Through the Looking Glass - Cindy's Art & Soul

"I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again."
— Lewis Carroll (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass) 

Look closely you'll see water bubbling under the ice... cold, inspiring, sparkling icy water that used to feed the tiny birds that would flock to our yard in the summer months. Now still. 

Inspiring all things shiny and bright...

Wings of Hope.

Fine silver nugget earrings featuring winged hearts. 

 Newly listed at www.artandsouljewelry.com

 

Hip Chick Star Charm Earrings

First, does anyone know where Hip Chick has gone? I have loved her charms for... forever! I'll admit, I  stopped ordering a while back  when my jewelry designs went a different direction. But I still have a small personal collection I adore (horde).
 
Hip Chick beads & charms are sterling silver and have a rustic handcrafted appeal.



Today I bring you Hip Chick Star Earrings featuring small blue handcrafted ceramic beads by Cindy's Art & Soul Beads. (new sets coming soon!)

Wrapped in a thick gauge pure silver wire with tiny Indigo Swarovski crystals dangling below. 

Available at Art & Soul Jewelry...

Peace & love to you, 
today and always. 

Firey Carnelian Gemstone. Rusitic Silver Hoops.

Happy Halloween! 
So much going on today. 
Thank you for joining me!

In my last post I shared a leaf photo that had inspired me. And I never tire of looking at leaves in Autumn. I walk often and take a lot of photos. I took this one last week... 

The color of the leaves absolutely captivated me and still does. The rich hues of the reddish brown are stunning. Maybe that's why I've been wearing Carnelian all week. 

Carnelian gemstones have always been a go-to favorite of mine. The translucent colors can range from orange to reddish brown. These odd little nugget shapes often remind me of apples. 

According to my book the illustrated book of Healing Crystals, Carnelian is a very positive energy stone. "Carnelian is above all a crystal of personal happiness and fulfillment; if you believe in your unique talents and follow your personal goals rather than those set by others, you can achieve anything." Which I think goes for anything in life whether or not you wear gemstones! However, I do get a real sense of positive energy from this stone. 

Look for this set to be available with my next Art & Soul Jewelry shop update in about 2 weeks. TBA. 

Peace & Love, 

Horrible, Horrible, Autumn is here again.

Just kidding! What's not to love? I've never heard anyone say they didn't like Autumn. It's more often the favorite season. Especially for those who are fortunate enough to enjoy the colorful leaves this time of year. And, Pumpkin spice, anything. My favorite? Pumpkin spice yogurt covered pretzels. <3

All that and a welcome break from summers heat makes this the perfect time of year for me. Everything else is just icing on the cake. 

Including boots and scarves and all the rich autumn hues we can pull from the closet. 

sold

These earring feature handcrafted ceramic beads finished in a mossy green matte glaze; paired with rich Red Creek Jasper. I love wrapping in a thick, chunky fine silver and adding in rustic Hill Tribe silver for added character. Natural found beach stones dangle below. 

I have recently started a group on Facebook to offer supplies. I am downsizing my studio and will be offering a significant amount of my own handcrafted findings, and beads as well as my sea glass collection, other artist beads and commercial beads, findings and raw materials. 

Please join me and bring a friend. https://www.facebook.com/groups/643280319164605/ It's going to be GREAT!! I will be starting listings in the coming weeks. Lots, no... loads of beads. Beautiful beads... okay, do I have your attention now? 

Peace & love, 

  

The Bead Fest Weekend Storm That Never Was

A possibly historic storm was expected to hit Washington State last weekend. It was predicted to be second only to the 1962 Columbus Day storm.  I was 9 years old in 1962 (do the math) and I still remember the tremendous winds (wind gusts to 160 mph!). There was widespread loss of electricity, lots of structural damage and the roads were carpeted with branches and trees. 46 people in CA, OR and WA lost their lives.

1962

No cell phones in 1962!

This was not a good forecast for the Fall Bead Fest weekend!  I was not surprised that many people chose caution and stayed home, (not surprised, but still disappointed). The biggest storm impact was supposed to hit on Saturday afternoon.  Anticipating periods of low shopper traffic, I brought jewelry making supplies with me, on Saturday.

Although the "storm" turned out to be no worse than gusty rain, I did have some time to create new earrings.  Kristi Bowman and I had tables next to each other, so I thought I'd start with a pair of Kristi's marvelous colored copper components.

I topped the copper with some dyed turquoise mother of pearl flowers.  At the last moment I decided to thread in some faceted AB coated hematite. It was the perfect finishing touch.

