Welcome 2016!

This will be a short and sweet post - a little info about my website update and a reminder about the Incognito Silent Art Auction. 

My caldesignnaturals.com website has been tweaked a little. Design and info has been slightly adjusted. It includes links to this blog, my etsy shop and Facebook fan page. Stop by and poke around. 

ALSO It's time for Memphis Botanic Garden's "Incognito Silent Art Auction" and yours truly has a piece in for the 4th consecutive year. BECAUSE it's "Incognito" I can't show you what it is. The idea is to "bid on what you like NOT who you know".

The pieces should be going up this week along the halls of the main building at the Garden. The auction starts at 5:30pm on Friday, January 29. 

Tickets available here:  http://memphisbotanicgarden.com/incognito

Happy 2016 folks, may you be happy, healthy and safe.

Updates coming...

It sure has been a long time!!

I have updates coming... in the mean time here are a few photos of pieces I've created - including a before, after and NOW picture of my last foster. 

This is Plum... now known as Sage - she came to our home a week after being
pulled off the streets of Memphis where she was living with a pack of dogs.
The pic on the left is her an hour or so after being caught at her first check-up
and the pic on the right is her a month and week or so later after her last
check up before heading north to live a wonderful life with her
canine sister and a great Mom and Dad.
She stayed with us from Halloween until early December.

THIS is Sage a taken 6 months later with her sister.
She is big, beautiful and LOVED.

Pieces currently in my calDESIGN Naturals etsy shop include but not limited to these -
EXCEPT the bracelet on the blue denim - which was a custom order. 

Amethyst Squared... or rather Cubed! ;o)

Stepping outside my box - more into fabrication... what am I saying - TOTAL fabrication!! Some of my friends refer to this as "from scratch". :o)

I had two 8mm square Amethyst cabochons that I had put aside for a friends February birthday and they were yelling to me... MAKE SOMETHING!! I wanted to set them but lordy I have not set square cabs ... have never made a square bezel... never mind a square bezel cup - sides and bottom!!

Out came the design book one evening, then transfer design to Photoshop (just something I do) and then I waited for Friday and for the work-work day to be over.

I have to tell you, something incredible happened Friday evening - the "Studio Gods" smiled on me. NEVER have I felt more in sync with materials, process, design. I felt like I was in an awesome groove. No melted wires, no messed up bezel cups, no waste, no bumped head!!

I started with "the hard part"... the bezel cups made from Sterling and Fine Silver that the gems are supposed to sit in. I figured... If I could do this, I could do the rest! Measure, wrap, measure again, cut, trial fit, file, clean, solder... sides! Place on sheet metal, solder, fit, trim, file, clean, retest fit... cup!! Now they were tall - prob 2x taller than needed. So I marked them, sawed off the excess, filed and cleaned up. DONE! ;o)

NOW For the base - thanks to my obsession with having to buy tools that look cool, different, "may need that some day" or "ohhh that's a good inexpensive version of what I "might need" let's try it til I think I REALLY need it"... I have a weird set of plastic stepped mandrels in different shapes. The largest size square was perfect for what I wanted for the base of the earrings. I formed the base using Sterling Silver square wire and the square plastic stepped mandrel - shaped, checked, pushed, checked, cut, checked, soldered... checked - sweeeet! ;) 

Then I cut two squares from the Sterling Silver sheet, filed the edges, rounded the corners a touch to keep from wounding anyone. Then I formed the twisted Sterling Silver wire to form the "ropes". I placed, checked and then soldered the "ropes" onto the base square, cleaned the piece and then placed and soldered the top decorative

square onto the base and "ropes". Cleaned again and then placed and soldered the bezel cups onto the bottom of the earring base. 

The two pieces went into the pickle pot to clean and I went to work forming the pierced earring post... I have a small (SMALL - like 1" x 2" MAYBE) steel draw plate that I use to make the posts. First I use a mini torch to ball the ends of a 1" piece of Sterling Silver wire (when you hold it into the flame it forms a ball and it slowly creeps up the wire forming a bigger ball). Once cooled I put the wire in the smallest hole it will fit in inside the draw plate (which is being held by my small (SMALL! ;o)) vice. And I wack the ball with a hammer. This flattens out the ball forming a flat top instead of a ball. THIS I have found makes soldering a post onto an earring back MUCH MUCH EASIER. The posts were then soldered onto the earring bases and the two completed but not set earrings were pickled one more time and I was done for the evening! ::phew:: Nothing. Went. Wrong. STILL!! 

