Winter on Digby Neck

Every summer we get guests at the shop who ask if we live here during the winter and many are surprised when we say yes.
A lot of factors come into play. We've done a LOT of travelling and are dealing with some health issues and, of course, we are cat people once again.

But the main reason is that we absolutely love the winters here! True, we get some very bad storms with snow and high winds. In fact, we're having one now. It is, however, quite exhilarating to know that we have a ton of wood for the wood stove and if the power goes out, we have a big generator and the added bonus is the scenery. For instance, because of the approaching storm, we experienced an amazing sunrise while drinking our coffee. Here's a little sequence taken with a cell phone and there is some distortion due to magnification for which I apologize.

And now it's snowing so hard I can't see across the road!

Digby Neck is truly beautiful and unique in the summer but the winters ain't too shabby! In the winter, we take the sign down by the road so it doesn't blow into the next county but if you are around and see the red Mazda, stop in and say hi. Right now, I am finishing several pieces of jewelry and we are getting ready for the official launch of the Seawall Fibres web site so I'll be posting lots of pics in the days ahead.
Cheers.

Back in the Jewelry Lab

It's been pretty cold here of late so I'm getting around to doing some assembly. And thanks to my daughter Lisa, I have a very good supply of silver plate bezels that lend themselves to a new concept I have wanted to try.

I call it "Stone & Bone"- combining polished stone with fossilized Shark's Teeth. Here's an example.

This piece combines an elegant piece of Jasper with a wire wrapped shark's tooth and hung from a black buna cord Here's another:

This is a beautiful piece of local plume agate in a silver plate bezel and suspended from the bezel is a fossilized tooth and piece of drilled shell- all hung from a black leather cord.

We are also finishing off some of the pieces Vickie has done using polymer clay. This piece we call Samuri and created the effect of fossilized bone wrapped in worn leather.

It is hung from a segmented metal chain that can be shortened if desired.

These are a little different from earlier pieces so I would really appreciate your honest feedback on the "Stone& Bone" concept.

In the upcoming weeks, I will be doing several pieces using leather to hold the stones so stay tuned.

Cheers.

Latest Piece of Rock Jewelry

It has been really cold here of late so I finally got around to cleaning my work bench so I could finish a few things.

Here is a really interesting local stone that has a bit of everything- agate, jasper and pockets of crystalline quartz.

The stone is fairly large (4.5 mm high) and the quarts pockets make it "twinkle" as the stone moves. Because of the size, I was able to use 18 gauge copper wire to make the "prong" setting I have developed and it is nice and firm. And if you look really closely, you can see a few "artist's marks" which I like to leave on the piece. I hung it from a really nice persimmon premium Greek leather cord and used 100% hand made copper clasps.

And here it is ready to go to a very nice lady in Bear River.

My next piece is going to feature a copper plate with a very intricate cut out design to set a gorgeous piece of local carnelian so look for it in a couple of days.

Cheers!