cold worked – dianne karg baron

YOJ09-52 Marquise Series: Pendant 6

Posted on December 31, 2009 by dianne

Marquise Series: Pendant 6 (2009)
Sterling silver, ribbon
Constructed, cold-joined
L 9.8 cm x W 3.4 cm/Ribbon: L 52 cm x W 3.0 cm

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My ex-husband used to say “Go Big or Stay Home”, so I’m finishing off the Year of Jewelry 2009 with a super-sized version of the Marquise Pendant. This started off as an experiment to see if the basic marquise shape would translate to a bangle, but I haven’t worked out the kinks to that yet.

I also decided to give the ribbon necklace another try, although again, it’s technically uneconomic to make. Ah well, I wanted to finish up the year in style! LOL

Here’s another shot of what it looks like on:

And so this very challenging year comes to an end. I’ll have a look back over the year and post some thoughts about what I achieved.

Until then, I wish you and those close to you a very Happy New Year, filled with enough challenge to keep you interested, and enough joy to keep you inspired!

All the best in 2010!

YOJ09-50 Marquise Series: Bracelet 3

Posted on December 30, 2009 by dianne

Marquise Series: Bracelet 3 (2009)
Sterling silver, copper, fine silver
Constructed, cold-joined
L 16.8 cm x W 1.1 cm

For this piece, I took the idea developed in Week 48 and extended it to a bracelet. The design looks simple, yet it surprised me how much work was involved in adding the copper beads.

I like the bi-metal toning – it’s a nice effect, and would really sparkle on tanned, warm toned or dark skin.

Like the project in Week 45, I alternated the links in mirror image; however, the alternating pattern sets up an issue for sizing. I noticed it with the Week 45 bracelet as well, but because it’s all one metal it’s not as obvious. With this bracelet, because there are two metals, it becomes clear that there can’t be an odd number of links: it throws off the pattern. This design will fit either a very small wrist (like this bracelet does), or a very large wrist. On my wrist, which is a little thinner than standard, but not small, the bracelet fits comfortably with room to move easily, but I generally like to wear my bracelets loose so that they jingle.

The design would look stunning with the Swarovskis I used in Week 48, but adding them will also add to the price of the finished piece. If you’re interested in a Swarovski version, please email me for a quote.

YOJ09-49 Marquise Series: Pendant 4

Posted on December 27, 2009December 28, 2009 by dianne

Marquise Series: Pendant 4 (2009)
Sterling silver
Constructed, cold-joined
L 3.6 cm x W 1.6 cm

Here is one more variation in sterling silver. The original idea was to add a 2 mm Swarovski crystal, similar to what I did in the Week 47 project, but I ended up deciding against it.

YOJ09-48 Marquise Series: Pendant 3

Posted on December 27, 2009 by dianne

yoj09wk48-marquiseseriesswarostripe-mini

Marquise Pendant: Pendant 3 (2009)
Sterling silver, fine silver, Swarovski crystal
Constructed, cold-joined
L3.5 cm x W 1.6 cm

Lots of playing going on! I love the sparkle of Swarovskis, so I added a thin row of crystals to this next pendant in the series. I love the classic “sweetheart” look that resulted!

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.

YOJ09-45 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.

YOJ09-31 CZ Solitaire Pendant

Posted on August 13, 2009 by dianne

CZ Solitaire Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, cubic zirconium
Constructed, cold joined
L 1.5 cm x W 0.6 cm

Getting caught up after a couple of weeks away. I kept up with the projects, but didn’t have a chance to photograph them until today. My entry for week 31 is an adaptation of the solitaire prong setting by Jorgen Greftegreff. My husband gave me a solitaire pendant for Christmas a couple of years ago, and I’ve always wondered if the setting could work in wire. This version, while successful in the sense that the adaptation worked, is a bit too messy on the back for my preferences. It was worth the experiment though :-).

