Really Old :)

Hello! Our Dear Ms. Meridy is unable to be here this morning. She'll be back on her regular schedule two weeks from now.

These earrings are made with authentic Ancient Glass beads, and Antique Ostrich Egg Shell Beads. The glass these beads were made with, if not the beads themselves, was made along the River Niger and excavated in Mali. They’re referred to as Nila beads, or Dardig beads, and are 600 to 1000 years old, if not older. I have and had a good amount of Ancient Roman Glass. These beads are different. Their age is clearly seen in every bead I see and hold. I didn’t think I’d use them, wanting to keep them in my collection. But once I started, I knew it was not going to happen. They are incredible to work with.  I am always attracted to the old, things with history, and love combining them in my own way with my version of "today's" jewelry. Both sets of beads were purchased from the Rita Okrent Collection. The owner of the Collection, Jocelyne, the daughter of collector and artisan Rita Okrent, may be out of town but the shop is open. It may just take some time for her to respond should you message her. She has unique items.

There are three different pairs here. The remainder I made from 16 gauge wire, wrapped the tops in a thinner wire. They've been hammered a bit, etc.

I wish you all a super day, today and every day!

norbel
SheFliesAgain😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄

In Praise of Color! 💗

I enjoy designing and making jewelry for a lot of reasons.  I love following the spark of a creative idea and enjoy learning and using techniques that allow me to make new kinds of things.  I enjoy the feel of wire-wrapping and, even more, the back-and-forth rhythm of a knotting project.  I also love scrolling through my favorite haunts on the net for new art beads and components (well, who doesn't?).

But, even though it's sometimes hard to point to exactly what inspires me to design something, it's almost always color or a colorway that grabs me first.  Color is powerful:  It energizes us, soothes us, nourishes the part of our being that knows and responds to beauty.  

I've had a wonderful relationship over the years with the talented jewelry artisan Helena Benkoczka of Areto Beads and Jewellery, who makes gorgeous jewelry and components in multiple media.  But I've particularly loved working with her vibrantly colorful polymer clay earring charms, and I thought for today's blog post I'd introduce my newest pair of earrings made with Helena's components as well as share a few of my earlier earrings made with her colorful earring beads.  It's a Feast of Color for the Eyes!

Blue-Sky Days

                                      

With components as colorful

as Helena's (including these, left), my urge is to really go with it by using beads (lampwork, glass seed beads, and copper), fiber, and even ear wires that play up the colors, in this case, the orange and teal. 

Pink Champagne

These earrings (above) were made with Helena's teardrop components, a shape I grew

to love because they're perfect for adding colored rings and bead dangles 

for movement and even more color.  These are some of my favorites. 💗 

Fruit and Vine

These teardrops (left) are such a blast of color, and the earrings were SO much fun to make.  With seed beads on top and dangling from the purple aluminum rings, Czech Saturn beads, and little lampwork glass slices in a grassy green to match the waxed cord, and green niobium ear wires.

Colored Feathers, Colored Stone

This pair (right), more recent, starts with a vibrant pair of Helena's teardrops that have so many colors that I chose just two colors to use in my earrings:  purple and magenta (magenta and purple lampwork beads, purple Czech rondelles, magenta cord, purple rings, and tiny magenta seed beads).

Summertime Mandalas

The vibrant floral earrings above are brand-new--I couldn't resist the lush colors of Helena's gorgeous mandala components!  I hung lots of little beads from sterling silver rings, including pink agate rounds, tiny faceted pacific blue apatite rounds, silver rondelles, faceted dyed purple jade rounds, and turquoise blue magnesite rounds, finishing each beaded dangle with tiny sterling silver drops.  They have a Summer of Love sort of vibe, I think.  ;) 

Thanks for reading, everyone!  I'll be back again in a couple of weeks.  💗

xo
Meridy

My shop

My FB page

Classic Bohemian Girl

I've been on "Standby Service" for the Sacramento Superior Court all this week and have been checking the court's website every evening after 5 p.m. to see if they want me to report to Court the following day.  So far, I haven't been called in, so I've been catching up with projects I haven't finished and have been digging into the serious mess that is my studio.  It's like a treasure hunt when you clean up, and I struck gold when I found a little bag containing these meltingly pretty polymer clay teardrop charms by Helena Benkoczka of Areto Beads and Jewellery.  