I was pleased with how these turned out and despite the non-storm turn-out, I had a lot of fun at Bead Fest.  What could be better than being surrounded by beautiful beads for 3 days (& buying bunches of them), hanging out with beady friends, meeting folks that I had only known online and even meeting fellow Earrings Everyday blogger Cindy Pack for the first time!  Cindy is a Washingtonian too.  We've talked about meeting before, but have just never pulled it off before this.  It was so great to spend time with her in person!  So I'll leave you with this picture of Kristi, Cindy & I.

Left to right:  Kristi Bowman, Linda Landig, Cindy Pack

Linda Landig Jewelry

Into The Forest; Mossy Green with Raw Copper

So many reasons to love copper as a jewelry maker and also as someone who enjoys wearing  jewelry. 

It's the perfect fall color metal and pairs well with most Autumn-like colors. Including Mossy Green and Olive. My go-to colors of late. 

The charms are mill rolled with a heavy fabric to create a deep texture on raw copper. Hand cut, filed, sanded smooth and finally hammered for a gentle curve. Intertwined tiny raw copper hoops are torched fused, danging below. 

Mossy green Swarovski crystals sparkle in contrast to the rustic antique finish copper. 

These earrings were created with a matching necklace in mind. A common way jewelry is born or ideas spring, a continuing thought or inspiration spanning several types of jewelry. 

Molly, Hiking McKenzie River Trail, OR 9/13/16

And my biggest inspiration is of course... the forest. We love hiking here in WA and OR. We have a lot of great forests to explore and enjoy. This photo was taken last month hiking the McKenzie River Trail in OR. I just wanted to soak in all the green around me! It's very lush and grounding.  
 

These earrings along with the matching necklace are available in the Art & Soul Jewelry store today. 

Silver In All It's Glory _ Hoops Are For Any Day

I feel like silver doesn't really need any bead or color to be beautiful. It's quite lovely on it's own. And hoops are my personal go-to earring of choice. Different sizes for different occasions work wonderfully. 

Going to see Cheap Trick at the Amphitheater? Gimme the big swinging hoops! Going out to dinner with the family? Gimme the medium sized hoops! Going out to the grocery store and just need a little something on the ears? Gimme the tiny hoops. (I can sleep in those too!) Yes, I love hoops any time, any day. 

BTW, Cheap Trick is still fabulous in concert! 

I've had a HUGE amount of fun and immensely enjoyed this summer working on new jewelry for my shop. My big reveal is today! Finally, breathing easy for a day or two... taking a few days off, then I'll be back to it working on the next update! #ilovemyjob 

These are a few of the earrings I am offering in today's shop update: 

Big Silver Hoops_

Average Sized Hoops_

Tiny Hoops_

Of course you could wear these whenever you like! That's just my take on it!

Shop updates happening now.

 

 

Blast From The Past. Fused Hoops. Cindy's Art and Soul

I am still very busy working on new jewelry for my August 31st shop update. Therefore I am going to share some earrings I made about six years ago. They are being modeled by my beautiful daughter who magically makes them 100 times prettier! Don't you agree?

Interestingly (or not?) enough, back then I was naming all my creations in order to keep track and ID them. This set I named Molly which is the name of my dog now. (fun fact!) 

I am still very proud of this design and that is why I am sharing it today.

Created with pure copper and pure silver, the hoops are fused. Fusing occurs when the metal is heated to the point of being molten and thus does not need solder. Fusing copper can be tricky, but is so rewarding, for me. I adore the rich hues of this metal and the natural patina that begins even one day after polishing. 

See you in two weeks! 

Peace.

Basic Black Earrings Beach Stone Jewelry

What is the main color that fills your closet? Mine has a lot of black. I don't want to be that "emo" girl who always wears black but I am drawn to it. (no offense emo girls!) I love wearing black and it's easy to fit any other color with it, so it's a good go-to accessory & clothing color. 

These earrings are another take on my beach glass/stone earrings. The only two stones I found that were so beautifully smooth and really *black. All the other stones I collected on this day were some sort of gray. I really love the look and feel of these smooth stones. 

photo by Cindy Pack free for personal use

They pair well with the silver and add a nice contrast to the metal, even in it's rustic patina'd state. 

My original idea was to have the asymmetrical rings hanging side by side. But I was inspired by some of the many asymmetrical earrings I've seen here on the EE blog and I mixed it up a bit. I'm really pleased with how they came out. 

Part of my "Peace, Love & Rocks" Collection

http://www.artandsouljewelry.com/collections/peace-love-rock

Found black stones, handmade fine silver rings, 
and black stone beads from Alexanders Bead Bazaar (Seattle, WA). 

What's your go-to color? 

(original post date Oct 2014)

Raw Silver Post Stud Earrings

Feeling grateful for so many things today. For open windows with a cool breeze. Fresh air coming in. Tea this morning with a good friend. Laughs, smiles. My jewelry bench and tools. Being inspired. And also, for this blog. For all the sharing and inspiration.

