Stained glass leaf pendant

Green stained glass cut into the shape of a leaf with silver wire and silver solder, a perfect depiction of nature's splendour. Our lives, just like the leaves, will be forever falling and then growing again. If you’re not happy now, you will be. You may not return with a consciousness of what you used to be, but you will return. Don’t count the seconds of your fleeting life. Multiply them.

If words were leaves
Rustling in the breeze
Whispering with ease
Thoughts and feelings
I will then say
There will never be enough leaves
On any tree
To express me

 Can be worn with a silver chain or leather thonging for a more earthy feel

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Citrine Crystal Pendant on silver chain

My favourite pendant - Citrine crystal with silver cap, suspended from a silver chain 

My favourite pendant to wear because Natural Citrine is a premier stone of manifestation, imagination, and personal will. Carrying the power of the sun, it is warm and comforting, energizing and life giving. It stimulates the chakras like the sunlight of spring, clearing the mind and stirring the soul to action. Its frequency awakens creativity and imagination, and sustains the process of transforming dreams and wishes into tangible form. With its pure yellow energy, Citrine encourages fullness of life, fresh beginnings and new pursuits.

Yellow is the color of the coming of the sun and the warmth it brings. It is the color of the bright days of early summer. Yellow is a color of journeys beginning well, full of promise and sunny optimism.

Yellow crystals give you the power to solidify new interests and new relationships. They help you to see things in new ways and to become enlightened. They add clarity to your life. They help you wake things up and add zest, optimism, and meaning to your life and relationships.

Cosmic Orbit

 'Cosmic Orbit' - Silver wire pendant strung on leather thonging to enhance the earthy feel and matching earrings 

Connect to the Universe from within.

How do you activate the Cosmic Force?
You can use smiling energy. Rub the mid-eyebrow, spiral, and slowly breathe the Cosmic Force in through the mid-eyebrow and the nose. Hold each breath for a while.

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Lilac Stained glass pendant

Step out of the box with this lovely Lilac stained glass pendant, encased in silver solder and surrounded by silver wire. Hanging from a silver rope chain.

When one works with stained glass, you have a lot of off-cuts, a LOT! I just love making stained glass jewellery out of these lovely pieces of glass. There is something about the process with its many, many steps done in a certain order that I find very relaxing. It's a really satisfying creative process, as no two pieces can ever be the same.

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"The Milky Way" Pendant

Round, milky-white stained glass surrounded with silver solder and finished off with a half-moon shaped glass bead. Suspended from a silver chain.

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Steel, Wood, Silver and Air - Choker and earrings

This is a piece of small, flat steel bar surrounded with silver solder and decorated with silver wire and a wooden bead. The choker is silver wire and solder.

Steel, Wood, Silver and Air - each of these elements represent an aspect of a dynamic process, a process's phases of change.

Wood - rising, development (of an action), impulse, expansion, decampment
Steel - sinking, contraction, declining
Air - represented by the hole drilled in the steel - Air is vital to human survival
Silver - represents the purity and abundance of life  

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"I can see clearly now" Pendant

I can see clearly now the rain is gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.
It's gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshiny day.

Clear, textured stained glass pendant with a clear glass jewel, suspended from a silver chain.

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"Faith" pendant

Go ahead: make the leap. Have faith. I’ll be waiting for you on the other side. Here, take my hand…

Silver wire pendant with glass beads hanging from leather thonging for a more earthy connection. Also comes with a silver chain.

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Mother of Pearl Stained Glass Pendant

An oblong piece of Mother of Pearl iridescent stained glass pendant (changes colour as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes) with silver solder surround, silver wire on the front and a few white glass beads hanging from a silver chain.

The technology for making glass dates back at least 5,000 years, and some form of stained glass was used in European Christian churches by the third or fourth century A.D.

Glass is made by fusing together some form of silica such as sand, an alkali such as potash or soda, and lime or lead oxide. The colour is produced by adding a metallic oxide to the raw materials.

Read more on how stained glass is made.

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Round Amber Glass Jewel and Copper pendant

Here I cut a flat round circle out of some copper sheeting and cut a hole the size of the glass jewel slightly off-centre (I use ordinary office scissors for this job). Once I had wrapped the copper foil (¼" width) around the glass jewel (it is the catalyst for soldering the glass to the copper as solder does not take on glass), I soldered it in place, allowing the light to shine through from the back. I covered the copper in silver solder and then soldered some pieces of wire onto the bottom half of the copper, giving it a coat of black patina and gently buffing it with fine kitchen steel wool to create an aged effect. After soldering on some rings, it was ready to suspend from a nice thick rope chain.

To work with copper sheeting is an absolute pleasure. It is pliable, easy to handle and can be cut and shaped into any shape you please. It can be combined with many other materials like glass, wood, stone, steel, shells and even plastic or used on it's own to create one-of-a-kind copper jewellery.

I purchase mine in rolls, available from most craft shops, which is then easy to store and doesn't take up as much space as when you buy pre-cut flat sheets.

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Amber, warm and powerful. Necklace

Scouring some vintage shops like I normally do, I came upon these loose Amber beads in an old tin on a shelf and when I enquired whether it was for sale, the lady said yes and I was surprised at how affordable they were and snatched them up immediately!

They obviously came from a previous neclace, so I just threaded some tiger-tail wire through the holes, attached some clasps and earring hooks onto the two I used for earrings and voila! a warm and powerful necklace with matching earrings!

