"Keepsakes" Necklace

Three photographs of my grand-children, one rose petal and a vintage piece of lace, placed between two pieces of glass and soldered closed with silver solder, hang from a simple silver chain to make a memorable 'Keepsakes' necklace.

 Detail of photograph encased in glass

 Detail of photograph encased in glass

Detail of vintage lace encased in glass

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"Keepsakes" Pin Brooch

This pin brooch from the "Keepsakes" range contains 4 items. Two are vintage photographs sandwiched between two pieces of glass and enclosed with silver solder. Other items can also be used, like a piece of lace from a Christening or Wedding gown, a piece of vintage material or rose petals for romance, leaves to symbolise life or any other sentimental objects. The other two are an amber clear glass jewel and an Indian silver baublet on short chain links. All these are attached to an ordinary nappy pin, a clean and simple design.

All links are soldered closed for strength and to prevent the loss of any of the items.

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Energy, passion and peace

The colour red is the colour of energy, passion and action. It is a warm and positive colour associated with our most physical needs and our will to survive. It exudes a strong and powerful masculine energy. Wearing red clothing or jewellery shows a vibrant personality and a passion for life.

Being the colour of physical movement, the colour red awakens our physical life force. It is the colour of sexuality and can stimulate deeper and more intimate passions in us, such as love and sex on the positive side or revenge and anger on the negative. It is often used to express love, as in Valentine’s Day.

Vibrant red oblong glass jewel earrings. The ease and simplicity of these earrings make a statement on their own, but when teamed with a matching brooch, adds extra whammy!

Red oblong glass jewel brooch hand-crafted with silver wire and silver solder, clasp at the back.

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Blue is the coolest colour - the colour of the sky, ocean, sleep, twilight. Blue is often the chosen colour by conservative people. Blue is the calming colour. That makes it a wonderful colour to use in the home and to wear as jewellery.

Blue gives a feeling of distance. Artists use it to to show perspective. This is a good way to understand the energy of the colour blue - it allows us to look beyond and increase our perspective outward. It contains a cool vibration that is helpful to communication.

Round blue glass jewel brooch surrounded by copper and given a coat of patina for a vintage look. Clasp at back.

The vibration of blue can be used to open energy flow where it is blocked. So wear blue jewellery often to relax and encourage feelings of communication and peace.

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Bracelets - Bound Chaos

Bracelets (and rings) fashioned out of silver wire, some inter-laced with beads and some left plain.

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" bracelets displayed with two Crystal bracelets

"Bound Chaos" - Two silver wire bracelets inter-laced with blue beads

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Tamboti leaf Choker and Earrings

If you are a porcupine, the thought of chewing on the bark of the Tamboti tree is enough to send thrills down your quills. If you are a black rhino you will seek out the slender, leaf-filled branches and eat them with relish.

If you happen to be of the species Homo sapiens then beware - Tamboti spells danger! The tree contains a white, milky latex which is poisonous to humans. This latex is characteristic of all members of the Euphorbia family (Euphorbiacea). The tree does have important medicinal value and the roots, bark and even the sap (latex) are used to cure various ailments although nausea always results and a heavy dose may even cause death. A little sap dabbed on an aching tooth is said to bring relief but liberal quantities may result in permanent relief from all pain - an early grave.

The Tamboti tree (Spirostachys africana) is sought after for the making of furniture as it is a hard, fine-grained wood. An interesting contrast is created by the light, creamy sapwood and the dark brown heartwood. The heartwood is resistant to decay and termite attack and is therefore used for building huts and as fencing poles. Of course, great care has to be taken when working with the Tamboti wood as the sawdust is poisonous. Even the smoke from a Tamboti fire is poisonous and could result in you painfully re-examining the contents of the previous night's bush braai.  The wood should not be used for cooking fires, although once it has burnt down, the glowing coals can safely be used.

The small, green leaves turn to magnificent shades of yellow, orange and red and a grove of Tamboti trees in autumn is a sight to behold. It was during autumn, when my tree was ablaze with colour, that I was inspired to craft these Tamboti leaf earrings with matching choker, using silver wire and silver solder. The choker also has a single Tamboti leaf suspended.

Other common names: Tamboti (Eng.); Tambotie (Afr.); umThombothi (Zulu); Modiba (Northern Sotho); umThombotsi (siSwati); Ndzopfori (Tsonga); Morukuru (Tswana); Muonze (tshiVenda)

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Crystal pendant and link chain

Quartz Crystal encased in silver wire on a silver link chain 

I have quite a vast collection of crystals, clear quartz being one of my favourites. For many years I've just been displaying them in various bowls around the house, relishing the healing properties they bring to various rooms.

I've utilised a few of these in pendants, brooches and bracelets. Here I've surrounded a clear quartz  crystal with silver wire and added a simple link chain, ready to just slip over my head as I rush off to town!

