Design in The Round

New Designs! Circles of silver and hand forged hammering. Simplicity and design combined. A circular silver ring and a dancing pearl lariat additions to the Fall collection. Will post more later!

FALL COLLECTION SAMPLES

New Jewelry designs! A Crystals and pearls captured in a cacoon of metal. This Fall I am trying to push the limit of my designs by creating in new ways using the simplicity of pearls and alloys. These are small samples of what I have been working on. Warm metals like copper and gold and the pure iridescence of pearls will give an edge to this years Fall fashions. The predictions are for splashes of bright colors instead of the dull browns, grays, and blacks normally seen in the cold weather season. In response to this I've chosen a pallet of mixed metals to allow more versatility and contrast. I'm really looking forward to the Home shows I have lined up this coming November! Then I have a much needed hiatus from the Christmas season until Feb. or so. This will give me an opportunity to give the much needed attention to the Appus Design Website. Apologies for the lack of updates, It is just a bit much to handle with school and work!

Mystic Topaz Ring

This is a sterling silver ring set with a multi-faceted round of AA quality Mystic Topaz, and it has an amazing story behind it! This was my very very very first piece I ever made using both jewelrs saw, sheet metal, and torch. I had just gone out and gotten my new tools when my Father called and asked me if I had any jewelry because it was my parents Wedding anniversary. So I of course got the brilliant idea to make my Mother a ring, I wanted her to have the first piece I'd ever made so it would be special. So I set about making the ring shank around 2:30pm thinking it would be a piece of cake. 6 hours later I had the finished piece and I was completely exhausted. Yet even though it took me so long, I had actually made my first ring! It took me a total of 3 days to finish it entirely, and here it is! I just hope my Mom will understand all the many hours of work this took me! I also hope that as I practice more, rings will not take me 3 days and 6 hours to make...

Shows and Studio work

So it is back to school again for another busy semester! But I am finally taking my first jewelry course! So exciting, We've already started torching and designing! On the side though, I've created this wonderful little pendant out of hand hammered Sterling Silver and delicious blue iolite briolettes. It's a rainy cloud. My soldering is getting a bit better with all the practice I've been putting in at my home studio, however I'm hoping to perfect it during this class. The other photos are of the latest show we did down at Harbor East Fine Arts and Music Festival. It was very hot, but relatively crowded. Overall, we had a great time! Hopefully I'll have some time to post new work and update, but it never goes exactly how I planned. With some luck I'll have the new Fall designs up at least on the blog by the end of Sept.

Finally! I've been busy in my studio finishing custom orders and filling retail requests and I've finally had some time to myself to brainstorm some exciting new designs! I've also opened up a fun etsy bead and jewelry store! So you can go there and purchase some limited edition designs and unique fine gemstone beads from my studio overstock. I've been contemplating making the Appus Design domain into a pure gallery and information site and allowing all purchases be made through Etsy. It seems to be the popular and most beneficial trend in the Indie community right now. So it is a definite option. I will let everyone know if and when this transition will happen. For now though The biggest news is my first jewelry piece made with my torch! I have handcrafted Fine Sterling Head pins from the flames and fashioned them into these gorgeous new Watermelon Tourmaline earrings with bright shiny Austrian Crystal flat backs and hammered chain links. I'm so excited to incorporating the torch into my jewelry pieces! This will open a new chapter into my artisan experience.

Limited Edition Designs!

Here is a sample of some of my new designs! I'm thinking of opening an Etsy store sometime in the near future to house these one of a kind gems in addition to the Appus Design website. We'll see how it goes. The other photos are just some of my sample jury slides that I just sent in to be juried for the big Fredrick Christmas festival in November and December. Photographing my jewelry is another thing I love to do. So here they are!

Metalicious!

Delicious new cuffs hot from the studio! These lovely treasures go along with my new Coastal Dune collection which use materials from the seas. Abalone, mother of pearl, corals, and freshwater pearls are fashioned into timeless pieces that can be worn any time of the year yet capture the essence of warm white sands and salty waters.