Going to explore

I am almost fully prepared to go sailing. I have a few last minute things to do and I need to find a place for my clothes!
The plan is to head out on C'est la Vie our 1966 sailboat and head to the Dry Tortugas  I have not visited Ft. Jefferson nor have I snorkeled the reefs surrounding the fort. We thought it might be a good idea to get on out there before the oil does. So far the oil had not effected our land but it has affected our minds. I hopefully will have internet while on this journey but if not I will updated you all on my return.
We are leaving tomorrow, Wednesday and will return sometime in September. If you want to purchase any items, my dad will have all of my work. Just use the call me button. It will go to voicemail and he will be able to retrieve it.
I hope to have lots of new work to show off when I return.
Cheers!
Anne

Happy Birthday Susie!

My father's partners name is Susie and she just had her birthday. I made a necklace for her and it inspired me to make many. Well, about 10! I am pleased with the simple but elegant designs. The necklaces come either in 18 inch or 24 inch sterling silver chain strung with coral, lava, chalcedony, jade, serpentine... Take a look at the collection. Perfect for summer. Affordable, light and bright! These are $45.00 each.
Below is a slide show of the new necklaces! Enjoy. If you would like to look at the photos one at a time just click on the photos and it will take you to the photo album and you can see the photos larger and in more detail.

Have I been busy or just inspired?

I am too busy!  I have been working on chain maille for the last few weeks and it is finally finished.   I am proud of my work. After looking at the photos I have changed the last few links next to the clasp. It looks much better. This is a sterling silver chain that is comprised of 348 jump rings, 18 gauge, sized 4.5mm and is actually quite heavy. The clasp is 14 gauge dead soft and is work hardened and hand forged. I had lots of fun pounding on my steel block with my planishing and rawhide hammer. I did not use a jig but made it free hand. One of a kind for real!
I have been inspired to work on the necklaces that I have been commissioned to do as well as ideas that came to me the other night...
Check it out! More photos of the other necklaces to follow!

I have been working!

Well it has been a busy few Well it has been a busy few weeks.  I have been working with sterling and 14kt gold, making not only ear wires but also clasps! I have been working with some patterns and learning all about chain maille.

To the left is some 14 kt gold earrings with fresh water potato pearls and to the right is sterling silver chain maille rope.  I hope to get more jump rings to make a necklace. It is 7.5 inches long right now and I have used 200 rings. I have ordered 150 more rings to finish the job.  I want to start making my own rings as I really like the rhythm of following this pattern.  I have tried another pattern that is not as much fun.  I plan on using the clasp below to finish the necklace.  The largest one should balance out the girth of this chain.

New Earrings!

3 green garnets on a long sterling ear wire, hand forged. These earrings have a lot of movement and look super on. I can make these any length, shorter or longer with less nuggets. I would not do more as I worry they might get heavy.

Here are tourmaline round beads with fluorite tubes on long sterling silver ear wires. They are hand forged and the colors are really great! The tourmaline is purple and the fluorite is clear with purple stripes.

Green garnet disks on hand forged ear wires. These are so great and light weight. They have such a great light green color and little flecks of dark emerald green.  I love these!

Green garnet disks on hand forged sterling ear wires. The difference between these and the ones above is that the garnet is held in place with a silver flower on this pair.

Branch coral, sustainably harvested, dyed red with glass delica beads on sterling silver flower head pin and hand forged ear wires.

Bamboo coral tubes and round beads with glass delica beads with sterling silver hand forged ear wires.

Sponge coral, bamboo coral and branch coral all sustainably harvested and dyed red on Sterling silver hand forged ear wires.

Fluorite tubes and citrine barrels on sterling silver ear wires.  These great light weight earrings are super with summer styles.  The fluorite has a yellow hue with purple bands and the citrine is faceted to catch the light.  These are a must have!

Fluorite and apatite on sterling ear wires.  These fun earrings bring out the blue green colors of the sea.  The fluorite has a yellow hue with the aqua-ish bands and the apatite chips bring the color into focus.  The kidney shaped ear wires slip into the ear and feel weightless.

Business Time!

Well, my goodness how is it June already?  The heat of summer is upon us and it's not even close to the solstice yet!  May was really great.  Lots of earrings are adorning lobes from Cleveland, Ohio to Marco Island, Florida.
All of the Mother's Day earrings have sold as well as a number of necklaces and I am out of long earwires. Time to get cracking on new stuff!
Speaking of new stuff I have been to the City Hall here in Collier County and applied for a business license.  My business is now Ag Lovett Designs.  A good friend of mine in North Carolina is building a website for me and my domain name is www.aglovett.com!  The site as of now is "parked" and if you type in aglovett.com it will forward you to this blog.  I will keep c'est la bead as my blog name but for business it will be Ag Lovett designs.
So, here is the question, what do you love about shopping online. What do you hate?  If I build a website I want it to be easy to navigate but what does that mean?  Any and all suggestions are encouraged.
Cheers!