Scraps

Last week I mentioned that I had been going through my photos of years of jewelry designs I had created. And, I came across a few that touch on the subject above: These earrings are all made with scraps that were on my bench. Since I wasn't well this week, I didn't make anything new, but I wanted to talk about scraps and leftovers.

Do you aim to re-use everything leftover when you make jewelry? What do you do with all the scraps and odds and ends? Whether I work with metal, or polymer clay, precious metal clay, etc...  I re-purpose/re-use/transform scraps into new components and pieces. There's basically zero waste in terms of materials in my studio and I'm quite proud of that :)

Here's some earrings I made using scraps:

Tribal shields: Scraps of Sterling silver wire balled up, flattened, soldered to leftover pieces copper from another project, and everything is soldered to the sterling silver wire frame, and decorated with  two small Turquoise stones:

Tribal Sheilds by Nathalie Lesage

These Moonstone Moon Earrings are not made with scraps, but there's a part of these that ends up in other designs - I use a sterling silver round disc blank, and I offset it in my disc cutter to quickly cut out a crescent moon shape to make these earrings:

Moonstone Moon Earrings by Nathalie (Girard) Lesage

So when I make these, I'm left with 'eye shaped' or 'marquise shaped' pieces of sterling silver. Some of those scrap pieces ended up in these designs:


Mother Earth Earrings: The textured sterling silver piece (shaped like a marquise a bit - vertical) is soldered on top of the 'dome' in this pair. I textured the pieces and soldered them to the base round disc shape.

Mother Earth Lampwork & Sterling Silver Earrings by Nathalie Lesage

And in this pair of Kyanite Chandelier Earrings, I used that same leftover cut-out shape from the Moon earrings, but this time, I used them horizontally to make the foundation of this unusual pair of chandelier earrings:

Kyanite Sterling Silver Chandelier Earrings by Nathalie Lesage

So how do you like 'scrap' earrings? Are you happy with how much you can re-use and re-purpose in your own studio? Can you share some of your re-using tips with us? We'd love to hear what you do!

I will be back later on this month with new earrings to show!

Cheers,
Nathalie
My Garden Of Love Etsy Shop
The Crafty Tribe Etsy Shop

Viking Braid Earrings

Sometimes a crazy idea just comes and roosts in my brain until it makes it's way onto my bead table and into the universe. For no reason at all, I needed a pair of super long earrings braided with wire and they may have been inspired by a certain Vikings TV show that may or may not have been playing in the background while I worked with week. There were snippets, I don't know the story or characters but the visuals were striking.

I cut two long pieces of wire, folded them over and braided them. Then I did a little wire wrapping to finish off the ends and hammered the braids to give them strength. I added a trio of my disk beads in dark, earthy colors. If I make these again I think I would end them about an 1" shorter. They are shoulder dusters at the moment. Or maybe I need to straighten my posture so my neck is an 1" longer.

Crazy, but kind of awesome.

Have a great weekend from the wintry north.

The Vine Weave

I've made several pairs of these earrings, all slightly different in style, but carry the common weaving look design.  I absolutely love them and they really aren't that hard to make.

If you are using lamp-work head pins, be brave!!  go ahead and make a hoop with what ever tools you have and wrap excess wire along the bottom.

Take about 6-7 headpins with an assortment of glass seed beads and work them around the hoop all the way to the top.  I always seal the wire work with a watered down metal sealant, it makes the weaving rock hard.

You can always do a weave all the way around too.  Make sure your committed, because once you bend that head pin, at least for me, there's no turning back.

We're starting off 2016 with some awesome posts already!!! 

It's a good sign of what's to come in the New Year, ☺ 

See you again tomorrow friends, ♥

Yucca Bloom on ETSY

Yucca Bloom on Face Book

Yucca Bloom on Pinterest

Give your breath some space

Give your breath some space

When you feel stressed and rushed,

remember to give your breath some space.

When you feel like the thoughts in your head

are like a tangled web of thoughts,

remember to give your breath some space.

When you feel anxious and under pressure,

remember to give your breath some space.

--- Nathalie Lesage

Fall Sky Copper and Blue Quartz Earrings by Nathalie Lesage

It's great to finally be able to dive back into some creative time!

I wanted to capture the warm copper hues that we're starting to see up here,

mixed in with the changing Fall sky.

Bare tree branches that seem all intertwined and the air floating through the openings.

I've been extremely busy during the past few months.