So, with an eye to an imminent spring (and then a hot summer), I decided to use Helena's pretty charms to make one of my favorite fiber-wrapped designs, one I've made many times.  I love this design and enjoyed gathering the ingredients:  pretty purple Czech glass Saturn beads, turquoise Czech glass discs, little purple faceted rondelles (also Czech glass), and 8/0 purple-lined seed beads.

I hadn't made a wrapped design in a while, so I especially enjoyed the wrapping part of making these earrings: the tension needed to keep the beads at the top straight and strong, then the precise wrapping at the tops of the charms, adding the tiny 15/0 beads that nestle inside the teal rings, tying the thread off at the back, and covering the thread with matching colored paper and glaze.

Interestingly enough, as I'm finishing my blog post, I find out that I have to report to Court tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.  I guess duty calls!

Thank you so much for reading!  I love you guys, and I'll see you all again in two weeks.  💗

xoxo
Meridy

My shop

My FB page

Quiet Moments and Elegance

As we've been simplifying our life for the 15 months, we've been even more aware of the preciousness of special moments. There's a certain softness and peacefulness that moves into this type of life transformation.

Winter peacefulness - Photo: Nathalie Lesage

It can be a scenery, a glimpse of something surreal, a feeling of a magical moment. When we collect too many physical things, it takes space not only in the space surrounding us, but it also takes up space in our mind.

In a world where we're encouraged with every single commercial on TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, online adds, etc, to 'consume' 'consume' 'consume'... more, more, more, it's good to take a break and re-evaluate what we truly need. Turns out there's a lot of things we don't need at all.

Less is more.

So in that theme, I've decided to design this simple pair of earrings:

The blue-flash Labradorite gemstones remind me of the picture (above) that I took on one of our road trips up North. I've set these gemstones on a pair of lilac drop shape Amethyst gemstone sterling silver headpins (with the cute little trio of dots/detail at the bottom) that I've been hoarding for many years. I only have a couple more.

Although it's hard to see the color of those Amethyst gemstones, the Swarovski Crystals that I've suspended on the Anodized Aluminum rings are the same color... a soft lilac, cool and peaceful.

At the top, I've used a pair of handmade Polymer Clay beads (wavy textured croissants beads, in black and silver) made by the love of my life, my husband Darren :)

Long, Lightweight, Slender, Simple, Quiet Elegance that catches the light... you have to stop and take the time to get a glimpse of the blue flash in the Labradorite when the light hits them 'just so'. It's like a little secret that only a select few will get to enjoy.

Do you have any plans to lighten up your surroundings this Spring? Try it and see how it feels!

Wishing you a peaceful and quiet relaxing day!

Thank you very much for stopping by :)

You can find these earrings in my Etsy shop HERE.

Cheers,
Nathalie Lesage
My Garden Of Love on Etsy
The Crafty Tribe on Etsy

Ethereal Greenery

Ethereal: (adjective) extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world: her ethereal beauty. Heavenly or spiritual.

I truly love Pantone's 2017 color of the year "Greenery" and the gorgeous color palettes derived from it. One particularly caught my eye:

Ethereal Color Palette - Click on image to go to the Pantone website to see all of them.

The Caramel Cafe (sounds like my favorite kind of flavored coffee drink!), Rich Gold, Dull Gold, and add some Greenery to the mix and I ended up with these:

I designed these earrings around a pair of my Handmade Polymer Clay diamond shaped charms. I used some green and dull gold, and inserted a round gold-tone stud in the middle. The texture and dots add visual movement, a bit of a vortex maybe?

The caramel cafe is represented in the pretty wood beads, the Anodized Aluminium jump rings, and hypoallergenic Niobium ear wires. You'll find a hint of the Caramel Cafe also in the Green Czech glass beads, they are two-tone, and I just love how the light gently shows the hint of caramel color amidst the greenery. The airiness and colors give these earrings a bit of an ethereal feel:

The frame and wire wrapping is done in 14kt gold filled (rich gold) wire. They measure 3 inches long, but because they feature my polymer clay components, they are EXTREMELY lightweight to wear, which to me, is very important. I have sensitive ears and the lighter, the better.

