jewelry – Page 2 – dianne karg baron

YOJ09-47 Marquise Series: Pendant 2

Posted on December 27, 2009 by dianne

Marquise Series: Pendant 2 (2009)
Sterling silver, fine silver, Swarovski crystal
Constructed, cold-joined
L 3.4 cm x W 0.9 cm

I’m still working along the lines of “quick and simple” for this series, but this time, I wanted to add a tiny splash of colour.

Still trying to keep the cost of the pendant down, I didn’t want to spend too much time on the coiling, so I added only one little Swarovski, strategically placed.

I bought a bunch of these 2 mm Swarovskis back in the late spring when I was preparing for my class at Haliburton. I hadn’t intended to buy them, but when the supplier I was visiting only had half the tools in stock that I needed, I had to choose some other things to bump up my purchase to their minimum order requirement. (It’s incredibly irritating when the stuff is shown in stock on the website, only to discover empty bins when you get there. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual occurrence with this particular supplier, which is why I always go in person, and I don’t shop there unless absolutely necessary.) They are one of the few officially sanctioned wholesale suppliers of Swarovski and Preciosa, so I picked up a few packages.

After several different attempts, I also finally came up with a nice bail that compliments the marquise shape of the pendant.

YOJ09-46 Marquise Series: Pendant 1

Posted on December 23, 2009 by dianne

Marquise Series: Pendant 1
Sterling silver, fine silver, cord
Constructed, cold-joined
L 6.1 cm x W 1.0 cm

One of the jewelry groups on Facebook is currently running a design contest to “overcome the economic crisis”. The idea is to use cheaper materials to reduce the price point of the finished piece. The problem I see with the contest is that the value of the physical effort involved is completely discounted. The cost of the labour stays the same regardless of the materials used.

The only way reduce the cost of the labour is to simplify the designs so that they take less time to make.

There are two challenges to making simple designs: one is to make them well, because the simpler the design, the more important the finishing becomes; the other is coming up with an original concept, something that will appeal to the customer without looking like the same old same old that someone else has produced.

I think the latter is the harder of the two to overcome.

This was the background I was thinking about while making this pendant. The goal was to produce a nice, quick-to-make design, that could become part of my bread-and-butter line for next year. As much as I like making the complex one-of-a-kind pieces, most of my sales fall in the in $20-$150 price range.

Without the neck rope, the pendant on its own would fall easily in the lower end of that range.

It’s been my experience that chains are uneconomic for me to make from scratch, and that was proven true again with this piece. The labour involved in making the neck rope bumps the price up substantially, and the change to the cheaper material (polymer cord) has a huge impact on the perceived value. I end up with a piece that is not sellable at the price I need to sell it at to recoup my costs and actually pay myself.

It’s perverse. It’s also why I don’t generally use “cheap” materials. I want you to feel good about what you’re buying from me, so I make high quality jewellery, with high quality materials. It’s worth every cent.

YOJ09-45 Marquise Series: Bracelet 2

Posted on December 22, 2009April 20, 2017 by dianne

Marquise Series: Bracelet 2
Sterling silver, fine silver
Constructed, cold-joined
L 19.5 cm x W 1.4 cm

The next step in developing the Marquise Series was to add some form of embellishment, like a spiral. To give this bracelet a bit of visual interest, I decided to alternate the links in mirror image. They remind me of fish, and a bit like the stylized birds from the Partridge Family tv show.

I debated about using solder to join the spiral to the frame, and then decided that I wouldn’t save enough time doing that to make any difference in price of the finished piece.

YOJ09-44 Marquise Series: Earrings 1

Posted on December 22, 2009 by dianne

Marquise Series: Earrings 1
Sterling silver
Constructed, cold-joined
L 5.4 cm x W 1.4 cm

The next logical step from the Bracelet I did for YOJ09-43 was to make a pair of earrings. I liked the idea of making the earwire in the same shape as the link – it gives the earring a chain-like look.

YOJ09-41 Goddess Jewels

Posted on November 23, 2009February 23, 2021 by dianne

Goddess Jewels (2009)
Constructed, cold joined
Sterling silver, Preciosa crystal

The opening of the Metal Arts Guild of Canada exhibition “MAGC 2067 – Crafting the Future”, held on November 7 at Arta Gallery in Toronto, was a costume ball. In connection with the theme of the show, people were encouraged to dress up in character.

I originally planned to wear a costume, but then, in the week before the opening, the issue I had been dealing with in my personal life came to a head. Although able to attend, I didn’t have the emotional or physical energy to dress up.

My character was “an acolyte of the Goddess” – a jewellery maker for a matriarchal society devoted to worshiping a Gaia-centred deity. As part of the costume, I made a couple of “Goddess Jewels”. These are very loosely based on Bajoran earrings, of Star Trek fame. My version has a chain of handmade spirals, two Preciosa crystal drops, because I love dangles and sparklies, and is worn via an earcuff on the centre of the ear, and a spiral earwire through the lobe.

