A New Lodolite Quartz Ring

This bold cocktail ring features a large Lodolite Quartz gem stone. It took me a while to get good photos for this ring. I had to do two photo shoots. But finally it worked. 

The stone is held securely by six prongs and the ring has a polished finish. 
This is truly a one of a kind piece.

About the stone:
Lodolite Quartz (Lodalite) is a type of included quartz crystal with inclusions of many possible colors and types, often having the look of gardens, landscapes, or underwater scenes. Thus, lodolite is often called garden quartz, landscape quartz, or scenic quartz. One of the most common metaphysical uses of lodolite is to bring energies to effect manifestation of one's desires. This particular stone reminds me of these mosses or algeas that I have seen on rocks in the Mojave Dessert. 

Photo of desert rock.

1. DSC_8486, 2. DSC_8488, 3. DSC_8483, 4. DSC_8487

Feature in a magazine

Monday night I finally got the long awaited email from the Fashion Editor of Avalon Media - Publisher of Australian LOTL and BOUND Magazine letting me know that I was featured in their last issue of BOUND. A little dance around the dining table followed right after that ;-D. I was so happy to see a whole page dedicated to my jewelry.

They had contacted me back in January via Etsy and requested some high resolution photos of some of my rings. It took a while to finally get them published and I am so happy to see how it turned out. Can't wait to get my hands on an actual copy of the magazine. Apparently it's already in the mail.

"BOUND Magazine is the world's first international magazine for gay women and women with a connection to the gay community available through all news agencies from 12th Nov 09 for $7.95. The premium publication will be an innovative lifestyle monthly with content drawn from around the globe. With the tag line "Different culture, same lifestyle", BOUND will target the discerning female reader who has broad horizons regarding lifestyle, health, fashion, travel and culture. Inspired by the success of Sex and the City and The L Word, BOUND acknowledges and aims to please the growing sophistication of media-savvy women."

Custom Tanzanite Ring

Sometimes I get approached to work on commissions, which is a very rewarding and enjoyable experience for me and I hope, for the person who commissions the piece. It results in jewelry that is meaningful to the owner because it was designed especially for them, with with their input. Commissions usually require a bit more time involvement for both sides. For the customer because he has to approach me with an general idea and give feedback. For me there is more communication involved and sometimes even multiple design options to develop. If this is a totally new design, I present the customer design choices and then proceed with their favorite picks.


In January I was approached by Elizabeth who wanted to have a ring designed for a stunning trillion cut Tanzanite stone she owned. She had seen my Ice Tetra ring (below) and wanted something similar for her ring. 

Her stone was 7mm and a bit smaller than the 10mm Topaz used in the Ice Tetra Ring. I was very exited to work with a Tanzanite again. 

Tanzanite is a rare gem. It is found mostly in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. The mineral is named after Tanzania, the country where it was discovered in 1967. Its blue, surrounded by a fine hint of purple, is a wonderful colour. The stone is particularly highly prized because it is found in only one place in the whole world.  Nearly all tanzanite has been heat treated to produce the striking violet-blue color. In its natural rough state the gem is actually of brownish-yellow color.
Due to its minor hardness (6.5-7 on Mohs scale) tanzanite is not especially durable. Therefore it should be worn with care, never put it in a ultrasonic cleaner.


Once I saw the actual stone it was even more into this project, what a beauty! To show off the wonderful color we decided to change the design a bit up and lowered two sides of the setting. This allowed more light to enter the stone from multiple angles, bringing out the amazing hues of the stone. I modeled the ring in wax. My wax modeling technique is a mix of carving and building up wax to archive the desired shape. Photos were posted to my flickr account for the customer to review and comment.

1. DSC_5353_2, 2. DSC_5361_2

After that the ring went off to my caster to be made into a sterling silver model. Once it came back a week later I cleaned up the ring, and prepared the setting. Here I started to get a bit scared. Knowing how expensive these stones are, I was worried I would break it during the setting process. Fortunately it does not happen often that I break a stone - more often I just loose a tiny stone when it falls on the floor and is never seen again-  but there is always a possibility for damaging a stone. Even diamonds can be damaged while setting them.