So what's your favorite Pantone 2017 Color Palette?

You can find these earrings, as well as these Polymer Clay charms (and more) in my Etsy shop.

P.s. Don't forget about our big reveal coming up! Have you created some earrings inspired by owls?
I can't wait to see what you've all come up with!


Thank you for stopping by!
Cheers,
Nathalie Lesage
My Garden Of Love Etsy Shop
The Crafty Tribe Etsy Shop

Treasures of the Sea

Treasures are in the eye of the beholder... What may seem insignificant to a person, may be an incredibly precious treasure to another. Where does your mind go when you think about "Treasures of the Sea"?

When I was younger, whenever I would think about the Treasures of the Sea, I would automatically think about Seashells, Pearls, Sea glass, Sand Dollars, etc.

As I'll soon be entering my (hopefully) wiser years by becoming a grandma next month... Now, when I think of Treasures of the Sea, my mind now goes to artful pieces of soft driftwood adorning our beaches nearby, stones of various colors polished to a super soft finish by the sea, the gentle waves rolling on my feet as I walk along the water line, holding my loving husband's hand. I feel so happy in my heart and soul, and that feeling is my most precious Treasure of the Sea.

Kin Beach, Comox, BC - Photo: Nathalie Lesage

The blue sky, the sun, or cooling clouds, the birds singing, the whales and seals floating by...
every single thing is magical in an even deeper way than when I was a child.

This story is my inspiration for these earrings... precious little tumbled nuggets of color with shades of the water, sand and sky (in my handmade polymer clay beads), the driftwood (the rustic wood beads), the gentle waves of the ocean (in the copper wavy bead caps), held together on a pair of non-allergenic niobium ear wires:

The perfect way to carry the good vibes of the beach everywhere you go ... at 1 7/8" tall.

I prefer to wear shorter earrings, but I find it challenging sometimes to incorporate everything I want in a design, while keeping the overall size under 2 inches :)

I've made a couple of extra sets of these cute little beach inspired rustic shaped Polymer Clay Nugget Beads. You can find these earrings and my handmade beads in My Garden Of Love Etsy Shop HERE.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a fabulous day!
Cheers,
Nathalie
My Garden Of Love on Etsy
The Crafty Tribe on Etsy

insert catchy title here ;)

Hello! Happy February to all of you. I do hope this finds you and yours healthy and well, and enjoying the days.

I have a new shop to share with you today. Ceramicists, Gail and Arnold, husband and wife, who spent the majority of their lives in South Africa and are now residing in Germany. I would imagine at least some of you have stumbled into their shop. Its name is SandCeramicBeads. Their style is unique and rustic.

earrings are available here 

In the first pair I used two different focals. The top beads are made with a rich  brown clay and have a tribal design in aqua, and aqua bars that have two holes. They were made for and sold as "closures," toggles, but I could not resist using them off label as connectors. ☺

African Fabric Beads
can be found here

One of my favorite things made by SandCeramicBeads are these really lovely tiles that are inspired by African fabrics. I used a pair in the second pair of earrings; this is a small set in soft, muted tones of salmon pink, an almost wheat-like yellow, pale blue and a deep blue. Gail has a new series in the shop right now that have a bit different coloring and a wonderful story. All of the upper beads I used were handmade in Africa. Beautiful unusual bright peach recycled glass beads and blue beads from a strand of handmade African seed beads. All of those beads were purchased from a nicely stocked shop, RedEarthBeads.  

earrings are available here

The third pair has a southwest vibe. Beautiful blue leaves by Gail and Arnold; awesome and rustic, natural ceramic disks were made by Jana Bliznakova of HappyFishThings.


I had great fun working with these pieces, and will no doubt be using more. Here are a few of the others I have in my collection. They also make and sell many, many strands of beads. I'm sure you will enjoy browsing.

The earth and moss beads are calling me. :)

As always, I thank you so very much for spending a few minutes to check out what we're doing here.

