Jewelry and Fashion: Vintage Statement Jewelry

Egyptian Revival Scarab Necklace

As I’ve mentioned before, in my opinion, jewellery and fashion are different sides of the same coin.

The fashion world dictates styles and the colour palette of any given season and often jewellery designs will follow suit to make sure that you can mix and match jewellery with the current trends.

However, jewellery can also transcend fashion and good quality, well designed, vintage pieces will almost always stand out in their own right and can be worn with almost anything.

I was lucky enough recently, to find a beautiful Egyptian Revival piece from the 20′s that was most likely made to commemorate the opening of Tutankhamun‘s tomb. It’s not to everyone’s taste, as it is a big piece, but it looks fantastic with any outfit (even my pyjamas).

It is a winged creature with a  central scarab – I’m not entirely sure what stone is used to make the scarab (sort of looks like turqoiuse). Inset into the silver of the beast, are turquoise and sea

jasper cabuchons. The chain is my own.

I’ve worn it to meetings and it is very noticeable.

Statement necklaces however, are not for the faint hearted. People do make comments, both nice ones and not so nice ones. But if you can accept that you are your own person and don’t mind a bit of attention, then the statement necklace is a great way to stand out from the crowd and to make what you are wearing very memorable.

Folksy Friday: White as the Driven Snow

I thought now that the sunshine is out, it’d be appropriate to do  Folksy Friday to remind us of the lovely snow we had this last winter.

I am of course being sarcastic, as it was awful, at one point I forgot what the world was like when it wasnt covered in thick white stuff.

So to commemorate this:

here’s some ideas for a whiter than white outfit:

The White Queen by April is Forever Jewellery

White Jaquard Cocktail dress by Fashion Couture

White Disco Earrings by Emily Storm Designs

Pure as the Driven Snow Bracelet

And to complete the look:

White headband by Janine Basil

I’m afraid you’ll have to find your own shoes as Folksy doesn’t seem to have white shoes for women – unless you know better?

I Love Iolite

Iolite is a completely sublime gemstone.

It is one of those stones that is called ‘dichroite’ or displays ‘pleochroism’, because it shows twos shades depending on the light angles hitting it. The chemical composition (in case you are interested) is magnesium aluminium silicate (Mg2 Al 4   Si5  O18).

The alternative name for Iolite is ‘water sapphire’, because of the colour of the tone of the stone, which is at its best, is the most beautiful violet. In fact, the name Iolite, comes from the greek word ‘ios’ which means violet.

The stone was allegedly used by Vikings as a type of compass – a polarizing filter that allowed the Viking sailors to determine the position of the Sun, so they could navigate more accurately.

I have just recently bought some I gemstones (4mm) and also bought some Iolite beads from my winnings in the House of Gems competition. I havent used the gemstones yet – I am still pondering what to do with them, but I have used a few of the Iiolite beads.

Biggs Jasper and Iolite Tribal Necklace

I used the Iolite beads with the piece of Biggs jasper to create a  tribal necklace. The violet of the Iolite went particularly well with the beige and browns of the Biggs Jasper – don’t you think?

Biggs Jasper and Iolite Tribal Necklace

To make the necklace, I created a sterling silver setting for the Biggs Jasper cabochon and attached hammered sterling silver spoon-shaped rods. I used these to attach a leather necklet which I created from greek leather and I wrapped the iolite beads using fine silver wire to the necklet. The necklace looks very tribal and unusual and the colours of the Biggs Jasper cabochon and the Iolite go really well together.

And here is a look at the beautiful Iolite gemstones that I have for another project:

Iolite gemstones

I think I might make them the centre piece for another homage type necklace.

Tribal Jewellery

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I am very much into ancient cultures and mythology. So I have decided to start a new range of jewellery created by Lynwood Jewellery called our Tribal Jewellery range.

The range will be mainly necklaces with some bracelets (I’m currently working on a bracelet at the minute). I want to work in earthy colours and have chosen stones such as dusty pink rhodonite and the beautiful brown hues of brecciated jasper, to incorporate into the range.

I am also, of course, using silver for central pieces such as hearts and chains, but I am augmenting this with greek leather and suede thongs to complete the piece.

The bracelet I am working on at the moment has a silver heart accented with a silver and leather chain. The next piece will use a mixture of turquoise and brecciated Jasper stones as the necklace and a rare Biggs Jasper pendant will complete the tribal feel.

The overall effect is to give the wearer a very distinctive and individual piece of jewellery, that uses tones and colours that touch on the whole tribal trend being seen in jewellery  minute.

