JKA Designs

How did you make that?

2010-06-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

Ever since I first started selling my flower necklace at local craft shows in early spring, I have been asked the same question ... how did you make that?

Drum roll ... and my answer is ...

When I create jewelry using sterling silver sheet I usually will either sketch out a rough design or create a design in Illustrator. For the flower I drew a rough outline of the shape and size wanted and placed a circle in the middle of the design where I thought the little round beads should go.

Then I place the flower line drawing on top of a sheet of sterling silver and, using my favorite saw, I cut out the flower. After filing the edges, removing any scratches, and cleaning the silver I gave the flower a warm matte finish.

The next step was to create the little balls for the center of the flower. Since I wirewrap all of my dichroic pendants in sterling silver I had a lot of leftover pieces of round silver wire. Using my torch I heated the recycled pieces of silver wire until they formed little round balls. Then I soldered the balls in the center of the flower.

To give the pendant some depth, I concaved the flower a little before soldering on the hidden bail in the back.

Okay, now it's my turn to ask a question. If you had asked the question, would this have answered it?

Beautiful Friday

2010-04-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

What a perfect day this has been ... sun is shining, temperature is in the 80s, and my granddaughter is with me! Such a great day to go to the park and enjoy nature! We spent the morning in the park, and she had so much fun feeding the ducks and playing in the play area.

And look what we found as we were strolling over to the play area ... this cute little turtle!

This is going to be a full day! Tonight I will be at First Fridays Art Walk, just outside Quirk Gallery. from 6:00 to 9:30 PM. If you are local to the area, come and join us. You will find many of the craft vendors you are familiar with and shop from at South of the James Farmers Market!

New Piece Added to Reflections of the Sea Series

2009-08-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

Where has the summer gone?

Hard to believe it's almost September and I'm just getting around to updating my blog. This year I decided to be a vendor at our local Farmers' Markets, doing at least two markets and sometimes three a week. Busy schedule but having lots of fun.

I just listed in my Etsy shop another necklace to my Reflections of the Sea series . . . a different version of my St. Lucy Good Luck Necklace. It has been a big hit at the Farmers' Markets!

I will be at South of the James on Saturday. If you get a chance stop by my booth and say hello!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Reflections of the Sea

2009-04-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost here so what a great time to introduce my Reflections of the Sea series of jewelry to my online store http://jkadesigns.etsy.com.

Eye of St. Lucy Necklace

So what inspired me to do a Reflections of the Sea series?

In the summer of 2007 my husband and I went to France for two weeks with our son and his girlfriend to visit her relatives. What a fantastic trip!

We spent a few days in Paris, ooh la la! Visited one of the most famous places in Paris, the Place du Tertre in Montmartre. This square has been the refuge of many starving artists. Picasso used to hang out in the square, painting pictures. And artists still set up their easels in the square today!

We toured Aix en Provence, Avignon where we visited the Popes Palace, the Riviera, and even had dinner in a small little fishing port in Cassis. After touring much of Southern France, we took a five hour ferry boat ride to Corsica to visit her parents. Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . . . what a beautiful place!

Hubby and I sitting on the balcony enjoying the view of the Mediterranean sea!

Here we are in Corsica combing the beach for sea glass and St. Lucy Eyes! Thus, the Eye of St. Lucy Good Luck necklace was born!

Eye of St. Lucy History and its Legend . . .

The Eye of St. Lucy, also known as Shiva eye, is the name given by fishermen to the operculum of a sea snail found in the Mediterranean waters of Corsica. It is considered to ward off the evil eye and bring luck and happiness, as well as good fortune.

There are many stories about St. Lucy. She is the Mother of Light who bestowed the gifts of light, enlightenment and eyesight, especially as the opener of newborn eyes. Lucy’s legend was the same ‘virgin martyr’ told of many other mythical female saints. Legend tells that St. Lucy was admired by an undesirable suitor for her beautiful eyes. To stay chaste and true to her faith, she plucked out her own eyes and threw them into the sea. For such a great sacrifice, the Virgin Mary gave her a pair of even more beautiful eyes. The Corsican Eye of St. Lucy is still felt to be such a protection, especially for eyesight.