The next night all the cleaned and rinsed pieces were ready to have the Amethysts set. I still felt the cups may be a 'touch' to tall so I cut two pieces of PVC card to fit into the cups (1 each). The cabochon went on top and POOF perfect height. Slowly I pushed the edges (starting at the corners) in - moving the metal slowly and not scratching the stone. and finally... they were set. I cleaned up the pieces, burnished the cups and base pieces and then tossed them into the tumbler with stainless steel shot to harden and shine. The next day they came out, were rinsed off, the posts trimmed, scratch brush used on the top square to give it texture and a matte finish. A purchased Sterling Silver earring nut was added to both and they were complete. 




This was THE BEST project - I felt completely in sync with the materials and the project. Such fun pair of earrings and I'm very pleased with the outcome!

Size: 1.75" x 1.5"Stones: 8mm

Back in the Studio...

Climbed back up on the horse after looking at late 2012/2013 year in review and seeing how few pieces I posted. No wonder I've been feeling "out of sorts"!! To much what I call "work-work" not enough creative play = "out of sorts" Cindy.

Fine Silver Locket...

I took a "hinge-less locket" class at the Memphis Botanic Garden in mid January and after making my piece I have ideas for how to change it up, improve on the piece I did (example - I did a deeper curve on mine so it was a bit smaller than the rest in class so my bezel should have been smaller... next time I will take all that into consideration. :o) ). I love taking classes - even if it's a repeat which I do quite often - I tend to learn something new each time OR get ideas on how to tweak projects and make them my own. (Next class is spinner rings! :o) )

earth prints in Sterling Silver...
On Jan 9 - 31 I took part in the Memphis Botanic Garden "Incognito Artist Silent Auction". The idea is that

 all pieces submitted are not "signed" (as most of them are paintings that is easy to do) and bidders are encouraged to "bid on what you love, not who you know". I created Sterling Silver versions of my "earth prints" in the form of a bracelet and an earring/necklace set. I loved every minute of creating these pieces! They speak to me and the "clean" edges on these - as opposed to the more organic look my latest bronze pieces have been was a fun different look for these. 

The pieces were pretty well received - they were on display from 9th thru the 31 with a big Gala event the evening of the 31st when the silent bid auction took place. My necklace and earring set brought in a winning bid of $125 and my bracelet brought in a winning bid of $50. Not a bad donation for the Garden Education Department.

Bronze earth print:
Cilantro w Amethyst ...
On even better news - I posted the Bronze Cilantro w Amethyst crystals earth print I wore to the Incognito Gala on Facebook to show how cool it looked with some organic ceramic beads and SOMEONE ASKED TO BUY IT! - Ok I know, I have sold pieces before, and even shipped to Australia but ... ::giggle:: it never gets old! ;o)

The piece had two Amethyst Crystals (little pieces that chipped off when I dropped an Amethyst Druzy piece on the floor by accident) fired in place in the Bronze. They clouded in the kiln - which I expected something to happen because Amethyst should not be fired - and let me tell you - they were soo cool looking. They clouded, did not fracture or break, just ended up looking almost like Moonstone. I paired it with two twist tube organic textured, ceramic beads with a slight turquoise coloring on them. Strung it all on a brown leather cord and created hand-coiled end caps and "S" hook. It was restrung and is now in the loving hands of it's new owner. 

Heart Felt
& Simply Understated...
My latest piece was a custom Valentine's Day gift. Now I know this gifter and they let me pretty much have my own way but I wanted them to be able to have a hand in the piece also so when they told me the receiver's favorite color is green so I went thru my stash of lampwork beads and pulled out three types of green beads....

1. "cutesy" green - like cupcakes
2. "love" green - hearts of diff shapes, sizes and shades
3. "dressy" green - more modern take on green lampwork beads - long focals, swirls, etc.

Without even asking for more the large heart focal was picked. No second guessing - just perfect. It has an opaque almost Emerald green bottom and transparent green top with silver swirled where the different glasses meet. The heart focal is one I had gotten from Principessa Jewels & Glass.

