New adventures.

Until very recently I had been a little uncertain of my abilities to experiment with new tools and techniques. This week, however, I have decided that enough was enough and took that brave leap and try something new.
For the first time I made my own head pins and ear wires using a blow torch. Now I know this is something a HUGE amount of hobby jewellery makers already do and with ease but for me this is a massive step and really exciting.

I used the torch to ball the ends of a few lengths of sterling silver wire to make into head pins for the pearls to hang from and to add detail to a set of ear wires, both of which you can see in the picture above. For me this was an amazing sense of achievement and is now opening up so many doors with what I would like to do in the future with my jewellery design.

On top of firing up the blow torch, I also finally invested in a hammer and steal block. These are essentials in any wire jewellery artists tool kit but for whatever reason I have always avoided trying out the hammering techniques. Not any more however
These earrings are my first ever hammered wire project and I LOVE 'em.

I really am full of new ideas for jewellery projects in the near future, including some silver smithing. There's some exciting times ahead for Louise Grace Jewellery.

A love affair with labradorite

Look at that gemstone...

Isn't that blue amazing, and its a completely natural effect to the gemstone.

There are so many myths and legends surrounding this gemstone, mostly relating to the Inuit community, which I think completely compliments this gem. My favourite one has to be the story of a boy who was sent out into the wilderness to complete his challenge to become a man. He was walking along a rocky embankment when a glint caught his eye amongst the rocks, so he took his pick axe and smashed open the rock. When he did this he saw lights shooting out of the rocks and into the sky creating the Aurora Borealis. Having had the opportunity to use labradorite in my designs I can totally see where this legend comes from as blue isn't the only colour flash found in this amazing gemstone. We can see reds, greens, oranges and purples which really do remind me of the Northern lights.

I have some gorgeous little labradorite drops which I have used in a few designs, the labradorescense is really difficult to capture with a camera but even when that shimmer of colour doesn't show it is still a gorgeous little gemstone.

Playing with emeralds.

Yeah REAL EMERALDS!!.  I can't believe that this is something I was able to do and I loved every minute of it.

The history of emeralds is a long one with the earliest known mines dating back to 330 BC.  The stone has been used in some of the worlds most expensive and exquisite pieces of jewellery including items belonging to royalty.

Legends behind emeralds say that the stone can help the wearer foresee the future and was one of the four stones given to Solomon which were said to give him the power to control all of creation.  The stone is now used in crystal healing to bring a calming effect to the wearer, personally though I think it's just a pretty stone to set into jewellery, whether its in a collectors quality stone or a more raw state.

For me, gemstones don't always have to be the stereotypical stone that is selected for it's cut, colour and clarity. The 'least desirable' selection of stones can more often than not hold a HUGE amount of beauty in their own right.

So with that said, I'd like to show you all what I made with my emerald beads.

Thanks for stopping by and letting me ramble, feel free to leave any comments you have.  My next post will probably involve garnets, I think I love garnet more than I love emeralds.

Making my own chain.

I love to try and put gemstones together to show them off at their best which can often mean simple elegant designs, however...   I do like to try something a little bit different at the same time.  This meant trying to find an unusual chain for this design but I just couldn't find what I was looking for until I stumbled upon an image of someone making the chain I used.  I honestly can't remember what site this was on but I have to thank the person who uploaded that image for helping me with inspiration.

It took a little bit of playing but I finally figured out how it was done and I'm thrilled with how it looks

I think it just added a slightly 'funkier' look to a design that is timeless.

This is a sterling silver and amazonite necklace with the amazonite being the main focus of the necklace.

Amazonite is a stone often associated with truth and calm.  It is often used to promote rational thinking when worn and calms tempers.  Personally I just love the colour, it has such a summery feel to it.

Stepping out of my comfort zone.

I am the kind of person who doesn't like to take risks or show off the few things that I feel I am good at.  I would much rather give myself a quiet pat on the back and not tell anyone about something I've done that I'm really proud of.  So here I am stepping out of my comfort zone and sharing my love of jewellery making with you.
I have been making jewellery now for about 7 years on and off, teaching myself new techniques and finding a style of jewellery that I love to create. I've found that simple and elegant jewellery seems to be what works best for me, especially when it comes to working with gemstones and wire.

So for my first blog post here is a couple of pictures of some of my designs

I hope to use this blog to jibber on about the gemstones I plan on using and new techniques I discover along the way, but for now its time to do some of those boring housewife tasks before I can play with some of the goodies I have waiting to be made into some jewellery.