-
Texas Flag with Alone Star Twist
I wanted to share with you my latest creation. This is, by far, my favorite pendant of the season! The design for this pendant is our great Texas flag and my goal was to create a pendant that you wouldn’t find anywhere else. So many Texas jewelry pieces look the same and we really try to keep our designs fresh and different. I used texture to make the sections of the flag stand out and borrowed the Alone Star shape for the star, setting a blue topaz right in the center. Blue topaz is the State stone so that part was easy! The pendant is gently curved from top to…
-
Happy Valentine’s Day from Alone Star Jewelry
Working with Cold Connections Well here we are in a brand new year! It’s hard to believe that Christmas went by so fast and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! I must admit that I’ve had a harder time this year getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. It would seem that I didn’t get enough R&R time or maybe I realize the importance of having time to yourself to just piddle around or sneak in some more quality time with your family. It always goes by much too fast! But, having said that, it is the new year so move forward we must. I’ve never been good at forcing myself to sit down and…
-
Leaf Drop Earrings
As promised earlier, here is a picture of the shorter Leaf Drop earrings, made from a bronze leaf disk that was formed from my own design mold. We sold several pair of the longer version at the recent Galveston show, but many asked about making them shorter, so here is what that looks like. My mother-in-law, at about 5′ in height, never wears earrings that dip even 1/2-inch below her lobe! Lisa will make one of her professional-looking shots very soon and these will be placed on the site aside the long version, seen below. The wire is sterling, as is the connecting bead and earwire. Here is another something…
-
Settling down in 2K10
Yes, the Longhorn game is behind us, the Christmas decor is packed away and routine is slowly reasserting itself. Last night I got my workroom organized once again so that the drawings in my sketchbook have a chance to morph into the real thing. This year I will continue making earrings, seemingly my favorite item, but will push into making rings. Rings have been on the back burner for a long while and it’s time to try my hand at them. I had not made a new necklace in a while until coming up with this new one, seen above: Lisa is photographing it to put on the site but…
-
Bronzed
Good evening. I have “finished” these earrings, bronze with chrysoprase and moonstones. They are the bronze domes I showed in a recent post, just fired with the three holes in each. I think these earrings are prettier with all three stones green, but these will stay as they are unless something else occurs to me, which is possible since I am not settled with them. We are going to start making our own earwires, one pair shown with the earrings. We each got a set of cup burs, which work great for quickly filing the ends of the wire for a comfortable fit. Sometimes finishing afterward with a file is…
-
Almost Showtime!
Well, tomorrow we head for Austin and spend the evening making final preparations for the Pecan Street Festival on Saturday and Sunday. We are both working fast today to finish up any pieces that still need final touches. For instance, this image features a new necklace that I started yesterday and completed the remaining necklaces this morning. It’s called Twirly and is made from Greek leather and Argentium sterling silver wire. For more information, please click here to view the necklace on our website. And if you’ll be in Austin, TX this weekend, don’t forget to come by booth 94 to see us! You may get lucky and win a…
-
Come see our new pieces!
This is just a quick note to let you know that we’ve been adding new designs to our site and invite you to go take a look. Just follow this link to go directly to our new pieces!
-
The question of reworking existing designs
No matter the reason, whether an old design leaves something to be desired or it is good enough to inspire further ideas, it’s cool to rework older designs. Just so happens the Texas Star earrings (right) were recently the target of such reconstruction. My ears are currently adorned with them since I love the smaller dime-size and bouncy sparkle, but resistance was futile as a new idea pushed its way in, simple as it was. Called Texas Star Banded earrings. the irregular surface of the band reminds me of rough stone, limestone in fact, of the Hill Country. That and the star make for a real Texas flavor piece of…
-
Deerskin Lariat
Wrap a lariat around your neck for a quick way to dress up your outfit! This lariat is made out of “dusk” colored deerskin leather which is so buttery soft to the feel! The lariat is 47″ in length and you can wear it so many ways. Fold it in half and wrap it around your neck and slide the two ends through the loop. Wrap it up close around your throat and then loop the ends through each other. Wrap it around your throat once and let the ends hang free. I’m sure you could come up with more ways to wear this versatile lariat! At each end of…
-
Three Silver Hearts Bracelet
I’ve just added my latest creation on our website and, as I’ve decided to do from now on, wanted to update the blog for those of you who subscribe. Thanks for that, by the way! Below is the text taken from the website describing this new bracelet. I like working with leather, and more, I like wearing it! My three hearts bracelet is 12mm wide (just under 1/2″) and is cut from a hide of chocolate brown distressed leather. The focal point for the bracelet is a handmade fine silver plate featuring three hearts and is stitched to the leather using red Tenara thread (previously known as Gore-Tex). The buckle…
