Wonder Woman Cuff.

Maybe its because I feel powerful when I slide this cuff bracelet on my wrist that I refer to it as "the Wonder Woman cuff". How I wish I had Wonder Woman's powers or her body, for that matter. Maybe I'll name this piece Linda, for Linda Carter the star of that cool tv show.

Who knows, all I know is that I'm not finished setting the stone, but I'm loving the look. It's a long process setting a stone of this size, at least for me. I'm not a perfectionist, but I want to be pleased with the finished piece and be proud of my design.

When I purchased this stone, I imagined a chunky pendant. I soon changed my mind when I began thinking the stone looked like various things, from a wedge of cheese to a slice of turtle cheesecake to other things I dare not mention. This musing began in my metalsmithing class at Spruill Center for the Arts. A few of the girls (T and J), made cracks about this stone, so finally T suggested I mount it on the cuff bracelet I had been working on! Brilliant idea! So began the process. Interesting how you purchase a stone with thoughts of one design and then the finished product is nothing how you envisioned. Hence, handmade jewelry that is one of a kind, because its hard to duplicate errors.

Another example, the turquoise stone in this pendant setting (below right) was going to be a ring. It would have been a beautiful ring, but I began setting the stone, BEFORE I soldered it to the ring shank. No, no, no! You must finish the setting, solder it to the ring shank, then set the stone, because you cannot solder a piece with the stone already inside, it will break or shatter the stone. Duh! the stone is not invincible to heat.

This is called problem solving or fixing screw-ups. I have to say, every time I've "problem solved" I've been super happy with the results. I'm working on two ring settings and have sticky notes on my workspace reminding me to solder, clean-up, then set the stone.

This, my friends, is why I make one of a kind jewelry and wouldn't want it any other way.