I’ve Got the Summer Blues

Recently, I’ve been totally captivated by the blues. Not low vibe depressing blues – rather bright, fun, SUMMER’S HERE kind of blues! I’m sure that was inspired by the lovely sleeping beauty turquoise I recently got in. It’s so very enchanting to me. Serene and uplifting all at once. It leaves me wanting to feel the sand between my toes, the sun at my back, the sunglasses on my face and a cold Pensacola Bushwacker in my hand. Let’s just say I was inspired and wanted to share the results of my inspiration.

I really adore this first piece. It’s one of my favorites to date. Another piece from my ‘Peace of the Beach’ line with real sand from the Florida Gulf Coast (collected from my children’s sand castle toys after our last beach adventure) fired into the sand dunes. The fine silver cloisonné jewel came out perfect (if I do say so myself) and the hand-forged chain includes the most incredible dreamy blue sleeping beauty turquoise ever! I am in love with this shade of blue. It’s a perfect compliment to the beryl blue waters in the cloisonné jewel.

Peace of the Beach

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192070732/pensacola-beach-scene-cloisonne-necklace?ref=shop_home_feat_3

You may remember my Blue Fish Jewel from a few months back. I finally decided to transform him from jewel to jewelry. I’m hooked on that sleeping beauty turquoise. Have I mentioned that? First the jewel before it was set.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/191456077/blue-fish-cloisonne-on-forged-silver?ref=shop_home_feat_2

Of course, I had to make some earrings and rings with it too.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192073990/sleeping-beauty-blue-turquoise-and?ref=shop_home_feat_4

One that I REALLY loved that went very quickly was my Mermaid’s Dance. I also made this jewel several months back and waited for the proper inspiration to strike to set it. I just didn’t have the vision back then, but it recently came to me and I love the way it turned out. Big shout out to Doretha of Dr. Meow Jewelry for loving it as much as I did and snapping it up before I decided to keep it for myself! I am always complimented when a talented jeweler collects one of my pieces – and Doretha is a VERY talented jeweler! So here’s the jewel before it was set:

And here’s the jewel after it was set. I didn’t get a picture of the chain she was on, but it’s the same style of hand-forged chain as above, only with small freshwater pearls in place of the turquoise shown in the other pictures. I love how it turned out, don’t you?

Thanks for stopping by for this edition of Delia’s Show and Tell. 🙂 Remember you can find my work in my Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/deliasstones?ref=l2-shopheader-name

New Line: Stackables!

One of my goals for 2014 is to expand my ring offerings. I’ve just begun to build a new line of mix and matchable, fun and stackable simple but stylish rings at affordable prices. You can buy one at a time, picking just the right ones for you, or buy them in sets and save. I’ll be offering them in a variety of metals, with a variety of embellishments but for now my line begins modestly. They can be collected one ring at a time, or in sets of three or more.

Sterling Silver Rings start at $12 individually:
Buy here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/180188686/minimalist-rings-sterling-silver?ref=listing-shop-header-1

Gold Brass Rings start at $10 individually (rose gold-filled and yellow gold-filled rings to come):
Buy Here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/180202175/stackable-ring-jewelers-gold-textured

Or pick a pre-arranged set!
Buy here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/180153262/mixed-metal-stacking-rings-set-of-six?ref=shop_home_feat_4

Buy here:https://www.etsy.com/listing/180195645/stackable-mixed-metal-rings-set-of-six?ref=shop_home_active_1

This line will soon expand to include various other metals including copper in various patinas, rose gold fill and yellow gold. A variety of embellishments from leaves and hearts to stamped and personalized focals on the ring will also be available in the weeks to come. I will also be adding a line of stackable bangles that include both metal and enameled focal elements. Stay tuned. New inspiration ensures many new eye candy offerings to come!

A Peace of the Beach

It’s been a while since I’ve shared some of my recent cloisonné work. As a matter of fact it’s been a while since I’ve made any. I received a custom order for a special piece from a fellow artist a while back. As consuming as cloisonné work can be, once I go into the cycle I try to create several jewels, usually in the same color scheme (with a little variation here and there). Monika wanted one of my beach scenes to remember her beloved beaches here on the Emerald Coast to take back with her to New Jersey. The beaches are so incredibly beautiful and healing here that it takes little effort to settle into a feeling of absolute peace as you sit upon the white quartz sand being caressed by the breeze and listening to the gulf waters lick the shoreline. Miami boasts the most beautiful beaches in the world – but we actually have them here in the Panhandle. I have direct experience with both and there is absolutely no comparison. That why even though we are a sleepy little town, we are a huge vacation destination for those ‘in the know.’

With Monika’s custom order I finally had a good excuse to carve out some time to create more cloisonné. Knowing that this piece had meaning for Monika I decided to offer to fire some actual beach sand into the sand dunes, to add a piece of the beach to her peace of the beach. I had successfully done this a while back, inspired by the remnants of beach sand left on my children’s beach toys in the corner of the garage. Monika loved the idea of course and ‘Monika’s Peace of the Beach’ was born.

While working on her cloisonné, I created a few others which I’d like to share. Some have been set, but most are unset as of yet. I shared most of these on facebook recently but there are a few that were not shown there at the time. All of the beach scenes have white quartz sand from the Gulf Coast fired into the dunes. Not just any sand mind you, but sand infused with the joy of children playing by the shore. No extra charge for the good vibes. 😉 Take notice that I have begun signing my cloisonné jewels where possible. Clever me! :::flutters eyelashes:::

I also wanted to create another ring with the ‘Peace of the Beach’ theme with the sand fired into the dunes for the ring lovers. This one was just set as I couldn’t stand to wait another moment to see it done. I love it. I made the ring band adjustable so it can fit from size 7 to size 8 1/2.

One thing that doesn’t seem to show up as beautifully as it is when the piece is in hand are the shimmering waves in the waters. This shot provides a pretty good view of the shimmering waves but still doesn’t capture the full effect. They shimmer like an opal when the jewel moves. Excuse the glare on the jewel. It really is quite tricky to photograph anything glass.

I love them all, what do you think?

P.S. Remember my 50% off sale is still going on in my etsy store for all tutorials until Friday. Use code Happy2014 at checkout for the discount. 😉