Goddess Tree of Life - Now on Artfire - Adopt her! Quick!

A new Tree of Life with a lovely Raku porcelain goddess, available in my ArtFire store. (click here)
She has lovely Chakra rainbow gemstones for the leaves.

Ah, the Tree of Life, complete with Goddess! Metaphor, mystical, symbolic - found in every ancient culture in one form or another. The roots reaching deep into the earth, into the underworld, the branches reaching high above, into the heavens...

Here we have pure raw copper wire artfully twisted and shaped with great care. Seven gemstones represent the chakra or rainbow - garnet, peach aventurine, citrine, green aventurine, turquoise, iolite and amethyst.

This wonderful little Raku Goddess jumped into the pile of gemstones and tied herself to the tree with a rope of copper wire.

She's just shy of 1 inch tall all by her lonesome, and the whole pendant is a whopping 3 inches tall, from tip of the woven Toodles bale to the bottom of the tangled roots, and 2 1/4 inch wide.

This bold pendant attracts attention and admiration, hanging from a 20 inch dark brown butter soft leather cord with handmade clasp.
The bail is my favorite Toodles Weave hook, providing easy transfer to other types of neck-wear.

I have oxidized this copper pendant for easy care. Just a quick buff with a soft cloth brings multitudes of ooooo and ahhhhh compliments.

The Tree of Life symbolizes shelter, immortality, beauty, family, mankind, wisdom, protection, strength, bounty, redemption, regeneration.

Finished! Two more class days with Don Norris, silversmith teacher extraordinaire!

mmmmm, yummmm, here are some shots of my ring from Don's class this week --->>

Hard to tell from the photo, but this is 3 leaves with a butterfly, wings up, about to take flight. *luv it!!!!*

Sweet Don let me experiment with making the ring adjustable!!! *happy dancing all around the place*

Yup, I need a whole lot more practice, but I'm so happy with the end results!

A smattering of new pieces

I took some time to set the muse free. Colorful magnasite or funky jasper paired with Large Loop links and Waves with Turquoise seems to be the theme. Whatcha think?
All the stones are from Magpie Gemstones, of course! Beautiful, as always!

OMGoodness!

Oooo, purty! While taking photos for some tuts I'm attempting, I threw the love knot bracelet in front of the camera and messed with zoom. Y'all might not think this photo is anything special, but it impresses me all to pieces. 'Specially compared to the non-zoom shots taken at the same time. Geez, gotta mess with zoom some more!

The knots are different gauges of wire, to demonstrate how each one looks. The turquoise disk and copper spacers and bead caps are from Magpiegemstones, of course.

Custom turquoise work and Magpie rocks

Dear Yolanda persisted and made me string. This luscious strand of AAA grade waxed Turquoise, from the Magpie, chose Yolanda and insisted on a simple treatment - 6 inches of sterling chain for maximum adjustability, Bali sterling cones for the ends and large hole Bali beads to disguise the crimps. It looked lovely with the black shirt she wore when picking up the finished necklace. Then she chose a pretty strand of dark carnelian to make me string again... Keep watch for upcoming photos, once the muse allows me to finish playing with it...

And then.....

While I had the stringing supplies out, I made up some fun little basic bracelets. I played with lovely turquoise nuggets and some really popping 10mm red tiger eye, and a variety of copper beads and some sterling vermeil, all from the Magpie. Those toggles are my handmade bars of 14 gauge wire and really cool 3/4" twisted rings from Magpie Gemstones. So easy to put on the wrist and so yummie!

