A new, improved "unabashed" 33 pendant!

To quote one of my least favorite pop tarts... …“oops, I did it again!”

Another “unabashed” #33 Clint Bowyer pendant. Copper, brass and sterling rivets. All cold connection. Made the numbers a little neater, different texture and treatment to the copper. I left it all unantiqued to let it develop a patina on its own. Of course the wearer could keep it looking as fresh as a newly minted penny by giving it a periodic cleansing in ketchup to keep the tarnish off. :)

 Slightly different treatment on the copper. The numbers were derived from an actual typeface rather than a rough sketch like my original “unabashed” pendant. Still it conveys the spirit of the piece, and the wearer would get a lot of attention from it.

This is the backside view of the piece showing how the rivets look. They shine up kinda pretty, like a constellation. Its the Clint Bowyer constellation, baby! Oh yeah! Rising star!!

Couple New-ish pieces

Another fun use for the Skull design I created some time back… earrings!

This time I cut the skulls out of copper, and riveted them to brass using sterling wire. Details were added to the skulls using the Dremel engraver. I polished the entire thing to a high shine, then decided to dip them into liver of sulfur to give them that antiqued look.

My friend and occasional coworker commissioned me to make this necklace for his mom for Christmas. Since she is a big fan of the Grateful Dead we decided a Peace symbol would be appropriate. After some trial and error, then going off in a direction that I needed to steer my way back out of, this is the result:

 Woven peace symbol on a hammered frame. Copper wire, with amethyst, laboradorite, carnelian, sunstone & moonstone. All the stones tie in astrologically with the members of the family. Ended up making the chain too, because pairing this piece with a commercially made chain looked, well, wrong. Wasn't originally part of what I was going to make, but it was a matter of pride, and since both my friend and his mom are both really good people, worth the extra effort.

Multiple shots, because I'm experimenting with different ways of photographing my jewelry to see what showcases it the best for the pieces that will be posted on ArtFire soon.

Makes me glad I've held on to these crystals over the years. 

Plain white background is ok, but I'm still at a loss on photographing a piece without any "props". Ah well, its all a learning process.

33 pendant: “Unabashed”

Valli Hilaire of The Fast and the Fabulous referred to me as an “unabashed Clint Bowyer fan” in her blog entry “To Infineon and Beyond”. Had the opportunity to meet that wonderful woman at Infineon Raceway on June 18.

And its true! I have other drivers I like, but Clint is my favorite.

Only drawback is, there is an absolute lack of really cool #33 jewelry out there. I kept threatening on the forum that I would make my own. I finally made good on that threat:

Copper & brass with sterling rivets. This was the experimental piece, and I have other ideas in mind for the future…whatever number(s) I end up putting on it (them).

Notice all the scratches in the numbers? I kinda lost my temper at this piece at one point, took my file to the brass in a not so loving way. Was having a little issue with the rivets. Almost chucked this piece in frustration. My jewelry instructor basically told me to get over myself and keep at it. I'm glad he did. Future versions won't bear the scars like this one… unless of course somebody orders one that way.

And a slightly less “dramatic” looking shot of this:

Hmmm, too bad its 3 in the morning… I want to go make another one RIGHT NOW!

Some Odds & Ends (Catching Up)

I’ve been neglecting my blog lately, so here's a few new projects to catch up with:

Skull charm. Cut out of brass sheet metal, engraved & polished. My husband claimed this one as soon as he saw it:

Thumb ring. Used loose woven emery cloth and a rolling mill for the texture. Comfort fit (rounded inside, much more comfortable than the “flat” bands):

My very first bezel setting. Cross stone cabochon. Soldered all the links on the chain too:

Working with Connie Tescar’s Sleeping Tree tutorial (for my mom). More of these in the works:

A different variation of Connie’s Tree of Life:

Learning a new weaving technique. A pair of earrings using the wonderful tutorial provided by Nancy Wickman:

I’ve also finally gotten a few items photographed that I will be posting on Etsy. Stay tuned for that!