You can see some of our tribal pieces on our website here.

Here is a look at that Biggs Jasper piece before I set it:

Our latest rhodonite tribal necklace:

Rhodonite tribal necklace

Etsy Front Page and I Missed It!

Lynwood Jewellery and Lynwood Designs both had items on the coverted, Etsy Front page and we missed them.

But thanks to Craftcult I could find them and take a screenshot and show you them here…So, a month late, but here are the Etsy Front Pages showing items from Lynwood Designs and Lynwood Jewellery because I’m chuffed:

Lynwood Jewellery – our geometric necklace (our shop is under the heading ‘suzedablooze’ on Etsy – it’s a long story):

And Lynwood Designs with our Sun Art Bowl:

The Evil Eye is Among us…

At last I have finished the Evil Eye necklace. It has taken an age, which is quite appropriate as the whole idea of ‘The Evil Eye’ is an ancient one.

Wikipedia have a good article on The Evil Eye here.

I was taught the version of the Evil Eye that says that you can put a curse on people using your own ‘evil eye’. Well I’m not sure about that, but as Shakespeare said in Hamlet, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio. Than are dreamt of in your philosophy”.

So… The Peridot is set, the silver polished and hallmarked, the chain is complete and the Aventurine, wrapped. The Evil Eye is here for one individual in this universe, to use, to ward off those evil spirits and bad luck.

And the silver ‘eye’ is polished so that you reflect all of those bad things away from you (if you are interested in having the Evil Eye on your neck you can see it in my Etsy shop and shortly Folksy and Joolia too):

The Evil Eye

Close up of Peridot iris

Oh HUzzah! I Won The Prettiest Moon

How lucky am I.

I won another blog giveaway and this time it was the prettiest, sweetest moon beam.

As a jewellery artist, I really appreciate the love and care that goes into making handmade pieces of jewellery. The jewellery artist that held the competition was Sophie Franck of Trinket Box Jewellery. All of her jewellery is pretty, these earrings for example are just gorgeous:

This is what I did with my moonbeam charm. I added it to a fine silver chain and hey presto, the most beautiful, delicate neckalce:

Moon on a chain

Thank you Sophie, it has come to a good home and I am ‘over the moon’ with it XX

The Trial and Tribulations of Making Handmade: Hard Decisions

One of the problems in the handmade community, is educating the buying public about the differences between something made by the hand of an artist/crafter and something that is produced, en masse.

Before I start this post, let me explain that I don’t want to create a  war between manufactured goods and handmade goods. Ultimately it is up to the consumer which they prefer. However, I am hoping that this post might give an insight into the differences between the two. One of the areas that may seem to be different is that of quality control. In industry QC is used to assure a level of quality for the goods manufactured, it is performed by specialised groups within the industry, often at the end of the manufacturing process.

However, making goods by hand comes with inbuilt QC. The creation process itself creates an intrinsic quality control, because the piece will have been laboured over and even tears may have been shed during its construction. Because the makers love what they do and have made a life choice, not just a career choice, to create handmade goods, the love, care and joy they have for their craft becomes associated with their work. The process of creation itself, ensures that the goods will be of the highest standard possible for that person.

The main difference, then, between handmade and manufactured is the human touch. The intrinsic link between the maker, the piece and the buyer, cannot be overstated.

This post is about how making something by hand, often means you have to make hard decisions to make sure that the joy, love and integrity of your work is retained and passed down to the person who buys it.

Making the Necklace: The Story Begins

Over the past few day I have been making  a necklace. The necklace was made by creating, sterling silver links. The links were formed by hand using pliers, into a looped shape, the ends of which were soldered to form closed loops. The links had to then be pickled and tumbled to clean them up and make them shine. This first part which included tumbling the silver links, took about a day and half for them to be ready for the next stage.

Once the links were ready, I then had to wire wrap the green moss agate beads onto the links. This was a laborious task and I kept getting back ache, so I did it over 2 sessions, each of which lasted around 2 hours. Finally I had the basis of the necklace and to complete it I added a hand-made extender chain (again made from linked that were forged: soldered, pickled and cleaned) and a clasp.

Once finished, I looked again at the necklace and there was just something not right about it.

The Hard Decision

I took it to my hardest critics (my family and friends). They all loved it and said it was a nice piece. Yet still, I didn’t like it and my dislike was growing. Now remember, this piece had taken a long time to make and used up my precious and expensive, starting materials. However, I continued to feel something wasn’t right and I just could not put my finger on why. I tried to look at the necklace from different viewpoints, using different lengths and trying it on, to find a feel for it, but still, I didn’t like it.

