Warm Glass Earrings

There are those times when you put into the kiln a lot of creative work and most of it doesn't quite work out as you intended. Yesterday was one of those days. I did find a few little nuggets that will soon be made into earrings.

 These are dichroic glass. The top ones are covered in clear glass. The bottom ones are dichroic glass fused upon black glass. They are cut in the shape of a square but turn into a circle most of the time.

 I will glue on a backing on each piece of glass. Then I will attach either sterling silver or 14K gold filled ear wires. The prices of all my fused glass earrings are $20.

Little nuthatches on white opalescent glass and three layers of purple glass are shown above. Next week, I hope to be able to share just a few more earrings.

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

Chrysocolla, Malachite, Turquoise, and Fly

 I have always enjoyed the charms made by Green Girl Studios. This charm I purchased in a bead shop in Asheville, North Carolina. The charm has a dragonfly on one side.

 The word fly is on the back of the charm. This necklace started with the charm. I wondered what gemstones would accent with the dragonfly. One of my very favorite gemstones is chrysocolla which is a copper based stone in colors of blue and green said to have gentleness and power. Each chrysocolla  is unique in its blending of colors . I  used two other copper based stones turquoise and malachite.

 Fly is joined with a turquoise chip and a turquoise nugget. The green stones are malachite. The larger stones are chrysocolla.

 The chrysocolla is quite a large stone. To finish this necklace, I added green turquoise nuggets and a blue turquoise stone. The clasp is copper based.

 After I finished creating the necklace, I made a pair of earrings. They are chrysocolla and malachite on a silver beaded wire. The ear ring wire is dappled sterling silver.

Just to let you know the size of the chrysocolla. I am thinking this necklace might be one just for me.

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

Christmas Stone Ignites Creativity

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

Imagine coming home after practicing the organ on a dreary cold day to find a package hanging on the door of your studio. I put the Christmas gift under the tree and waited until Christmas Day to open it. Wrapped very carefully in the bottom of the bag was this beautiful gemstone. On the bead board was the carnelian already wrapped. This began the creative juices flowing.

Having created the necklace, I decided to create some earrings. It took just a few tries to remember how to wrap all these tiny little jasper gemstones to the larger jasper. They look like little flowers dangling from the larger flower blossom. The sterling silver ear wires I purchased are hammered and heavier than I normally use.

The finished necklace is shown in the photo above. It is full of jasper gemstones much like the stones in the earrings. There are five links of copper wire on each side of the necklace. A sterling silver clasp was added. Lately I have been creating gemstone and mixed metal necklaces long enough to simply place over your head and fall across your chest.

You just never know what happens with a Christmas stone.