Oh yummie! Here's Yolanda's carnelian necklace, with small clear vintage Swarovski crystals and lovely sterling bead caps. Simple but oh so lovely -

Turquoise curlies - Toodles series - Sold

One more vintage turquoise cab, lovingly captured in copper wire. Copper is such a natural mate for turquoise given that they come from the same bit of earth.
The turquoise piece is 30x40mm, the entire piece is 1 5/8" wide and 2 1/4" tall. Carefully oxidized to control the tarnish. A simple wipe with any soft cloth will make it shine in moments.
The bail is, again, a large hook, making it a simple matter to switch between heavy chain or a leather cord necklace, short today and long tomorrow. Ahhhh, versatility!
Sold


Own the Toodles Weave tutorial in PDF form -
Here - http://sherrysjewels.ecrater.com/
Or Here -
http://www.magpiegemstones.com/tutorials.html

Playing with ox and cords - Toodles series

Playing with oxidizing and cord for this smallish piece. I definitely like the darkened copper best. I found some 2mm round leather cord that will balance well with the heavier pendants. So, that led to making a coiled tube of twisted copper for the center. Needs darkening, too, if I use it with this pendant, haven't decided yet....
Yuck, rulers in the photo look so tacky, but I needed to be able to show a perspective owner it's size.
Opinions? With the coil or without?

5/30 Update - Darling Daughter Number Two received it and loves it.
*snip*
"I can't believe how much detail is in the pendent, that must take a lot of time to make."
*snip*

Yup! Happy Birthday, hunnybear! Each twist full of love (with a few grumbles thrown in for good measure and balance, don'cha know!)


I went with coil on leather and am quite happy, myownhumbleself. *grin* Now, for the other woven heavy pendants, I'm working on a simplified version of a viking knit, in the non-tarnish copper, with an oxidized coil to tie the pieces together.... Got one done, now to take photos with my new camera. (Fell into an HP 6MP and oh boyoh buddy is it sweet! Thanks, Denise!!!!!)
later, gator


The Toodles Weave tutorial in PDF form -
http://www.magpiegemstones.com/tutorials.html

Turquoise disks and balls

Turquoise disks suspended beneath turquoise balls, all hanging from sterling silver wire, attached to a leather thong. The focal section is about 3 1/2 inches wide. The total length is 14 to 16 inches long, with the sterling chain ending in a cute little dangling disc.

Austin copper earrings

Here ya go, Bonnie dearest! The earrings I wore to the gathering. Copper wire, 12g, gently curved, then hammered at strategic points. Swarovski crystals and turquoise discs, bound with 22g. Remove the ball and coil from a pair of surgical steel hooks, then wind a bit of 24g around the base. It looks like I used 18g to make a coil to hang the circles on the bottom. Notice, they are Not identical, but no one notices when they are swinging happily from my ears. They aren't Quite as different as the photo makes them appear, but definitely different when side by side. Promote that *Made by a funky artist's hand* thang! LOL
Enjoy!

Pale Turquoise Cab in Copper - Model for the SBSWJ tut - Toodles series

Still playing with weaving! An old turquoise cab, very pale, and 24g copper carefully woven over and around 18g. The pendant measures 1 3/4 inches tall and 7/8 inch wide. Much smaller than Princess Leia!

Feb 07 - Update! This is the picture that led to the tutorial article for Step by Step Wire Jewelry, to be published, hopefully, in the Summer edition. Hang onto your shorts, cool your jets, subscribe now to make sure you get it... http://www.stepbystepwire.com/wire/
Meanwhile, there are some cool tutorials there, for other projects, to occupy your waiting time. *grin*


The Toodles Weave tutorial in PDF form is available online -

My little store, I'll email the PDF to you as soon as Paypal sends notice of payment -
http://Sherrys-Jewels.com

Princess Leia Goes to the Beach - Toodles series

Winning entry in a wire work challenge. What a thrill! Miles of copper wire, a vintage turquoise cabochon, a raw ruby, a tiny quartz point from Arkansas. As I was photographing the piece, the top spiral screamed *Princess Leia*, and the theme of the challenge was summer vacation, so... with all that gorgeous blue and all those crashing waves... viola! She named herself.

From this piece, the Toodles Series was born...



The Toodles Weave tutorial in PDF form -
http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/4327434

This shot is before oxidation. What a dramatic difference!