Monday, September 8, 2008

Honeycomb Calcite ... All Dressed Up and Ready to Go

Last week I posted about the new (new to me, that is) find of honeycomb calcite. The half-barrel pendant is freshly outfitted and ready to make its debut, both on the worldwide super highway and in the local shop that sells this rock. Without any further ado:




Because I'm new to the craft of wire-wrapping in the making of my handcrafted jewelry, I used a brass craft wire instead of the more expensive 14k gold-filled wire. The faceted beads are fire-polished Czech glass roundels; the color is called "French Rose." There is a subtle copper coloring around the bead hole. Not easy to see in the photos, but it lends a depth and richness to the bead.


The chain is all handcrafted, including the jump rings. The ready-made jump rings I had in my studio were either 4mm (too small) or 6mm (too big) so I made my own 5mm out of the same wire I used for both the wire-wrapping of the pendant and the scrolling chain links. The clasp I used was a 14k gold-filled hook-and-eye which I purchased ready-made. The pictures are clickable so you can see a larger view of the detail.

The necklace measures about 23.5 inches long. It will be at Tuscan Lights in downtown Plano by the end of the week. The address is 1018 E. 15th Street.

22 comments:

Channah said...

Oh my gosh, that's gorgeous!

I have an award for you at my site!
http://getagripmom.blogspot.com/2008/09/beautiful-blogger-award.html

fugsly said...

That's such a pretty necklace! Love the subtle colours.

Margie and Edna said...

Wow, what a beautiful necklace! How long did it take you to complete the project?

Leslie said...

Wow, this is stunning! Great work!

Anonymous said...

Wow! That's really beautiful. How long did it take you? Gorgeous work. Have you ever made or considered making tutorials?

Crystal Ware said...

Wow, this pendant is beautiful!

Anonymous said...

That is beautiful!!!! I love all your work :-)

rkdsign88 said...

Beautiful work as always.I love your pretty blog too :)

DhoyM said...

I loved it. This piece is gorgeous, my only concern is the necklace isn't it too long for the pendant? (just asking)

Daisy said...

That is so beautiful! It is delicate but still substantial. You are talented.

Designing Hilary said...

@ dyoym ... I made the chain long because the pendant is rather large. You're reminding me that I need to specify the pendant length if I should list this on Etsy.

The pendant is too large to sit in the upper chest area, it needs to hang lower.

Fortunately I can always adjust the length of the chain! That's the beauty of handcrafted jewelry and dealing direct with the designer.

kml said...

What a beautiful piece - the colors compliment each other perfectly!

Hot Rocks said...

Beautiful! I love your wire connectors, and the wirework on the stone. That is alot of work!

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

The half-barrel pendant is SPECTACULAR!!! I loooove it!!!


JJ :D

Krystal said...

oh the colors! Gorgeous!

Reese said...

Beautiful work. That stone is new to me as well. I recently took an advanced wire-wrapping class. The bracelet is on my blog.

Ginny said...

That is very pretty!

Anonymous said...

That is so beautiful! You've done such a nice job and the stone is so pretty.

Karla said...

WOW~ great job!! As you know I am partial to wire wrapping;-) and I love this piece!! You did a great job with the chain too..beautiful all round work!!

Silver Canyons said...

your pendant is gorgeous! Great job!

Victoria said...

Wow, that is so beautiful. Fantastic job :-)

Artbeat said...

The pendant is stunning, delicate with subtle colours. Though I don't comment much I always love to see the new work created by the different artists and crafters. This one stands out for me.