silver wire and gemstone jewellery in development by Gayle Bird
Did I never show you my idea for a bridal necklace?
Huh.
This is last year’s but I found the image recently. The idea is that there would be chain at the sides to clasp in the back. This is also something that could be flipped and used as a tiara, which I love.
I’ve been having a bit of a fascination with faceted stones on the internet lately… after doing my taxes I realized I had some money for a big buy, which I haven’t done in a while, and so, I present to you, the shiny shiniest of shinies!
I’ve got citrine, ametrine, rainbow moonstone and that really beautiful peach/grey/orange moonstone, garnet; those gorgeous labradorite bits at the bottom; huge fluorite nuggets, gorgeous amethyst teardrops, and three strands of mini briolettes in various stones.
SO. PRETTY.
THIS is why I make jewellery.
I always love seeing the in-progress shots of artists at work, so hopefully you do too!
Laird and I have been honing our soldering skills at a basic jewellery forging class this winter, and it’s super fun! We’re working on a single bracelet each, but I tend to work pretty quickly and I’ve had a lot of luck, so with some extra wire I had lying around I made a bunch of circles (below top left), soldered them (middle) and then started manipulating them into different shapes (bottom right).
After I soldered and shaped the wire, I hammered them for strength and to give them this gorgeous sparkly finish:
I’ve got a shipment of faceted gemstone drops just awaiting pickup at the depot on Monday, and I think they’re going to be gorgeous combined with these frames.
As it turns out, the jewellery studio – with torches – is available for rent, so if these work out I will be taking advantage of that and doing more of this kind of thing. I really like the idea of adding forged work into my existing wirewrap to make something new – then I’ll be wiresmithing indeed!
I’m pretty proud of these little babies. One of our family’s oldest friends (Bernadette) owns the best health food shop on the island, Bay Health Food on Union St in Glace Bay. She had a tea party this week where a reflexologist (Sister Melda!) gave a talk and I won a free session with her!
Anyway, I’ve been promising Bernadette to make her an exclusive line of jewellery to sell for years now… today she came over and we collaborated and created these pendulums, which can be used to help make choices by swinging back and forth or in a circle when hung from the hand.
These are Picasso Jasper with firepolished glass beads in various colours. On the end is a chakra pendulum in copper – I’ll be making more of those in silver shortly. I just think they’re so pretty!
These pendulums will be available exclusively at Bay Health Food. Bernadette intends to hold tea parties every few weeks, and the next one will be a discussion on using pendulums. If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll get you on the call list for invites! It’s limited seating so, first come first served.
Previous versions of these pendants have sold well so I kicked it up a notch! I added lock and key charms and these are made of variations of silver, gold, bronze, copper, and vintage bronze wire. They’ll be available at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design within the next week or so!
One of a kind wire-wrapped jewellery handmade by Cape Breton artist Gayle Bird. Look for silver wire, labradorite, beach glass, gemstones, glass, beads, and a unique style.
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