Chrysocolla with malachite cabochon

I've received this fabulous stone today! Hm.... What should I make with it?.. Hm...

Silver pendant with tourmalated quartz

Again, one more small pendant as an any-day-jewellery-piece. Cute, elegante and moderately sparkly pendant... with another drop-shaped stone... I think I am officially in love with this shape of the gems. Whanever I think of making an elegant feminine piece of jewellery... my hand is stretching for a drop-shaped stone... I just need to remember to use small cute gems, so I do not end up with something like this :)

Purple sugilite pendant

This beautiful deep purple sugilite is one of my favourite stones. The shape of it inspired me to make a peacock feather with it... but I did not :) I felt that it needed to be used for a pendant that could be worn any day of the week... it would be a shame to hide such a nice stone waiting for a special occasion. So, here it is! If you are local and interested in it, check out Just Jewellery, as this is where I placed it for sale. Otherwise, let me know and I will check if it is still available.

Larimar silver pendant

This is my try to make a simple pendant. I failed :))  The stone is just too big to make a "simple" pendant for my "Sea Bottom" collection. That's ok, though... I'd gotten small stones for that goal already... And even made a couple... they are cute... and they are coming... :)

Turquoise pendant

Well... I had two of these nice turquoise stones. One was round and one was oval. The pendant with the round stone was sold in a blink of an eye. So, I needed to use my second stone right a way. Hm... it is upside down from my original design, though I definitely like it better this way...  It could be one of my most favourite pendants...

Blue Sugilite pendant

This is a silver pendant made with a blue (and a little bit purple) sugilite, a cubic zirconia and two sapphire imitation stones. This deep blue colour reminds me of a deep sea. I was a little bit surprised that the stone "allowed" the fish around itself only. No starfish or turtle or even a shell could help to accent its beauty. It has been right... I am a little bit in love with this design myself...

Silver pendant with pink tourmaline and cubic zirconia

 

This is a very bright pink tourmaline with a checkerboard facet finish in one of my Sea Bottom pendants. It is not very usual for me to put a stone that is not blue or green in a pendant like that. Though this stone reminds me of a treasure that you can find at the bottom of the sea... I have to admit I am fascinated with the idea of how many treasures are out there where nobody can find them....

Peacock Feather copper necklace with dichroic glass cabochon

This is an experiment. I made a few necklaces with the peacock feathers. They all were attached hanging down. This feather hangs "up". Hm... I like it. I find it interesting and rather bold.

Amolite ring

Here is the last item from the 3-piece order. It is a silver ring with amolites and Ephiopean opal that it very yellow, but very bright and sparkly (perfect match for these amolites!)  It took a little bit of playing with the stones and researching a style that the customer would like. I am very happy with the result, but she is happier :) as it is her ring now :)

Amolite Earrings made of copper and silver with enamel

These earrings are made for the same person who ordered the Amolite pendant. It was an intersting order: interesting person, interesting dicussion and interesting result. I am very happy.

Sea bottom pendant with tourquoise

My customer came to pick up her order... I knew that she liked my See Bottom line and showed her my latest pendants, each in its own white box.

...She picks up the larimar pendant and says: "Blue-coloured stone is perfect  in a pendant like that! Tourquoise would be the best." 

I smiled and said: "Keep looking."

I think, she was ready to fall in love with this pendant by the time she opened a box with it. I did not expect that, but the pendant left me that day.

Jewellery Masterpieces virtual collection

Larissa Podgoretz is the author of these wonderful pieces of jewellery. An elegant frame and an intricate picture. True eye candy!

I've noticed thatthe Russian artists often become my inspiration. I find it interesting... It has nothing to do with a style. They all have different styles developed to perfection.

Of course I see that the artists who can do the same (the perfection in what they are doing) live in all countries and make wonderful things. 

I think, my choice of inspirationaal artists has something to do with a surprise when I find them. There was lack of art jewellery in Soviet Union and early Russian Federation, even though the artists were trained professionally. I am just happy to see that time changes.

Picture Gallery Silver Necklace

This necklace features a nice picture jasper. This nature created landscape is accented by the hand engraved silver plates.  The design is created according to my customer's idea.

Necklace with opals and amolites

 

This is one piece out of 3-piece custom order. It has it's own story of creation... I won't tell all of it, just mention that it took lots of stone-hunting and design-developing. Of couse (as always) the picture does not show the real beauty of this 3-D piece with lots of colours and textures. It gives me a feeling of a holiday and reminds of the fireworks.... All the sparkles are natural, given by amolites, Ephiopean opals, citrines, garnet and iolites that make this piece very elegant despite so many colours. It is a big pendant, but not as big as it looks like on this neck-stand. The width is 9cm and the height is 8cm. I will try and keep it for a few days so I can enjoy looking at it :)

Sea bottom earrings

 

Siver earrings with cubic zirconia



Sea bottom pendant with larimar

Silver pendant with larimar and cubic zirconia stones.

