Sept.28, 2011

While I am patiently waiting for my silver sheets to arrive I did some more casting:
It's been a great day! I am pleased as punch that my pieces are turning out so well. There haven't been any mishaps at all today. In between sipping on hot chocolate ( after a rigorous spinning exercise ) I managed to make three crescent moon pendants, two rings and two drop pendants. I made the molds myself. The drop pendants I wanted to keep organic looking with tiny little inclusions. They look great with an oxidized patina.

Heating up the silver with a bit of borax powder.

After the pendant has been casted

Burn marks from the casting process

This is what it looks like when it gets taken out of the molds. The lower funnel part remains after pouring and needs to be sawed off.

The finished pendant, after buffing and oxidizing.

Crescent Moon in solid sterling silver.

Oh, I almost forgot to include the Daisy which I finished today! Hand formed petals on a round baseplate with a glowing amber cabochon. Lovely.

After a few nights last week of bouts with insomnia I feel like on top of the world these past few days. I have been exercising more rigorously. There is a Bikram yoga studio opening up down the street. I think I will give it a try.

But for now: Couch, book and tea.

Have a great day lovelies!

Thanks for reading!

Sabine

Sept.27, 2011

Today I opened my mailbox and found this:

Design ideas that my 11 year old German niece Lea sketched out for me! She was completely fascinated by my jewelry when we visited just a few weeks ago and told me she'll send me some of her own ideas.

She has a lot of creative talent and wants to be a clothing designer ( or perhaps jewelry designer ) when she grows up.

So incredibly touching. I saw some of her clothing sketches and couldn't believe that an 11 year old has such a creative talent. I will encourage that as much as I possibly can, even from afar.

I love her.

Lea and her charmingly sweet brother Henrik

I think it's so important to encourage creativity in children.

With this said, I am going to take out the pizza from the oven and watch a recorded episode of the British Fear Factor!

Hope monday has been good to you wherever you are!

Thanks for reading!

xox

Sabine

Sept. 24, 2011

First of all I'd like to extend a HUGE Thank You to all of you who snaggled up a few items from my shop this past week! WOW! I am truly humbled! Every single sale inspires me to continue on my path of  metal- smithing and makes me want to stretch myself as a metal artist!


Here are a two items fresh from the bench today:
Left the sand casting alone today and decided to make a couple of bezel set items with some pretty new stones I got in the mail last week!
First we have a stunning picture jasper heart cabochon that is set in sterling silver ( swoon, look at the pattern on this beauty ). I wanted to keep the setting simple to make the stone the center of attention.

The second item is a "Garden Party" necklace that showcases a beautiful ocean jasper cabochon that is suspended  off a cute hand pierced flower, embellished with a mother of pearl.

I am still having a few projects I am working on, but it's almost 6pm and I think I will have to keep my promise to J. that I am making breaded chicken nuggets for dinner. So I better get cracking in the kitchen and leave the studio alone for the time being.

Looking forward to spend an evening on the couch watching a recording of this weeks Project Runway!

What are your plans for today?

Have a great one!

Thanks for reading!

Sabine

Sept. 23, 2011

Woke up at 6 a.m., made myself a cup of Rooibos tea and sat on the back porch to watch this amazing sunrise: 

I love serene, early mornings when I can sit outside by myself and enjoy a sense of peace and quiet before the neighborhood starts up their engines. It's a meditative time for me. How about you? Do you have a special time of day that is sacred to you?

Wishing everyone a peaceful and serene friday!

xox

Sabine

Sept.22, 2011

Fall has made its mark here in southern Norway and with that a quiet force that took its place deep within my soul. Autumn always brings with it this sense of peace for me. I can't explain it, but this is a time for me when things that normally bother me to the core take a quiet turn and somewhat hibernate. I feel at peace and with that comes a great feeling of creativity. I wish I could bottle it and store it away for those days when the world within me is in a bit of turmoil.

Yesterday I had a great day sand casting silver. I think I finally got the hang of it which means that all of the items I casted turned out really well on the first try!

