Reticulated and Recycled Silver

It's been a while since I played with reticulation silver. Reticulation silver is a combination of sterling and copper so that when you heat the metal, the different melting points of sterling and copper create a tiny network of wrinkles in the surface of the metal. I like to layer the reticulation silver with little melted beads of recycled sterling silver that I heat fuse to the surface.

sterling silver, reticulation silver, blue chalcedony, and patina

I had forgotten how much I like the effect until I recently saw one of my customers wearing this one-of-a-kind ring that I had created for her in 2010. It's actually one of my favorite pieces to date!

Last week, I created a handful of new pendants and earrings using the reticulation technique. Some of the pendants already sold at the Arts Around the Lake show at the University of Richmond last Sunday, but the remainder will be available this weekend at Occasion for the Arts show in Williamsburg, VA.

I hope you can make it to the show!

SILVER LEAF NECKLACE now on ETSY!

You may have seen my Silver Leaf Earrings online (or perhaps you are one of the lucky few, who own a pair) but have you seen my Silver Leaf Necklace yet?  If you see me in person, then the answer is probably "yes", because I wear mine all the time.  I've been keeping this treasure to myself for some time, but I've recently decided to release this lovely design in my Etsy shop!  Previously, I only made a couple of these pendants to sell at shows, but now you can win one on Etsy!

My Silver Leaf pendant is effortlessly graceful, hanging 1.5 inches in overall length. The width of the pendant is about 3/4 inch at it's widest point. Each pendant is entirely handmade and comes with a matching sterling silver ball chain. Hand built from scratch, I use both fine (.999) and sterling (.925) silver. Lovely and organic, the silver leaf is highly textured and reflects light beautifully! A hand-applied satin finish helps the details sing!

This pendant was designed to coordinate with my Silver Leaf Earrings. The Earrings come in two lengths: 

Extra Long: https://www.etsy.com/listing/51924067/silver-leaf-earrings-extra-long-sterling

 and Medium Long: https://www.etsy.com/listing/91103538/silver-leaf-earrings-medium-long

Brand New Ring-A-Ling

Between home renovations and a nice, full slate of massage appointments these past few weeks, my little hands have been very busy... just not in the jewelry studio.  Finally last Friday, between working on a custom Captured Collection piece and hammering out some earrings that sold to a lovely customer on Etsy, I was able to carve out a few moments to create a fun, new ring!

And here she is...

I constructed this ring from sterling silver and set it with a 5 mm round pink tourmaline cabochon (October birth stone). This one of a kind ring fits a U.S. size 8 finger.

Now available for purchase in my Etsy shop!

Lepidopterans in my Shop

So for the last few years I have been using resin in my jewelry to encapsulate organic materials such as birch bark, moss, flower petals and lichens. (You can view my entire "Captured Collection" here). Last fall I found a few discarded butterfly and moth wings and have been excited to try my resin technique on them.

Sterling Silver, Resin, and Butterfly Wing

Sterling Silver, Resin, and Moth Wing remnant

Sterling Silver, Resin, and Buckeye Moth Wing

If these lovely Lepidoptera pendants make your heart flutter, be sure to catch one before they all fly away.  Each piece is one of a kind and available in my Etsy shop now.

By the way, I'm getting ready to email a top-secret coupon code for my newsletter subscribers only.  If you do not already receive my newsletter and would like to, be sure to sign up by clicking the text "Subscribe to my Newsletter" in the column on the right side of this page.  I only email about 4 newsletters per year, but each one contains show schedule updates, new product info, and exclusive coupon codes for subscribers only.

Sign of the Times or Just Bad Timing?

It’s that busy time of year again when the weather turns cool and the fall show season runs hot for Dream Spiral Art Jewelry. I just had my first two shows of the fall season – Arts Around the Lake (one of my favorite local shows, held at the University of Richmond campus) and Arts on the Grove (a sweet, little show hosted by the 7th Street Christian Church on Grove Ave).

All in all the first two shows were a great success. My only lament is that almost $300 worth of jewelry was stolen during these two shows. One of the “taken ones” was a one of a kind ring that I cast in recycled silver and set with a faceted ruby.

Have you seen me? I am one of a kind and I’m missing.

Missing. Last of my kind.

I was part of a limited Dream Spiral Art edition.

I was stolen, too.

Limited Edition Ring. Now there is only 1 left.

Stealing is wrong, no matter how you rationalize it. But it makes me very sad that someone would steal from an artist.

Each of the tiny treasures that I create holds a tendril of my soul. I design and fabricate each piece of jewelry from beginning to end, nurturing an idea from seed to tree. Everything is created by hand. I use only high quality materials, recycling metal whenever possible. There is integrity in my work. Most of my pieces require hours of labor to perfect and produce – there is usually sweat and aching forearms, sometimes blood when my jeweler’s saw slips from metal into flesh.

When you purchase a piece of jewelry from me, you are purchasing a piece of my story, a piece of my heart and soul, hammered into a precious metal keepsake. That is the journey of handmade.

Mine is a labor of love.

It is also how I keep food on the table, clothes on my back, and heating oil in the ravenous furnace at this old farmhouse.

I love doing shows because I have the opportunity to meet and form face to face connections with my lovely clients, to whom I am eternally grateful. I also love selling online in my Etsy Store as it provides me the opportunity to connect with people across the globe and to sell year round, day or night, regardless of weather. However, in the last 2 years, I have experienced more theft at shows than I did in my first 10 years combined. Is the increase in theft a sign of the times or just bad timing?