It's that time of year again! I'll be bringing new pendants, bracelets, earrings, and plenty of other handmade jewelry to Art Under the Oaks on July 16 & 17. This year I'm showing my work with another artist, Caryne Mount, who creates fabulous textile pieces including scarves and bags. I'll have my elaborate signature wire wrapped pieces, as well as simpler handmade jewelry in the $15 - $40 range. Perfect for gift giving. Art Under the Oaks is one of my very favorite art shows, featuring many wonderful local artists in a beautiful garden setting. If you can make it, come say...

    I make two kinds of beautiful, boho sea glass jewelry. Both are  handmade and one-of-a-kind. They even look similar. However, there are some important differences. First, you will notice a difference in price. The more expensive pieces are made with genuine sea glass that I know came from beaches. I usually know where and when the glass was collected. I choose the most jewelry-worthy of these pieces and wire wrap them in sterling silver. These become my higher end genuine sea glass jewelry. The somewhat less expensive, and often more colorful pieces, are made with sea glass that I can't verify. This...

Here's a glimpse of the jewelry making process I use for making my new line of one-of-a-kind men's accessories. (And a lot of my women's jewelry as well.) Pictured above is a silver and bronze tie pin that has been heavily oxidized. I use a Dremel with all sorts of nifty attachments to expose the metal under the patina and give a good shine. To the right you can see the intricate wire weaving for a tie clip. This is the first step of many and will be the top layer if the clip. Below you can see the very...

I was recently asked to make some men's suit accessories - wire wrapped. When I googled what was out there I found very little and not one hit for wire wrapped tie tacks. So that's what I decided to make. It seemed like a bit of a challenge and working so very small would be fun - I used to love making miniatures and models. It turns out working with jewelry wire on a 12mm palette is indeed a challenge! But once I had my designs figured out, I didn't want to put my projects away.  At this point I've...

The Loveliest Pear (5.57" x 2.5")   I finally finished! I started this large statement pendant about three weeks ago (see the Jan. 11 post for early progress) and the protective coating finished curing yesterday. The big green druzy is surrounded with slightly antiqued copper, bright sterling silver and a smattering of Swarovski crystals. The weaving was done in many layers, over quite a few days. From the beginning I liked how much the druzy looked like a lovely pear, so my design took shape quickly. I was also inspired by an amazing Art Nouveau building I visited in Italy that had beautiful...