I used to wear these a lot, and had forgotten how much fun they are. It’s been several years since I made one. Usually only worn on the left side, this time I wanted the pair. Someone took this photo of me at the opening, where you can see one of them. The whole set of photos from the show is worth a peek.

YOJ09-40 Knotted Tourmaline Earrings

Posted on November 22, 2009 by dianne

Knotted Tourmaline Earrings (2009)
Constructed, cold joined
Sterling silver, fine silver, tourmaline

Recently members of the Starving Artists Etsy Team did a critique of my Etsy shop. One of the comments that came up a couple of times was that my descriptions tend to be a bit on the sparse side. I generally give information about the piece, what it’s made of, basic sizing, etc., but only rarely is there a “story”.

My reply to one of the ladies who asked me about this was “Well, sometimes the design is the result of nothing more than “I had this idea and decided to play around with it.” ”

The truth is that I just have no talent for writing bullshit. What I write has to feel authentic, otherwise it doesn’t work for me. Hmmm…. maybe I need to look into a creative writing course…

Anyways… I was playing around with some scraps of wire left over from working on my Clip-on Earrings tutorial. I tied the wire up in a small knot – not quite as tight as I would have liked, but it worked. I have a “thing” about dangles, so I added these little tourmalines. I love the vibrant pink – they’re just juicy! The result is a cute pair of earrings that works for everyday wear.

The SATeam critique did confirm one thing: my photography is pretty good. It never stops surprising me how much time it takes to get the photography done. Nowadays, I’m not only doing photos for my regular record keeping; I’m also doing set up for Etsy. “Product” photography is different from jury photography – attention must be paid to angles, and multiple positions. A lot of people on Etsy photograph on elaborate backgrounds. I have yet to find one that works for me, so I’m still working with the “jurying grey”.

Photographing studs is difficult at the best of times, but these earrings were particularly challenging. There was just no good way of laying them nicely to get a straight-on shot. Finally, I decided to cut a upright display card out of an old layout board and poke holes in it. Voilà! It worked!

Other views:

YOJ09-39 Oblong Purple Jade Pendant

Posted on November 22, 2009November 22, 2009 by dianne

Oblong Purple Jade Pendant (2009)
Constructed, cold joined
Sterling silver, fine silver, purple jade (dyed)
L 2.2 cm x W 2.5 cm

Okay, so life fell apart for me two months ago, and I’m just starting to recover. I have not been making much new jewellery, but I am going to still try to keep up with the YOJ postings.

I got this purple jade cabochon through a Bead Box swap several years ago. Those Bead Boxes were lots of fun: the idea was to put in things from your stash that you weren’t using and swap them for beads that other people had put in from their stash. I was the Bead Box Mama who organized the whole shebang for Bead Box North, which traveled around Canada and the Northern US. It was a lot of work, but every time the box arrived on my doorstep, it was like Christmas Day! I managed to keep it going for about three years.

Purple is my favourite colour, and I’m always drawn to it. For this pendant, I wanted to work with the same sort of weaving I did on the Moonrise pendant, but on this smaller cab. Well… the cab’s shape proved to be quite a challenge: getting the wire to fit around the pointed ends was very tricky. After multiple attempts to get a pendant that hung lengthwise, I gave up and set the stone sideways. It ends up looking a bit like a genie bottle 🙂

Other views:

Tutorial – Clip-on Earrings

Posted on November 20, 2009March 4, 2022 by dianne

For people who don’t have pierced ears, finding handmade earrings they can wear is a real challenge. Back when I did shows, I’d occasionally get requests for clip-on findings, and lost sales because I didn’t have them. Commercial findings were not an option for the types of shows I was doing.

So when, about a year ago, someone posted a message to one of the forums I’m on asking if there was a pattern for clip-ons, I thought “What a great idea!”. I got out an old pair of my mom’s clip-ons and studied them to figure out a way to make a pair in wire. And today I’m very pleased to announce the release of a new tutorial – Clip-on Earrings!

Clip-OnEarrings-Main

The Clip-on Earrings tutorial includes two variations: Variation 1 makes a basic spiral, with a loop for adding a dangle. Variation 2 forms a base on which you can add your own embellishment, so if you have a favourite bead, or button, you can add it. Variation 2 also has a loop for adding a dangle.

13 pages, 45 photos and 40 steps
USD $8.00

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Tools and Materials You’ll need:

Tools:
3-Step Pliers
Flat Nose Pliers
Round Nose Pliers
Flush Cutting Wire Nippers
Permanent Marker
Measuring Tape/Ruler
Jeweller’s File
Rouge Cloth
10 mm Dowel/Knitting Needle (for Variation 2)

Materials:
15″ (38 cm) 20 ga. Hard Round Sterling Silver wire

Substitutions:
20 ga Half Hard Silver wire can be substituted.

