Here it is ... my Etsy MetalClay Team charm bracelet!

Wow.  Just wow!  The charm swap package arrived and I couldn't wait to assemble my bracelet.  I used some bulk sterling silver chunky byzantine chain which I oxidized and added a great big lobster claw clasp for security.  It took me hours to arrange the charms so that the finished bracelet would look balanced in terms of sizes, colors, shapes and textures ... but here it is!  (My own charm, round in shape with a texture of waves and a seashell showing, is at approximately 5 o'clock in the final photo.)

What a fabulously talented group of women!  Just look at the amazing creativity and works of art represented here.  I will cherish this bracelet for the rest of my life.  Two additional bracelets are being assembled for donation to worthy charities.

Thank you to all my wonderful friends on the Etsy MetalClay Team!

Etsy MetalClay Charm Swap (Spoiler Alert!!)

These are a few of the fine silver charms I made for the very first Etsy MetalClay Team charm swap.  The charms are currently in the hands of our charm swap coordinator, Teresa Boland, who will be mailing the charms to the swap participants early in the week.  Two extra bracelets are also being donated to carefully seleced charities.  Thanks, Teresa, for all your hard work coordinating this wonderful project!  I can't wait to get mine and assemble my charm bracelet!

Each charm features two very detailed spiral button shells -- a large one and a smaller one -- fused onto a background texture of foaming surf.  The reverse side has the same texture plus my hallmark, stamped .999.  I oxidized the charms and polished off only the high spots, leaving interesting hints of color on the charms.  Although the design is the same on each charm, because of the placement of the texture and individual molding of the seashells, each charm is slightly different and has its own unique character.

My goal here was to create a charm that would be recognizable to my team members as my creation based on its resemblance to my signature body of work -- three-dimensional seashells floating on waves -- without the need to check my initials on the reverse side.  Hopefully this goal has been accomplished!

Okay, on to the next thing ... :)

I've now spent the better part of a week cutting and fusing glass, and I think I've finally gotten it out of my system ... at least for now!  Here are the last two projects completed in glass ... two channel pendants.  Over and out.  Back to my silver work!  I still want to roam around town taking pictures of the landmarks in my neighborhood and post a mini-travelogue.  On my to-do list!

I've got glass pains!

It had been a very long time since I sat down and replenished my supply of dichroic glass cabochons.  Well, I went through my inventory and was aghast at how small the stash had become ... so for the past few days, I've been hunkered down in my workshop cutting glass and fusing.  So far I've already made hundreds of new dichroic cabs, but it only seems to have sharpened (pun intended) my appetite for glass, glass, glass!!

So I took a short break from cutting and fusing to order more glass in ever more interesting colors and patterns.  Where will it all end?