Coming Soon: Beaded Rings

Check out my new Orb and Orbit rings. The orb rings feature a single bead and the orbit rings feature two beads, one smaller than the other. I love these rings and can't wait to experiment with this style some more.

I Make Like I'm a Little Deer

I am so excited with the new direction of my silver work. I am trying to create little scenes made of silver. I was really pleased with how it turned out. I'm still experimenting with this style, but right now I'm really enjoying it.

This particular pendant was inspired by lyrics from a song by one of my favorite artists, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. In the song, "Babe, You Turn Me On" one of the lyrics is, "I make like I'm a little deer, grazing on the flowers."

The pendant is made completely of sterling silver. The birch trees are made of varying gauges of silver wire that have been hand filed. The deer is hand-drawn and cut out of sterling silver sheet. A patina was applied to the piece and then the raised areas were hand polished to produce a bright silver finish. The entire piece was then coated with wax to seal the patina.

It can be purchased at www.quiteclever.etsy.com

Getting Creative With Displays.

I recently submitted an application for an art show that required a picture of my booth display. Since I have not yet participated in a traditional show, I had few display items prepared and I only had a couple of days to put the entire display together. This means I had to get creative.

I ended up going to Jo-Ann's and I found a bobbin rack, a wooden Halloween tree decoration and some wooden boxes. I also found some small ceramic dishes. I ended up painting the Halloween decoration and the bobbin rack black. I placed necklaces on the Halloween tree and rings on the bobbin rack. I painted the ceramic dishes black and silver and set river rocks in the silver dishes.

I used some of the earring trees, busts and bracelet displays I had to fill in the rest of the table, and I think it turned out pretty well. What do you think.

What unique display ideas have you tried? I would love to hear ideas.

Birch Bark Studs

I am so pleased with the way these birch bark earrings turned out. They are made out of one piece of extremely thick sterling silver wire. The wire has been filed to create notches all around the surface. The silver was then blackened using a patina. The patina was then polished off of the smooth exterior to create a silver finish with black notches. The result is little earrings that look just like birch bark tree trunks. These can be purchased at www.quiteclever.etsy.com.

Quite Clever Etsy Shop Finally Open

I officially opened my Quite Clever Jewelry etsy shop for business. I am currently posting an item a day to get better exposure and to ease into my selling. I will be creating and updating a lot over the next couple months.

Other than that, I am still finishing up the painting and arranging of my studio. Right now half of the studio is functioning and the other side of the room is filled with paint cans and tarps. With a little work every day, it should start to look great though. I will post pictures as soon as I get the whole place up to snuff.

New Geometric Brass Earrings

I love, love, love these geometric brass earrings. They came out even better than I thought they would. They are made with a sterling silver post so they won't discolor ears. They are very sleek and sit perfectly on the ear. Actually, I am going to start making a matching necklace today. I will post the results when I'm finished.

Assembling Your Own Metals Studio

For those who are interested in assembling a metals studio in their homes, I have written a how to article that explains some basics about getting started. Creating a studio is not very simple or inexpensive. You need to have a basic understanding of metalsmithing, so you need to take at least one metal jewelry making class before you get started. Remember that you will be working with different chemicals and flammable gasses, so it is very important that you know what you are doing. If you want some simple tips though on supplies, shopping and basic set-up, check out my article.

You might also want to purchase some jewelry making books. The Art & Craft of Making Jewelry by Lark Books is my personal favorite. It gives you an overview, but also shows specific projects that you can attempt as your skill level advances. I have placed a link to this and other books on the sidebar of this blog.

Organic Earrings

I just finished some fun organic earrings in sterling silver and copper. They are hand-hammered, sawed and soldered.