the stone (an Agate) stand for the very different kinds of people in our world. Different because of race, color, nationality, religion...and so many other divisions. The colors green and red are very different from each other...but they combine into beautiful patterns in this stone, they do not clash. They do not even change each other. They simply accept each other for who they are, and harmonize with each other. Just like this young couple.

The colors, as they rise up in the stone lose their differences and become “one” by turning white. Just like people...when they rise above their differences, and move more towards their Divine Selves, realize they are not different really...they are just “one”.

I spent many many days to find the perfect stone that represented the story of these two beautiful people. When I saw this one., I knew, this was the one.

The designs around the stone show an upwards movement, showing the rising of human consciousness when they rise above their seeming differences, and only love one another...just like these two people did.

I weaved the bail of the pendant with silver wire, as a prayer of blessings that their lives be woven with each other's in complete love, harmony, and beauty.

The young man told his cousin (who commissioned this pendant), that one of the special moments of their lives was the time when they both saw a movie called “Arth”. “Arth” means “meaning”. And they have certainly showed by example the “meaning of life, and the meaning of love” through their beautiful love for each other. This is what I have hand stamped behind the pendant, to not only remind them of that special moment, but also to honor them for showing us the meaning of life and love.

It is through people like them that our world will change, and will know peace. For many, it is unthinkable for people originating from country X and country Y, of A and B religions to unite in matrimony. You both have shown that not only is it “thinkable”, it is completely normal, and completely loving to rise above outward differences and acknowledge our inherent divine One-ness. Their union will change many, their love will change much.

This pendant is one of a kind. There will never be another pendant just like this one, because this pendant tells their beautiful story.

Blue Sapphire Stamped Sterling Silver Ring

This ring is made with sterling silver and opaque dark blue Sapphire. It has been stamped with the names of the twins I wrote about earlier in the Sapphire pendant. Here is the letter I wrote to the grandmother for whom this ring was made..it explains the meaning behind this ring:

Dear XYZ,

Your nephew and neice-in-law asked me to make a ring for you for your 60th birthday. You are very special to them, so they wanted this ring to be something that is meaningful to you...they wanted to make your special birthday memorable, because you mean so much to them. They told me about how you are always there for the family, and how much you have done for everyone.

I thought about what would be most special for you at this time, and immediately thought of dear Deeya and Aarya. Who can be more special than them at this time to you? Beautiful twin grandchildren...they must be the highlight of your heart! So this ring signifies your beloved Deeya and Aarya. Their birthstone is Blue Sapphire, so I set a pear shaped opaque Blue Sapphire on this ring to signify them, and stamped their names inside the ring shank. This way their names will always touch your hand, and your blessings will constantly be touching their lives.

The metal is sterling silver, which develops a patina over time, giving it an antique look. If you like the antique look, you could keep it that way, but if you prefer it to be white for a longer time, then when you are not wearing it, wipe it and put it in its box and put the box in a ziplock bag. This prevents tarnishing for a long time. Keeping it away from chlorinated water will also help in preventing tarnishing.

Ruchi and Siddharth give you this ring with all their love and admiration for you. Wishing you a very Happy 60th Birthday!!

Love,
Swati

Sterling silver and Citrine earrings

I found these gorgeous Citrines in my stack from my gemshow loot a few years back, and wondered why I hadn't used them! So out they came from their packets, and I pulled out some sterling silver wires, and set them in these prongs to make these delicate earrings. My handmade earwires have tiny Citrine beads wire wrapped on them.

Blue Sapphire, sterling silver pendant

This sterling silver and Blue Sapphire necklace is for a very sweet grandmother with very special grandchildren. She is celebrating her 60th birthday, and her cousin got this made for her, for her birthday. Her grandchildren...a beautiful boy and a beautiful girl, are twins. Their birthstone is Sapphire.

So I designed this pendant to represent the twins. The sterling silver circle is divided into two by a sterling silver wire in the shape of the yin-yang. And I bezel set two pear shaped opaque Blue Sapphires in each half, facing opposite directions. I added texture to one half of the yin-yang, to show it is different from the other half. The Sapphires are the twins, in the same womb (circle), but still separated to have their own space...connected, yet individual...equal, and opposite (yin-yang space in the circle).

I have stamped the words, "my pride, my joy, my deeya, my aarya" behind the pendant to represent their grandmother's feelings for her grandchildren Deeya and Aarya.

The chain is a sterling silver rolo. I made the clasp with sterling silver wire, and wire-wrapped a tiny pearl on it to represent motherly/grandmotherly love. I hope she will like her gift :-).