Another Blue Topaz Ring

This one seems to be quite popular! People keep asking for it. Its an emerald cut Blue Topaz with sterling silver.

"Tribal" necklace and earrings

An acquaintance gave me some brass beads and asked me to create a tribal design inspired necklace and earrings for her. I didn't get the time to take proper pictures...she was leaving for India for good. But here is a picture taken with her iPhone. And this is the customer posing with her new jewelry. I made this one in October. Made these pieces with copper.

Red Jasper heart necklace for a bride

I had recently donated a piece for a fundraiser, and 2 people contacted me later saying they couldn't win it, and if I could make a similar piece for them. One of them was a would be bride, and wanted to wear it for her wedding. I felt so happy and honored to do this for her. I feel a marriage is so sacred...and to be part of it in any way is an honor. Here is what I made for her, and she did wear it with her beautiful white wedding gown. She sent me a picture and she looked gorgeous! :-))). I made the chain with fresh water pearls. The clasp is a Bali flower clasp.

On Blues and Purples...My first Arfire Collection

This is a collection of blue and purple jewelry done by some jewelry artists on Art Fire. I love blues and purples, and especially together:

On Blues and Purples...

Curated By: fleurviolette...

ArtFire.com

Craft Supplies

Two rings - Aquamarine and Citrine

Made two rings for two lovely ladies -- twins. One sister - Anna -- got the Aquamarine ring made for her twin sister for her birthday. And I made a Citrine ring for Anna for her birthday. There is a secret wish which is stamped on the lower side of the Citrine ring shank...and it is there for a reason...so when Anna closes her fist, the wish is within her grasp. The three rings signify the holy trinity, and the Citrine stone, in that shape and color, signifies the flame of love.I pray that her wish comes true....very very soon. The Aquamarine ring holds a message too...from one sister to another...that message is stamped inside the shank. The metal used is sterling silver in both rings.

Went on a date with this handsome young guy today :-).

Last Saturday I went on an Artist Date...all by myself. This afternoon I had lunch at Pasta Pomodoro with this wonderful guy. At first we decided to sit indoors. But then I took one look outside and changed my mind. The place was surrounded with arbors of pink Morning Glory vines. And just outside the arbors were rows of grape vines, laden with grapes. The building was surrounded with Spanish style architecture, mountains...and the atmosphere was so serene! The afternoon sun was mild in the shades...and we sat together, enjoying the beautiful day.

He was humming some tunes happily... He wore blue jeans and a gray t-shirt. The waitress was really sweet, and I ordered the most unpronounceable item there. Hey, it was time to be adventurous...what with sitting there with this gorgeous guy and all! LOL! So while I waited for our food to be served, I decided to walk among those rows of grape vines, while he lazed on his chair, humming, and looking at me so sweetly!

Then the food was served. We ate in silence and peace. You know, how you can be comfortably silent with some people? The food was delicious...and I had such a wonderful time, that I wondered, why had I not done this before? So what if I have been married 15 years now? I've had this wonderful new guy in my life from the past 4 years....why did I not go out on a date with him before?

Oh...the reason I went on this date today? Well...I picked him up from his preschool in the afternoon, and he clung to my legs, looked up beseechingly at my face and said, "Mamma, I'm hungry!". ;-)

Pearls, Citrine and 14k gold-filled earrings

These earrings are for an order. Light peachy cream colored fresh water pearls and really bright and clear and sparkling onion cut Citrine briolettes woven on 14K gold-filled hand made wire earrings.

"Message in a Bottle" necklace

This piece too has been inspired from Mary Tucker's work. The basket weaving here is a bit different. There were about 15 different pieces of thin copper wire going in all the directions of the oval, all together as I formed each coil and shaped the "bottle". I have pictures of work in progress because it looked interesting...but they are in my hubby's iPhone, and he and his iPhone are in India at the moment. When I get hold of those pictures, I will post those too.

I tried making a bottle...a bit like the small perfume bottles (this is a teeny bit more than an inch in height), but it looks like a jar more than a bottle. :-). However, tiny perfume bottles do look like jars. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. LOL! This bottle carries a small scroll of paper, that has a message from a wonderful man for his beautiful beloved. He is away at the moment from her, and they both miss each other a lot. So I thought she could wear a message in his own handwriting near her heart while he was away. I will soon be giving this to her. And I hope she will like it. She usually wears pretty conservative jewelry, so I am hoping this won't be waaaaaay too weird for her. LOL! Anyhow, even if she doesn't wear it, she can keep it with her.

The piece is made with copper wire, and has tiny fresh water pearls on it. It has been LOS-ed to give it a rich antique look and depth. The clasp is hand made too.

Puffy Marquis Champagne Quartz, Tourmaline, 14k goldfilled, handmade, wire wrapped earrings

I fell in love with these gorgeous puffy marquis champagne quartz briolettes when I saw them at the Intergem gemshow. Bought myself the whole strand :-). And this is the first thing I have made with these brios. I have them listed at my Artfire store:

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=1523378

Opened my new Artfire Store!