YOJ09-30 Copper Art Nouveau Cab Bangle

Posted on July 26, 2009August 13, 2009 by dianne

YOJ09-30 Copper Art Nouveau Bangle (2009)

Copper Art Nouveau Cab Bangle (2009)
Copper, dyed paua shell
Constructed, cold joined
L 8 1/2 inches x W 1 inch

Over the next couple of days I’ll be posting the work produced by my students in Wire Jewellery 1 and 2, but for this week’s YOJ entry, I’m posting my teaching sample of the AN Cab Bangle. This project ended up being quite challenging for the students and took an entire day for the class to complete. That was something I hadn’t anticipated, so there’s going to be a scheduling adjustment for next year’s class. What really impressed me was that everyone showed a lot of persistence in doing the project, which had a few tricky steps in it. One lady, Janice, was so determined to do it – despite how much it was frustrating her – that she refused any suggestion by me to modify it to something simpler. That caused me to joke that she was channeling her inner German: “I VILL complete zis bracelet!” The class cracked up laughing.

The next day, Janice came to class proudly showing off the bracelet, which she had attempted again on her own at home. She said that she’d found the instructions very clear and easy to follow. She had every right to be proud: her bracelet had turned out beautifully!

YOJ09-28 Prong Set Ring

Posted on July 11, 2009January 30, 2011 by dianne

Prong Set Ring (2009)
Sterling silver, cubic zirconium
Size 7
Constructed, cold joined

Life is crazy busy right now as I finish preparations for Haliburton. So this week’s entry is a variation on Jorgen Greftegreff’s Prong Ring (published originally in the April 2001 issue of The Wire Artist Jeweller).

The good news is that my wire arrived finally, and I didn’t need to reorder anything! *Whew*

My computer access is going to be limited for the next two weeks, so while I’ll try to post YOJ pieces on time, more than likely it will wait until I get back.

YOJ09-27 Art Nouveau Cab Bangle

Posted on July 4, 2009 by dianne

Art Nouveau Cab Bangle (2009)
Sterling silver, bloodstone
L 21.5 cm x W 2.5 cm
Constructed, cold joined

Although it’s supposed to be a calming stone, I’ve always found bloodstone to have a kind of overpowering “in-your-face” energy that’s difficult to deal with. For the last few weeks, though, I’ve been wearing it while working on my tutorials, and it’s been helpful for keeping my energy levels up and focused. I love the red spotting on this cab, and the slight yellow cloud overlaying the green. This was part of a group of cabs I bought when The Nautilus closed 10 years ago. The Nautilus was *the* place in Toronto to buy rockhounding and lapidary supplies. Located in the far, far east of the city, I remember it taking an obscenely long time to get there on city transit from where I lived in Little India. But what a treasure trove! The owner, Roy MacLeod, was a passionate rockhound and filled his store with all the bits and bobs needed to work with and admire rocks. Sadly, Roy didn’t live to see the millennium, and the closing of his store left a void that still hasn’t been filled.

In designing the Level II course for Haliburton, I was thinking about what skills would be most useful for the students to learn. In Level I, they learn the basics: working with single wires, developing dexterity with tools, etc. There are very few multi-wire projects. In Level II all but two of the projects are multi-wire pieces, and the students have to deal with doing steps early on that don’t actually come into full use until much later in the construction. Wire control becomes very important.

One of the things Level II focuses on is settings: half of the projects deal with some form of stone setting.

I think this is by far the most complex of the projects I’ll be teaching. Hopefully by the time we get to this point in the course, the students will have enough confidence to tackle it. If not, it’s easily adapted to something simpler. I’ll let them decide how energetic they want to be.

This tutorial will be available for purchase and download off my website after I get back from Haliburton. I’ll post the link when it’s up, along with more photos.

YOJ09-26 Prong Set Pendant

Posted on July 4, 2009September 21, 2009 by dianne

Prong Set Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, labradorite
Constructed, cold joined
Private Collection

I found this labradorite in my stash again recently while working on the prong set pendant tutorial.

I’m rediscovering my love of stones, and am fantasizing about going to Bancroft to *shop*! Having put myself on a buying moratorium for the last few years, I normally go to the gemboree just to have a look around.

