Labradorite with a faceted peridot

Hello everyone reading this.. I have been silent on my blog for a while. This is changing though as I dive in head first with my online presence. What was I doing while I was not blogging? Well aside from my pretties, I was working on a youtube channel! It's been a heck of a thing, and I am learning how to uploaded and combine videos right in youtube.. how to section and do the little popup comments on the video.. and pretty soon here I will venture into trying to put music on. I don't think I want music for the entire video though, as people should be able to listen to their own.. and I have a unique taste in music LOL

So here is the link for my youtube channel - Yukonreddy

Since I am doing links.. here's a referral link to artbeads.com - and if you sign up for the crystal rewards points, we both get points :) I order from artbeads a lot, as they have $2.99 shipping to canada, and I am used to paying at least $10 to ship stuff here.. so, great shipping combined with rewards points and regular sales.. you can't beat that ;)

On to the pretties!

with curlies/start of the panel

As always, you can click on a picture and scroll back and forth for a better sense of progression. This banded labradorite has a lovely light blue flash.. it almost looks silver in some places, and on one side of the flash it takes on a green tone. I don't wrap shapes with hard corners all that often, but this one had been talking to my muse and I for a while while sitting on a tray on my desk. I eventually listened and broke out the copper wire.

I measured how I always do.. with the stone, all of the way around plus a little extra on both ends. I then wove a panel starting far enough down the set of base wires as to leave room to make a bail, weaving it the length of one side. I brought over a couple of wires from both the top and the bottom, securing the stone in place, and added a coiled coil opposite from the woven panel for decoration and security. Then I made a flat coil on the top to cinch things together a bit and hold the stone in place so I could work on the woven section along the bottom without having to hold the stone in at the same time.

panel finished, now for beads

done adding beads on bottom

I brought another wire over on the bottom and added decorative curls, securing to/around the back and sides as I curled. It was time for the base for the round faceted peridot. Using one of the wires I was weaving the panel with.. the "top" of the two.. top meaning closest to the stone or center of the weave.. I made a spiral setting for the peridot. A spiral setting done in this way is done by going all the way around and half again on a mandrel or round nosed pliers so the lip of the gem has a place to sit in. Then I continued the panel so it was slightly wider than the lab. The ends of the wires from the panel became more swirls and loops, and I used the beading wire and some of the base wires to attach various beads in various places. I actually went totally freeform on the beads and the swirls as I tried to let what was in front of me 'talk' to me and come together. 

back view of panel and swirls

There was some wiggle in the stone at this point, so I used one of the base wires that was left uncurled to push in and out of the rest of the wire and make loops that I could press onto the corners and edges of the stone, removing the wiggle.

Once I was done securing, I needed to figure out what was up with the bail. I usually do the bail last as that gives my muse and I the greatest option as to what to do with it and where to add beads or other decorative touches. This is also where I can correct visual symmetry by bulking up one side or the other.

bail time

The bail stumped me a little as I had a cluster of wires on one side, and usually I manage to have some on either side, but I used the initial securing wires and swirled and looped around them, feeding the wire in an out as I went so the bail would have a strong hold on the base wires. I then wove a 2 wrap figure 8 bail.. (which I think is my favorite look so far) finishing off with a 3 and 2 double wire wrap curled around the edges of the corner of the lab. Then it was time to deal with the leftover wires. I really hate trimming, so I end up decorating as much as I can with leftovers, or tucking and securing with them.

2 up 1 down..

We decided that I was supposed to use up some leftover weaving wire, so I put on another 3 and 2 double wire curled section with two wires, and a small section of coiled coil for the last wire. I secured this as I went, adding the third coil section of the coiled coil by hand in a sewing type of action so I could use the wrapping wire to secure to the panel as I went.

all aged and pretty

Once I was done, I originally wasn't going to age it, but this looked too shiney left all bright, so I aged and polished it to bring out the glow in the lab.

The beads I used were garnet, amber, tourmaline, amethyst, copper and swarovski crystal.


I attached a short video so that everyone can get a real time view of the gorgeous flash in this thing. :)

Thanks for reading!

Becca