Steel Wire Jewelry

I got my advance copy of Steel Wire Jewelry by Brenda Schweder today, another fine example of good mail. The book consists of jewelry projects using steel wire alongside plenty of useful information. I flipped through it moments ago and it looks really good with lots of great designs, like the "Sticks and Stones" necklace and "Meet 'n' Greet earrings--just a few I would like to try myself. The Scallop Link Necklace from my Steel + Gold Collection was published as a gallery image inside. You can pre-order your copy now.

Nice work, Brenda!

Sticks and Stones Necklace, page 44

Scallop Link Necklace

Thanks for reading.

new work is almost here!

i will be adding new work on friday, march 20 to my new condensed shop. i decided to pare down this year so my signature and layered collections are now retired. egg & bean, steel and gold, and preface were trimmed a bit but also got some brand new pieces and a few updated styles. i also moved men's over to preface since the look of these two complement each other so nicely. to celebrate the changes i will be offering free shipping on all orders from march 20-april 20.

if you would like to be on my mailing list please visit my website here to sign-up.

thanks for reading.

item of the week

this week's item of the week is the stacking rings from my steel and gold collection. i know i have mentioned this before and it may be old news to some, but that class i took with maria phillips a few years ago and the things i learned there play a significant role in my work today. this is vastly evident in my steel and gold collection. i learned how to solder steel with gold in this class. i experimented with some old binding wire that was lying around in the studio and the 18K gold solder i had on hand. i made a bunch of simple rings and forged them into different shapes, hammering each along its surface and sides with more or less force every stroke. i loved the results - simple shapes in near-black metal hints of bright gold. later these little pieces turned into an entire collection. my stacking rings are closest to the originals, except they are always round:

please enjoy 20% off the stacking rings for the week sept 16-22.
originally $70 for a set of 3, on sale for $56.

thanks for reading.

item of the week

this week's item of the week is the long oval necklace from my steel and gold collection. this shape was a new style for the collection in march 2007. i designed the oval this particular way because i wanted a long, graceful shape with a little bit of character. the near 4" length allows for a softness or looseness in the line which is a nice contradiction to steel's reputation as being hard and tough. i chose one long oval as the focus because i am drawn to single elements, as you can see with so many other pieces in my shop. this is definitely one of my favorite shapes to make, too.

please enjoy 20% off the long oval necklace for the week, july 15-21. regularly $96, on sale for $76.80.

thanks for reading.

item of the week

this week's item of the week is the tension necklace. in 2004 i had a short residency in seattle, wa. one saturday i was having a hard time getting motivated to make my work. to get myself warmed-up, i had this idea to make a sterling ring of two hammered bands, one of which would be held in place inside the other with tension. i ended up spending most of my day on that ring. it took awhile to make the two rings themselves and then to get the fit of the band inside band just so. there was a lot of hammering and then fine tuning of each band. that ring design later translated to the tension necklace, only now the rings are two steel bands soldered with 18k gold solder and then hung on a fine gold chain. this design, found in my steel & gold collection, is still challenging to make and every once in awhile i cannot get the tension right. the name is fitting in more ways than one.

please enjoy 20% off the tension necklace for the week, june 10-june 16. (originally $110, on sale for $88)

thanks for reading.