Saturday, December 26, 2009

Custom Order.....

Early in December I was contacted by a someone wanting me to create settings for four lovely gemstones they had. These were all to be in 14k Gold Fill.





First we have a beautiful Yellow Kunzite cut in a pear shape. They wanted the setting to be similar to one on my website









This next one is an Emerald Cut Amethyst. The setting was requested to be similar to another one from my site.








This next one is a gorgeous Emerald Cut Aquamarine. I had carte blanche with this one. All the corners feature open work with the prongs also being wider at the base than the tips.












Last but certainly not least is the lovely square Cushion Cut Amethyst that was originally intended for a ring. Since it was too large, 19mm x 19mm x 12mm, it was decided to make it into a pendant. Again I had full reign on the design.






I had of course sent photos all along the process to get approval. They received the package on Monday Dec. 21st. and I received a message on the 22nd. The first sentence read....

"You would not believe the ear to ear smile on someones face yesterday when she opened the boxes"

I knew instantly the pieces were totally approved! These folks were a total joy to work with and looks like I'll be doing more for them after Jan 1st.

In closing I wish everyone everywhere a Safe and Wonderful New Year!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Busy, busy, busy!

Here lately I've been so busy I haven't even had time to post anything. Right now I'm in the middle of a nice custom order and will have photos later. Getting ready for the Christmas Season as well.

I have decided to pull out of Ebay but am doing it slowly by ending listings just before they renew. The listings that I end I'm just as slowly adding them to my Etsy Store. Well, out of time again today. I'm tired (was shopping day) and I need to find a tall cool one and my easy chair.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Adjustable Birthstone Rings...













A week or so ago I showed a photo of my newest birthstone rings. These rings are now available through my Etsy Store in either Sterling Silver or 14k Gold Fill. Here are a couple of new photos. One is an April Gold Fill and the other is of all the other silver ones I took to the gallery.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Yet another ring...



One more ring, this one with Purple Velvet Swarovski Crystals

Thursday, October 22, 2009

New Birthstone Rings...



The lady that runs/owns the local Art Gallery where I have some things consigned has been asking for more adjustable rings. She really wanted to see the Birthstone rings in an adjustable style. I put on my thinking cap and decided to make a variation of my Two Bead Adjustable ring. Here are three I made yesterday using snap sets and Swarovski crystals. Silver sells better here than the Gold Fill so they're all in Sterling. The months are October (Rose), November (Citrine) and December (Blue Zircon). Took them into the gallery and low and behold, sold the November plus the lady ordered another one for February (Amethyst).

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Just listed...

I made this ring a couple of months ago and finally decided to get it listed. Decided to list on ArtFire. Check it out! New Ring




Monday, September 14, 2009

Just listed four new pairs of earrings
in my ArtFire studio




































Sunday, September 13, 2009


9/13/09: Just listed in my Artfire Store a gorgeous 14k Gold Fill sculpted wire dichroic glass pendant. http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=414739

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Black and Silver Thread Earrings

Here's a pair of String Art earrings I did in silver and black

Pearl and lampwork necklace





One of my rare beading projects. Lovely baroque FW pearls and a lampwork spoon pendant. I took this one to the Art Gallery. It'll be fun to see how well folks like it there.




Thursday, September 3, 2009

New Pendant and Ring



For all you horse lovers, here's a lovely salmon and white bust of a horse head ring. Stone is cat's eye or fiber optic and the setting is 14k gold fill. The size is 7 1/2. Available on auction until Sept 9th at 7:06 p.m. CDT

Click here to bid







This pendant is an exqusitely detailed bust of Jesus. I chose 14k Gold Fill with top detailing that resembles a crown. Available on auction until September 9th at 7:12 p.m. CDT

Click here to bid












Monday, August 10, 2009

Peruvian Thread Earrings

The pair on the left were in a satchel of jewelry I won at a local auction back in the '80's. Paid a whole seven dollars for it and wound up with lots of wearable pieces as well as recyclable parts.

The pair on the right are the ones I just finished. Just love the color combination! Had a little trouble with the coiled part as the wire I had was a little heavy for this project. I plan on making more as I just looove them!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

I'm Baaack.....

I've had one heck of a time this past week. Somehow my google password got changed
(I didn't do it) around the 20th or 21st and I couldn't access any of my google accounts. I finally was able to get it fixed today hooray!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Arm

7/19/09: 5 days after surgery to fix my arm. Poor thing is bruised and abused.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

LEFT: This is what my wrist looks like. Those white lines show where the break is. The area above them is tilted upward.

RIGHT: This is what they will be doing to fix it. Surgery is scheduled for Mon 7/13/09

Monday, June 29, 2009

Grrrrr.....

Went to the orthopedic doctor today and guess what? They didn't set my arm yet. It's still quite swollen. As a matter of fact even my fingers are now swollen After I got home I had to cut my wedding ring in order to get it off. Thank heaven the shank isn't too thick. Probably the worst thing of all is it's going to take 12 or more weeks to totally heal.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Rats! Took a bad fall yesterday and broke my left wrist. So much for my jewelry making for a while. Thank heaven I'm right handed. Won't even be able to get it set until Monday. Our wonderful son, Mike came over and took me grocery shopping. Picked up extras of all the heavy and hard to handle items while I had the help. Now for the next couple of weeks it'll just be the small stuff. The biggest problem will be boredom since just about every thing I do takes two hands. By the time this is over I should be quite good at typing, opening bottles, making beds, etc., etc. with one hand..

