Tag Archives: handmade

Peridot Triangle Ring and Earrings Set

My cousin commissioned me to make a set of earrings and a ring for his lovely girlfriend.

Peridot Triangle Ring and Earrings

The design needed to be small, with a green stone, and a little bit unusual. We Facebook messaged back and forth, and together, we came up with a design which incorporated those concepts!

Peridot Triangle Ring and Earrings

I hope Laura liked them, and what a nice partner she has!!! 🙂

Grey Moonstone and Sterling Silver Dome Lidded Ring

Grey Moonstone Dome Lidded Ring

The culmination of our year’s worth of Silversmith training was a weekend session in which we were expected to create a complex piece which we had previously designed.  We had to hand in a rendering, an art drawing, a technical drawing with notes and a set of procedural notes before creating the piece over the space of 15 hours.

Grey Moonstone and Sterling Silver Dome Lidded Ring

I designed this dome lidded ring featuring a grey cat’s eye moonstone cabochon, which can be worn either with the lid on or off.  I received a mark of 92.2% for this piece.  I’m pleased with it!

Grey Moonstone and Sterling Silver Dome Lidded Ring

What is Drusy Agate?

The term “drusy” comes from the word “druse”, which refers to a rock surface (usually a cavity) covered with tiny individual crystals, such as are found inside geodes or in larger pockets of mineral deposits.

Sea Green Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

Drusy crystals take hundreds or even thousands of years to form. They form as molten rock begins to cool with trapped gases inside. The gases cause gaps in the rock. As ground water carrying dissolved silica is forced into a porous area of the rock for century after century, tiny crystals form on the surfaces or in cavities of the rock, forming a blanket of crystals.

Medium Bright Blue Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

These rocks are split open to reveal the crystals within.  Cabochons are then cut from the surface of the rock capturing the drusy elements.

Sky Blue Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Pendant

The most commonly found drusy is quartz (agate or chalcedony), but many other species can exist in this form.

Purple Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Pendant

Naturally colored quartz drusy is found almost exclusively in muted colors such as white, grey, tan and cream. Many quartz pieces, though, are dyed black or other vivid colors such as purple, red, green and blue, and some are coated with titanium or other metallic vapor which creates various iridescent finishes. You can read more about gemstone treatments here.

Pink Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring 1

I love working with drusy, because as well as being incredibly beautiful, no piece is ever the same!

Orange Red Marquis Cut Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

Some of the pieces shown here are available for sale in my online shop. I am currently only working with natural stones, which I am happy to custom-make into rings or pendants similar to the ones shown here if you would like one.  Do contact me for a quote, won’t you!!

Apricot Orange Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

Kasumi Style Pearl and Sterling Silver Ring

This pearl ring was a recent commission piece – a nice big Kasumi style pearl in a simple sterling silver setting.

Kasumi Pearl and Sterling Silver Ring

Jade provided the design, and was just lovely to work with!

Kasumi Pearl and Sterling Silver Ring 

I learned a lot about pearls while making this ring. The mussel that grows this particular kind of pearl makes pearls with a lot of texture and variations in color. I really like that idea, as I like the “grown by mother nature” feel provided by some bumps and imperfections. A bit like all of us, really!!

Red Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

Red Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

Renee, a lovely customer for whom I previously had made a seaglass pendant, commissioned a custom made drusy agate ring.

Red Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

Renee chose her gemstone from the collection available on from the Silver Forge gemstone collection. I love this red piece, it looks almost edible!

Red Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

What a privilege to create another piece for you, Renee, thank you!!! 🙂

Amazonite and Sterling Silver Claw Set Ring

Amazonite and Sterling Silver Claw Set Ring

This ring was the second last piece I made for my Vocational Course. The design was one provided by the school, as the task was to learn claw/basket setting.  I chose the stone though!!

Amazonite and Sterling Silver Claw Set Ring

I made the ring particularly for my mum, for her birthday.  She’s delighted with it!! Hooray!!

Sea Green Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Pendant

My dear friend Sophie chose this piece of drusy agate and I made it into a pendant for her.

Sea Green Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Pendant

It’s the first pendant I’ve made with drusy, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out!

Sea Green Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Pendant 

Soph was really pleased with it, and I plan to create some more soon!! 🙂

 

Coffee Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

Coffee Coloured Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

I asked my dear friend Morgan to choose a drusy agate cabochon from my collection, and I made it into a ring for her.

Coffee Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

She wanted it to look a bit old-fashioned, so we designed it with a half-round shank, and I gave the silver a very matt finish.

Coffee Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

She is thrilled with it, so I am very happy!!

Seaglass and Sterling Silver Cuttlefish Cast Pendant

Cuttlefish Casting and Seaglass Pendant

I finally finished making a pendant from the last piece of cuttlefish casting I had from our casting workshop earlier this year.

Seaglass and Sterling Silver Cuttlefish Cast Pendant

It’s a bit of a departure from my usual style, but the casting just seemed to need some softness with it!

Seaglass and Sterling Silver Cuttlefish Cast Pendant

My teacher gave me a couple of suggestions for how to finish it off – thanks Sue!  I love the nature of silversmithing, there’s always some new way to look at things and something new to be learned!!

Seaglass and Sterling Silver Cuttlefish Cast Pendant

I’m keeping this piece for myself!