I went for a "simply understated" look and highlighted the colors on the bead by using 4mm Swarovski Crystals (sand opal, olivine, emerald and peridot) and added one for the gifters birthstone and one for the receivers birthstone. I hung the pendant from a black leather cord (also requested by the gifter) with Sterling Silver hand-coiled end caps, "S" hook and then added a 2" chain to allow for it to be worn at varying lengths. I finished it off with a clear crystal Swarovski heart. 

I have been back in the Studio this weekend too - started and finished a project that went INCREDIBLY SMOOTH! :o) Right now the pieces are in the tumbler so more later!! :o) 

Thanks for "listening". :o)

A year past?! 2013 Year in Review...

"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! 

No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!"
- White Rabbit, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Oh, my goodness!
- Shirley Temple, Poor Little Rich Girl'

I couldn't choose which to use as the title to this blog post! Because Oh, my goodness! I'm late! I'm late! it has been over a YEAR since my last post - Oh, my goodness! 

So what do I do? Do I try and update in order or do I show you what I've created in the past year? I'm thinking a "quick" (seriously have you ever found me to be QUICK on this blog?) "Year in Review" is in order - so here we go!

December 2012
Custom Mother's Pendant - Intertwined Lives
Three children, three circles, intertwined
as their lives are intertwined.
Sterling Silver hand-forged open
filigree design. Lab created stones:
Topaz and Emerald with Pearl (all 6mm).
Manufactured Sterling Silver chain w/
coordinating 3 circle links connecting long link.

December 2012
Mother's Love
Special Mother's Pendant - Sterling Silver with Amethyst, Emerald and Aquamarine stones (CZs or lab made) representing three children. It hangs on a hand-dyed, black silk ribbon.

This is my first Mother's Pendant in Filigree and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I'm working on a design that will allow me to add additional children.

December 2012
Custom Mother-In-Law Set - Heart Vines
Two Sons and Daughter-in-law vining within her heart ... her heart of hearts.
Sterling Silver hand-forged open filigree design. Lab created stones: Sapphire and Tanzanite
with Pearl (all 6mm). Earrings are 6mm Sapphire and 4mm Pearls. 

Pendant hands from manufactured 20" Sterling Silver French Rope chain.
A beautiful compliment to the vining heart. 

December 2012
Custom Filigree "Initial" Earrings...
Sterling Silver earrings hand formed,
forged and soldered. 

December 2012
"Family Pendant"...
Sterling Silver wire, settings and chain. 

This is a small piece I did for my Great Aunt...
Hand-shaped, and forged sterling silver wires
forming two hearts. The top stone is my
Great Uncle's stone (Turquoise),
bottom stone is for her daughter (my God-Mother). 

My Great Aunt lost her husband last year,
and just recently lost her sister - who was buried
on what would have been my Great Uncle's birthday.
I thought I wanted to make her
something special this year for Christmas.

January 2013
Sterling Silver St. Brigid's Cross
Designed to look like grasses
in the form of a cross.

January 2013
Bronze* St. Brigid's Cross
Designed to look like the grass ends
are tied.

January 2013
FINISHED! Remember Moe from class in 2012?
In Jan 2013 I had a great set of
custom beads made specifically for this piece and
combined them with beautiful black
 and brown leather bolo cord, sterling silver
hand-fabricated end caps.

June 2013

Something Blue Ankle BraceletHemp, Lampwork Glass and Sterling Silver. 
Made for a bride's beach wedding. The hand

formed closure is sterling sliver heart w hook.

June 2013
"earth prints... Cilantro"
Bronze (Goldie 50/50), Kumihimo Cord, Sterling Silver
This was created from a mold I made of a sprig of cilantro that had just barely started to go to seed. I purposely left the edges "unfinished and uneven" to help with the "fossil" look. It has a fold-over bail on the back. The pendant hangs from a hand-crafted 20" kumihimo cord I braided using embroidery floss to get the small diameter - bronze, brown, cream and green were used. Finished it with sterling silver coiled ends and hook.

July 2013
Fold-Formed Copper with Mini Hessonite Garnet cluster
Created this copper piece in Fold Forming Class at the
Memphis Botanic Garden last weekend with Brandy Boyd.
Brought it home and added the Mini Hessonite Garnet
cluster. It was going to be a bracelet but it really
didn't want to be - sometimes you just have
to listen to the piece!

July 2013
Remembrance Crow...
Sterling Silver, Yellow Sapphire
This crow was created as a
remembrance charm representing
a much loved grandparent
who LOVED crows!
The yellow eye represents his
November birthstone.

