New Pieces Afoot!!

Just starting to upload a bunch of new pieces to my parksandolive.com and my etsy site (yes, still!) at https://www.etsy.com/shop/ParksAndOlive. I'll be spreading out the uploads over the next couple of weeks.

I'm particularly fond of this silver, 18k gold and chrysoberyl ring. What the heck is chrysoberyl, you ask?! Well, it's a particularly hard stone, 8.5 on the Mohs Hardness scale, from the family of alexandrite and cat's eye. Almost as hard as ruby and sapphire (9 on the Mohs scale) or diamond at 10.

Chrysoberyl is also supposed to mean good fortune, if you believe in that sort of thing. Gosh, I guess every little bit helps!

Hey, if you get a chance, check out my ParksAndOlive Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ParksAndOlive/ and my tiny, tiny Insta site at https://www.instagram.com/parksandolive/

Thanks and bonne chance!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Hi everyone. I'm channeling Martha Stewart today, photographing the new Medium Button Ring (81.00) with Martha's favorite peonies. Heck, they're my favorite too.

This month, I'm creating a line of Button Rings for a little shop in downtown Portland. So excited to see how they all turn out!!

But in the meantime, I want to wish all the moms out there a VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! Have a great one : )

Water Cast Bubble Ring

How do I love thee, bubble ring? Let me count the ways.

I love how the water cast "bubbles" are completely random and organic.

I love that the 18k gold is recycled from old gold chains.

I love that the forget-me-not flowers are blooming in my garden.

I love creating beautiful objects that are completely unique.

Happy spring, people!!!

Flush Setting Tanzanites

Happy Holidays everyone!!

I'm having a marvelous time working with drill bits today. In all honesty, it is mighty challenging flush setting stones on an uneven surface like this hand-cast ring. For me, at least. On a scale of 1 to 10, it's, well, 462.

I'll finish up this ring in the next couple of days. In the meantime, I'm going to work on something a little more standard, a little more flat, even and thin. Now where the hell is my 12 gauge square wire!!

One is Silver and the Other's Gold

A couple of good updates. The last week or so I've been diving in and finishing up some lingering pieces before starting on some new work. Actually treating Parks & Olive as the side business it is turning into!

Finished the 18k gold band and I'm SO happy with it. Ended up adding a soft texture to the metal. It was just what the piece needed.

Unabashedly swiped the idea of styling a jewelry piece on a flower stem from my dear, artistic daughter. She had recently designed a similar shoot for The Dreslyn.

Been really pushing to get my photography better for the pieces. I had heard from several folks that natural light was the way to go for jewelry. But man, oh man, my lighting was all over the place!!! I was getting almost frustrated, then, as a last resort I dragged out my lights. My smallest little lightbox lights worked perfectly and really did the trick.

At last, I've got silver looking like silver, and gold looking like gold. Oh happy day!!

Babysteps

I've realized I need a jewelry blog in addition to my other bloggy endeavors. I need a place to share my exciting new pieces in progress, my work process, my finished bits and beyond... so here we go!!!