To set stones I usually use a hammer hand set. This is a specialty piece of equipment that converts the rotary motion of a flexible shaft machine to a back and forth stroke. It looks a bit like a dentist drill. While I hold the ring in one hand and press the stone down into the setting with the tip of my finger, I gently move the hammer piece slowly around metal  along the stone setting. With that the metal gets pushed towards the stone, over its girdle and eventually holds the stone in place. This can take anywhere from a couple minutes up to an hour depending on the thickness of the metal that needs to be moved and the complexity of the setting. If anytime during this process I do not pay full attention and slip with the hammer, the stone can get chipped. To make it short, I did not break the stone and finished the hammering with success. The hammer motion will leave some marks on the metal around the setting. This needs to get removed by filing and smoothing the surface. Usually I use silicone wheels on my flex shaft for that. The silicone will not leave any marks on the stone and just removes marks on the metal. After that the ring gets its final polish and gets cleaned.

Voila, The ring is ready to  find it's new home.

I loved how the ring came out. Elizabeth send me this note after she got it in her hands: "I just got my ring and I am enthralled. It is absolutely beautiful and very unique.  I love your work, it is like sculpture.  Thank you so much for making me such a beautiful ring."




Nothing makes me happier than a happy customer.





ETA: I do not any longer accept customer supplied gem stones for custom projects due to liability reasons. Thanks for understanding.

"Three of us" ring, Happy Mother's Day!

This ring was created to celebrate the addition of a baby girl to the family. 3 little coffee diamonds ranging in color from caramel, over reddish brown to dark roast symbolize all 3 family members. The diamonds are 1.5 mm to 2.5 mm are grouped as accents floating on a wave, the feeling is one of connectivity. The sterling silver band has a fluid texture.

1. See larger image, 2. See larger image, 3. See larger image

Happy Mother's Day!

New Business cards just arrived before the show starts

I just got my new business cards and beautiful glossy post cards from MOO. They look great. 

I am so happy I used Moo this time for the post cards. I used to just print a couple cards on glossy photo paper. It looks so much more professional with the type on the back. The overall feel of the cards stock is great. I also did a couple of business cards in standard format and mini cards.
What I love with Moo is that you can upload up to 100 images, so you can have a different image on every business cards. It works so well at shows to have images of my rings printed on these business cards. People always take a bunch of them with different ring designs. This way they actually remember my designs even after going through a show of 300 vendors. It represents the body of work way better than a typical type face based card design. I am curious to see how many of these cards I have left after this weekend's show.

I am so prepared for the UniqueLA show this weekend. Just need to polish up a couple more rings so they look at their best. Tomorrow is setup time and then on Saturday at 11 am the show starts. Hope this one will be a great one.

I also finished a couple rings over the weekend. I set stones in the new Flow line rings. I really like the one with a tiny blue diamond. The blue sparkle and the silver go great together. I also finished a couple rings with those awesome colored peacock pearls. The large one in the textured ring looks really great. The orange ring has a tumbled carnelian in a low bezel setting and the ring in the front has a great Lodolite quartz stone in those 6 prongs.

Let's see if they will find a new loving owner in the next days.

Hooray, Nodeform was featured on Etsy's frontpage!!!

I loved waking up to a email message this morning that one of my items had been featured on Etsy's Front Page:

The item featured is centered in the last row and one of my pendants called Purple Moon. 

Hand fabricated Sterling Silver pendant on a sterling silver snake chain. A natural purple faceted Amethyst gem stone is hand set in a sterling silver tube setting.The surface of the silver piece is reticulated to create a moon like surface texture. The pendant has a tumbled polished finish.


The only not so great thing was the timing of the front page feature. It came on at 5am EST or 2am here in LA. I am not sure how many people check Etsy that early in the morning. Hope some folks in Europe saw it. Anyways, I am not complaining. Keep it coming.

Visit me at the Unique LA show on April 24th and 25th

I will be participating again in the spring show of Unique LA.

Please come by and try out my rings and chat with me.
Here more info about the show:

The 2nd Annual UNIQUE LA Spring Show hits April 24-25!The largest independent design show in the country, attendees get the rare chance to meet and shop directly from over 300 hand-selected designers and artists. The exciting two-day shopping event makes it easy for you to buy local and support LA’s economy, discover great design and deals, join in community, and have a blast! Over 95% of the products at the show are proudly made right here in the USA!

On top of shopping the wide variety of offerings, the event boasts many exciting Extras & Amenities, including free workshops, an eco lounge, and two cafes featuring some of LA’s best restaurants and gourmet food trucks. Plan to spend the day with us!

Clothing & Accessories • Stationery • Jewelry • Housewares • Artwork • Ceramics • Gourmet Edibles • Plush Toys • Books • Photography • Screenprints • + more!

---

When: April 24th & 25th, 11am – 6pm both days
Where: California Market Center’s Penthouse (110 East 9th Street – Map It)