August 2013
Race for the Cure Golf Tournament
Sterling Silver Pink Ribbon Heart Charm w/ Golf Ball
on Sterling hand wrapped bangle with glass lampwork beads.

My new obsession... earth prints

earth prints are designed to look almost like a fossil found on a dig! Some of them have crystals poking thru others are set with birthstone czs. 

August 2013
earth prints... "Sapphire Ocean" Pendant
Bronze, Blue Leather, Sapphire Crystal
This "Sapphire Ocean" pendant is approx 1 1/2"  across by 1 1/4" high and is crafted using two of my own custom created mold. This is shown shown straight from the kiln with heat patina acquired during firing with only a slight brushing to bring up some sparkle on the high points of the piece. The Sapphire Crystal fired perfectly and looks wonderful in the pendant. The look fits my idea of earth prints perfectly. It is currently hanging from a length of blue leather cording.

August 2013

earth prints... "Ocean" Key Fobs
Bronze, Leather, Bronze WireThese 
"Ocean" Key Fobs are approx 1" diameter using two of my own custom created molds and textures. They are shown straight from the kiln with heat patina acquired during firing. Some even have specs of carbon on them. The look fits my idea of earth prints perfectly. They hang from my hand-cut/bound leather cord fobs and have a purchased bronze colored key ring .

September 2013
Took a wonderful Mask Class with UK Metal Clay &
Enamel Artist - Joy Funnel
Fine Silver with Enamels, CZs Shows front and back of my Sea Queen

October 2013
Larimar & Sterling Silver
A wonderful artist friend of mine cuts cabochons
and creates beautiful jewelry. He sent me the pretty
Larimar set pendant with a cabochon order.
I loved it so much I asked him to cut me a couple
of small triangle Larimar cabs so that I could
try setting my own post earrings. I LOVE THEM!!!

December 2013
Dreamcatcher Sterling Silver Filigree EarringsSterling, Pearl 

Special custom order Christmas present for a bestie from her bestie. Both girls share the same birth month (June) and an inside joke... hence the 1 and 2 on the back of the hearts. Designed to fall slightly "off center" the dream catcher part of the earring is approx 1" diameter. It hangs approx 2 1/2" long from removable posts. This allows any "stud" like earring to be used.

The feather and hearts were hand-crafted from sterling silver PMC.

This was an incredibly fun project to design and create. Thank you to the "bestie" for allowing me to make her friend's Christmas present!!

December 2013
Sterling Silver Filigree Leaf Mother's Pendant

Hand-formed, customized Mother's Pendant featuring Mother of Pearl cab for June and Yellow Topaz for November birthdays. Hangs from doubled 1/8" hand-dyed black silk cord with hand-formed coil end caps, hook and a sterling silver (pmc) artisan tag. 

This is my first international order and is wing it's way to New So Wales, Australia!! :o)

December 2013
Bronze Mitten Christmas Ornament
This ornament went to my family members in lieu of a gift this year...
The card below explains the meaning behind it.

Flights of Filigree

I have stepped out and ventured into the gloriously beautiful world of Filigree! I saw my first piece of incredible filigree jewelry in person when I went to a large artisan show in Lancaster PA and discovered by chance the work of Lisa Gallagher. Such tiny beautiful pieces w/ such tiny little pieces of twisted, shaped metal inside. I was, no I am... in awe.

That was 2 years ago... After buying books and looking at pieces and dreaming about trying it I finally said -  "Loug, just do it!" so this past weekend I made my first attempt.

The thought was that it would be an initial pin for my sister-in-law of a scarf. Although pleased that I was able to solder the pieces and get them to hold, it didn't come out as I imagined. Then I read some more of the Silver Threads book by Jeanne Rhodes-Moen... and realized that I should have used square wire (I used 18g round sterling) and I should have used Filigree wire (I used twisted 24g round sterling). I could have pounded out the twisted wire to more closely work like filigree wire but I kinda-sorta didn't read that indepth. So I decided... Let's try it again.

Here is attempt #2 a set of sterling silver leaf-shaped earrings with 6mm light blue (fabricated) cat's eye and 4mm moonstone cabochons. I chose the light blue Cat's Eye because I know she had asked for a pair of blue Chalcedony earrings last year for Christmas - and I chose the Moonstones because they are a pretty grey color and dark grey is her favorite color. I initially intended to make them "post" earrings so I pulled out some pre-made bezels for the stones and a pair of pre-made posts - all sterling silver.