If you have any questions about anything in the designs, let me know. I didn't discuss any processes, nor many of the accompanying beads. I was excited to share SandCeramicBeads with you.

Thank you! May your days be filled with lots of creativity! It is therapeutic and then some!

Gratefully,

norbel

SheFliesAgain

I am also on Facebook and Instagram :)

p.s. I hope everyone knows that when I share new shops the way I do, it is because I've fallen in love with their work. Etsy is what I call a "sea of shops." There often is no rhyme nor reason to why one shop sells and another doesn't. When I see unusual, quality work, made by caring artisans, I want to share it with anyone who might be interested so that the makers can potentially achieve the success they deserve. 

In Space - Outer Space - Out of Space -

Full of Space

I feel as though I haven't been here in a long time. It's a good feeling to realize how much a part of my life this group has become. I've been with EE a year now. Time it does fly. I hope all of you had a peaceful Thanksgiving, and that you are now pulling out the Santa hats and getting in the groove. My husband does the decorating. Our home has become very festive this year. Now that he's retired, he has much more time to "play." He even has put up a pretty good-sized oval of track for the Lionel Trains he received as a young child. I love that. Movin' on. . .

So! I have another new shop for you! FullofSpace is the name of the shop where I purchased the focal beads for today's earrings. Once again, a good friend, Susan Delphine Delaney, is responsible for leading me to the shop. She has sent me so many inspirational Pins and leads that have led to real ideas and wonderful beads! Perhaps some of you have already found it as Carolina, the owner of the shop, has received a good number of sales since I purchased my beads on the 21st of November. I was surprised when I popped in last night to see all of the beads I had missed, but happy for her that she had been found by others. Her work is unusual, and I'm drawn to a lot of it. 

So here are the earrings I made. The beads came in a set of 8.

The hoop is not a heavier gauge and soldered hoop. It was made out of the same 20 gauge wire I continued on to the top, using the bottom strand for a few wraps at the top of the hoop, and then coming down one side. I did harden the hoop so that it's not wimpy. I did that by hand with flat-nosed pliers. I found that squaring off the bottom of the hoop made the beads feel more at home. 

The red bead is actually a natural, not-dyed, Red Sandalwood seed. I'm pretty sure I talked about this before, but if you missed it, these seeds are amazing in their color and gloss. I purchase them from TheFickleBead. And then of course the almost always present in my jewelry these days, hand-dyed bone beads, these in soft grey, are purchased from DyedBoneBead. 

These were a lot of fun to work on. I'm just finishing up a necklace with the rest of the cone beads. I love it. It's not listed yet; should be in the shop in the next couple of days. 

Thank you once again for taking the time to visit with us. We always appreciate it. Always grateful for feedback, too. Thanks so much! See you in a couple of weeks. :)

norbel
SheFliesAgain

The Weight. . .

of the world earrings on your shoulders ears ;)

A while back Kim of Numinosity and Numinosity Beads, mentioned some of her more senior customers have difficulty with heavier earrings. Me too. But I wasn't able to wear heavier earrings when I was younger. They're just not comfortable for me. 

I noticed my friend, Chris Kaitlyn of ChrisKaitlynJewelry, was showing the weight of earrings in listings. I talked to her about it, she shared info, and I decided it was a good idea. At some point I realized that, okay, the weights are there but they're in a vacuum. What do they mean? I know what they mean to me but there isn't a "chart" to help customers decipher what they mean. Honestly, it's not possible. Weight is relative, and involves too many factors. I do, however, have customers ask me from time to time, "are these heavy?" There will never be a hard and fast rule, but I'm going to share with you the guidelines I use for myself.

 My earrings today are designed with beautiful, slim and lightweight ceramic leaves by Petra Carpreau of ScorchedEarthOnEtsy. These pieces are fired with leaves embedded, given this gorgeous glazing and fired again. I paired each with three 6mm, Natural Apatite stones. Apatite has become my favorite stone. The color is a rich, muted teal. Purchased from TheFickleBead. There are copper and copper-plated beads up top, along with handcrafted ceramic beads by Barbara Hanselman of BHClaysmith, another unique and talented ceramic artist. I used 22 gauge wire, not my first choice, but I knew it would help to keep them lighter and I'd be able to wrap it the way I wanted to. 