Sparkly earrings

This idea grew out of this project. I liked my little "invention" - seed beaded leaves combined with metal and decided to give it a try in earrings. Love, love, love them!

A few days flew by... and there was a pile of leaves in front of me... in different colours and sizes. It was time to put the beads away and remember how to use a torch... :)

What did I do with them? What I always do with all my experimental pieces... I took them to Just Jewellery :)

Silver pendant with white topaz

Some jewellery pieces were born only because I needed to make a sample in a class that I was teaching. Just like this necklace. I was teaching Advanced Stone Setting class and had a demo on making a basket setting for a faceted stone there.

This white topaz on the silver pendant looks like a sparkle of light. When you wear this necklace, you might not notice a stone right away, but you will notice an extremely sparkling pendant. What an interesting effect!

Sea Bottom earrings with rainbow moonstones and pearls

I love making Sea Bottom pendants. I do have lots of pretty earrings with the sea creatures too. Finally I got an idea of making big earrings for this line!

I have been fascinated with an idea of making matching, though slightly different earrings as a pair. So, this is what I've successfully achieved! I am very happy with the result. I love the shape and the length.

Though I do not wear them, I will miss them when they are sold... and will have to try and make something similar. I will probably fail :) Not sure if it is a downside or an advantage of being an artist and not a production person.... :)

The beautiful stones in the earrings are rainbow moonstones (feminine energy and good fortune) with subtle blue flush in them. They are a good match for the fresh water pearls!

The earrings are going to be available in my Etsy online store.

Sea bottom pendant with tourmaline

Tourmaline is the only stone that comes in all colours of rainbow. There is no a tint of a colour in tourmaline that would not be pretty. 

However, one of my favourite colours in this gem is dark pink. It is a perfect stone to represent a treasure you could find at the bottom of the sea.

The backing for the faceted cabochon stone is polished silver, so the transparent stone will always shine, no matter what the background for the necklace is (dark or light).

I have wrote of the qualities of Tourmaline before here if anybody is interested...

The pendant is for sale in my etsy online shop 

A picture for my wish list. James Christensen

I am looking for inspiration everywhere. Fine artists are a great source of inspiration! My husband introduced James Christensen's art to me last year. What a great artist! We have a couple of his prints, but might get more. I am absolutely in love with this fish especially. It looks like a ready to wear piece of jewellery made of copper. I hope one day I will have it on a wall... it is on my screen for now :) 

http://www.jameschristensen.com/

Deer necklace

This is one of my favourite ornaments for jewellery.

The picture of the deers themselves were found in a 50 y.o. Russian book for housekeeping in woodworking section (as a pattern for a scroll sawed jewellery box). Trying to bring together my love for the Russian ornaments and the nature of beautiful British Columbia, I designed the ornament around the deers. If you look carefully, you will see tiny maple leaves there!

The original ornamental plate was hand-made in metal (by me, of course). I do cast them now. However, all the necklaces are very different. For example, this one was a custom order from a friend of mine. Another one was inspired by the Art Nouveau style. Do not let me forget this bracelet!

There is one more... It was hand-made (again) in silver for a contest.

Modern organic shape of this necklace is enhanced by the copper background piece. It gives the colour to it without involving any gemstones, that I consider an advantage, as the piece becomes suitable for wearing with any outfit. No need for waiting for a special occasion. Leather cords with just a few sterling silver beads on them only help the same purpose. The clasp is sterling silver also.

The necklace is going to be available at my Etsy store.

Sea bottom pendant with chrysoprase

This is another gem stone that I can call "one of my favourite". Bright green chrysoprase is a gemstone variety of chalcedony that contains small quantity of nickel (this is how it gets its green colour). Most chrysoprase comes from Australia now. This is the origin of my gemstone too. It is cut by a local lapidary artist Bruce McClellan.

This high quality stone deserved a rich frame. So the pendant basically designed itself with all those sea creatures and silver swirls... Emeralds (emerald imitation stones) enhanced the beauty of this gem as well as the fresh water pearls.

If you are interested in metaphysical qualities of chrysoprase, it is said that it encourages hope and joy, helps clarifying problems and protects on sea voyages. It is also said that it is used to speed the healing of any wounds and as a shield or protector from negative energy.

The pendant is available in my Etsy online store.

Sea bottom pendant with sugilite

Sugilite is one of my favourite stones. However, the colours can be so different (depending on a stone) that I won't like sugilite just because it is Sugilite. I like it when it is light purple or purple with a little bit of blue, or even with some white sections. The stone in this pendant I like a lot!

Every pendant from this collection is a "game". I do not make sketches, but decide on the shape of each stone, which of my sea creatures I would like to use; and how the wires should be arranged. I felt that light-purple sugilite needed bright sapphires beside it (they are sapphire imitation stones, really). I am happy with my choice of this colour combination. Love it! White fresh water pearl is another lucky choice for this pendant!