Friday, June 12, 2009

My newest creation














This is a variation of the Pharoh's ring but instead of using a cabochon or cameo I used four 4mm and one 6mm Swarovski Crystals. The inspiration for this ring came from Dale "Cougar" Armstrong's new book Wirework. The metal is of course 14k Gold Fill.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Wedding Anniversary

Hubby and I are celebrated our 48th Wedding Anniversary today 6/3/61 - 6/3/09!

Monday, May 18, 2009

I'm sooo proud of myself! Didn't ever think I could do it.

Two months, two days, 6 minutes and 53 seconds. 126 cigarettes not smoked, saving $20.48. Life saved: 10 hours, 30 minutes.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Still not smoking, yeaaaa

One month, two weeks, five days, 15 hours, 24 minutes and 30 seconds. 101 cigarettes not smoked, saving $16.46. Life saved: 8 hours, 25 minutes.

My three newest...

All time favorite, the American Shorthair, lovely high relief Madonna and brand new, Unicorn cameo in white and blue.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Gonna be busy!!!

I just got a whole bunch of new cameos in! I have new small horse head cats eye for rings, 30x40 cats eye kitty cameos, religious cameos, mermaid cameos, seahorse cameos and more. That's not all, still expecting one more shipment to arrive sometime next week. Whew, looks like I'm gonna be one busy gal!



One month, one week, five days, 21 hours, 25 minutes and 21 seconds. 87 cigarettes not smoked, saving $14.27. Life saved: 7 hours, 15 minutes.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

New rings and earrings









Here are some rings and earrings I took up to the gallery in town. First are the Birthstone rings plus one little lonely wrap ring. Second are a Pearl ring, a SS Moonstone ring and a GF Moonstone ring. Lastly are three pair of earrings in Sterling. The silver on the beads isn't sterling but those beads sure are pretty.

Update...

One month, six days, 12 hours, 38 minutes and 1 second. 75 cigarettes not smoked, saving $12.20. Life saved: 6 hours, 15 minutes.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Whoo hooo!













My muse has finally returned after nearly two months! Within the last two days I've been able to complete five pendants and three rings. There's gonna be more in the next few days so be on the lookout.

Decided to put these up for auction and see how they'll do. You can check it out at http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Creations-by-Carol-Ladine

Wednesday, April 1, 2009














I've been doing a lot of procrastening so really don't have much to show right now. Did think I'd show some of the seed bead work I've done in the past.

The first one I made using Midnight Iris and still have. The white one was made for a friend I worked with and yeah, it did get finished and she loved it. The third photo was my largest project ever done. This piece took me nearly three months to complete. No, I don't have it anymore. Like a dope, tried to sell it on Ebay, years ago, and someone got it for a song. Oh well, I'm getting ready to make another one. Just have to get a couple of dowels so I can remake my loom.

I'm still hanging in there and not smoking. I have to admit, the afternoons are the worst time for me. I really need to get some non fattening snack foods. A couple of years ago I would'nt have had to be concerned about weight gain but I do now as I've finally gotten up to what they call my "ideal weight" for my height.

Two weeks, one day, 15 hours, 22 minutes and 11 seconds. 31 cigarettes not smoked, saving $5.08. Life saved: 2 hours, 35 minutes.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Still not smoking..

It's been just a tad over a week now and I'm still not smoking. Had to take our van over to the dealer today to have some work done and waited for an hour and a half. Had nothing to do, only three mags for ladies and the TV was uch. That was a little tough but I know I'm just a little stronger this evening.

One week, two days, 2 hours, 18 minutes and 20 seconds. 18 cigarettes not smoked, saving $2.96. Life saved: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

I had not been doing so good for a while so took my self to the Doctor on Monday March 16. I knew I had COPD and should stop smoking and had tried about a year ago. Lasted for one whole month. Started again but never smoked more than two a day since that time (I'd been a two pack a day gal). Anyway, I was having breathing problems and the problem was my albutoreal wasn't working as well as it should be. My capacity was down to about half of normal and my blood oxygen was down to 91. Normal is around 98. Doctor put me on a low dose of Prednazone, a corticosteroid, one tablet once a day. Within 24 hours the difference in how I felt was amazing. Sooo, hopefully I've gotten it through my thick skull, I can't smoke, period. Anyone who reads this please send positive thoughts my way to keep me on the straight and narrow. What you see below is my quit meter that monitors how many days I've not smoked and what I have saved. I don't think it will auto update so I'll check frequently and update the counter as necessary.

Five days, 12 hours, 52 minutes and 10 seconds. 11 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1.80. Life saved: 55 minutes.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

My Helper...


I just couldn't resist taking this picture yesterday. This is Suzie Q and she's a real "mama's girl". She's near me while I work, on my lap while watching TV and sleeps with me at night. She'll be just two years old May 20th of this year.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

After several years of not doing it I got the wild hair to start seed beading again. I got a bunch of beads and a few days ago made a couple of pair of earrings. The seed beads I got are ToHo which are rounded on the sides. I've found out I should have gotten Delicas which are flatter on the sides and make a little nicer woven piece. How was I to know since there were very few choices years ago. Anyway, the first pair I used Black Diamond Silver Lined. I love the way they blend with what ever color your wearing. The other pair I did in Pink and Black, a popular combination from the '50s.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Three New Pendants

I've had these three lovely stones put away for nearly a year. Why, I have no idea. Anyway, the little Art Gallery I'm in here locally is having their Spring Expo this Saturday 3-7-09 and I thought it was a good time to get these babies out and make some pendants. Left to right are Laguna Lace Agate, Mushroom Jasper and Brazilian Agate.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Latest Tutorial Just Published!

I finally have been able to create a tutorial for a prong style ring. This one is adjustable but I give instructions in the tut on how to connect the sides together if you desire. You can find the tutorial at my website Creations by Carol Ladine Just click on the link for tutorials.