I was super-focused on my husband's health (and mine too)
as we've lost 90 pounds combined... no joke!

I was also working really hard at getting my Health & Fitness Business off the ground,

as well as working on revamping my Art website (aiming to re-open Oct. 1st).

There wasn't enough balance in my daily life.

I became even more aware how IMPORTANT it is to find the right balance,
and doing what my soul needed to do.

Now that this overwhelmingly busy time has passed, 

I think back on what has helped me through

and aside from the love and incredible support of my hubby,
often, it was this simple thought:

"Give your breath some space"

This was part of my inspiration for today's earrings.

Taking a deep breath and giving it the space it needs

to flow, be light, be airy, be at peace :)

My Art website is not ready yet, but if you're interested in purchasing these earrings,

you can always message me via my FaceBook business page HERE,
or contact me via my BLOG which I've just revamped too.
It's been busy!!

Thank you for stopping by!

Have a wonderful day :)

Nathalie Lesage

http://www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com

Blue Waters

Believe it or not, we are *still* dealing with snow, and you know it... I miss Summer so badly!!

Today, I've decided to venture for the first time on Polyvore, and oh my! 

I found so many beautiful things to inspire me,

and these are the earrings I made for my Carefree Beach Chic outfit:

Blue Waters Brazilian Blue Apatite Sterling Silver Hoops by Nathalie Lesage

I think these would go really well with the outfit I just created:

Wire wrapping is something I've been doing for a number of years (on and off), and which I really enjoy. It speaks to the bohemian woman living in my soul :)

These flirty 1" hoops are made with beautiful natural (untreated) Brazilian Apatite gemstones

and loads of hair fine .925 Sterling Silver wire wrapped on a pair

of my cold-forged Sterling Silver hoops.

I was lucky enough to have the super talented Eni Oken as my mentor a few years ago,

and I've learned a lot from her over time. It takes a lot of patience and time to do fine wrapping.

Since we're on the road and currently living in a place where "good" water is at a premium (we're on a campground with bad pipe water at this time), doing soldered jewelry - which requires a good amount of water for quenching, pickling, rinsing, tumbling, etc - is just not something I can do much of because we have to buy all the water we use for daily living. I have to be very frugal with it.

Therefore, I'm back to doing more wire wrapped jewelry designs instead :)

You can purchase these earrings HERE on my new website.

Thank you for stopping by and have a great day!

Nathalie Lesage

Metalsmith, Jewelry Artist

http://www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com

NIP in the air already!!!!

I am still wondering what happened to summer. I know we had a very strange one here on Long Island. There were no endless hot days. The garden this year was disappointing, to say the least. But we still had our time at the beach, which for us runs from early spring until late fall.

Speaking of which, is now almost upon us. And back to the nippy air. I love fall and all the great things there are to wear!

These earrings are from my new Tribal Wire Artisan Components and focals line. The links that I am designing can be used as an accent or focal piece in your bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

I have paired these rustic, primitive earrings with cozy scarves. And visions of big sweaters, blue jeans and boots are already dancing in my head.

I have an intense passion for natural stones and other natural elements. And I am the crazy wire lady. If I run out of wire, I am paralyzed. You would think I have nothing else in my studio to work with.

These gorgeous stones are forest agate, they go great with the dark wood tube beads and detailed wire work. I love dark earthy colors for fall.

These colorful stones are Mexican red crazylace agate. I love this stone. It works so well in all fall designs and will quickly become a favorite in your jewelry wardrobe. The stones are each a small work of art ,with their varied colors and  patterns. The design possibilities are endless. I am pleased with the way that the agate and dark wood work with my wire work and tiny copper beads.

So as visions of chilly evening, sitting around the fire pit and making s'mores dance through your head. Make yourself a treat, a pair of gorgeous stone and wire earrings!

The Tribal Wire Collection was my first collection published in Belle Amoire Jewelry magazine.

You can find me:
Mojowoman Jewelry on Etsy
Mojowoman Jewelry on Facebook 

Silver and Gold Modern Earrings

A little sparkle for the holidays in silver and gold.  The sterling silver ear wires are simple and elegant and all that is needed to show off these handcrafted golden branch beads.

Golden Branch Modern Earrings

Dress them up or down with a clutch:

I'd sport them with a textured clutch with a silk ribbon flower from Kelley's Keepsakes for a daytime holiday gathering.

But if it was an evening party I might pair them up with this silver silk and mustard yellow ribbon, wrapped up like a little gift, from AO3 Designs