When I floated the idea of going this year, my DH surprised me by suggesting I go by myself! It’s a long drive to take the boys on, and since they don’t show much interest in rocks (other than the ones they can throw into water), the show is wasted on them.

Hmmm…. the possibilities…

More photos:

YOJ09-25 Netted Pendant

Posted on July 4, 2009July 5, 2009 by dianne

Netted Pendant (2009)
Fine silver, sterling silver
L 6.0 cm x W 2.5 cm

I’m running a bit behind with my YOJ postings, but I have been keeping up with doing the pieces. My focus has been on preparing for my class, which starts 9 days from today! This netted pendant is one of the projects for the class.

The good news is that I will get all of the tutorials done. The bad news is that I have no idea if my wire is going to arrive in time!

Getting the supplies for these classes has really tested my patience. Back when I worked in the mining industry, the gentleman I worked for always reminded me to prepare for Murphy’s Law. I’ve been reminded of that over and over in the last few weeks…

I do my best to support Canadian companies, partly because I believe in buying locally, but also because that way I don’t have to deal with the extra hassle of shipping, customs, duties and fluctuating exchange rates.

But some suppliers really make it a pain in the ass to deal with them.

Case in point: John Bead, a trade-only wholesaler and beader’s heaven. They would be an ideal Canadian supplier if they actually had the things I needed IN STOCK!!! Three weeks ago I went to JB – my first visit in years – and I was reminded why I don’t bother to shop there unless I absolutely have to. The warehouse is a frustrating jumble of aisles and bins. Just finding things is the first challenge. Then the flat nose pliers I wanted were out of stock. I had to settle for a cheaper, lighter weight version. The round nose pliers – every style – were out of stock. The only pliers they did have in stock were their own house brand – at $20 a pop. They didn’t have enough spools of 26 gauge copper wire, so I had to buy half of them in brass. No 1.5 mm antique copper chain in stock. Barely any 2 mm copper beads in stock. This is a wholesaler, remember, with several thousand sq. feet of showroom space…

*If* they had had the pliers, I would have been well over their minimum purchase requirement. As it was, I ended up having to visit their Swarovski room and buy a bunch of Swarovski crystals I didn’t really want or need to make up the difference. And even there, the stock on some of the common colours was patheticly low!

So, if you’re in Canada, looking for wholesale Miyuki, Swarovski or Preciosa, John Bead is a go-to supplier if you can meet their minimum. As for me, I think next year I’ll deal with the shipping costs, and customs charges, and just order from Rio Grande…

And increase the cost of the kit…I’m dealing with a very tight budget here, so that makes sourcing reasonably priced supplies problematic.

Thankfully, I found another supplier for the round nose pliers – Habsons Jeweller Supplies in Vancouver. They had the quantity I needed in stock, and they had them packed and shipped the day after I ordered them. This is the second time they’ve come through for me on a hard-to-find item. Last year I bought a half dozen wooden ring mandrels from them – impossible to find elsewhere in Canada, but they had them. I love these guys. Great customer service. Actually, maybe I’ll order from them first next year…

Next was the still-ongoing misadventure with the copper wire.

There are NO suppliers of shaped copper wire in Canada. So, ordering from the US is required.

I placed my order in mid-June, with expected delivery in 10 business days. The time came and went, and when I followed up this last week, I found out the supplier missed something on the paperwork. The package had been returned and had sat in their warehouse for a week before being sent out again. So now I’m sitting here hoping the package will arrive in the next few days. If it’s not here by Tuesday, I have to re-order the whole lot (US$900+), and have it sent up here by express overnight courier. Cost of the courier: US$102. *gloom* And I have to re-source the cabochons because I cleaned them out of their 22×30 mm with my last order. And then I’ll have two complete sets of the wire I need for the classes once the other order finally does arrive. The owner is doing her best to be helpful, even taking time out of her vacation to deal with this for me.

In the meantime, I’m beavering away, working on tutorials, putting together what I can of the kits, and trying not to stress out…

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