I had a request from a client to turn her husband’s Australian Army major’s crowns into a set of cuff links as a surprise for him.
After a quick refresher to make sure that the melting point of the metal would not be too low to take the soldering, I removed the existing toggles, soldered cuff link backs on the crowns, et voila! (OK, I confess I had to change the direction of the links after a little misunderstanding, but hey – cuff links achieved!)
I previously created this cross for a lovely customer to give her partner.
As my client’s partner is a personal trainer, the dimensions my client requested turned out to be a little large for everyday wear – so she asked if I could construct a second cross, leaving the first one for special occasions.
I enjoyed revisiting this process – thanks, Bella!
I love all the cabochons I source, but once in a while I come across a cabochon that I just can’t part with. This grey drusy agate is one of those.
I love this ring, and I’ve been wearing it nearly every day!
If you’d like a custom made gemstone ring of your own, check out my gemstone collection, and let me know which one you love the most!
I was contacted by a lovely person who wanted a ring made for her partner.
She came to visit me, and after checking out my collection of gemstones chose this piece of moss agate, which she felt would really suit her tall Nordic girlfriend.
I was so pleased with the way this ring turned out – it was a pleasure to create it!
One of my gorgeous clients, who has a great collection of Silver Forge rings, asked if I could create her a ring with this piece of agatised fossil coral from my gemstone collection.
This stone is enormous, and I was happy to accept the challenge!
It is the longest stone I’ve set so far, and I think it turned out very nicely.
Thanks, lovely Charmaine! 🙂
It was my lovely mother-in-law’s birthday, and I wanted to make her something nice!
This bangle is simple, and was fun to make, and great for every day wear.
Perhaps I’ll make myself one!
Earlier in the year I had a weekend away with some of my closest high school friends ~ some of whom I had not seen for thirty years! We felt just as in tune and had just as much fun as we did way back at school, and I feel totally fortunate to have such beautiful people in my life.
I wanted to create us all a memento of our weekend, and the girls chose forget-me-nots – so apt!
I loved making these – I love all the recipients, too. Happy days!
I have a lovely sister, who has two lovely girls – my twin nieces.
I made this pendant for my sister’s birthday this year.
I saw two little girls with their heads together, reading or doing something crafty – although they could be dancing, or kissing. I love all three of those girls, super-much!
I created this puddingstone and sterling silver ring for one of my super-lovely clients.
Gorgeous! The lovely stone was from my gemstone collection.
Puddingstone is an agate, and this one comes from Agate Creek right here in Queensland. You can read more about puddingstone here on my blog.
Lapis Lazuli has been mined in Afghanistan for over 6,000 years.
(image credit Philippe Giabbanelli)
Lapis is the Latin word for ‘stone’, and lazuli comes from the Latin ‘lazulum’ which was derived the name of the stone in Persian. The name of the stone came to be associated with its color – the word azure comes from lapis lazuli.
(image credit Parent Géry)
Lapis was long ground up to make the pigment ultramarine, which was widely used during the Renaissance in frescoes and oil painting (this method was replaced in the 19th century with a synthetic compound.)
(image credit Walters Art Museum)
Because of its amazing blue colouring, Lapis has been prized; carved and worn throughout antiquity, in pieces like this Roman Imperial Eagle. I saw quite a lot of it in precious pieces in museums while travelling in Egypt.
Lapis is believed to be good for communications and good judgement, for enhancing memory, and to attract success.
Lapis is gorgeous – and I have these pieces in my gemstone collection just waiting to be made into something fabulous!