YOJ09-19 Mother & Child Pendant

Mother & Child Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, formed, flame-worked
L 5.4 cm x W 2.4 cm

It’s Mother’s Day, so my piece this week is in honour of Motherhood.

I’ve had pregnancy on my mind a lot in the last week, because last weekend I had a miscarriage.  That was why I didn’t post anything for Week 18. What bugs me is not that I had the miscarriage – it’s that I had originally planned to wait until May 1 to do the pregnancy test.  Had I followed through, I would never have known I was pregnant.  Instead, I did the test on the 27th.  My husband was completely gobsmacked when I told him the news:  he thought I was too old to have any more babies.  I had to explain to him that even though I am of a somewhat advanced childbearing age, until I actually stop having periods, I can still get pregnant.  On the 30th I went to visit my GP, and that afternoon I started spotting.  I spent the evening at Emergency, where they took some blood and sent me home.  On Saturday, I started bleeding in earnest, so I went back to Emerg, where more blood tests and 5 hours of waiting confirmed what I already knew:  the pregnancy had aborted.

I knew the chances of this baby going full term were very slim.  I’m on medication that can cause birth defects, and, in the second and third trimesters, is toxic to the fetus.  Even that aside, this would have been an extraordinarily difficult and potentially life-threatening pregnancy because of my various health conditions.  I swear, my warranty ran out after I turned 40…

I’m sad, but not as upset as I was with the miscarriage two years ago.  More than anything, the experience has left both my husband and I wishing we had met ten years earlier.  I am able to take comfort in the idea that I am still “Mommy” to five children:  two I cuddle every day, and now three others I cuddle in spirit.

So, here is the Mother, full with her Child.  The design is a bit abstract, and I decided that it would not work without a bit of soldering.  I’ve wanted to do a Mother & Child piece for a long time, and, I’m pleased to finally have a design I like.

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mommies who read this :-).

More photos:

YOJ09-17 Chalcedony Effervescence Pendant

Chalcedony Effervescence Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, fine silver, chalcedony
L 3.0 cm x W 1.2 cm
Cold connected, flame worked

I went to the Toronto Gem Show today – and I was by myself!!  Woo hoo!  That meant I had the freedom to be able to browse, and chat with friends, and to shop.  I was looking for some things for my upcoming classes at Haliburton, but in the end decided that what I’ve found online is still a better bargain.  But… I couldn’t resist a strand of chalcedony brios I came across.  In a table full of stuff that looked like it was dyed, I found one package that had a beautiful opalescent glow.  So, despite being on a buying moratorium for the past three years, I decided those beads had to come home with me.  Even the sales lady commented about the package, saying that if I hadn’t bought it when I did, it wouldn’t have been around later – someone would have snapped it up.

Tonight I picked out one of the beads, and made this little pendant.  It looks somewhat similar to the pendant I made in Week 8, so I’ve giving it a similar name.

More photos:

YOJ09-16 Beaded Channel Ring

Beaded Channel Ring (2009)
Sterling silver, constructed, cold worked
Size 5 1/2

My lack of energy is starting to concern me.  If this keeps up I’m going to haul my carcass off to the doctor and find out what’s going on.

For now, another simple offering this week – a beaded channel ring.  The tutorial for this ring was published in “Contemporary Bead & Wire Jewelry” by Nathalie Mornu and Suzanne Tourtillot, one of two projects I contributed to the book.

YOJ09-14 Lame-O Earrings

Lame-O Earrings (2009)
Sterling silver, Preciosa crystal

I’m feeling completely tired and shagged out.  And I haven’t even squawked!

I’m working on meeting a print deadline this week, so my focus is not on jewellery.  I do have an idea for my next major undertaking, and did work a bit on that over the past few days, but it’s still in the prep phase, not the construction phase.

So now it’s Sunday, and I don’t want to be late two weeks in a row.  So I’m posting a pair of lame-ass earrings, constructed in about 1 minute.  Don’t have the energy for anything more this week.