Finally I have an online store again. I used to have an Etsy store, but I got tired of relisting. So I chose Artfire. No relisting because nothing ever expires. And listing is much simpler too. I hope this store does well :-)). Visit me there :-)).

http://www.artfire.com/users/fleurviolettejewelry

The Angsty Artist's Copper Wire Locket

This Copper wire locket is made by following a wonderfully written tutorial by Mary Tucker of The Angsty Artist. She is an amazing wire artist, and makes the most mouth watering designs! I love visiting her blog to drool all over it. This is only my second copper piece I think. Her work made me fall in love with copper. I always work with silver and gold-filled metals. But her work made me go and buy lots of copper wire. LOL! There is a beautiful poetic depth, a richness about blackened and polished copper. This I realized only after studying Mary's work. So thank you Mary :-).

I did not make this locket a photo keeping one. Instead, I made it a locket to keep something very dear to me. It is a little blue heart that someone very very dear, very precious to me gave me. The story is very magical. It is out of this world. I will not write it here. It is beyond the belief systems of most...and it is very close to my heart. So the locket hangs on my heart, carrying this precious gift given to me.

I really enjoyed making this locket, and will be working more with this...varying it here and there. If you want to buy the original one made by Mary, go to her Etsy shop :-).

Grandmother's pendant - Mabe Pearl, birthstones, 14K gold filled

I was asked to create a grandmother's pendant by a lovely lady called Caitlin. She wanted this for her mum. So I created this, on a Mabe Pearl...the Mabe Pearl stands for motherhood, the love of a mother, in this case, the love of a grandmother. Yesterday I read somewhere in the mall that, "A Grandmother is a wonderful mother with a lot of practice". I liked that :-))). The CZ's I have used are the birthstones of the beautiful grandchildren. The metal used is 14k gold filled wire. Caitlin was not sure if her mum would wear a pendant or not, so I hid the bail behind a design at the top. This way she can choose whether she wants to wear it as a pendant, or as a brooch, with the help of a safety pin.

When Caitlin saw the picture of this pendant, she wrote something lovely to me. With her permission I am copying and pasting what she wrote to me. Its words like these that touch my heart, and make me feel that its all worth it. When I question myself, "Why am I doing this?", and I question myself sometimes, then its words like these that make sense. This is what beautiful Caitlin wrote to me:

Oh it's wonderful Swati!! Just GORGEOUS, she is going to be over the moon!! It's very - her! Hard to say why exactly, you just have tuned into her in the most delightful way :)
 
SWATI I'M SOO EXCITED!!!!!

Thank you so much for all the love you have put into this for my lovely mam. I really appreciate your talent and attention.

Love love Caito

14k gold filled wire wrapped bangle bracelet

This is the first time I have made a bangle like this. I have made soldered single bangles before. And strung bracelets. But not this kind. I had actually made these for an order, but they ended up being at least 2 sizes larger than required size. So I put them together and wove them...a weaving style I have learned from Iza Malczyk from one of her earring tutorials. My friend, a gifted wire artist, Mary of The Angsty Artist, has made a silver ring like this. I have been wanting to make a similar ring too, but for now, here is a bangle of that style. The wires are 18gauge 14k gold filled, and 26gauge 14k gold filled. Each individual bangle is soldered. And then they are all woven together. Next time I make this, I will not solder them individually. Instead, I will just coil the 18 gauge wire a few times to desirable width.

Amethyst and Moonstone earrings for Monday

OK...these are some of the crappiest pictures I have ever taken. Seriously...I have NO idea why I am unable to take better pictures of these earrings. I promise you, they look much better than this. LOL!! This is the first time I have used chains in my design. I like it. :-). This pair also is for Dawn. She said one should wear Amethyst and Moonstones on Mondays. The Amethyst brios are such a LOVELY color, and really really awesome quality...but does not show in these pictures. The Moonstones are Rainbow Moonstones with an amazing blue flash in them, making them look so divine! You know...it makes one think of the divine spark within each of us. But....it doesn't show in the pictures. In the pictures they look like blah white globs! LOL!! The metal is 14K gold-filled wire. The chain is also 14K gold-filled.

Emerald and Rose Quartz earrings for Fridays

These earrings are also part of the Weekdays earrings by Dawn. On Friday, she said one should wear Emeralds and Rose Quartz, so here are some Emerald and Rose Quartz hoops. I love the Emerald beads, but even more, I love these Rose Quartz briolettes! They are sooo clear and so lovely, and such an awesome color!! The cut is gorgeous too. The seller had called them coconut brios. But my friend Shay found out that they are actually called Marquise Puffy Brios. Maybe he was joking and I didn't get it :-P. The metal is 14K Gold-filled wire.

Sapphire earrings for Thursday

This is part of the order for Dawn. I chose multi-shaded Sapphire beads for this project. The metal is 14k Gold-filled wire. The inspiration was "leaves" :-). Dawn said Sapphires are for Thursday.