Hand carved copper metal and silver wire wrapped pedants

I'm pleased to share that I've now sold all three of my hand carved mixed metal copper and silver abstract wire wrapped pendants!

This is such a big deal to me because I began to work on these three pieces last March on the day that I was let go from my job. It was a Thursday, so I had my metalsmithing class that night, and I didn't want to go home only to have to turn around and go back to the city. Instead, I went uptown to my husband's office and to keep myself occupied, worked on my jewelry in the conference room. I had a big sheet of copper and my jewelry saw with me, so this was the perfect project with which to keep busy. Though I'll never forget the look on his colleagues' faces when they spied me sawing away!

Doing something rather mindless and time-consuming like sawing copper was a great way for me to deal with my stress and to sort out my confusion from that day. As I carved out the various copper and silver shapes, I became more and more determined and defiant and vowed to make it as a jewelry artist. No, this was not what I studied in college, but this no longer mattered; I wanted to succeed at something that I love to do.

This is why I'm happy about selling those three mixed metal pieces. Those necklaces make me think back to that day and these sales are symbollic of my success. I still love what I do and hope to continue for the long haul.

To purchase my jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewelry, head to MayaGirl Creations. To purchase my novel, check out REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Mixed metal jewelry designs

After having such a good experience at the craft fair this weekend, I decided to go ahead and finish the jewelry projects that I'd started in class. I could wait until I begin advanced metalsmithing tomorrow and work on my pieces at the school, but I'd rather put them behind me and work on something new. Besides, I'm happy with the way my stuff turned out. My last teacher would probably say that they're not shiny enough and would criticize me for not soldering the jumprings, but I think they're pretty and would proudly wear them.

I made an abstract copper pendant with a silver bezel and blue glass cabochon:

And then made a pair of abstract copper earrings with silver earring hooks:

The earrings are actually made of material that was leftover from the pendant. I spent over an hour hammering a sheet of copper to get that textured design and had a lot left over after sawing out the disc. I didn't want the rest to go to waste and had just enough to make a cute pair of earrings.

Carving out the designs with a jeweler's saw was a challenge, but I'm getting the hang out it. The hardest part, believe it or not, was sawing out the circle for the pendant. I was so careful with it because I wanted to keep it round and not accidentally saw into the space, so it took me forever to finish it.

I'm happy with my work, though. I may not be the best metalsmith -- yet -- but I like how my stuff came out. And really, that's all I can ask for, right?

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs.

Silver wire wrapped abstract copper pendant with turquoise beads

I just finished this new design, which I listed on Etsy.

Right now, I'm working on a copper pendant for my metalsmithing class so I had all of this hammered copper left over. I spent a long time hammering out that pattern so I didn't want the metal to go to waste.

I wasn't sure what shape to carve so I let my saw do the talking and came up with this rounded "natural" shape. It's not really supposed to be anything in particular; one friend says that it looks like a guitar. My husband says that it looks like an amoeba. Another friend thinks it looks like a peanut! Really, it's up to you and your imagination.

I felt that this copper pendant needed some dressing up so I wire wrapped it with sterling silver wire. I then attached some turquoise beads using 28 gauge wire. It took me several tries to get the beads to attach properly, but the end result looks really cool -- kind of tribal, don't you think?

I still have some of that hammered copper so expect to see some other designs made from that material.

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs on Etsy.