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Cow in the stable brooch and earrings

I once had the cutest little pendant made out of pewter, with this little cow looking over the stable door, hanging on a fine little chain. Unfortunately it broke, so I decided to try and utilise it and incorporated it into this brooch. The door can open, revealing a little man sitting on a stool, milking the cow.

The brooch surround is silver wire, filled with silver solder and a brooch pin soldered on the back. It was then given a coat of black patina to give it a vintage look. One of my favourite brooches to wear.

The earrings are hand-crafted from silver wire and brushed with a patina to give an antique look.

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Life's a bitch...

but I appreciate her nontheless.
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I woke up feeling utterly depressed this morning. No particular reason, everything is running smoothly in my life, no worries, no stress, no problems, no debt, and yet, I had this completely flat and miserable feeling. Even finding some beautiful feathers in the garden could not motivate or inspire me. In fact, my garden looked like shit. Even the birds, who normally wait in droves at the bird feeders, seemed to have deserted my space.

I wandered back into the house to my studio and opened a box of beach finds, hoping to find inspiration there. But nothing. My muse seems to have taken a walk, leaving me with the dregs of imagination.

When the thought, "life's a bitch" came into my mind, I decided to Google it, maybe find some explanation or inspiration. But all I found was "life's a bitch and then you die" and "life's a bitch and death is her sister". Not very inspirational or explanatory at all. I pondered this for a while and summarily decided that I didn't like those references at all. They must've been written by somebody in a deeper depression than myself and the thought was very scary.

I remembered a quote I had read some time ago, "Creativity is a drug I cannot live without" and decided the only solution was that I HAD to do something creative to break this feeling. Even if it's just something simple, not too complicated, just to get the juices flowing again.

I remembered seeing a nice round pebble, well, stone actually, in my garden earlier (so I DID notice something nice after all!), so I went out in search of it. I gave it a thorough wash and just holding it in my hands brought a feeling of peace. It wasn't long before I was totally immersed in wrapping it in some silver wire, as if wrapping some peace and love into it, safely securing it with some drops of solder. Attaching a ring and adding a chain, it was ready to hang around my neck.

Hand-crafted river pebble (2½" - 5cm) pendant hanging from a leather thong

Pebbles and stones represent solidity, stability, dependability. And that's what I needed to feel today, solid and stable.

Since earliest history, people have collected and admired pretty pebbles, often believing they had magical and healing powers. Even the earliest people told stories about magical creatures made of stone. Pebbles, stones and rocks are a vital part of our earth and our history - from providing us with our very first tools and building materials to giving us a chance to express ourselves through sculptures, jewelry and other fine arts.

Go ahead, hold a pebble in your hand. Feel its smooth surface grow warm in your palm. See it glow with light. I asked myself: Where has this pebble been, and what has it seen, in all its thousands of years of existence? Then I opened my mind to its healing power...

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I go to nature...

... to be soothed and healed . and to have my senses put in order 

Hand-crafted from copper and silver solder . the copper assists in energy flowing more freely

Karee leaf and seed – Hand-crafted earrings made from Copper and silver solder with patina for a vintage look – from my EARTH range of ‘Afrika Street Jewellery’ – displayed on a large Rose Quartz crystal. The EARTH range of jewellery is inspired by nature and this one is fashioned after the leaves of the White Karee tree (Rhus viminalis).

Albert Einstein said, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

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The passage of time...

To live in this world

you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
- Mary Oliver

A vintage watch face and amber glass jewels hand-crafted into a bracelet. The beauty of this simple, yet striking, design is that you could make it with inter-changeable, different coloured jewels or any other beads of your choice.

This bracelet is from my "Keepsakes" range.

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Amber stained glass pendant

Who can resist a beautiful piece of stained glass? Buffed into a symmetrical shape, encased in silver solder and adorned with silver wire, all that is needed is to add a silver chain of your chosen length.

The process is simple. Cut an oblong piece of glass in your required size and then grind all the edges smooth (with a glass grinder). Then surround your glass with copper foil - this is the catalyst for your solder to adhere to. Cover in solder, soldering on some decorative pieces of silver wire, solder on a wire ring for the chain and voila! your pendant is complete. You can also add beads to dangle from the bottom section, a nice creative touch.

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Quartz Crystal Pendant

Not for sale

Large 9cm long Quartz Crystal pendant, wrapped in silver wire, with a feather and Turquoise beads on a silver chain - From my hand-crafted jewellery under the label “Earth Range”.

Quartz Crystal, or Natural Quartz Crystals, are the original power crystals. Clear Quartz Crystal, such as the Quartz Crystal Ball, has an archetypal energy, a consciousness that is rarefied and highly evolved, that is packed with wisdom because Rose Quartz Crystal or other natural Quartz Crystal have experienced wisdom.

Quartz crystal has been around for a very long time. How long, no one knows for sure. We do know that crystals were formed in this Earth and suggest the mineral evolution of the planet. Their very being expresses the unity of the four ancient elements.

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