Elf Ear Jewelry

An important aspect of creativity is being willing to take a chance and try something new. As someone who relies on my craft of working with sterling silver, mixed metals and set gemstones for my livelihood, my creativity is often limited by what I am reasonably sure will sell, well.... at least someday. But I really enjoy thinking outside the box, and it is important for me to sometimes make things without knowing what the end result will be. Some of my more playful creations are an Elven looking type of upper ear jewelry.

The pair of peridot and sterling silver elf ears pictured above, is one of my first attempts at elf ear jewelry . They are beautiful on someone young, delicate and with a fair complexion, but I don't find them very comfortable, and I am no longer young or delicate. My ears are really sensitive and even a snug pair of reading glasses makes my head hurt after a few hours. Unfortunately these elf ears have the same effect in about ½ the time. When I made them sterling silver was a lot less expensive then it is now, and as a result of the rise in the cost of materials, these elf ears have become one of my most impractical creations.

I may modify these into a necklace or something more likely to sell..

But they are still pretty, and an interesting idea!

I have been working to modify this basic idea, and create something that is more comfortable and less expensive.

I came up with a design that seems to put a lot less pressure on the sensitive parts of my ear while at the same time clinging securely. I have made these newer Elf Ears or Upper Ear Leaf Ornaments out of copper to reduce the expense, and I like the leaves as they seem more subtly suggestive.

Single Copper and Bronze Elf Ear Leaf Upper Ear Ornaments With set Amber and Garnets
 This can be found in my Etsy shop.

This pair of copper Elf Ears is a variation of the pattern I used to create the pair that is sterling silver and peridot. They don''t  put as much pressure on my ears and the use of copper and bronze instead of silver makes them less expensive. they are set with glowing red orange hessonite garnets. This pair is no longer available, but I may make some along a similar style.

I will never be able to make more than a few pairs a year as they are quite labor intensive, but I have given someone in the Netherlands permission to use this design, to make more of these.

And my personal favorite are these simple single copper and bronze elf ear upper ear leaf ornaments.

These or similar ear ornaments are available through the ear cuff ear wrap section of on my Etsy shop, for $30.00.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ElfinWorks?section_id=11654137

.

These look good on men too...

I will keep playing with this idea.

I hope you enjoyed your visit !

When Beauty Comes From Ugly

My workshop is the warmest part of my house, and when I started this blog, I imagined myself working away through the dark cold days of winter, and having this comfortable and easy way to show off my latest creations.

What I am realizing is that although most of my creative process happens in the winter, a lot of the work I am really excited about exists largely in my own imagination, and until it passes through the greasy grimy process of finishing, it isn't something anyone but another jeweler would be able to get excited about.

The delay between getting my work from my minds eye, into the eye of my camera is because I hate polishing.

I don't polish my jewelry in my workshop, because that would get waxy dust all over all the many small tools, gemstones and metals I work with, which are already next to impossible to keep dusted and organized. I can't polish stuff outside because the wheel regularly grabs whatever I am trying to finish, and flings it to some far corner of the room. Even in a small indoor room it sometimes takes more than a week to find it. If I tried to do this outside, the permanent losses would be substantial.  

So,  I polish stuff in my living room. I mean, what better place to cover with a fine dust of greasy brown polishing compound?

I try and schedule this to happen at a time no one else needs to use the living room, and when no house guests are sleeping on the couch.

Before polishing, I cover up everything that I can, including myself.

It usually takes a couple days as things need to be polished, scrubbed off, examined, and polished again before they are properly finished, and sometimes a third polishing is needed.

But the rewards come.

I was really excited by the patterning I created on the sterling silver in these earrings I just finished.

 The round dark looking stones are amethyst and they are a deep rich purple when the light can pass through them. ( A hole is cut out of the silver at the back of the stone, so the light passing through can show the stones colour .)

These 2 pairs of earrings were created through a process of layering, fusion, hammering, rolling, more layering more fusion more hammering and more rolling. 

Pretty!

Now I just need to clean up my living room!

Ooooo New Stuff....

It is cold and wet outside and I am settling into my winter work time.

I love being able to just stay home and immerse myself in the creative process without distraction, and I am really enjoying my work this year.

Here is a few of my new pieces that I am really excited about.

I just finished this today . It is a large handcrafted sterling silver and bronze disk with a detachable heavy handmade sterling silver chain. This piece can be worn as a pendent or a broach. The large carved black stone in the center comes from the Grand Forks area, but I am not sure what it is. It is quite hard with no obvious grain and with persistent effort it carves very nicely.

In the center of the caved black stone is a green chrome diopside from Russia and above it is a pretty little tourmaline and prehnite.( Updated note; As of mid April, this item is no longer available)

Here is another new piece which has a nice prehnite as a center piece. It is a large shield like broach, and it is listed for sale over on Etsy for $300.00.

Now I am back to work and at the point where things are getting finished I hope to add more to this in a week or two.

I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Summer is a Busy Time

Summer is a busy time of year, and the photos here are only a small sample of my work.

I hope to add more one of a kind items to this page as I make them over the fall and winter.

I hope you will check back from time to time to see pictures of my latest work.

This bracelet is made of sterling silver and has a nice pale green prehnite, apatite and a blue green tourmaline. It is still available, though I have yet to list it on Etsy. It is $420.00, plus any postage that may be needed.

I handcrafted these earrings from sterling silver. From the tip of the small leaf at the top to the bottom of the larger leaf, they were 43 mm long.Sorry but these particular earrings have been sold.

I made this sterling silver ring by repeatedly melting hammering and rolling. It was size 10 and 1/4 and is 30 mm wide at the front, with three cubic zircons set into the silver. This unique piece has sold and is no longer available.
 

This necklace is made of sterling silver parts I handcrafted, orange alabaster I carved into beads and small amber beads. I ended up taking this necklace apart and replacing the alabaster beads with yellow turquoise. This piece is no longer available.

 These unusual earrings were made of 25 mm squares of BC jade, sterling silver and garnets. They have found a home and are no longer available.

These earrings were sterling silver, bronze and blue topaz, and not counting the ear wire they were 52mm long. They have been sold.

I carved this pendant from chlorite which was found in the interior of BC. I handcrafted the sterling silver parts and then I set a forest green synthetic emerald into the black stone. I don't usually work with synthetics but the dark green and black were so pretty together I made an exception. The carved black stone is 35 mm long. This piece has been sold.

 This ring is made of sterling silver and a couple balls of bronze. It is size 7 and is 30 mm wide at the front. The central stone is kyanite, and there is amethyst on each side. It is still available for $200.00, plus any required postage. I hope to get this listed over on Etsy sometime soon.

 These sterling silver earrings are 67 mm from the top of the ear wire to the bottom. They have been sold.