Spring Fever

What a wonderful bout of weather we are having! But, I know I have to be realistic. Living in Wisconsin and Michigan all my life, I know that this is just a teaser and we can still have very cold days up until the beginning of June! But, the milder temps must be inspiring me to work with some very natural materials: stone, wood, ceramic, leather.

I made my very first purchase from Stone Studios Too last month, when a male friend of mine asked about men's jewelry. He lives in Colorado and is a rock climber so the first thought that popped into my head when he asked for a necklace were these stones. I cut out a copper tag and put a few different rivets into it for the pendant. Then I decided to try riveting one of the stones to it. I had the first stone all attached, and was just refining the edges of the rivet (with my little hammer) and.... it cracked and broke. So, I had to find another stone the lined up with the holes that were already in the copper. That one also broke in the process of attaching it. I was determined not to give up, because I was so excited about this idea. Third times a charm and this was the outcome. The rivet edges are not as soft and flush as I wanted them to be, but I did not want to risk breaking another stone. I linked up several of the stones and then completed the necklace with brown leather. It was a hit!

I had a few of the drilled stones left over, and saw that they coordinated well with this Jade Scott pendant. Very soft, muted colors.... very springy.... with Vintaj chain and clasp. I got a kick out of this copper and resin pendant that Jade made - the text in the background says nonconformist and the bird is too cute!

Some more recent Etsy purchases have been from Lisa Peters. This peacock feather/dream button has been attached to a leather cuff bracelet. The blank leather was the perfect canvas for a hand burned design. Now listed on Etsy.

And here is another goodie from Lisa - a ceramic owl - which I "framed" in a dark wood rectangle. The flat round glazed ceramic beads matched the glaze she used on him perfectly. And I love the mod look of the dark wood oval beads tapering down and having the round in between them. The ceramic button used for the clasp is also from Lisa. Also listed on Etsy.