Jewelry makes a Great Gift
Adrian Fudge is now 4 weeks old and I can’t wait to get back to Seattle to hold him. Take a look at my last blog post and you will also see that I am not going to be able to have my yearly pre-holiday sale this year. I am already missing it but made the right decision for the present time. I am still making jewelry, as you will see below, and would still love to show it off.
If you are considering purchasing jewelry for gifts (or for yourself!) please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can come to my home to see it or I can pack it up to show at your house, a coffee shop, etc. It is fun for me to just show it off; you don’t have to feel any pressure to buy.
The turquoise necklace below is made from the stones I bought several years ago from a roadside vendor in New Mexico. The cut of the stones and the way they are graduated in size makes them unique to the 60’s/70’s when they were shaped.
Kingman Turquoise & Karen Hilltribe Silver
Garnet is my birthstone so I am particularly drawn to it. These tiny garnets are faceted and shiny so I put them in a beautiful tiny chain of sterling silver along with sterling silver droplets.
Faceted Garnet & Sterling Silver
In contrast to the tiny garnets, I found several beautifully set ammonite fossil slices from the Cretaceous Age (found in Madagascar). The chambers are really well defined in all of them. I placed one of the single ammonite pendants on braided leather with sterling silver leather ends and clasp. Others are on sterling silver chain. The second photo is of an ammonite slice paired with a large fresh water pearl and faceted smoky quartz. I think this looks great with a rolo chain of sterling silver and additional smoky quartz.
Ammonite pendant on braided leather
Ammonite slice, fresh water pearl and faceted smoky quartz
At least once a season I make a necklace from semi-precious stone nuggets because I love the colorful, larger size. They aren’t easy to find and I am always on the lookout. These green chrysoprase stones are one of my favorite “finds” at the Tucson Gem Show last winter. I think they look really good with the Java brass links that pull the rust colors out of the apple green
Chrysoprase & Java Brass
I highlighted the next 2 pendants in my last blog because I found the stone pairings unique and interesting. The first has a large, faceted, green amethyst, a moonstone and a druzy. A druzy is a coating of fine crystals on a rock fracture surface or within a geode. There are green amethyst earrings to match (see last blog). The second pendant has a larger moonstone with a fresh water pearl and faceted amethyst at the bottom. I have this hanging from a sterling silver chain at the moment. Never hesitate to ask if I can change the length or style of a chain, etc.; sometimes it is very easy to do.
Green Amethyst, Druzy & Moonstone
Moonstone, Pearl & Amethyst
The last necklace featured here is very different, for someone who likes a long necklace and an “earthier” style. I have made several necklaces from similar pieces of lapis lazuli set in silver and imported from Afghanistan and they have been very popular. The silver content is unknown but it is tarnished, giving it an antique look.
Lapis and Silver from Afghanistan
So enjoy the season, take extra time to sit in front of your fireplace, and let me know if you want to see anything “in person”. The colors are always better, you can feel the coolness and heft of a real stone, and you can try them on!
Need a Last Minute Holiday Gift??
I still have some inventory left after my annual pre-holiday home sale and last weekend’s sale at brother-in-law Dave’s Ponderosa Bar and Grill in Mazeppa. (I don’t know how he keeps his nachos from getting soggy; and his hamburgers are great!). Here are a few ideas if you still have gifts to buy. Hover over the photo to see a price and email me for more detail or purchase info. Here are a few ideas (most items in my gallery that list a price are also available). Come back in Jan/Feb to see new designs!
I buy lapis lazuli charms and links (above) from a man who returns to his native Afghanistan yearly, bringing back these unique set stones for me to make into necklaces. Many are vintage or antique. I wear a similar necklace and am always receiving compliments. Looks great with jeans, dressed up or down.
The enameling on these gorgeous beads was done in Russia (see detail below) and I showcase them in my necklace using gold vermeil chain.
The necklace on the right is a little more affordable but still has a little “bling”! It is made with lavender cubic zirconium and copper chain. This one can be worn as a long (36 inch) single chain or doubled as in the photo for a shorter necklace.
An updated classic look can be had with these gorgeous dyed blue fire agate beads that I hand-knotted with matching blue silk (20″ long).
