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!
At The Goldsmith’s School where I did my training, after learning to set a stone, I was taught how to create a hollow ball or sphere.
There is some danger involved – once you have cut out two circles, domed them to be exactly half of the diameter that you require, you solder the two halves together, and because there is a hollow space in the middle of the ball that you are closing, the risk is that the ball explodes as you are soldering it. This hasn’t happened to me, but I always wear my protective glasses just in case!
This ring was not born from my own idea, as I borrowed the concept from a beautiful piece I bought years ago from a jeweller who had a stand at the Brunswick Street Markets – I have seen this notion replicated in many places however, and it is a simple smithing concept. I try not to look at other people’s work these days, as I would hate to accidentally plagiarise someone’s original creation! There is nothing new under the sun they say, but I like ideas to grow organically inside my own imagination. And I do have plenty of them!
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!
Iridescent Butterfly (image credit Echidna Art and Cards)
Assist A Sista is a Gold Coast based group of community volunteers who work together to help survivors of domestic violence to rebuild and repair by bringing hope and restoring faith.
Domestic violence affects nearly 500,000 Australian women per year. Although women are the majority, men can also be subjected to domestic violence. It does not discriminate; affecting every community regardless of class, culture or background, young or old.
Domestic violence is the misuse of power to gain control over another person. No one deserves to live in fear of domestic violence – especially not children. Assist A Sista strives to empower victims, with the aim of breaking the cycle and enabling victims and their children have a fresh start; a comfortable home with all the basics, whilst they continue to heal.
Assist A Sista provide support by bridging the gap, where government support falls short:, by meeting immediate crisis needs, by providing specific “Wish List” Items requested by survivors of domestic violence, and by creating “Assista Havens” for the women (and sometimes men) and their children, once they have exited a refuge and are commencing their journey towards a safe new life in a new home.
If you can help Assist A Sista, either with cash or a donation of household goods, head to their website, or if you’d like to help by making a purchase from The Silver Forge, head to my shop – 10% of this month’s proceeds will be donated to this very worthy cause!
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!
The white moonstone gemstone cabochons shown here are 6mm in diameter, and are available to be handcrafted into custom pieces for you.
Please note – this cabochon is reserved for a lovely client.
The gorgeous dendritic opal gemstone cabochon shown here is 36mm long.
The gorgeous dark blue lapis lazuli gemstone cabochons shown here are 24mm long. They are available to be handcrafted into a custom made ring, pendant or earrings for you.
Lapis Lazuli has been mined in Afghanistan for over 6,000 years. It is believed to be good for communications and good judgement, for enhancing memory, and to attract success.
The lovely Willow Creek jasper gemstone cabochon shown here is 30mm long, and is available to be handcrafted into a custom made ring or pendant for you.
Jasper is believed to encourage personal bravery and help people gain independence. It is thought to help cure gynecological problems and to strengthen the stomach. Some believe it can help bring rain, and it has been used as a protection against evil spirits and snake and spider bites.