I’ve started making another white pearl Deco Choker like this one:

photo by Christine Linder

This time I thought I’d try using a paler gold, which is also thinner, and it turns out that the pearls I’m using are a fraction of a millimeter narrower than the ones I used last time. It’s amazing what a difference it makes, although it’s kind of hard to illustrate the point without having them side-by-side.

Here’s the new white pearl version I’m working on next to a brown pearl necklace I made previously. The new piece is narrower and feels lighter; I think the final necklace will be more delicate and might need an extra triangle so it’s long enough.

I could probably spend a lifetime making the same piece over with new materials, or making tiny variations in spacing or length. I can make an educated guess as to how the beads will behave but I have to make the necklace or at least a sample to be sure. And it’s still frequently a complete surprise.

Being sick is dull, dull, dull. I’m getting better but it feels like sixteen million years since I was in the studio making anything. I’ve been able to knit but that’s not WORK. The kind that satisfies my sense of purpose and brings in chunks of bacon. (Which still amazes me!)

So to shut up my whiny, sniffly self and create the illusion that I’ve been in the studio, here’s what I was working on before the great plague* descended.

I made another experimental piece out of half-cones. This time all the bumps are on the outside.

Again I think it’s a lovely object, but not yet wearable. The search continues… as soon as I get back into that beloved studio.

Happy Leap Year!

*aka common fluey cold.

Last week I set aside my cone experiments to work on an order for two Squares Necklaces in time for Valentine’s Day: one in soft pink, the other one in brown.

It’s always nice to work on a design I haven’t made in a while; like visiting an old friend. A meditative break from the constant questioning and figuring out that designing brings up.

The cone necklace made me wonder what I could do with half-cones so I started this experiment.

Today I closed it so that it turned into a flower. The curves allow it to stretch so it can fit over your hand and onto your wrist. It’s a pretty dramatic bracelet. Or a small sculpture.

Now I’m wondering how the shape will turn out if I change the size of the waves, or the angles, or the number of rows…

I made these earrings a few weeks ago to go with the squares necklaces. For this pair I used my favorite batch of silvery gold pearls, but I’ve also made them in white and steely-silver pearls. I’ve been wearing them a lot; they’re easy, and so light that I forget they’re on until the drops brush my cheek.

I have lovely news to share; I just shipped a grouping of my jewelry to Jerry Szor Contemporary Jewelry in Dallas, Texas.

My designs have been in stores before, but as part of a design partnership. This is the first time that a buyer has chosen my work purely on its own merits. I’m absolutely delighted, and feel honored that my work will sit alongside jewelry by several of my favorite designers: Gabriella Kiss and John Iversen.

If you live in the Dallas area, check out the store!

I’ve updated my jewelry web site. Check it out – there are new designs and some additions to the spirals and zig zags.

There’s a wonderful thing happening over at one in ten.

Eireann Lorsung‘s mom has suffered a hemorrhage in her brain, and the crafting community being what it is, there is an auction to raise funds to help out with her medical bills.

You can bid on pieces by Lisa Congdon, Amanda Soule, Stephanie and Mav of 3191 fame, and many more crafty bloggers.

You can bid on my leaf earrings:

Find out more about the participants at the one in ten site, or just browse the list of eBay auctions. You have until Friday to get a head start on your holiday shopping, in the name of a very good cause.

My friend brought me two shells from her mother who collects them while walking on the beach near her home in Hawaii. It’s an honor that she relinquished a few in my direction.

I’ve been playing around, thinking about cones, and how to construct them. How to build them from a spiral:

Or from circles, like the necklace that is nearly finished now:

My circle obsession gone 3-dimensional.

When I started this blog I considered calling it “Things I Make When I Should Be Making Other Things”. Now I think it could be called “Things I Make That Aren’t The Main Thing I Make”. Not too catchy, but pretty accurate.

I was about to post pictures of my latest jewelry design experiments, and then realized that yet again they’re in white pearl – because that’s how I work – so before I do, here’s some color:

I inherited a lot of coral beads, which are beautiful, and I’m using, but I won’t be buying more. Too destructive.

Further evidence of my spiral obsession. I don’t just photograph them, I make them.

Chris took both these pictures. So pretty.