Kalaya Steede

Happy Friday everyone! Tada... Introducing my latest commissioned piece... Ooh La La The dimensions of this piece is...I think 1 1/2" in height and maybe...Ohhhh I don't know.  I didn't measure it!  Bad Kalaya! Anyway,   I started with 22 gauge copper and silver.  Both pieces were textured and the silver was used to cut out an African symbol, Gye Nyame   (jeh N-yah-mee), except God.  Translation:  No one lives who saw its beginning and no one will live to see it's end, except God . Go here to read more about it. After doming both pieces for depth, the custom bail and jump rings were soldered to the copper piece, cleaned up, patinated, and then joined by brass rivets.  It hangs on a 2 mm leather cord 19" in length. The back carries a special message but only the wearer knows.  I bet you want to know what it says! Hehe. Well...have a great weekend but FIRST have a fantabulous Friday!  Namaste Kalaya

Happy Friday everyone!   I thought I had an entire month to finish a piece but I didn't.  I only had until Friday, which is today!  It was time to stop procrastinating (which I do REALLY well) and get busy so I could send this baby on its way up north for a very lucky lady.   Like I said in an earlier post I had to design a pendant with an Ankh. Erin gave me total artistic freedom.  Merci buttercup! Anyway... The Ankh is an Egyptian symbol of eternal life. Another theory is that the loop represented the sun rising above the horizon, which is the crossbar, and below is the path of the sun ( The Ancient Ankh, Symbol of Life by Taylor Ray Ellison) .   Wow! So many different interpretations.  Which do you believe? The finished piece.   This was so much fun to make. What will I make next?  Stay tuned...but in the meantime have a FANTABULOUS Friday!    Namaste Kalaya

I have been commissioned to make a pendant.  Yay!  The only requirement was to use an Ankh in my design.   Some of you have asked to see the progress. So just for you, a sneak preview of the pendant in process. First the design.  The pendant will measure a little less than 1" in diameter.  I'm using the second drawing down on the left side. Second, piercing the metal and attaching the bail.  I added just a little too much solder on the bail so I'll have to clean that up. When will I ever learn?  The Ankh will sit on top of the copper piece. The back side. All that is left for me to do is put it all together.  I have already filed and patinated and sealed.  Although I don't know how I feel about the sealing part.  It's some sort of polymer that keeps the metal from oxidizing.  I kind of like how the metal ages with time but not everyone likes that.   I think the hardest part is figuring out what chain or cord wou...