that's a killer bee!!!

Here is the finished sterling silver Queen Bee hair pin. Crazy, huh!!! And to show that it actually works, I tossed it in my hair... and it works!!!

the start of an engagement ring...

here is the basic wax i carved for an engagement ring.

okay... back to busting my butt!!! ahhhh... the holidays!!!

holy waxes...

well... i'm doing a ton a wax carving... and here is what i have so far...


here are a couple snow men (without arms) that will become christmas tree orniments...

...here is stewart the snail (formerly the fat bee from an earlier post)...



...and here is a floral/vine pendant... there will be a beautiful blue zircon set in the bezel...



... and here is the new bee (without wings, those will come later!)


soooo... this is just the beginning.

yay! shaker pendants everywhere!!!

I have a friend that's opening a jewelry store on December 1st (when I have the information about the shop, I'll share) and she wants some of my stuff for her inventory... so I decided to make a few shaker pendants.

But these ones are fun... they have different stones, sizes, shapes, and tones... how lovely!!!

The red one has Spinels, Rubies, Pink Sapphires, Orange Sapphires, Yellow Sapphires and Pink Tourmalines.

The green one has Green Tourmalines, Yellow Tourmalines, Green Sapphires, Yellow Sapphires, Tsavorites, Emeralds, and one big phat Peridot.

The blue one has Blue Sapphires, Topaz, Aquamarines and Blue Apetite.

They are all in sterling silver mat bezels. Again... aren't they lovely!!!

my NEW mac book pro

OH MY GOD! i have never bought anything soooo sweet!!! so i thought i would document the unveiling...




isn't it beautiful???

forged silver bracelet

this is a forged sterling silver bracelet... you start off with a round wire and forge (hammer) out the metal in different directions. lovely, isn't it?

platinum/travorite ring...

Well... I know it's been a few days since I posted, but just been swamped!

This ring was designed around a piece of artwork that the client sent me when we started discussing ideas. The sculpture is Noguchi's Folded Torso...



But here are a few of the finished photos...


The ring is made out of .9010 Platinum Irridium with a tsavorite (aka, green garnet.)

it's a bee... it's a snail... it's...

Okay... so it's going to be cast into a big fat sterling silver bee when it's done. But it is sooo cute!!!

Basically, right now it looks like a snail with a crown...
But once my little buddy here gets a pair of wings (made out of sterling silver mesh) and some legs... this is more what she'll look like...
A QUEEN BEE!!! YAY!!!

engagement ring wax

Sometimes it's better to fabricate a piece out of wax and not in the metal. The final piece will be platinum... but because of the design, there are a good amount of angles (a concave V section in the ring shank and in the head) and if I made it out of the platinum initially, there would be a great deal of waste.

So... I thought I'd show a few of the steps in how I'm making this ring...

Okay... first I turned the basic ring shank and head on a lathe...




Here are the 2 main pieces. This is after I turned them, added in details, and 'polished' the waxes...



And here are a few views all put together before I send it out for casting.




I'll post a few more images when I have it cast... and when it's finished!

diamonds and pearls

Honestly... what looks nicer??? I adore diamonds and pearls!!! They just look soooooo nice together!!! (This is when my girly side comes out!)

This is an 18" strand of cultured fresh water pearls. I made the clasp out of 14K GREEN gold (it works well with people that wear either yellow or white gold) and a 1/4 carat bezel set diamond.

button, button, who's got the button???

Am I the only person that remembers that game from kindergarden?

Anyhoo... I have been pulling together a few different new pieces for the gallery at North Bennet Street School for the open house next weekend.

These are sterling silver cuff links. I like cuff links... I think they are one of the few acceptable forms of 'man jewelry.' And because lots of guys that I know think they are too 'Hip' for them... I decided to make a pair that were subtle. So these are sterling silver little high domed buttons with 22K gold twisted wire to look like threads.

holy schnikies...

Had to share this one...
the WORLD JEWELRY CENTER in Las Vegas. They call it the 'New Global Marketplace for Gems and Jewelry' AKA a honkin' big jewelers building.

stacking rings

So, these are 14k matt gold with diamonds, rubies and and pink (with a smidgen of orange) sapphires. When all 3 rings are worn together, the placement of the stones form a special image... but I won't tell!!!

hammer of death!

This F***ing piece of S*** *&^% %&*^)( #$%^% *&&^% #$%^& HAMMER!!! I F***ing hate this **&^%$ if MONKEY $%^&^%!!!!!!!

Uggg... now that I have got that out. I was hammer setting some stones. Basically, you tap the hammer setting tool with the hammer... not too difficult! Right??? And it's light tapping... TAPPA TAPPA TAPPA... TAP TAP TAPPAROO! BUT NO! WHAT HAPPENS YOU ASK...

THE #$%^&*&^%$%^#$% HAMMER BROKE IN HALF AND BOUNCED BACK AND HIT ME IN THE HEAD! i got a bumpus on the nogginus! BASTARD!

Old Lady Earrings...

I finally finished the old lady earrings. I don't know what to say about them... other then the fact that they look like they belong to an old lady!!!

holiday postcard!

Well, to kick off my holiday season... and hopefully get my orders rolling in a little earlier... I decided to send out a reminder postcard. My buddy Paul, O'Hearn Graphic Designs, designed my card for me.

If you're looking for a graphic designer, he's for hire! To take a sneak-peek at my card, click here... or here... or even here if you really like!!!

POWERPUFF!!!

Okay... I think we all forget to look around. We have our daily chores... on our missions... and we all forget that there is a world around us.

So, today... running to a meeting... happened to look up. And there it was! A large man with a PINK POWERPUFF BACKPACK ON! It was soooo random... and hilarious... and adorable! And it reminded me that I need to look around a little more sometimes.

my uber clean shop!!!

For those of you who haven't seen my shop yet... HERE IT IS!!! I basically decided that I would scrub it down and get it all organized so I could start my fall work in an insanely clean home!!!


This sign has been above the staircase to the basement since before I was born... hehehehe...


This is a photo of my bench (which is a used double watch makers bench... I LOVE IT!!!) There's also my polishing area, and all of my random little tools all around...


And if you were wondering... yes, there is a tiara on the eagle on the wall. The eagle is from my great uncle's foundry and the tiara is a part I cut off of my sisters...


This is my sink area... I have all the basic cleaning stuff... pickle pot, tumbler, ultrasonic... all the normal stuff...


This is my clean bench I work at. I have my rolling mill and wax lathe there... and it's where I do most of my wax working...


Here's my photo box area. You can also see my tree trunk with the teenie tiny anvil in the lower corner.


And just for fun... here is my little line of vespa magnets that travel along my light :)

Sooooo... this is my shop!!! This is where your pretty little jewels come from.