Brooch A Week #22 ~ Ivory Rose
May 31, 2013
My true calling in the art of making jewelry is to find ways to make old things new and wearable. This pin features a pre-ban (1960s) carved ivory rose (just like grandma used to wear). I’ve made an oxidized sterling silver setting to create a complete rose. The darkened silver accentuates the pale ivory where old meets new in a heavy-metal sense! A “Heavy-Metal Rose” (that is what I will call this one). Just listed in my Adobe Sol Designs Shop.
Heavy Metal Rose
Brooch A Week #21 ~ Fisher-Body Badge Pin
May 30, 2013
I think this one may be my favorites so far.
I found a few of these vintage employee badges from Fisher Body. They were an automobile coach builder founded in 1908 in Detroit. These badges were made by Superior Seal & Stamp Co. This badge is in really great condition and built super strong. Fisher Body (no longer in business) punched a hole in this badge. I have read that after they closed the plant, they punched holes in the badges. I made a sterling silver grommet for the hole and added a beautiful vintage crystal button set in a handmade sterling silver bezel setting.
Fisher Body has got quite a history. This particular badge is from the Hamilton/Fairfield, Ohio plant which was closed in 1988.
Brooch A Week #16 through #20
May 16, 2013
BAW52 # 15 is a lovely little copper “Vector” pin. I’ve placed a sterling silver rivet at “True North”. Always follow your heart to your own True-North!
I’m giving this one away with the purchase of any of my other BAW52 Brooches. All available pins are listed at Adobe Sol Designs.
Brooch A Week #11, #12
March 19, 2013
I’m keeping a good pace on the brooches! BAW52 is so much fun. I look forward to what comes next. I just got in some really magnificent cabochons which will be my inspiration for the next pin!
Finished with 11 and 12. I’m super happy with the way each of them turned out.
#11 is made with sterling silver and faceted clear quartz stone. Still running on my “Shapes” inspiration, I designed it with a heart, ring and a freeform dangle at the bottom for interest:
#12 is one of my classic designs, that I love, featuring a MOP vintage button hand set in oxidized sterling silver.
Brooches Available on my Website
March 12, 2013
I will be listing my Brooch-A-Week Flickr challenge entries on my Website exclusively!
The Weebly site is new to me, so if you have any questions, feedback or comments… I’m all ears. I’ve put together a FAQ page to help navigate through the purchase process.
Idea for Brooch #10: I am in the mood to make a brooch with “shapes”….
Brooch A Week #9
March 12, 2013
Going back to my recent favorite material… Vintage Buttons, here is BAW #9. I am so addicted to these vintage painted porcelain buttons. They have a life of their own with lovely color pained on by hand, back in the day! This button inspired me to make a simple sterling silver setting, just enough to make the colors pop. An oxidized patinae gives an old world appeal to this modern day brooch:
Brooch A Week #8
March 11, 2013
Entry week #7 is made with a vintage crystal button. I wanted to set this button without doing a bezel and keeping the button-hole intact. I designed a frame with a prong setting and a little loop to allow the pin wire to go through while attached through the hole in the button. I know, hard to understand my words… Have a look instead:
Brooch A Week #7
March 10, 2013
I used to do a lot of freeform wire brooches before I got hooked on the torch. Real;ly had fun with this and will probably make a few more incorporating stone setting with the wire. Thought I’d go back to my roots with this one. Hand formed with copper wire, oxidized and polished:
Brooch A Week ~ Flickr Challenge
March 7, 2013
OK, It’s official… I have entered the Flickr Challenge Brooch A Week! Along with many other artists from all over the globe, I will make one brooch per week for all of 2013. I have wanted to do this one for weeks and have finally jumped in (with both feet!). Over the last few days I’ve sat down at the bench and completed 6 with a seventh almost finished. I’ll be posting each new brooch on Flicker and adding it to my “BAW52″ Flickr Album. Here are 6 of 52:
Adobe Sol Designs ~ The Blog 