Inspired Designs by Teresa

Rings & Things, Rocks and Fossils

inspireddesigns — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:08:57 +0000

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. The kids are out of school! We are getting ready for our big summer party and still trying to do all the regular stuff. This past weekend I went to a couple of rock shows with my friend Paul and his daughter Krista. We had so much fun and found so many treasures. Here is a picture of my treasures. It includes mica, fluorite, a fern fossil, dessert rose (calcite), apache tear (obsidian), quartz, oregonite and a couple of mystery stones from the $1.00 bargain bin.

Here is a picture of a new necklace made from tumbled agate nuggets and copper. I think the fern fossil (from St. Clair, PA) makes a beautiful backdrop.

It seemed that fluorite was the stone that was calling me this week, every other rock I picked up turned out to be some form of fluorite. I even learned that fluorite was mined right here in New Hampshire. That form is a beautiful sea foam green color.

The other place that fluorite was calling my name was at the Rings & Things trunk show that I went to last week in Burlington, MA. I ended up buying several strands of fluorite as well as many other gemstones and some silver. If you ever get a chance to go to one of these shows, I highly recommend it. The prices were very good and it was so nice to be able to pick up everything and examine it yourself. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. I wish I had thought to take a picture of it all before I put it away! I did end up making a pendant using some small faceted rondelles of fluorite and sterling silver. I’m now trying to decide whether to make a chain or buy one. I want to keep the design very clean and modern looking.

I Promised Silver. . .

inspireddesigns — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 12:27:36 +0000

In my last post I promised that I would make some sterling silver pieces soon. Last night I made these pretty earrings from amethyst nuggets, amethyst, citrine and aquamarine wheels, sterling silver bead caps and sterling silver wire. I was expecting the final product to be very elegant and refined. While I still think they are elegant, I also think that they are very fun and funky looking too. So I think these would work in a dressy situation or even with jeans and a tank top! What do you think?

Online Commerce

inspireddesigns — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 17:24:47 +0000

Well I did it. I took the plunge. After many months of thinking about it, talking about it and weighing my options, I opened an internet store. It can be found at http://www.inspireddesign.etsy.com. I posted my first item on Friday to test the waters and it sold on Saturday morning. I was so excited, and in some ways not quite ready. I never expected anything to sell so quickly. I was still in the process of getting my paypal account all set up and taking care of other business type housekeeping. But my favorite bangle sold, and off it went in the mail Monday morning. I hope the buyer enjoys it, as well as the coordinating earrings I sent as a thank you gift for being my first online customer. This whole undertaking has been such a learning process. Sometimes it seems like actually making the jewelry is the easy part. I did however find some time to make a few pieces, so take a look. Yes it is more copper, which I just love working with so much! But I do promise that some sterling silver pieces will be coming soon.

This bangle and earrings are made from deep pink rhodonite drums, minty green China jade rondelles, copper beads and copper wire. They are very summery and sophisticated looking.

Before and After Oxidation

inspireddesigns — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 19:03:18 +0000

I made this cute little bird’s nest set from 20 gauge copper wire and riverstone. I’ve had the riverstone for a while and it’s a pretty stone on it’s own, but somehow it doesn’t seem to go well with any other stones. However, I think it makes great eggs. The first picture shows the set before oxidation. The second picture shows them after I dipped them is a solution of liver of sulpher. I think they looked pretty in the natural copper color, but look more like real nests after the patina treatement. As always, just click on a thumbnail to see a more detailed view.

Copper and gemstone swirl pendants

inspireddesigns — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:07:17 +0000

I can’t seem to stop playing with all the copper that I have. The first picture is another square spiral (is that an oxymoron?) that I strung blue quartz beads throughout. I can see now some ways that I could have made this better, but I’m pretty happy with it.

The second picture is just a simple coil (round!) made from heavy gauge copper wire, not sure what size, maybe 12 or so. I had these garnet beads from a recent bead show that I went to and decided to try wiring them on in a slightly different way than I did with the square spiral. I’m surprised how that one little change created a completely different, more open look. I’m not sure if I will oxidize these or not, and I still have to make chains.

Carnelian Nugget Copper Wrapped Bracelet

inspireddesigns — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 03:16:03 +0000

This bracelet is made from natural carnelian nuggets wrapped with 20 gauge copper wires. The clasp is made from copper wire, copper spacers and a faceted carnelian bead. I love how the warmth of the carnelian and copper complement each other. I usually oxidize my copper jewelry, but I think I might keep this one natural.

Scrap Copper Fun and Some Rings

inspireddesigns — Wed, 30 May 2007 13:18:39 +0000

A friend (thanks Steve) brought me some leftover electrical wiring from his mom’s house and wondered if I could do anything with it. I wanted to do something quick with it to show him the next day. I started coiling the wire in a square pattern, thinking I would make some earrings. The first coil came out too large to be earrings so I set it aside. After I made the earrings, I was playing around with the first coil I made and decided to turn it into a pendant. So this is what I came up with. I also made the copper chain and clasp. The stones used in the pendant and chain are fluorite. I’m pretty happy with the way it came out as this is the first time I’ve done this kind of wire wrapping.

I also played around making some rings with 20 gauge copper wire. The one on the left is blue fluorite, the 2nd one in from the left is cherry quartz (man-made) and the other two are all copper

Welcome to my blog!

inspireddesigns — Thu, 24 May 2007 15:58:50 +0000

I started beading in the fall of 2006. I quickly fell in love with all the beautiful semi-precious stones available as beads and started looking for new and more creative ways to incorporate them into my jewelry. That is when I discovered wire work. There is an amazingly talented community of wire jewelry artists on the internet who are so generous with their knowledge and techniques. While working on my technique I have been using mostly copper wire which I love working with. I have started making a few things with sterling silver wire as well. Here is one set that I made using porcelain beads and copper wire. This set incorporated several techniques including wire wrapping, making wire beads and making the chain.