Sugilite is not your common gem stone, so if you've never heard of it before I got some information here...

Sugilite is a fairly recent discovery (1944). It is found in Japan, Canada, India and Africa. The most important occurrence was found in 1975 in the Kalahari Desert in Africa. This is where most sugilites come from. The hardness in Mohs scale is of 5.5 to 6.5, that makes it suitable for jewellery, though preferably for the pendants and earrings. A ring is ok too, but only if you are naturally careful with your rings.

For those who are spiritual, it is said that sugilite can have a positive effect in protecting one from harm, anger and other negative energies.

It is also said that sugilite strengthens the heart, aids physical healing and reduces stress. It is a balancer of mind, body and spirit; encourages peace of mind, a general feeling of well being and spiritual love.

The pendant is available in my Etsy online store.

Happy Marriage bracelet (art-project)

There is a Marriage Old Wife Tale that a loss of a wedding ring is an omen of the end of a marriage. My husband lost and found his wedding ring and that gave me an idea for an art project on how to prevent a loss of a wedding ring. A wedding ring needs to be locked to a chain attached to a bracelet. This does not mean that a person is locked into his or her marriage as there is a key attached to the bracelet. 

There are also other charms symbolizing love and happiness attached to the bracelet. The ring and the charms have a rough surface to remind that you cannot rely on the lucky charms for your marriage to be happy. Marriage is a hard work with its ups and downs.

Silver Peacock Feather necklace with tourmaline

When I got my tourmalines, I did that just because they were pretty :) When my peacock feather jewellery obsession started, I checked all my stones to see what would fit it. A few tourmalines did! Though I like copper for these designs, precious tourmaline should be used with precious metals. Silver allows to create a relatively big design without costing a fortune... So, silver it is!

The backing for the stone is polished silver, so the transparent stone will always shine, no matter what the background for the necklace is (dark or light).

Tourmaline hardness in Mohs scale is 7 - 7,5, that makes it suitable for any kind of jewellery. It is very durable, transparent and beautiful. It comes in a rainbow of colours (according to an old Egyptian legend, tourmaline passed over a rainbow on its journey from the centre of the Earth). Blue colour is probably the most rear and desirable, though pink and green together in one stone is quite sought after too (then it is called "watermelon" tourmaline).

Metaphysical qualities of pink tourmaline. It is said that it brings emotional and spiritual love, joy, peace and understanding; transforms negative behaviour into positive; heals emotional loss, emotional pain and fear.

Sea Bottom pendant with gem chrysocolla and fresh water pearl

After I've finished this custom order, I felt a desire to complete my own pendant with a similar stone (gem silica or gem chrysocolla). It is such an unbelievable colour... pure bright blue... and it is natural!

Technically, all jewellery that I make is "mine"... until I sell it :) So, the pendant is going to be available in my Etsy online store. Until then... it is mine... sitting in a pretty jewellery box :)

What is gem chrysocolla anyway? It is chalcedony that has been stained blue from copper oxides. Unlike standard Chrysocolla that has a Mohs hardness of 2.5 to 3.5, gem silica has the same hardness as chalcedony at 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. This makes gem silica appropriate for all jewelry uses. Gem silica chrysocolla is rare and is usually found in the oxidation zones of copper mining deposits.

As any stone on Earth it has its own metaphysical qualities too... I am no expert, so, let's check what information Internet can offer...

* It is known as a healing stone among Native American Indian cultures where it was used for strengthening the body's resistance and bringing calm feelings where there is upset.

*Chrysocolla is a stone of peace and tranquility.

I totally can see that! This colour is such a pleasure to look at!

The pendant is available in my Etsy online store.

Peackock Feather copper necklace with dichroic glass cabochon

My peacock feather jewellery obsession continues :) It started accidentally here, when I bought that interestingly shaped labradorite from a local lapidary artist. Then I found one more stone... and one more... Now, when I am getting any stone at all, I estimate if it is going to fit a peacock feather design... This bright dichroic glass cabochon is definitely a good choice!

I loved my first design... but it got sold... As an artist I think that a sale is the best compliment for a designer... but I missed that necklace and tried to replicate it. I always wonder how it happens... I cannot make the same design exactly, no matter how much I try (unless all the parts are exactly the same, and that rarely happens).

So, the stone was different and it "designed" the necklace around itself! My husband just loves it, but the necklace is going to be for sale. I would like to continue experimenting with other stones and other peacock feather designs. I do not need to keep all of them :)

 

Peackock Feather earrings

I made a few different necklaces with the peacock feathers (silver and copper) to satisfy my obsession that I mentioned before :) I needed to complete this project with some earrings.

This is silver earrings with copper "feathers" and cold enamel. It is nice to have a picture on a mannequin... however they do not hang like that from a real ear, of course :) It is more like the bottom picture :)

The earrings are available for sale in my Etsy shop.