This time I smartly hammered out about 14" of 24g twisted sterling silver to a nice flat piece of wire that has 'ribs' on the top and bottom. After doing that I needed to anneal it and that meant putting fire to it to soften it up again. After that - Pickle... that would become my mantra... shape, position, flux, solder, pickle... shape, position, flux, solder, pickle... ;o)

I designed the earrings - because I use a leaf with my logo on it as my jewelry tag I used that same shape for the earrings. It's a familiar feel I thought it would help me ease into the project. I worked in the stones - behind the blue stone was where I imagined the post would be for the earrings. Not heavily filigree'd but enough to get my feet wet and be pretty. I tend to start my designs in my design book and then move to my computer to work out some details. (Yes I have visions of owning one of the HP design pads that they use on Project Runway!).

Next step was to cut the 18g square sterling silver wire and shape it to form the outside of the leaf and the center "vein". The outside is one piece bent, formed and curved to fit the design... the "vein" is a single piece also formed and curved to fit. I trimmed the pieces so that the Cat's Eye bezels would fit right into the top of the leaf.

Now for the tricky part - well, to me. Snipping and shaping the inside "filigree" pieces that form the curls and twirls of the earrings center design. These little pieces are interesting to work with. The flattened twisted wire sometimes gave me "fits" but I have to say it was very fun to do. The top twirled piece on both earrings is actually in the form of a stylized up-side down heart. The Moonstone bezel will fit right into one of the twirls of the heart.

Now... step 6 which I don't have a picture for - soldering. I used my soldering block, small butane torch, easy and medium wire solder and flux. I am a klutz so to take a photo of the set-up w/ a torch ... nope wasn't happening. I thought about putting my tripod up but the 4-legged helpers were awake and that would cause interest in what I was doing more than they already had. (Here is a picture of my Sissy far enough away to be out of the way but close-enough to satisfy her need to be next to me.)

However I do have a picture of my NEW FAVORITE TOOL! My pickle pot is a small (dip size) crock pot that holds my pickling solution (I use Silver Prep as it's kinder to the environment) ... it is used to remove  

oxidation on the wire that comes from being heated by the torch. Apparently you need to remove the oxidation each time you solder. Well - walking the 10' to the kitchen each time I solder a piece was getting old so I thought hmmm I can get a small dish to put some in and put it on my mug warmer on my work station... My friend Beth reminded me to cover it so the "helpers" don't get into it by mistake. I thought ... cool - I have a tea cup from Hong Kong with a cover... and then I stopped in my tracks .. I HAVE A TEA CUP WITH A COVER *AND* A STRAINER! Now... if you don't do this you have no idea how cool this is... when you put small pieces into a pickle pot the hardest thing to do is get them back out of the pot... with the porcelain strainer your pieces sit in the pickle and are easier to get access too!! Too cool! My new favorite tool!!

I worked the placement and the soldering of the filigree wires and the Moonstone bezel and then after polling my FB fans (calDesign Naturals) I decided to forgo the posts and make ear wires instead. I soldered a 3" piece of 20g sterling silver onto the back of the Cat's Eye bezel to form into an earring wire later.

Here I laid the soldered pieces on the original design to see how close I got... not bad I think, not bad! I'm also looking to see if they are close to being similar left and right earrings.
The closer they are to the design the better off they will be when being worn.
 
A quick look at the back - I wanted to check the solder points. You want to be sure that they were smooth and would not catch on anything. I used a file to smooth these areas, double checked the ear wire placement and prepared to form the ear wires.

Forming Ear Wires... A couple bends with flat nose pliers, a twirl onto a pair of bail pliers and POOF I have some ear wires. They were about 1/2" to long so I trimmed then down, bent up the ends a little and - ear wires! :o)

Next is to put these in the tumbler. A tumbler will shine up the pieces as well as work-harden the pieces. Each time it is soldered, the heat will soften the wire. Work-hardening it will toughen the wire up so that it's not flimsy bend-able soft. And the "spahkle" it gives is wonderful!!

Last step is to put the stones in, shoot, package and send! A beautiful pair of earrings for my sister-in-law.

I hope she enjoys wearing them as much as I enjoyed creating them. And I can tell you I will DEFINITELY do this again. I love what I was able to create and want to do it again and try and work filigree into my metal clay designs!