I have now had to make the hard decision to de-construct the necklace. And because the stones were wire wrapped onto the links, it means that the silver used to wrap the beads, will be cut off, making it unusable in that form: however it will be recycled. It’s a very hard decision to make and I havent come up with a replacement design for the links yet either, but it has to be done. I am very unhappy about it.

As the maker of the necklace I have to feel that I have done my best by the person who will ultimately own and wear the necklace. As the maker, the level of quality control that I apply to my designs, I believe, cannot possibly be equaled by a mass manufacturing company. Makers all over the world will understand why I have to essentially kill something I have created, because it does not feel ‘right’, even if everyone else says they like it. I have to imbue my pieces with my own confidence and assurance that they are what I meant to create and that I am proud to unleash on the buying public.

Fortunately, this doesnt happen to me too often!

For those interested you can see the necklace here – say goodbye!

Handmade all the way.

Another Blog Giveaway: A Necklace to Celebrate the Chinese New Year

The Chinese calendar is a true lunisolar calendar – i.e it incorporates phases of both the Sun and the Moon. In 2010 (or rather 4707) the Chinese new year begins on Valentine’s day or 14th February. This year is the year of the tiger.

Red is traditionally used during the new year celebrations to ward off bad luck and gold is used to attract good fortune.

So with this in mind, I have created a new blog giveaway using these colours, to celebrate the Chines new year and to bring the wearer good luck.

The piece I have created is a necklace.

It comprises a pendant, which hangs upon a  silk thong.

The pendant is made from sterling silver, hammered into a spoon shape and textured to add depth and dimension to the spoon. It is made up from 3 spoons and a central wire hanging down. The central wire has 5 red Swarovski crystal beads that represent the Wu Xing or 5 elements.

To enter the giveaway you need to leave a comment in my shadowbox which is located by clicking this link

IMPORTANT Its really IMPORTANT that you leave me an email address on the Etsy Stalker comment otherwise I wont have any way of contacting you.

I will then, on March the 1st, run the sequence generator widget on random.org (this gives me a timestamp to show when I have run it and the top number in the generated sequence is the winner, i.e. the number which equals the numbered comment on Etsy Stalker).

London will be celebrating the Chinese New Year, you can find out more about that here

The competition is open to worldwide users and I’m happy to pay the postage, but if you live outside the UK you’ll have to be responsible for any customs charges: although there shouldn’t be any as it’s a gift.

Pictures of the prize:

Chinese New Year necklace 1

Chinese new year necklace

Legal bit (sorry!):

By accepting a prize, all winners agree that the Host  will have no liability whatsoever for, and will be held harmless by winner for any liability for any injury, loss or damages of any kind, to winner or other persons, including (without limitation) injuries, loss or damages arising out of or relating to death, and, injuries, damages or losses to property, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prize or participation in this promotion.

The Sun God Has Risen

At last, I have finished the necklace ‘Homage to the Sun God‘, see earlier post.

The final stages included soldering the rays to the surface of the Sun – ironically you seemed to need temperatures that normally are only found at the centre of the Sun to get the things to bond!

The problem being that the disc is made from thick sterling silver and so was acting like a heat sink, allowing the heat to flow away from the solder. Took some doing, but eventually the solder flowed and the rays became part of the Sun.

In the meantime, I also created a bezel cup in which to sit the heliodor beryl gemstone. I decided that I would sit the beryl unconventionally, upside down, to have the effect of the sun’s flames coming out from the belly of the Sun. The bezel cup was slightly sunk into the Sun disc to house the beryl.

After that the next most difficult part was to clean up the disc, as I couldn’t tumble it, as the bezel housing for he beryl is quite delicate, so it became very laborious and took a number of goes with varying grades of wet and dry and then finally very fine wire wool and soap, to make the Sun shine.

I then drilled a hole into the Sun disc from which the Sun hangs via a silver hook to the chain.

After that the beryl was fitted into the cup and the necklace was complete and the Sun finally rose.

Here are a few images of it. I’ll be listing it on Etsy and Folksy very soon. What’s particularly nice about this necklace is that it can be word with the Sun pendant or without a chain on its own. So you can have your crazy pendant days or your much quieter chain only days.

Homage to the Sun God

me wearing the Sun God

A Different View of the Sun God Necklace