Very few components are "too heavy" to use. It depends what you do with them. It's wonderful to create without thought! It's art! It's what I love to do! But then I often end up with a wall hanging, not an earring. (I think I heard that saying here before) I'll keep going and going and going until they weigh an ounce! Well, what's an ounce you say? Here we get to what the weights mean. One of today's earrings weighs 0.23 oz, 6.68 grams. Less than a quarter of an ounce. A good weight for most women, I think, but it is not featherweight. Lightweight for most, in my opinion, but it won't be long until it creeps up into an area that will be too heavy for me. If I want to wear something all day and not think about it, I won't go much higher than this, around a quarter of an ounce. When I let something get to 0.30 oz. . . . that is getting out of the comfortable range for me, certainly not all-day wearable, and maybe not wearable at all. For Me!

My MIL split her lobe all the way down in her 60s with a gold hoop, so it does happen, even though she'd worn those for decades. 

You are not going to find weights in most shops and websites; It's not a necessary thing for a large part of the population. My customers run the gamut from very young adults to women in their 60s and beyond. It was the questions about the weight that encouraged me to try to find a way to give them a meaningful answer. For designers, if women in the AARP age group (that's 55 and up ;) are in your target market, you might want to think about weight with them in mind.

I see many listings that give the earrings a featherweight, lightweight, or medium weight. If you aren't offered a weight, and IF this is an issue for you, ask the seller for their opinion. On a weight scale of one to ten, where would they put the earrings. Remember, though, that it's an opinion, likely based on what is light, medium or heavy to them. 

If you would like to have a little more detail regarding weights and what they mean to me, please just let me know. I will always address a comment/question left here, and you can always message me through She Flies Again, my Etsy shop, or Facebook.

Thank you for stopping in today! We appreciate it!
Norbel

"NeoTribal"

Hello! I do hope you are all enjoying the summer.

A friend I met through Etsy, Susan Delphine Delaney, sent a pin to me the other day with the title being NeoTribal, saying she liked the word as a descriptor. To my chagrin a few moments later, I said I don't really know what that means. She responded, oh, I just took it to mean New Tribal. duh. . . . right? Of course it's New Tribal! So that sparked the idea to make tribal-like earrings for today's post. As I was working I started to think about what really was traditional tribal jewelry, specifically traditional tribal earrings. I did not have a real vision of what it was. I did some searching (I admit, not a lot) for tribal jewelry. I expected it to be an easy search with a plethora of images. Not so.

Fulani 

Maasai

The two photos are of African earrings. Two very different styles. The colorful beaded earrings are 9 1/2 inches long, and were made in Africa by the Maasai people. The gold and cotton earrings, also from Africa, made by the Fulani people. These two photos are from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They are early 20th century. 

I searched then for Native American Jewelry. This photo came from the website http://www.beyondbuckskin.com in a section called Ancient Southwest Jewelry. The dates of these earrings are, starting from the top, 1100-1200 CE, (common era), the 1800s, and 1978. Beautiful mosaic inlay of Turquoise. So a lot of Turquoise and Silver was mostly what I found, again, on a cursory search. 

So I now have some real curiosity to dig deeper when I have the time to see what I can find.

1.

2.

Just briefly then, my earrings today: 1. "Bone" ceramic sticks, as well as ceramic beads from the same strand, paired with Red Creek Jasper, various metal beads, copper wire and Niobium ear wires. Ceramics by Andrea Salkowe of Josephine Beads. I love this pair. . but I ended up not listing it. There was more I would have liked to do with them, a basic jumping off point, but they were getting too heavy. I will likely take them apart and start again. 

2.  I think these are my favorites. :) The ceramic focals are by Petra Carpreau of ScorchedEarthOnEtsy. Paired with Ceramics from the same strand as No. 1. Natural Sig-Id Vine beads are wrapped to the black dagger-shaped Sgraffito focals with waxed Irish linen. I didn't use any wire in this design, just the linen. There are natural, rustic Turquoise bi-cone beads, topped with a red glass bead. The linen was knotted to a Tierra Cast copper-plated spacer bead. The dangles at the bottom contain green turquoise glass beads, tea-stained bone beads, and vintage Kuchi/Kochi tribal clapperless bells.