If your recipient loves wearing yellow, consider this necklace with 3 strands of yellow jade and Java Brass.
I also have quite a few earrings for sale. The photo below is of my favorite type but only the green are left; these have been very popular! If you want earrings, let me know a color and/or style and I will send you photos of what is available.
Here are some fun and more affordable pieces with flowers made of glass and semi-precious stone.
My mother loved old sayings, one of them being “when pigs fly” so I have a heavy metal flying pig statue in my garden to remember my parents by. When I saw a handmade sterling silver flying pig on Etsy I had to use it in a jewelry piece and you can see the results below. What a great gift for someone with a sense of humor! The little heart is very unique, handcrafted and affordable at $22. Both pendants are designed and made by the husband and wife team at Oakhill Silver Supply and the necklaces are designed by me!
If you like the more offbeat, artsy jewelry, take a look at this one on the right …..The copper was shaped by an artist and torched to give it the wonderful colors.
The heart on the left is enameled by Sara Lukkonen of C-Koop Beads in Duluth.
And for inspiration over the coming year, take a look at what my daughter Kelly’s husband Jim designed for her! It was a fun collaboration as he brought an idea along with the stones he found at the North Shore where their wedding took place. He added Thomsonite found by family members and drilled the holes himself. I was left to figure out how to make his dream come true! My Nana’s crochet lessons came in very handy.
SAVE the DATE! November 4, 2012
Annual Pre-Holiday Sale: 1-4 PM
59 Birchwood Rd Mahtomedi, MN
If you live in Minnesota, come see the finished products from this year and learn how new materials were incorporated into this years jewelry. If you don’t live in town, contact me to see if what you like is available.
A sampling here…
New earring design with manufactured beach glass and sterling silver hand looped earwire:
Nuggets of lapis lazuli tumbled by photographer Jim Lane for debroberts jewelry:
Beautiful hand dyed silk ribbon found at l.a.s fibers on Etsy is perfect for the green glass pendant:
This artist made copper “flower” was found in a little bead shop in Tailor’s Falls, MN.
This one was the toughest – How to show off this beautiful copper wrapped piece of quartz made by a homeless-by-choice “hippie” couple (New Treasures June 2012) in a unique way…..
Come see these pieces and more! Hope to see you November 4th. If you don’t live in town, contact me to see if what you like is available.
People’s “Finds”
It is always great fun when people bring me things they find on their travels to see if we can come up with a way they can be worn. Sometimes it is a special bead they have been saving or a broken necklace that grandma owned. Often it is something found in travel and brought back to make into a necklace.
Deb traveled to Africa and returned with some gorgeous beads. She had the following designs in mind for them and they turned out beautiful….and I learned a new way to make a versatile necklace that can be worn long or short!
Deb was also in the right place at the right time when she acquired these beads from a family friend. These amethyst stones were featured in an earlier post from May titled “Behind the Scenes”. Here is the finished piece.
Another friend was hanging on to necklaces from her teen years that had stones she really liked but that were too tight. We came up with these designs so that she could wear the turquoise and amber again.
One of my more challenging orders was from my daughter Dana who found these dinosaur bones in a fossil shop. They had already been polished, shaped and drilled but the trick was how to show the pair off in a necklace without other stones. This brings back wonderful memories of my road trip with her through New Mexico.
This last necklace was designed around a beautiful piece of Red Rock that a Utah native had hand carved, polished, and drilled using primitive tools and techniques. My friend brought it back with her from a memorable hiking trip in Utah’s famous canyons on Utah’s famous red rock. A few very nice pieces of turquoise and a decorative sterling silver bail add to the design.
Photos of Custom Pieces
I doubt you will be surprised to hear that I dream about necklaces! I often go to sleep with a design or fabrication problem to solve and wake up with the solution.
I also think a lot about pieces that I love and have no photos of. Many of these pieces were custom made in collaboration with old and new friends.
I am now collecting photos from the owners of these pieces and posting them on my Custom page. I think you will agree that there is a lot of talent out there — great ideas, fun colors, and novel use of materials and shapes.
I learn so much through my custom work. Please keep challenging me with your ideas and keep the photos coming! Thank you to all –
Deb
Deb Roberts Jewelry 