While often considered a gemstone, the glowing amber is not actually a stone, but fossilized resin from ancient evergreen trees. The oldest amber discovered on Earth is about 320 million years old. Imagine the incredibly powerful energy this amber contains!

Young amber stones are less than 100,000 years old; the most valued pieces of amber are much older than that. (It takes a long time for the tree resin to become true amber). Isn’t it mind boggling to know that the amber jewellery you just bought contains such old, wise energy?

The most obvious quality of amber is its old, old, (very old!) energy. With it comes the accumulated wisdom of the earth and its natural kingdom. You can often see little insects trapped in the amber while it started as a tree resin; this gives the amber stone quite powerful magical properties. It is believed that amber:

• Balances emotions
• Attracts good luck
• Eliminates fears
• Relieves headache
• Clears the mind
• Dissolves negative energy
• Helps develop patience and wisdom

Amber clarity ranges from transparent to opaque and it has a resinous lustre. Most amber specimens have pockets of air bubbles and various other inclusions.

Rose Quartz crystal pendants

Pieces of Rose Quarts encased in silver wire. This crystal looks equally good suspended from a chain or some leather thonging for a more natural look. When working with this crystal, it seems to emanate a low heat, making it feel warm to the touch. I can almost feel its comforting properties flowing through my hands as I wrap the wire around it.

Rose Quartz is a calming and reassuring crystal, excellent for use in trauma or crisis, including the emotional upheaval of mid-life crisis. It strengthens empathy, sensitivity, and aids in the acceptance of necessary change. It is also an excellent stone for comforting grief.

Rose quartz is often called the "Love Stone." Its energetic hallmark is that of unconditional love that opens the heart chakra. This makes rose quartz a stone for every type of love: self-love, family, platonic, romantic, and unconditional. As a variety of quartz, rose quartz has high energy, and this strong energy can enhance love in virtually any situation. A large piece of unpolished Rose Quartz in the home provides on-going protection against intrusion and gossip.

Rose Quartz, a silicon dioxide crystal, is one of the most common varieties of the Quartz family. Its name is derived from its soft rose colour, which ranges from very pale pink to deep reddish-pink. It usually occurs in massive form, though it sometimes grows in clusters of small prismatic crystals. It varies in clarity from opaque to translucent to a foggy transparency.

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Amber Aztec-style Pendant

A pendant with a slight Aztec feel. Large Amber glass jewel with a half-moon shaped metal disc attached. Hanging from a thick silver rope chain. Aged with black patina.

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Bound Chaos Pendant and bracelet

Silver and black plastic-coated wire gently bound and wound into orderly chaos. Pendant hangs from a silver chain and has a dangling iridescent glass bead. The bracelet has two silver beads.

From my Earth Range, I've named them "Bound Chaos". Just like in our daily lives, these pieces are gently woven together, trying to make sense of uncertainty and chaos, giving meaning to experience.

'Bound Chaos' bracelet

"Gebonde Chaos" nekhangertjie en bypassende armband

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Bone Pendant and earrings

 

A pendant hand-crafted out of silver wire, silver beads, flat bone beads and long pieces of bone on a silver chain.

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Abelone and Stone

An Abelone shell (Perlemoen - Haliotis midae - rear view) encased in silver solder sharing a chain with a pebble surrounded by silver wire. The pebble is a separate pendant.

Abelone is protected along all South Africa's coastlines and in 2008 Abelone fishing was suspended to protect the rapidly depleting shellfish species from commercial extinction. Illegal fishing and increased inward migration of a lobster species that destroy abalone habitat are being blamed for a decline in the shellfish's numbers. Also, over the past decades, the poaching of abalone has reached such proportions that it has become a full-scale industry. A record 3 000 tons of abalone was poached from South African waters in 2007, compared with the annual allowed quotas of 1 000 tons of farmed abalone.

Most abalone in the southern hemisphere is found in the cold waters off the South African, Australian and New Zealand coasts. The animal is protected in South African waters, and harvesting of wild individuals has been banned since 2008, while commercial operations need a permit to export.

Abalone meat is generally not for sale in South Africa, although selected restaurants around the country do serve it - at a price. Despite these regulations, stocks of abalone are dwindling because of illegal commercial harvesting. Most of the illegal harvest - as well as the permitted catch - ends up in Asian markets.

This piece had washed ashore many years ago and it certainly was a lucky find!

 Abelone pendant with silver wire and frosty glass bead hanging from a silver rope chain - (Shell 3½" - 9cm)

River pebble (1½" - 4cm) encased in silver wire, hanging from a silver rope chain

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Pink Glass and Copper pendant

Connecting things - that's what creativity is all about! As you get an idea, it starts flowing and you end up just connecting the dots. A shape, or a colour, is enough to spark a whole new sequence of events.

Pink oval stained glass and crumpled copper  joined in union with solder and silver wire. A coat of black patina was applied and scrubbed with fine steel wool for an vintage look. Hanging from a silver rope chain.

 Matching clip-on earrings - pink glass surrounded by silver solder and long pink glass beads suspended on 3 silver rings

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Africa Embraced pendant

A Rose Quartz crystal in the shape of Africa, embraced by silver wire and hanging from an earthy leather thong but would look equally great on a silver chain.

Rose Quarts is often called "the Love stone". It carries a soft feminine energy of compassion and peace, tenderness and healing, nourishment and comfort. The heart healing properties are the most prominent energy of the rose quartz. Rose Quartz signifies peace, so place pieces throughout your home. Wearing it close to your skin balances emotions, heals emotional wounds and aids in skin and cell rejuvenation.

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