Grandmother's pendant - Mabe Pearl, birthstones, 14K gold filled

I was asked to create a grandmother's pendant by a lovely lady called Caitlin. She wanted this for her mum. So I created this, on a Mabe Pearl...the Mabe Pearl stands for motherhood, the love of a mother, in this case, the love of a grandmother. Yesterday I read somewhere in the mall that, "A Grandmother is a wonderful mother with a lot of practice". I liked that :-))). The CZ's I have used are the birthstones of the beautiful grandchildren. The metal used is 14k gold filled wire. Caitlin was not sure if her mum would wear a pendant or not, so I hid the bail behind a design at the top. This way she can choose whether she wants to wear it as a pendant, or as a brooch, with the help of a safety pin.

When Caitlin saw the picture of this pendant, she wrote something lovely to me. With her permission I am copying and pasting what she wrote to me. Its words like these that touch my heart, and make me feel that its all worth it. When I question myself, "Why am I doing this?", and I question myself sometimes, then its words like these that make sense. This is what beautiful Caitlin wrote to me:

Oh it's wonderful Swati!! Just GORGEOUS, she is going to be over the moon!! It's very - her! Hard to say why exactly, you just have tuned into her in the most delightful way :)
 
SWATI I'M SOO EXCITED!!!!!

Thank you so much for all the love you have put into this for my lovely mam. I really appreciate your talent and attention.

Love love Caito

14k gold filled wire wrapped bangle bracelet

This is the first time I have made a bangle like this. I have made soldered single bangles before. And strung bracelets. But not this kind. I had actually made these for an order, but they ended up being at least 2 sizes larger than required size. So I put them together and wove them...a weaving style I have learned from Iza Malczyk from one of her earring tutorials. My friend, a gifted wire artist, Mary of The Angsty Artist, has made a silver ring like this. I have been wanting to make a similar ring too, but for now, here is a bangle of that style. The wires are 18gauge 14k gold filled, and 26gauge 14k gold filled. Each individual bangle is soldered. And then they are all woven together. Next time I make this, I will not solder them individually. Instead, I will just coil the 18 gauge wire a few times to desirable width.

Amethyst and Moonstone earrings for Monday

OK...these are some of the crappiest pictures I have ever taken. Seriously...I have NO idea why I am unable to take better pictures of these earrings. I promise you, they look much better than this. LOL!! This is the first time I have used chains in my design. I like it. :-). This pair also is for Dawn. She said one should wear Amethyst and Moonstones on Mondays. The Amethyst brios are such a LOVELY color, and really really awesome quality...but does not show in these pictures. The Moonstones are Rainbow Moonstones with an amazing blue flash in them, making them look so divine! You know...it makes one think of the divine spark within each of us. But....it doesn't show in the pictures. In the pictures they look like blah white globs! LOL!! The metal is 14K gold-filled wire. The chain is also 14K gold-filled.

Emerald and Rose Quartz earrings for Fridays

These earrings are also part of the Weekdays earrings by Dawn. On Friday, she said one should wear Emeralds and Rose Quartz, so here are some Emerald and Rose Quartz hoops. I love the Emerald beads, but even more, I love these Rose Quartz briolettes! They are sooo clear and so lovely, and such an awesome color!! The cut is gorgeous too. The seller had called them coconut brios. But my friend Shay found out that they are actually called Marquise Puffy Brios. Maybe he was joking and I didn't get it :-P. The metal is 14K Gold-filled wire.

Sapphire earrings for Thursday

This is part of the order for Dawn. I chose multi-shaded Sapphire beads for this project. The metal is 14k Gold-filled wire. The inspiration was "leaves" :-). Dawn said Sapphires are for Thursday.

Blue Goldstone, Kyanite and sterling silver earrings

I had made these sometime back for my daughter. But never got around to taking pictures or blogging about them. The tiny blue beads are Goldstone. And the briolettes are Kyanite. They do look very nice on her :-).

My Fleur Violette :-)

I had planted this Iris last year, and now it is flowering. I love Irises! I don't really have a green thumb. So once in a while when something accidentally grows, I must show it off to the world. :-)))

And here are some roses:

And this one is a special variety of flower that grows only in my house. See his precious monkey smile :-))).

Ruby, Pearls, 14k gold-filled beads, 14k gold filled wire earrings

NOTE: TO SEE ENLARGED VERSIONS, PLEASE CLICK ON THE PICTURES :-)).
 
