Wow, here we are on the last day of March.   Here are a few quick news items:

~ I am going to start a short "Wedding Wednesdays" series (don't laugh) -- sparkly or formal pieces designed for weddings or other formal occasions, starting on April 6 and going into some of the wedding season.

~ I've had questions about liking me on FaceBook.  Look under the navigation links in the right column of this page.  In the FaceBook text (begins with little f in little blue square) if it says Like then click it.  If it says Unlike, don't :)

~ You can enter tomorrow's drawing for a Tree of Life pendant until midnight tonight ET.  To enter just post a comment on any One-a-day blog post during March, and tell me what you think of a piece and why. Read all about it here.

~ The last March piece...
For the last piece, I really wanted to try something new.  In the end, for me, this month has been about learning... These earrings are made using a new-to-me fold forming technique.  They are each hand-forged from a 2"x2" piece of sheet copper and hang about 1.75" long.  I think they will be pretty in silver too, but I'm really starting to fall in love with copper.

This month has flown for me.  I appreciate everyone who has stopped by-- and especially the great supportive comments, encouragement, and suggestions.  Some of you have been coming nearly every day!

Four days ago I added Feedjit, an app  that shows the cities visitors are coming from.  In the last four days you guys have been from all over Ohio, but also Wisconsin, New York, Texas, Indiana, Pennsylvania, California, and Massachusetts.  You've also been from Ireland, India, Netherlands, and Australia.   Nigeria too, but that's my daughter ;-) Pretty cool.  Thanks so much for coming!

Comment below and tell me what you thought of this series.  Give me advice... what did you like, what didn't you like, what could be better?  I'm tough, I can take it ;-)

Stop back tomorrow for the giveaway results and don't be a stranger!

Just one more day to go for the one-a-day challenge!  You can enter the April 1 giveaway anytime before midnight ET tomorrow, March 31.  The prize is a Tree of Life pendant. To enter just post a comment on any One-a-day blog post during March, and tell me what you think of a piece and why. Read all about it here.

Today's piece is a summer Tree of Life.   I recently found this 2" aventurine gemstone hoop and thought it would be pretty framing a tree.  There was just one, and I don't know where to get more.  Let me know if you do!  The leaves are a mixture of aventurine, malachite, and tiny emerald chips.  The wire is copper.

Apparently making a summery tree has no bearing on the weather outside.  This is a tree in front of my house right now,  10 days into spring... 

And this is my calm, adult reaction...

I am going to curl up on the couch tonight with my daughter and some blankets, and just watch the tube.  See you tomorrow!

It's day 29 -- have you entered the April 1 drawing yet?  Only 2 days left.

Just a quick post, gotta run!  Today I played a little more with my new bead wrapping technique and came up with a pendant and two earrings.  The pretty gemstones are all garnet and the wire is copper, hammered / torch fired / wrapped.  The earring wires are sterling.  They are here in the shop.

I was just planning to make the earrings.  As I was finishing up my doorbell rang and it was my latest supply order, which included a beautiful string of garnet leaves.  With that kind of timing, one of them just had to be included today :)

Today I made a copper bangle with wrapped jasper beads.  It can be worn at the wrist like a bracelet or pushed up tight on the forearm for a different look.  It's kind of a circa-1960's style piece, I think.  You can see it here in my shop.

I've seen this type of bead wrapping and have been meaning to give it a try.   It was fun to do and now I have ideas for other pieces using this look.  I think a traditional round bangle wrapped all the way around would be cool. 

Only three days left of the challenge, and four until the giveaway...! 

GIVEAWAY:  If you'd like to enter the One-a-day Giveaway, just post a comment on any One-a-day blog post during March, and tell me what you think of a piece and why.  Read all about it here.

Hi and welcome!  The bracelet from day 20 seemed to need a to-go-with, and that's what I did today.   It's a carefree bunch of dangling charms; hand forged copper leaves with apatite and magnesite gemstones beads.  The pendant element is about 2.75" and hangs from a long sterling silver chain. 