Available from my tutorials page and my Etsy Shop.

Tutorial – Art Nouveau Bangle

Posted on October 15, 2009March 4, 2022 by dianne

I’m pleased to announce that my newest tutorial, Art Nouveau Bangle, is now available!

This bangle features lovely flowing curves and Celtic elements that were common in the Art Nouveau period.

The project was a big hit with my students at the Haliburton School of the Arts! Once you have the basic technique down, you can easily adapt the design and let your creativity flow to create your own variations!

16 pages, 103 photos, 110 steps, plus design notes
USD $15.00

Level of Difficulty: Advanced

Tools and Materials you’ll need:

Tools:
Flat Nose Pliers
Round Nose Pliers
Flush Cutting Wire Nippers
Permanent Marker
Measuring Tape/Ruler
Bracelet Mandrel
Penknife
1/4″ dia. Masking Tape
Rouge Cloth

Materials:
96″ (240 cm) 20 ga Soft Square Silver wire
69″ (175 cm) 22 ga Half Round Silver wire
22 x 30 mm cabochon

Substitutions:
22 ga Soft Square Silver wire can be substituted for the 20 ga. wire.

Available from my tutorials page and my Etsy Shop.

YOJ09-38 Star Earrings

Posted on October 13, 2009 by dianne

Star Earrings (2009)
Constructed, soldered
Sterling silver
L 1.5 cm x W 1.5 cm

I’m about a month behind in my YOJ postings due to a personal crisis that has blown me completely off track. It’s been a very emotional couple of weeks with some highs and a lot of lows. I am determined to catch up, but it’s going to take some time.

I figure the easiest way to get ahead of the game is to focus on earrings. Since I’m stocking up for Christmas anyways, this is a logical course of action.

So… first up is a pair of Star Earrings. I wanted to make a simple pair of stud earrings, something neat and clean looking. Making this design and trying to wrap the tail around the stem would not have given me the look I was after, so it was time to break out the torch. Yes, Virginia, I do solder!

It’s been a while since I’ve soldered anything, and I discovered that my solder is really old. Initially, the solder absolutely refused to flow. I ended up melting the wire. After I pickled the pallet, it worked better.

These earrings will be available for purchase from my Etsy shop.

YOJ09-35 Moonrise

Posted on September 6, 2009September 12, 2010 by dianne

Moonrise (2009)
Pendant, Sterling silver, fine silver, rainbow moonstone, indicolite (blue) tourmaline
Constructed, cold joined
L 6.4 cm x W 1.8 cm x D 1.2 cm (widest point)
SOLD to a private collector, September 2010

On my annual trek to Bancroft this year, I decided to focus on buying cabachons. I have a huge stash of beads, but I’ve been moving away from working with them. The last time I was in Bancroft, I bought some really nice cabs from one particular vendor, and was really happy to see them again. This year, I scored a bunch of beautiful tourmaline, prehnite, kyanite, garnet and rainbow moonstone.

As a member of the Etsy Wire Artisans Guild, I’m supposed to make a monthly “theme” piece. Well… I’ve been a bit lax about it because of my other commitments. So I’m playing a bit of catch up.

It’s been a couple of years since my last attempt at a multi-stone pendant. That attempt was… adequate… but really not up to the standard I like to set for myself. So, for the EWAG’s “Blue Moon” theme, I decided I’d take another stab at it.

Back when I was single, I lived within walking distance of Woodbine Beach in Toronto, and would regularly stroll along the water’s edge. I always loved watching moonrise over the water. The reflected light from Luna rippling over the waves was so peaceful. The Moon is the ruler of my astrological sign, Cancer, so I feel a special connection with it. With my feet in the water, I would say prayers of thanks to the Creator for all of the blessings in my life, and listen for the messages in my heart of what direction I needed to go.

For quite a long time now, I’ve been getting messages telling me I need to reconnect my spiritual side with my jewellery. I feel really strongly that doing that is going to resonate with others. So, in the past few months, I’ve been making and posting work that draws from my inner life.

I gave conscious thought to the stones I chose for this piece. The calming, balancing energy of the 11.7 ct moonstone helps connect with intuitive promptings, and the loving, powerful energy of the 24.42 ct blue tourmaline helps bring awareness and communication of those messages.

The wavy line coming down from the moon was always part of the design, but I also wanted to incorporate the shimmering and rippling of the water by incorporating weaving into the bezel of the lower stone. I’m very happy with the way it turned out, and the energy that comes off the piece is wonderful.

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YOJ09-34 Stocking up for Christmas

Posted on September 5, 2009September 6, 2009 by dianne

The week 34 project isn’t a specific piece of jewellery, per se, more like a bunch of things I made in preparation for Christmas sales on my Etsy shop.

Not really much more to say than that. Oh, and if you’re interested in purchasing my jewellery, click this link.

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