Back at it!

It's been far too long of a lull....I was in Quebec for five weeks with very sketchy internet connection. Then busy creating new pieces and re-photographing all the items in my Etsy shop lechiennoirjewelry.etsy.com.

Now back in the city and have FINALLY gotten around to the long-promised jewelry studio tidy. Pictures to prove it will follow shortly....

In the meantime, here are a few of the pieces I made this summer. Hope you like them!

More fold forming

I think fold forming has to be one of the most intriguing activities in jewelry making. It's kind of hard to picture how your piece of metal will turn out after you've folded it, bent it, hammered it a lot, annealed it over and over, then opened it up and played with it a bit more. I'm taking a course at the moment and fold forming was what we did the first class. Lots of fun - and surprises!

Here's a pair of earring I made in copper, with several folds, lots of hammering and a verdigris patina at the end:

Very rustic and sculptural....more to come!

My new baby....

I've been wanting to get a large stump for my studio for ages now. Great for hammering on, putting my big vice on, etc. The problem was, in the city, it's not easy to come by them. Well, I just drove down to the family farm in Quebec for the weekend and have come back with the greatest cedar log ever, which is now sitting in my studio. It's just gorgeous and I'm a happy girl!!!

It's so nice to have a piece of the farm here in Toronto...I'm feeling very lucky!

Today is the first anniversary of my shop, Le Chien Noir Jewelry, on Etsy!!! I'm celebrating by offering 15% off everything in my shop through this Friday, June 1. Enjoy!

Dog stone ring

This is one of the most amazing stones I've come across. It's a manganese agate with a naturally occurring image of a dog. Given my love of dogs, not to mention the name of my shop, I had to have it. Here it is, before I set it, and in its new setting:

I'm quite smitten! Got the agate from CabAddicted, another supplier I love.

The forgotten chalcedony

Here's the ring I forgot to include, in the past week's ring-making frenzy. It's a gorgeous rose-cut aqua chalcedony, 10mm.

Just love this stone! It's from one of my top stone suppliers, Fabby Dabby Stones, in Norway. Thanks again, John!

On a ring roll

OK, I admit it: rings are my thing. They're my favorite thing to make. I absolutely love the process of choosing the perfect, inspiring stone, deciding what to do with it, then putting it all together. Here are a few rings I've made this week:

Top to bottom, they are blood jasper, aventurine, apatite and mystic topaz. All in sterling. Enjoy!

Spring inspiration

Just loving the fresh green that's bursting out everywhere, not to mention the gorgeous flowering trees (cue: teen eyerolls)! Here are a couple of pieces I've made with spring and summer on the brain - a ring from beautiful English sea glass and some fresh peridot drop earrings:

Have also been making an assortment of sterling silver bands with wedding season in full swing. All great inspiration! Enjoy!

Spring blossoms

So I finally have taken my first flower shots with my amazing Canon macro lens I've reserved for my jewelry photos. Here are the results - I suspect more practice is in order...

I love the exploring ant! Lots of fun....

Just spent a long weekend in NYC, always a great source of inspiration for jewelry making and everything else, for that matter! So much going on. Loved the ferry to Brooklyn - hope it's not cancelled.

Here's a necklace I've made since we got back:

A stack of silver

Here's a little stack of sterling rings I made:

Love how you can vary the look by wearing them in different combos. Fun to play with! Also made this band with gypsy-set little 2mm peridots:

I have spring on the brain....pale greens, bright silver and freshness! Happy weekend!

Experiments with Keum Boo

Summer temps in Toronto today! Going up to 24C. What happened to spring?

I've always loved gold and silver together and have just completed my first experiments with the ancient Korean technique of Keum Boo. It involves bonding 24 karat gold foil to fine silver using heat and pressure. It was so much fun to do and I love the results! I think I'll be doing lots more of it....So far, have made two pairs of earrings:

Pyramid power...

I recently created a sterling pyramid ring for a client using the lost-wax casting method. Lots of fun!!! I carved it in wax initially, then brought it downtown to have it cast in sterling silver. I actually made two of them and I'm quite happy with the results:

Also did some rustic little sterling post earrings:

These were fun to make as well. Involved a fair bit of sawing and soldering.

A really strange thing happened in my Etsy shop today. Yesterday, I had a typical number of visitors (103) and favorites (36). Today...for no apparent reason, I've so far had 1,293 visitors and 149 favorites. I'm quite baffled by this and would love to find out how this happens....And clues??

Ruby Tuesday?

Sorry - I couldn't resist....I've recently made a few pieces with rubies I had on hand. One's a lovely oval cabochon that's a beautiful deep magenta. It now lives, bezel-set, in this simple, slightly rustic ring:

Next, I made sterling and fine silver bezel settings for these two rough, organically shaped ruby nuggets, also a deep, lovely magenta:

I got these nuggets from a supplier in Valencia, Spain: Gems Beautiful I seem to have rubies on the brain....Enjoy!

Peridot Sterling Nugget

Now, this was fun to make! First, I recycled some of my sterling scraps by melting them into an orb shape. I cleaned that up a bit - not too much, because I like the slightly rough texture it ends up with. Then, I drilled and prepared the hole to flush set the 4mm faceted peridot in. Next, I formed a round wire sterling shank and soldered it to the back of the nugget, cleaned up all the silver, then - my favorite part!!! - set the stone. I gave it a satin finish with some light abrasive, et voila!

Leaf imprint and opal rings

I've been really busy with my other work, so haven't had as much time as I'd like for jewelry. Still, managed to do a wide sterling band with leaf imprint and a rectangular opal set in sterling with a rustic finish.

Love the detail in the leaf print - oxidized it to really bring out that detail. Also adore the gorgeous blues in this opal!

Meanwhile, it's gorgeously warm and spring-like here - up to 25 celsius today! Happy spring!

World travels

One of the things that's so interesting and wonderful about having an online Etsy shop is the international nature and possibilities of connecting with people from anywhere! I love that my pieces have now found homes across the US and Canada, as well as Sweden, Malaysia, Portugal, Scotland, Afghanistan and Australia. This could never have happened not so long ago. Very exciting - really makes it feel like a small world!

Here are a few things I made this weekend - some more feather imprinted sterling earrings and some small freshwater pearl earrings wrapped in sterling wire and hung from sterling earwires:

Also made another carnelian ring. This cab is 8mm high and a nice oval:

Little opal ring

I'm in love with opals, I admit it! This is a particularly pretty sea blue one, with green and pink shimmer. It comes from I Want That Rock on Etsy. I set it in fine and sterling silver bezel setting on a round sterling band.

 Just love the depth of the colors! Also did these fun earrings out of sterling sheet that I imprinted with a feather in my rolling mill. It's very subtle, but I love the results! I oxidized them to bring out the detail.

I'm hard at work on a big editing job, so not enough time for jewelry....Will get back at it soon!

Weekend fabrication

It's sunday night and we're just gearing up for the new week. Managed to get some jewelry time in this weekend, amid hanging out with teens, doing chores, walking dogs and life in general....First up is a carnelian and sterling necklace - a deep, rich orange that brings to mind the Fanta orange soft drinks of my youth. If, like me, you didn't like cola, Fanta orange was it!!! This orange is slightly less zingy, but equally colorful and cheerful!

Next up is a green onyx and sterling ring. The onyx is such a lovely deep emerald green and a gorgeous cushion cut.

Finally, I made a small, delicate garnet and sterling ring. I find it very pretty, with its deep wine color and bright sterling.

Happy Monday all!