3. The last pair, both ceramic elements were made by Georgia Neumann of AtHomeInTaos. I used various copper beads, ball-tip headpins I made from copper, Czech glass beads, more copper wire, Niobium ear wires, and a tiny brass teardrop.

3. 

If you ever have any questions at all about techniques and/or processes, please just message me through my Etsy shop. It's great fun to look at other people's work for inspiration, or when looking to purchase. But if there is anything I can help you with that you see in these earrings, please just let me know.

As always, I appreciate your taking the time to stop by. All feedback/comments are welcome. In fact, we'd appreciate it! 

Thank you! I'll be back the first Tuesday in August. I do hope the rest of July is joyful! 

Norbel
She Flies Again on Etsy
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Give Peace a Chance

I love peace signs. Just an ol' hippie girl at heart, as Kim Rogers tells me. ;) I can't pass up a good peace sign element, and Kristi Bowman-Gruel's of KristiBowmanDesign are certainly all that!

How grand life would be if the symbol was all we needed to create a state of peace. I've long tried to understand human beings and the societies they create, and why, why, why, can we not just get along? Truly, we certainly are in need of some peace. All we can do at our level is to start with the "man in the mirror." Okay. Off the soapbox.

"Give Peace a Chance"

The BEST things come in small packages. I love these sweet, rustic coppery elements!

Nothing shows off copper better, in my opinion, than turquoise. They just seem to be made for each other. The Lampwork glass beads are by Leese Mahoney of GlassByLeese. The remaining elements are glass. The red disks are more of a crimson leaning color than is shown in the pic. Small yellow and turquoise glass, all wrapped with oxidized copper, hanging from black Niobium ear wires. Copper accent beads as well.

I could work all day with Kristi's copper. But I would have to make time for her polymer pieces. This pair was recently listed. They have fun and summer written all over them!

Caged Hibiscus

Thank you, Kristi, for such great pieces to work with!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by! We appreciate it. Comments are also greatly appreciated.

Have a great day!

Norbel Marolla
She Flies Again Etsy Shop
She Flies Again on Facebook
You can find me on Instagram

Ancient Symbols, and other similarities

Hello, and Happy April! I made two pairs of earrings over the weekend and decided to share them both because to me they have commonalities, and I also couldn't decide which I wanted to show you. :) I love the spiral and sun, ancient symbols, and love to see them in jewelry. Two of my favorite ceramic artists made the elements; two of my favorite lampwork glass artists made the beads. They both include antique Venetian glass beads, and the main colors are two that I have had a serious hankering to work with! Oddly enough. Both are colors I've rarely used, and I've been happy to find myself actively seeking out different palettes. Anyone else out there find half their shop or accessory wardrobe is made up of one recurring palette? Even though my tastes are diverse, I still find the color thing an issue now and then. So that's that! Here's the first pair:   

The soft and lovely blue spirals were made by Jana Bliznakova of HappyFishThings. The Caramel Raku lampwork beads are by Leese Mahoney of GlassByLeese. Copper-plated accent beads, vibrant blue antique Venetian glass beads, hand-dyed ribbon, oxidized copper and black Niobium ear wires finish them off. 

The small, vibrant orange/red suns were made by Petra Carpreau of  ScorchedEarthOnEtsy. The rustic yellow with a hint of green lampwork glass beads are by Kimberly Rogers of Numinosity and NuminosityBeads. The dangles are strung on waxed Irish linen and include antique Venetian glass beads, Czech glass beads, Red Creek Jasper Heishi beads, and rustic Green Garnet nuggets. Another Green Garnet sits atop the yellow canvas of Kim's glass beads. Again wrapped with oxidized copper and hanging from black Niobium ear wires. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us today. The ever so talented and fun Ms. Nikki Zehler will be here tomorrow, I believe. A visit with Nikki is always worth the time! Thanks again. Have a great rest of the week. Sincerely, norbel

She Flies Again on Etsy

Fiasco

fi·as·co
noun
1.  a thing that is a complete failure

Not a complete failure; it is reparable; just not in time for this morning. Suffice it to say that a cup of coffee, a sweet Lab's wagging-with-excitement tail, and earrings with polymer clay components are simply not a good combination. Maybe I will share them in two weeks with the replacements. :)

So instead of the pair I made specifically for EE, I selected a pair of very recently made earrings.

