Pretty agapanthus flower pendants

Sterling silver agapanthus flower pendants. Oxidised vs. non-oxidised.

I know it has been forever since I last posted (I have been hibernating a little bit) however, I thought that these pretties were too lovely not to share. Hope you like them! :)

Sweet Wild Garlic Stud Earrings

I love these earrings. Such precious little flowers, they always make me happy.

Emerald Paw Paw Pendant

For Candice... :)

Little Flower Ring

Just finished this pretty ring for a very lovely client from Johannesburg. She's visiting Cape Town and will collect it on the weekend, I do hope she'll love it. :)

Sneak peek at some new work for Design Indaba :)

Gazania leaf pendant

Clivia flower pendant

Double paw paw flower ring

Frangipani flower ring

Phalaenopsis Orchid Pendant

Finished Phalaenopsis pendants. These are two of the flowers that I posted (before they were clean) two posts back. The bottom one has been oxidised and the top one has not.

Some of today's casts... :)

So... about three and a half months after building (and sharing) my mushroom tree, I have finally cast it! It is not altogether perfect, some parts have not come out and a few mushroom heads are missing (must have come loose when I poured the investment) but still, they were a bit of a gamble from the start, so I am very pleased that some are good and complete.

 Aren't these orchids beautiful?! I just could not resist them. The casts will make beautiful pieces once cleaned up. :)

Frangipani Brooch/Pendant

This pretty frangipani (which is much prettier in real life than in the photo) can be worn as either a brooch or as a pendant.

I have a couple more frangipani casts locked away, waiting their turn to be turned into jewellery, but I can't wait till the trees are full of flowers again and I can cast many more! I have always and will always love a frangipani! :)

Paw Paw Flower Pendant

The first pendant that I have completed from the flowers that I gathered from my mother's little paw paw nursery and cast.

My new favourite thing to cast? My Mother's paw paw flowers...

My mom bugged me for quite a while to cast some of her paw paw flowers, but now she is begging me to stop! They are super lovely (smell so good) and cast really well. I do like :)

Beautiful Things

I am very excited to be sharing the first casts to come out of my own studio. It is true that I did my own casting in college, but this is different. These casts are extra special and the start of many great things to come.

Frangipanis have always been one of my favourites. The flowers are so bright and beautiful, they smell so lovely and they twirl delightfully to the ground when you spin them; how much more lovely can one flower be?

The ferns have been coming out very well too. Looking forward to making many more of these.

Another lily

I posted some lilies about 6 months ago, but this is a new one and a much nicer picture, so I thought I would post it also.

I do love the little lilies and they seem to be quite popular, so I am not the only one… :)

The blessing of Spring (and the rewards of Jog Squad...)

About four moths ago I joined a ‘learn to jog’ group. In the beginning I liked it very much, but as the jogging increased, so did my pain. Apparently jogging causes an old injury of mine to flare up-and just like that, jogging was no longer fun. I limped to the finish line of my beginner jogger course, but could not move on to the next group. At this stage the saying, "As jy nie kan verder gaan, begin jy weer van vooraf aan…"  comes to mind. The point of my story? (Other than the obvious, that sometimes one needs to begin at the beginning again...)

Although the actual jogging part has been difficult, the springing of Spring has been amazing. When I started four months ago it was dark and wintery, but now there is light and greenery and many blossoms. This fills me with gratitude; this makes me happy and smiley.

A couple weeks back, I noticed some fabulous green flowers. It was the first time that I had seen that particular tree in flower, as well as the first time that I had ever seen that kind of flower-a double joy. I picked a few blossoms and brought them back for casting. The casts were successful, so I had a mould made from one of them and I had a few cast from that mould. This is my double joy blossom ring.

First picture is of the ring made up and cleaned, the second is after it has been oxidized and the third is after most of the oxidization has been removed (leaving it only in the recess areas) and it has been lightly tumbled for a bit of polish.

Consider the lilies of the field…

I've been making lilies this week. They start their journey as wax creations and then they go to the caster. When I see them again all that was wax is now silver and I start the process of cleaning them up, finishing them off and making them beautiful… :)