Many Faceted

Labradorite Demi-Parure

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This is the first demi-parure I’ve made (which is just a fancy way of saying a matched set.) Set completed in labradorite and sterling silver, in June-July 2015.

“A parure is a full set of matching jewelry designed to be worn together en suite. A demi-parure is a less elaborate suite of jewelry with two or more pieces. The French in particular were known to have delighted in wearing formalized and elaborate suites and indeed, the term parure comes from the French verb, parer, meaning to adorn.”
— Antique Jewelry University

The unset stones.

Stones with bezels and decorative borders.

Bezels with backs cut out.

Cut out and ready to file.

Finished pendant, ready to set.

Finished earrings, ready to set.

Polished and oxidized earrings and pendant.

Finished earrings, with labradorite rondelles.

Finished necklace, with labradorite rondelles and sterling drops and chain.

Detail of finished necklace.

My First Jewelry Sales Adventure

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Pendants and strung necklaces by Many Faceted, Mt. Shasta 4th of July street fair, July 2 & 3, 2012Well, it’s official: I’ve sold my first jewelry pieces!

On July 2nd and 3rd, I had a booth at the Mt. Shasta 4th of July street fair (the Mt. Shasta Boulevard booths come down prior to the 4th, to clear the way for the fun run/walk, and the parade.) Although I have experience working and cashiering for someone else, this was the first sales booth I ran myself, with my own goods featured. It’s a lot of work! (Captain Obvious, at your service.)

Resin pendants, beaded necklaces and earrings by Many Faceted

It took a while to set up, mostly because I had a lot of things to display and arrange. I could swear my inventory grew overnight; I don’t recall there being as many when I put the tags on! (The pictures you see are from the first day; I didn’t have time to take any the second day.) I got a lot of compliments on the colors and decorations at my booth, and some great feedback on my jewelry.

Resin pendants, strung beaded necklace and wirework earrings by Many Faceted Bracelets, necklaces, pendants and earrings by Many Faceted

That said, because the 4th fell mid-week, attendance was low, and I made only a few sales. (My little sister would like everyone to know that she made one of those sales, while I made a lunch run.) However, I now have a lot of inventory to try on consignment locally, and on my Etsy store, now open for business! (NOTE: Only some items pictured here will go on Etsy; if you see something you like, let me know and I’ll gladly put it aside for you!)

Many Faceted at the Mt. Shasta 4th of July street fair Resin pendants and wirework earrings by Many Faceted

Fortunately, I earned enough from my sales to order more equipment for my gemology studies, and my posts will be swinging back in that direction for a while. Next up: a horribly belated account of my unexpected trip to San Francisco to hear a double lecture by one of the world’s great jewelry historians, Dr. Jack Ogden.

Resin pendants by Many Faceted

Weekend Wireworking

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Lariat necklace in copper, with various quartz and glass drops and beads, jewelry by Danielle Rose
Lariat necklace in copper, with various quartz and glass drops and beads.

Over the weekend, I attempted some wirework projects from my newest book find, Wire Jewelry Masterclass by Abby Hook. I started out making a wrapped wire toggle clasp, as the wrapped circle is used in the lariat necklace seen at right. While not a project I planned to make first off, the different components required, and the amount of components required, seemed like good practice for my wire techniques in general. (Hello, rosary loops. I made a whole bunch of you. I now see why there’s special combination pliers, just for doing this sort of work.) I believe I spent 5-6 hours on this, in the end, spread over two evenings.

Wrapped rings, in copper wire, jewelry by Danielle Rose
Wrapped rings, in copper wire.

Having finished the necklace, I tried a ring project, which took me two tries — the first one is on the right, the second one is on the left. There’s something kinda fun about the first one, but the wirework on the second is far better. Practice makes perfect! One of the hardest things about this project was finding beads of the right dimensions, drilled large enough for two wires to pass through. I think, were I to make more of these, I would order beads in advance, as almost nothing I had on hand sufficed.

A pile of lariat necklace, copper wire with quartz and glass drops and beads, jewelry by Danielle Rose
A pile of lariat necklace! Not the most flattering picture of the piece, but I like it anyway.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the results, especially the lariat necklace — if you’re unclear on how this piece is worn (I was, I admit), here’s some ideas and a video with more ideas (and Cajun music.)

The next jewelry how-to books on my horizon will probably be Weave, Wrap, Coil by Jodi Bombardier and Silversmithing for Jewelry Makers by Elizabeth Bone. The former has some projects I’d like to try; the latter has a lot of techniques (and is significantly less frightening, now that I been gone done it.)