Turquoise & Red is always a great combination

The beautiful glaze on the Bronzy Drops made by Petra Carpreau of Scorched Earth On Etsy, with the perfect amount of pooling at the tip, is so compelling! I've had these for a long time and could never settle on a way to go. I recently found these groovy vintage copper knot connectors, oxidized them and decided I had a start for the drops. The rest is colorful beads; the top bead is enameled on copper made by MaryAnn Carroll of Artisan Beads Plus. The remainder is 3mm glass beads strung on waxed linen.

I like the length, 2 3/4" / 6.98 cm, and the rustic "dress-up" the copper connectors provided, yet the final package is something I'd wear every day. They're just my style! :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by. Have a peaceful day. Happy March!

Norbel Marolla

My Etsy shop is She Flies Again
She Flies Again Facebook Page

Copper Love

I do love copper more than other metals. I always admire the jewelry others make using Sterling Silver, and have worked with it in wire form a very tiny bit, as well as brass, but they just don't feel as "right" to me. I have decided to expand my horizons once again and go back to trying both more silver and brass in the future; today it's still copper.

These copper "Ripple Slim Sticks" started as two small pieces of left over sheet. I played with them for a while pondering whether I wanted to use them right then or not. Then I grabbed a few high-tech devices, a slim pen, a paint brush, stepped pliers. :) That was the fun part.

Ripple Slim Sticks

was a bad day for picture taking ;)

The edges were ground and polished. As an aside. . . . have you ever used the polishing wheel on a dremel? I just recently tried it. It's an off white, small wheel attachment that looks like felt. Amazing! Doesn't seem to me as if it could do much of anything but it smooths the rough metal beautifully! Anyway, they were oxidized, then I applied a blue patina. These required only one coat, about 12 hours.

I started off dangling colorful beads down in the usual fashion and never got past a few beads. It blurred the Ripple Slim Sticks. So I decided to dangle them up! Pulled it together with a handcrafted copper bead at the top and a small piece of wire for the loop.

So that's about it. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by.

Norbel Marolla

She Flies Again - Etsy

She Flies Again on Facebook

Sexy Solder

So okay, it's not really sexy; I was looking for an S word! :) But it does make me feel powerful!

I would never have believed I would enjoy anything that had to do with fire, beyond that in a fireplace. But I really do like soldering. It does give me a feeling of power! almost. Makes me feel as if I could build things!

The earrings I have to show you are not what I intended to. The Sterling hoops below are what I planned to share. But when all was said and done, I wasn't happy with them. They're a little too rustic, even for me. I have to do some work on the copper, and then there's something missing. I worked with them trying to add different things here or there and eventually just put them aside. They are my first soldered Sterling pieces. Big Sterling Hippie Hoops is what I envisioned. Who knows where they'll end up.

So I pulled out a pair of copper teardrops I had soldered at the same time. I like making plain shapes, rounds, teardrops, triangles, and soldering a bar across, generally not straight across, on an angle, and the angle may not be the same on each earring. And then I select a group of beads and wrap the daylights out of the bars. The picture below shows a few I've done in the past.

They are challenging to wrap. I have wrapped and re-wrapped and re-wrapped many pieces. Some never to be completed. I used to use wire until it finally occurred to me to try waxed linen! Much kinder to the hands!

hand-forged copper teardrops

The top beads are ceramic by Nadia Karapencheva of Nadia Terra.

Thanks for stopping by! My wishes to you and yours for a year filled with Love & Laughter, Peace & Joy. Happy New Year! And enjoy a little fire!
I'll be back on 01/05/16.

Norbel Marolla
She Flies Again - My Shop on Etsy
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