Today's offering has been rattling in my head for days. I wanted to do some post dangles with small hoops and raw silver nuggets and this is what I came up with...

These earrings are .999 Fine Silver except for the posts and post nuts which are .925 Sterling Silver. 

This set is a nice light weight and I think they'll be great for everyday wear. I am very pleased with how they came out and plan on doing more in this style with gemstone dangles. Stay tuned..

Happy Spring! 

 

 

 

Star Spangled Woman Stone Earrings

Star Spangled Woman was the title to a piece of art I once entered into a juried art show here in town. I think I won, or got second place... but I like the title so I am stealing it for this set!

Like most women in my field I have a lot of irons in the fire and a stack of things to do each day. Writing for the EE blog is one of my favorite "jobs" I do twice a month. Struggling to keep up this week and posting late today with a very short (and sweet?) post!

These earrings were just born yesterday. Originally with more beads and much longer. I decided they were going to be too heavy. I snipped, snipped the wire into the recycled silver bowl and "revamped" them into this shorter set. It's a hard thing to do. To clip that wire... but sometime it's for the best. I am proud of my work and cannot put forth something I am unhappy with. So, it's all good!


Created with natural found stones from WA state, Pacific Coast beaches, thick gauge pure (.999) silver wire, silver nugget star charms and over sized silver-nugget ear wires of .925 sterling silver.


Love this set, love how they came together, the rustic look, the stars (I love star motifs!) and the shape of the stones couldn't be more perfect.


Do you like this set? What strikes you if anything about their look? Love to hear what you think, good bad or ugly!

much peace and blessings...

 P.S. Earrings will be up and available later today...

Of The Earth

Hiking at Cape Disappointment, WA 2012

It's winter here in WA state. The landscape is a lot of gray, and muddy browns. I'm not one that dislikes one season or another, one day over another.

Yes some are easier than others. Some more enjoyable. But I like to keep an open mind and take in all that my surroundings have to offer.

My jewelry work is largely inspired by nature and the beauty I can find there. No matter what the season, no matter what the weather.

Winter brings cold and rain and mud. It also brings green trees, red holy berries, water puddles for children to stomp! Just remember, it's all good.

Of The Earth. 

Silver, Gemstone, Ceramic Earrings, Art & Soul Jewelry

I found these gemstones at a bead show in Portland, OR. Purchased from Dava Bead & Trade. I clearly remember picking up the strand... mulling it over in my head. Why I should I buy these? They were on the $$$ side and they were mostly flawed stones.

The woman in the booth saw me and she must have read my mind because her words to me where that these stones are Of The Earth. Each one special and precious and the cracks and flaws are actually what make them beautiful. And I must have believed her because I bought them, and have loved them ever since!

None are matching. Yet I have still managed to make several great looking pairs of earrings with them. I love the facets, the deep brown color and how each one is unique. And yes, they are Of The Earth. How can that ever be bad?

Silver, Gemstone, Ceramic Earrings, Art & Soul Jewelry

I have wrapped them in .999 fine silver wire. And paired with some handmade ceramic beads finished with a two part brown and red glaze. Ear wires are hand forged, .925 sterling silver. Available at Art and Soul Jewelry.

I see this set with a soft, red, long sleeved sweater. Maybe a V neck or deep plunging neckline. A pair of soft brown corderory jeans and some tall boots. I'll leave that to your imagination.

Looking for handmade ceramic beads? Check in  with me the last week of this month! I will be offering sets of handmade beads! http://www.artandsouljewelry.com/

Peace & Love,

Winter Solstice in the Desert

Joshua Tree National Park, CA

I took a trip to the desert last week which happened to be Winter Solstice and a huge, full moon. I can't even begin the describe how beautiful and perfect it was. Both eye opening and jaw dropping gorgeous. 

At a glance the desert appears dry and lifeless but once you soften your view and relax you'll see it's teeming with life and magic. 
 
Just back home yesterday I wanted my next creation to reflect the colors, look and feel of the desert. Prickly plants, enormous rock formations, sandy earth, tall grasses, Joshua trees...

 

Joshua Tree Park, CA

 It's funny because I have always considered myself more of a mountain girl. But I've discovered that I truly love the desert, and I hope I am fortunate enough to go back one day.

Sterling silver earrings feature: disk charms- mill rolled with fabric, Agate stones dangling on ball tipped pins, Handcrafted ceramic beads and green Grossular Garnet gemstones, hand forged ear wires. 

Available at Art and Soul Jewelry. 

may Peace and Love be with you in the new year and always!