Copper Kambaba Jasper Pendant on Multi-Strand Pearl Necklace

The pendant has a beautiful piece of kambaba jasper surrounded by loops and swirls all bent and twisted meticulously by hand. The bail is a long piece of woven wire on three thick gauged wires that extends down the back of the pendant and is accented with an amethyst bead. The necklace is five strands of hand strung glass pearls painted copper with a strand of green that matches the stone in the pendant almost perfectly. The end caps are handmade. The hook closure is also hand made.

Copper Kambaba Jasper Pendant on Multi-Strand Pearl Necklace

Peacock Swirls Pendant on Viking Knit Chain (SOLD)

SOLD

This stunning handcrafted copper necklace has highly detailed and intricate wire work surrounding a square piece of deep green jasper. A genuine garnet bead tops the handwoven wire bail, a citrine coin accents the wire fan, while yellow jade and red glass seed beads punctuate the bottom. It is permanently affixed to a hand-woven double Viking Knit chain. The necklace also has a garnet bead on each side, copper plated pewter accent beads, and handmade chain that leads to a copper plated pewter lobster claw clasp. It measures 16", but is adjustable to whatever length you desire.

My Garnet Ring

For the past couple of years, or as long as my three year old son Wesley has been alive, I've been hankering for a beautiful garnet ring.  Garnet is Wesley's birthstone.  I have found a few at jewelry stores that I really loved, and seriously considered getting once I had the money to do so, but it never happened. Either I couldn't justify spending the money, or Mother's Day would come and go and I wouldn't have my ring. Today, I decided to make a garnet ring. I am so in love with this ring. It has three stones, you know, for past, present and future (blah blah blah). This one is a keeper. I'm just hoping I can recreate the magic for my customers.

Wire Wrapped Kambaba Jasper Pendant on Cotton Cord

I'm so excited to debut my very first traditionally wrapped stone bead pendant. Even after all of the wire wrapping I've done, I realized I had never done a traditional wrap. Yesterday I sat down, determined, and this is what I came up with. It really isn't that * traditional* at all, is it?  But it is beautiful.  The metal is raw copper (of course) and the stone is a large 30mm kambaba jasper stone disk. Pendant comes on a mutli-strand cotton cord with a handmade clasp.
Pictures link to Etsy:

Semi-Precious Cluster Ring with Wire Woven Band

A new technique I have learned recently is the wire-woven band. This is not an easy task. The folks on the wire working Facebook group were very supportive and some of them couldn't believe that I had only attempted this one time before making a very nice (but sloppy) ring.

My second attempt worked out rather well (as did my first), but this time I added some beautiful amethyst and citrine semi-precious gemstone beads for a clever cluster front. This ring is a size 6.5. The pictures link up to Etsy.

Large Wire Wrapped Cluster Swirl Pendant with Viking Knit Chain

Beautiful 3.5" wire wrapped pendant features unikite stone bead, tiger iron stone bead, real freshwater pearls, tightly woven coils and gorgeous swills. Permanently affixed to a double-knit Viking knit chain. Hand made clasp and hook. 17" necklace, 21" drop

Everything here is handmade. From the chain to the clasp and hook to the pendant itself.

Pictures link to Etsy.

Viking Knit Necklace with Rustic Wrapped Poppy Jasper Pendant

Dainty Swirl Rings

These rings are handcrafted using smaller gauge wire, 18-22 gauge, usually silver plated copper. These rings are a little less expensive than the bold swirl rings.  For being so small, they pack a BIG punch!

Viking Knit Bracelets

Viking Knit is a process of weaving wire into other wire loops around a stick. The tube is then pulled through graduated holes until the right thickness is achieved. The result is a unique woven chain that can be applied to many different jewelry applications including bracelets, which is what this post features.

My viking knit bracelets range from 20.00-50.00. Please click here to see my full line of Viking Knit Bracelets.

Copper Coil Cluster Rings

My Copper Coil Cluster Rings are a unique amalgamation of tightly woven coils, spirals, springs and swirls.

Each ring is treated with a skin-safe coating to prevent further patina from forming and a green finger.

Bold Swirl Rings

One of my signature pieces is my Bold Swirl Ring. 

All bold swirl rings are 39.95. Click here to see what I have available.

Welcome to Leah Hoffman Jewelry Design

Several years ago I tried getting serious about jewelry making. I made some stuff that was okay, mostly beading. At the time I thought it was pretty great. I did fairly well at craft shows, music festivals and art markets around the state. I consigned with a few different stores. The jewelry making business is such a saturated market. There are thousands of women out there beading, you have to have something really special if you want to stand out. It's tough.

After I got pregnant, a lot of people told me that I wouldn't be able to make jewelry anymore. And,  I could feel my creativity waning as my focus shifted to raising my son. I didn't really want to do craft shows anymore. I even started selling my beads online, hoping to recoup some of what I had lost during the time that I was getting serious about jewelry making.  I had bags and bags of beads, but really no motivation to do anything with them. Selling them seemed like my best option. However, being part of online selling community I kept noticing people that were selling jewelry online. I thought I could do that. I needed to get rid of old stock, so I took some fairly decent pictures and sold it at bargain prices. Suddenly, I was once again bitten by the creative bug.  I consulted a friend who makes jewelry and asked her for some tips. She showed me some basics, but honestly I had to sit on that information for a while before I could use it to my advantage. I had to let it soak in.

Becoming a mom really changed my whole perspective on who I am and what I want out of life, but it also really changed the way I look at things in a creative sense.  Not only was I experiencing a whirlwind of creativity, I was having a revelation.  I had discovered different mediums that I hadn't considered before. I had discovered metal in the form of copper wire.  I love working with copper. There's something that is so satisfying about the way it bends and forms around a mandrel or a bead. I love the way it darkens with age, how it shines like a mirror with polish, how easy it is to manipulate and to make stuff out of. I finally found my medium.

I invite you to follow my blog and see what I create in the coming weeks, months, years. All of the jewelry I have for sale is available in my Etsy shop, LeahHoffmanJewelry.  I also accept PayPal, if you'd like to purchase directly. Just send me a message and I can send you an invoice for the product(s) you're interested in purchasing.

Thank you for visiting. Please follow me, and please like me on Facebook:  Leah Hoffman Jewelry Design (on Facebook)