These earrings are a part of an order by my beautiful friend Dawn. She got earrings made for each day of the week, depending on which gemstone goes with which day of the week. Ruby is for Tuesday, and she wanted earrings made of Ruby, fresh water pearls, and gold. So here is the pair for Tuesday. I really enjoyed myself creating all these earrings!! :-)))  I will keep posting them one by one. Thank you Dawn for trusting me to make so many pieces for you. (((hugs)))

Carnelian, Garnet, Pearls, Citrine, Sterling silver necklace

Note: To see enlarged photos, click on the pictures.

I had started this necklace long back. Months back. Then I stopped mid way. I had some health issues at first because of which I couldn't do any jewelry work. And after that followed a long "blah" period when I felt totally uninspired, and didn't want to do anything. I thought I wouldn't make jewelry ever again. But the last Emerald piece..the story...everything brought the passion back, and I completed this too.

The main stone in the pendant is a delicious Carnelian. The two small yellow beads under it are top class Citrines. And the briolette hanging underneath is a beautiful Garnet. The stones have been brought together as a pendant by means of weaving and sculpting sterling silver wires.

I have made the chain with sterling silver wire and fresh water pearls. The clasp is hand made too. There is a chain extension added to the chain, so that the necklace can be between 16" and 20".

To gauge the approximate size of the pendant and the stones, see the picture of the pendant on my hand.

Emerald necklace and earrings - a love story

Note: To see enlarged images, click on the pictures.

The infinity shaped pendant is made of teardrop Emerald briolettes, sterling silver and 14Kgold-filled wire. The chain is made of sterling silver, and I have attached tiny fresh water pearls to the chain, and small Emerald beads.

This story is about a beautiful lady who I shall call Ms. H. She remembers a love very special from times long back...long long back. Sometimes, people remember their lives lived at another time, and another place. This is one such story. This story also is about twinflame love. They say that we as souls have soul families called soul groups. And even in that group, there is one soul very special to each soul...they form pairs, and are called primary soulmates according to Dr. Newton, or as many people say these days -- "twinflames". It is said that twinflames rarely ever incarnate together as a romantic pair. Usually, one partner stays in the spiritual realms guiding his or her twinflame.

Ms. H told me that in that other life when she and her twinflame were together as a romantic couple, he had given her an Emerald necklace. We shall call him Mr. P. She still remembers that, and therefore Emeralds are very special to her. I asked her to tell me why the infinity symbol...she said it signifies eternal love, and the two Emeralds on either side signify P and H in different realms...different dimensions. I asked Mr. P's Higher Self to guide me as I designed it....and as I picked up various shapes of my Emeralds, he insisted I used the tear drop shaped ones. So I created...and then I weaved together threads of gold, praying that the Higher Selves and love of these two beautiful souls be entwined together as I weave each millimeter of my wire.

Ms. H wrote to me the following:

My Twin Flame, my Soul Love held me cradled in his arms, holding me from behind... He showed me the infinity symbol and told me that the symbol represented us, out togetherness, our love. He chose to follow me in spirit, from where, he told me that he could be of much more help to me. It would have been wonderful to have him here, but I also knew that human physical love has a way of getting damaged, so I was happy in one way that we were together in this untouchable way; a way that could never fade, jade or lessen. He told me too that our gem was the Emerald, to match my eyes and set off my fiery hair...which delighted me to no end, because the Emerald is the stone of perfect love; perfect in every way.  He has followed me now for many centuries from the time of a war that separated us. But nothing breaks true love, nothing, no matter what it is. In that life I died making my way back to him, and I would die a thousand times if it meant never being separated again...

Last night as I completed my work, I talked to Ms. H. I had not told her anything about the piece till then. Neither had I told her about the prayer of entwining souls as I weaved my wires. She went on to describe to me the Emeralds Mr. P had given to her in that life...she said he had chosen them himself...they were tear drop shaped! I was so happy to hear that, because that meant, I really did communicate with Mr.P as I asked him to help me create this necklace for Ms. H. He had asked me also to choose the tear drop Emeralds!! Then Ms. H went on to tell me that Mr. P's spirit told her that when I make jewelry, I entwine loving souls together. And I couldn't believe it when she told me that! Because that is exactly what I prayed as I made the jewelry...I asked the Divine Selves of Mr. P and Ms. H to come and be entwined together in love as I weave each millimeter of my golden threads...Mr. P had heard my wishes...and he went and told Ms. H word to word what I had asked for!

I must say...when I work with stories of people, their lives, their loves, their experiences, I am often taken along with them on a really beautiful ride!