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! :)

Emerald Paw Paw Pendant

For Candice... :)

Wax lilies

I have been making some wax lilies. The lilies will be cast in sterling silver and then turned in to rings and pendants. It's the first time I am making ones as large as the three on the right - I'm looking forward to seeing how they will look when finished.

Bind them around your neck...

Let not mercy or truth forsake you; bind them around your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 3:3

Every time I see my friend, Helena, she asks if I've gotten on to making some of these necklaces yet... Well, finally I'm getting there - I think I should let her know.

I carry you in my heart...

I've been meaning to make a sample of this engraved heart for ages...
The writing is 1mm high--I like that the name is just secretly sitting there, known to the wearer, but unknown to the rest of the world.

Silhouette Pendant: Cathy and Jane

Now that Cathy's birthday has past, it is safe for me to post this picture. I really, really loved the result of this special piece. :)

Sneak peek at some new work for Design Indaba :)

Gazania leaf pendant

Clivia flower pendant

Double paw paw flower ring

Frangipani flower ring

Some more sentimental jewels... :)

You're the apple (and kiwi) slice of my eye... :)

We bought a fruit dehydrator a couple of years ago. It makes very tasty snacks, but also very beautiful objects for casting. (I held on to this kiwi and apple slice for about four years before I finally got round to casting them!)

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.

Sentimental Jewellery: Jan and Isabella

I love, love, love to make pieces like this. I love to take peoples memories and precious moments and turn them into a treasured little works of art that they can keep near and dear throughout their journey.

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! :)

My lily in the September Ideas Magazine

My long awaited Ideas Magazine arrived today. I am very happy to have my work in Ideas, but I was a little disappointed with a few things. Firstly they printed my blog address as '.co.za' instead of '.co'. Secondly, they have a little icon at the bottom of the page that says 'go online to http://www.ideas.co.za/ to see how Andrea made this pendant' but if you actually go online and try to find anything related to me or the pendant, there is nothing there yet! (Apparently it will be online be by the time the magazine hits the shelves, but I feel it should be there in time for the subscribers, who get their magazines about 10 days before it's available in the shops.)

There are a few other things that leave me a little puzzeled, but I think some sleep would be more helpful than dwelling on these problems. Despite the errors and other little things that leave me wondering, it is always a lovely thing to have one's work in print, so thanks to Ideas for putting me in their magazine!

New Iris Pod Pendants

New iris pod pendants, fresh from my bench. Hope you like :)

Wild Peach

These wild peach necklaces are one of my most favourite things. You will be seeing many more of these :)

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.

It’s not supposed to look like this!

I am using a new resin. It is quite expensive and requires using a vacuum table to avoid having bubbles in it. (At least that’s the theory anyway). I have the vacuum table-I even used the vacuum table and followed all the instructions-yet, I still got the bubbles. It really is not supposed to look like this. Somebody help me!

This pendant is a test piece for similar earrings that need to be filled with my new, expensive resin. If I can’t sort out the bubbles, I can’t fill the earrings.

There are people all over the world making beautiful resin jewellery. Why is it that they can do it and I can not?!

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 other mangrove...

Exactly a year ago today I posted a few pictures showing mangrove jewellery. (The version where the pods were dried out before they were cast). I also, in that same post, promised to post the version where the pods were cast before they had a chance to dry out. I can’t believe it’s taken me a year to do so (can’t really believe that this blog is more that a year old) but anyway, here it is, the other mangrove… :)

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… :)