An idea of what it might look like hanging... although I did shorten the chain for the photo.  I think it would look nice hanging fairly long.  The earrings from day 19 would also be a good coordinate.

Only four days left of the challenge, and five until the giveaway...! 

GIVEAWAY:  If you'd like to enter the One-a-day Giveaway, just post a comment on any One-a-day blog post during March, and tell me what you think of a piece and why.  Read all about it here.

Welcome to day 26 of the challenge!  Today I made some casual earrings that will dress up nicely, too.  These curvy, fringed earrings are made of sterling silver and copper.  They are hammered for a smooth finish and then buffed to a soft shine.  You can see more details here in the shop.

Has anyone in Ohio noticed March even attempting to go out like a lamb?  Here is our lovely 5 day forecast.  Note the 4-letter word SNOW tonight... and overnight temps all week that spell frost... what's up with that, anyway? 

Pining away for spring but still having fun...  See you tomorrow!

GIVEAWAY:  If you'd like to enter the One-a-day Giveaway, just post a comment on any One-a-day blog post during March, and tell me what you think of a piece and why.  Read all about it here.

This winter tree completes the Tree of Life seasons set I've been working on this month.  I really hated the tree until I started clipping off leaves.  It had less leaves than the others, but at first, too many for winter.  So I just started pruning / crushing beads off the branches with a pliers.  Better now, I think, although I really prefer the bright colors of the other seasons!  The remaining leaves are labradorite, jasper, and moonstone ;-)

There is less than a week left of March.  I might do one more spring or summer tree to help us shake off winter.  No idea what tomorrow's project will be...  anyone have ideas for me?

GIVEAWAY:  If you'd like to enter the One-a-day Giveaway, just post a comment on any One-a-day blog post during March, and tell me what you think of a piece and why.  Read all about it here.

Big, bold, crazy-fun corkscrew earrings are on tap for today.  They are made from fine silver using a fold form technique.  There is a light antique patina to add character and make the hammer marks stand out.  These are very light but also strong.  You can see them here in the shop.

Quick little post today, and then out to dinner with family.  Enjoy your evening and stop back tomorrow!

GIVEAWAY:  If you'd like to enter the One-a-day Giveaway, just post a comment on any One-a-day blog post during March, and tell me what you think of a piece and why.  Read all about it here.

Hi all, here we are on day 23 of 31 already!  Time has been flying.  If you've enjoyed this series, I hope you'll "like" my FaceBook page.  You can either visit the page directly or stay here and click the little FB box in the right column of this page.  I'll use FB to keep friends up to date on shows, sales, new blog series topics, and giveaways.  

Today was my first experience with silver and fold forming.  The leaves of these earrings are fine silver and ended up bright-white shiny.  Way too uniformly shiny for a piece like this.  I added a darker patina to get the details to stand out.  You can see more about them here.

Thanks to my awesome daughter Lindsay for bringing me a pouch of pretty malachite beads all the way from Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  Malachite is mined in only two places in the world, Mexico and DRC, and two of those pieces are on these earrings :)

GIVEAWAY:  If you'd like to enter the One-a-day Giveaway, just post a comment on any One-a-day blog post during March, and tell me what you think of a piece and why.  Read all about it here.

And now for something completely different :)  How about a big, bold statement piece? 

This necklace is made from forged copper rectangles connected by fine silver torch-balled wire. The copper pieces obtained their rich patina (blacks, browns, pinks) from the torch flame in-process. The soft glow of the metal comes from tumbling, much the way stones are polished in a rock tumbler.  You can see more views / details here in the shop.

The pendant assembly is about 4" long depending on how it hangs. A better measure might be the individual components; the bigger rectangular piece is 2.5" long and each smaller square is just under one inch.  I've used a commercial, up-cycled 18" sterling silver chain with two tiny clasps that connect on each side, in the front.  This way, it can easily be replaced with a shorter chain for a completely different look.

This one might be a love-it-or-hate-it necklace.  I'd love to know your opinion either way!

GIVEAWAY:  If you'd like to enter the One-a-day Giveaway, just post a comment on any One-a-day blog post during March, and tell me what you think of a piece and why.  Read all about it here.