S as in Silver - abc Wednsday - S - Alphabe-Thursday S

Today is Wednesday and once again it is time to play my two favourite alphabet-memes, Mrs. Denise Nesbitt's abc-Wednesday and Mrs. Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. This week both memes have the letter "S". Similar to the letter "R", there are lots and lots of S-words to choose from. After so many R-words last week, I have decided to try to limit myself to S-words that are related to my main subject, jewellery-making.

So my S-word is Silver, a precious metal that is widely used to make pieces of jewellery. Here we see a finger ring and a bangel that I made of sterling silver at a beginners' silver-smithing course that I took a year ago. Not very exciting? No. But I learned the basics of how to solder silver.

Until that time when I can afford to invest in silver-smithing equipment there are already good silver smiths who can do the kind of jewellery that I would like to be able to do one day. Take a look at Trudie Davies' ring here. You can order it with the name or words of your choice.

Isn't it pretty? That would be fun to do! Check out Trudie's blog and Etsy shop. Sorry, I can't seen to find a photo of Trudie Davies herself. (Found it!)

This is Trudie Davies

and not Anna!

Here is Trudie's blog button!

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Before I leave the words "solder" and "soldering" I would like to add the word "seashells" and show a series of pictures from Tara Beaulieu of Scarborough Seashells, who has hade a giveway for a cute pair of silver-fitted seashell-earrings. Tara shows her work-process in soldering the silver framwork for the seashells. Take a look:

Take a peek at Tara's Etsy shop here.
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With the help of more jewellery-blogging friends, I would like to show other examples of how silver can be used. Here we see Karen Stahlecker of WillOaks Studio using silver necklace chains with different coloured stones:

Silver seems to go with everything. Take a closer look at Karen's Etsy shop to find out more about these beautiful neck-adornments.

This is Karen Stahlecker

and not Anna.
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Another clever and very skilled jewellery artist, who works with silver, is Lotta Knutar. Lotta lives a little closer to me here in Europe than Trudie who lives in Australia or Karen who lives in the United States. Lotta wraps silver wire when she makes her pieces of jewellery. Look at these earrings:

I wonder if you could wear Lotta's oxidised silver wire-wraped earrings with one of Karen's necklaces with the oxidised silver chain?

Visit Lotta Knutars Etsy shop Silverknuten or check out her English language blog.

This is Lotta Knutar



and not Anna.
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Now, I'd like to show some silver pieces that I own, but have not made myself. Here are a couple of cute silver bracelets:



And this is a very old pin made out of silver and mountain chrystal, that my mother gave me last year. It was her grandmother's.

Last but not least, I would like to say something about the first round pin with the image of a spider at the top of this post. This beautiful piece of silver was owned by my maternal grandmother.

She wore it a lot and I am very proud to have it now. It is handmade of sterling silver in Sweden 1911 (see the year on the reverse side).

My S-words have been, "Silver", "Solder", "Seashells" and "Spider".

Wasn't that simple?!
Best wishes
Anna

For more S-words at Mrs. Nesbitt's abcWednesday please click here.
For more S-words at Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday please click here.


First Commenter:
Ann of Ann's Snap Edit & Scrap

Q as in QUILTS & QUARTZ - abc Wednesday, round 6 - Q - and Alphabe-Thursday - Q

Today is Wednesday and once again it is time to play my two favourite alphabet-memes, Mrs. Denise Nesbitt's abc-Wednesday and Mrs. Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. This week both memes have the letter "Q". These are my thoughts about Q:

Is the letter Q a quiet letter? Or does it quack like a duck? Or quaver like a quail? Let's dance a quadrille! Is it a quagga or a quagmire?

What are its qualities? Is it quadratic or quarrelsome? Does it ask questions or queries? Or can it quench your thirst, make you feel queasy, or force you to stand and wait in a queue? Is Q quick-witted and the quintessense of how a letter should be? Or is it only a quirk among written signs? I am not quite finished yet. My Q-words are QUILT and QUARTZ. I even have quaint photos for you all to see! Look at these beautiful earrings that Karen Stahlecker of WillOaks Studio has made with QUARTZ drops! Click on the image or go to her page here.

And here, Karen Stahlecker has made a beautiful bracelet with QUARTZ stones. Click on the image or go to that page here.

This is Karen Stahlecker

and not Anna.
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This is a washed-out quilt that I made years ago. Elisabet's sixth birthday is today, May 12th. Hooray! Happy Birthday!

Let's not quibble, Please leave a remark, a thought, a comment or a quip!

Happy Qs to you all!

Anna

For more Q-words at Mrs. Nesbitt's abcWednesday please click here.
For more Q-words at Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday please click here.


First Commenter:
Alesa Warcan

O as in Open, Obsidian, Onyx - abc Wednesday, round 6 - O - and Alphabe-Thursday - O

Today is already Thursday (well actually it's Friday) and once again I am wondering if I will be able to post anything for the two alphabet-memes that I have been playing the past ten weeks or so. This week, both abc-Wednesday, round 6, as well as Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday, have the letter "O". I love the letter "O" and there are so many interesting O-words.

In keeping with my ambition to choose jewellery-related words, my first O-word is "open squares". This photo above shows some Czech pressed glass beads that I like very much. They are called "Open Squares". Here are some earrings that I made with some open squares:

This is what is looks like when I plan my earrings. I simply put the beads on brass head pins to see if I like the combination before using real sterling silver wire. Sometimes the warm browns and reds of brass and copper look so nice with some colours that I use the brass or copper instead.

My second O-word is "Obsidian" which is a volcanic glass that can be made into beads and jewellery. These beads below are made in China. I haven't decided what I will make out of them. Perhaps a necklace.

My third O-word is "Onyx", which is also a volcanic glass that is often dyed black to cover its white stripes. Here are some pieces of antique jewellery made with faceted black onyx. They were worn by my grandmother.

I wanted to include the stone "Opal", which is also used in jewellery. But I don't have any jewellery with an opal in it. So I only have three O-words this week, "Open Squares", "Obsidian" and "Onyx".

Best wishes,
Anna

For more O-words at abcWednesday please click here.
For more O-words at Mrs. Matlock's Alphab-Thursday please click here.

First Commenter:
Roger Owen Green
Ramlin' with Roger