It's all great fun and I can't wait to continue on this path.

A trip to the park is planned tomorrow where I can hopefully find some more interesting things to cast. Thinking twigs and bark. Shall see what kind of treasures the forest holds for me!

Here are some of my latest items:

Hand casted drop pendant necklace with hand fabricated links.

Hand casted star anise in sterling silver and garnet.

Oxidized sterling silver earrings with beautiful lamp work beads.

Cute oxidized sterling silver earrings with red coral beads and dangling freshwater pearls.

They are available in the shop!

There will be another shop update sometime this weekend!

Hope life is treating you well wherever you are! 

Thanks for reading!

xox

Sabine

Winner Announcement

Hello friends,

Sorry it took me so long to announce the winners, but Blogger gave me trouble uploading the screenshots.

Here are the winners of my giveaway: 1. Louhetar ( Nr. 8 )
                                                             2. Elaine R ( Nr. 113  )

Congratulations to both of you and thank you SO much to everyone who left comments and participated! I'm humbled by your kind words!
I'll be having a giveaway again sometime in November!
There is still a 20% discount available in my Etsy shop until the end of this month for all who participated on my giveaway! This offer excludes SALE items! :) Use code: Fall2011 upon checkout!

xox
Sabine

Sept.21, 2011

A HUGE thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in my Giveaway! Your lovely comments were very much appreciated!

I'll be announcing a winner either later on today ( if I get my act together ) or tomorrow for sure!

Thanks again!

xox
Sabine

                             Giveaway


I am having a Giveaway for two of my hand casted faceted necklaces. You can check out the necklace HERE.

How To Enter The Giveaway

Giveaway is open worldwide to entrants at least 18 years old. I will be pulling a number from random.org after 12:00 PM EST on September 21st, 2011, and the corresponding commenter will win! I will contact that lucky soul for a mailing address. If I don't hear back from the winner(s) within 3 days, a new number will be drawn.

Mandatory Entry: Circle around my  Etsy shop then comment on this post with your favorite  item and a way to contact you, preferably an email or Etsy username.

Extra Entries: Don't forget the mandatory comment before moving on to these! Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry to count.


Enter up to six times which will make your chance to win much higher!


1. Add that same item to your favorites AND heart my shop. Leave a comment with your Etsy username.

2. Get 20% off anything except items in my SALE section by using  coupon code "Fall2011" and comment here with what you purchased. The coupon code is valid through all of September, so if you don't win a necklace, you can purchase one at a discounted price afterwards!
3. Like this giveaway on facebook by using the like or share button at the bottom of this post and comment with your profile link. If you have a facebook business page, you may also share it there for another entry.

4. Like the Echoes of Norway fan page on facebook for one extra entry. Leave a comment here and let me know that you did so.

5. Spread the word! Give this post a + 1 on Google or pin it to Pinterest.  I'll honor one entry for every networking website you share it on, just make sure to leave separate comments for each.

6.Become a follower of my blog and leave a comment here and let me know that you did so.

Thanks for participating and GOOD LUCK! 

Thursday, September 15, 2011

In between fabricating some local custom orders I did squeeze in some more time casting silver. I went through my yard the other day and picked some twigs for casting. One of the pendants I made today comes from one of my lilac bushes. I love it's organic look. It's a tad quirky and I was told that it reflects my humorous personality. I love the way it turned out. All the grains and sprouts are showing especially after a little hand applied patina. It measures 1.6" (42mm ) and is built of solid sterling silver.

This delightful pendant comes with an extra long long chain ( 22" inches ). 

I also made another hand casted medallion necklace, this time with a little twist. This one is adorned with tiny silver granules and a beautiful 12mm carnelian. It is also oxidized and softly brushed to highlight all the lovely details.

Lastly I cast a very sturdy and thick sterling silver band. There was lots and lots of sanding and polishing on this baby, but I love the end result. Shiny, smooth and built to last. I'll be making them available in my shops soon!

Both of these necklaces will be in my shop later on today!

I'm off for some spinning! 

Happy thursday Y'all!

Sabine