Sterling Silver Branch Coral Ring

Sterling Silver Branch Coral Ring

Adjustable!
Today I signed a pledge not to use Real Coral in my jewelry. In my earlier years I used real pink and red corals, but since I have started my Ocean Collection, I have gained a deep respect for our oceans.

"Too Precious To Wear" was a pledge started by SeaWeb.Org .
Jewelers and Designers such as Tiffany's, Lilly Pulitzer, Stephen Webster, Nicole Miller, Me&Ro, and now me, we pledge not to use real corals. See the whole list here:

Designers who made the Pledge

Corals need your help. Found throughout the world, these animals are threatened by climate change, ocean acidification, pollution and increasingly, consumer demand. Reducing the impact on precious, deep-sea coral varieties that frequently are used for jewelry or decorative objects is one area that can easily be addressed by conscientious consumers and those in the jewelry industry.

There is hope. By refusing to use real coral in jewelry or home décor, we can help protect these species. By exercising your right as a consumer, designer or jewelry retailer, you can reduce the pressure these species face, allowing their populations to recover.

Now, about this ring...My designs are free-form, I re-create nature and nature is not symmetrical. My father, a wild life painter always told me, nothing in nature grows straight. So I have combined two types of branch corals in this ring.

Also, because I make jewelry that is a bit weighty, I can make good adjustable rings...so to change the size you'll need to put a little finger muscle into it. So please add your ring size (close as possible) and I will size your ring prior to shipping. Reserve your Branch Coral Ring in our shop here Today!

Sizes Available: 5-9 (showing a 9)
Materials: Solid Sterling Silver 92.5 Tarnish Resistant Sterling Silver
Free Priority Shipping & Tracking.

 

Please Note: Due to Studio Move and Vacation, this item is available to ship

Aug. 8, 2012 

Artist in the making...

McKenna's Fish

I put a frame around this picture because it deserves one. 

My granddaughter, age 6 drew this fish.

Personally, I was blown away when her mother, Sandra gave it to me. 

The hearts, the cute kissing lips, the fins as well as her frame around her 

cute little fish....I see so much potential.

I think we are seeing the next artist in the family, although 

with three grandchildren, I think we will see more.

I think I want this on my coffee mug, it just makes me smile.

Thank you Mckenna for making me smile everyday.

Stingray Ring

Stingray Ring

Sterling Silver Stingray Ring - Adjustable!

Available to Ship July 31, 2012 (see note below)

I was working on a three foot glass Stingray when I thought, this would make an awesome ring design so I started Goggling Stingray rings, and guess what?...they were not many out there, actually I found ONE! Totally different than mine but I was blown away by the popularity of the Stingray...but hardly any rings were out there available to purchase, well anyway, I started sculpting my wax model and now it's here. 

One cool thing that I've been doing for several years now, is making my rings adjustable. I don't make lightweight rings so making adjustable rings works great. To adjust them you need to get a good grip to tighten the ring or loosen the ring so please give me a ring size if you can so that I can adjust the ring on my metal mandrel before I ship. 

This is also a great middle finger ring

Size: Wing Span is 1 3/8" wide

Sizes Available: 5-9

Materials: Solid Sterling Silver 92.5 Tarnish Resistant Sterling Silver

Free Priority Shipping & Tracking.

$93.00

Visit my online shop for more views.

Please Note: Due to Studio Move and Vacation, this item is available to ship July 31, 2012

Sterling Silver Ginkgo Ring with Seeds

Ginkgo Ring

Sterling Silver Ginkgo Ring with Seeds

I'm wearing this one as I write, It's Super Unique!

When I sat down to sculpt this ring, I download a lot of pictures of Ginkgo leaves and what I noticed about the leaves is that they are in clusters and they have the coolest seeds. So I sculpted three leaves and then added three seeds as a center piece for the ring. I put a satin finish on the leaves and then put a high polish on the seeds, which now look like little silver pearls.

One each side of the ring, I sculpted six very small Ginkgo leaves and added three leaves to each side of the ring shank. This ring came together beautifully, can't wait to make another one.

Also, we use a tarnish resistance sterling casting grains when we cast my pieces, they call this De-Oxidized 92.5 Sterling Silver, it's a bit more pricey but you'll love the non-resistance feature.

$149.00


Materials: 92.5 Sterling Silver
Finish: High Polished and Satin Finish
Size: little over an 11/8" wide x 7/8" wide
Current Size is 7.5
Please specify your ring size when ordering and allow 10 days to ship.

Hand Sculpted Sea Shell Ring - Sterling Silver

Sterling Silver Sea Shell Ring - And I LOVE THIS RING!

It is soooo me, I guess that's why I made it. It's awesome on the middle finger but you can wear it on the ring finger just as well, it just sits there on my finger as if it lived there.

While visiting Charleston, SC, between Art Shows, Don & I went shopping on Kings Street down by the water, and they had shells galore (...and Truffles), anyway...I was picking them up for the cool lumps & bumps until I saw this shell...I put it on my finger and said, now that's a ring. It took me a while to figure out how to sculpt it but after a month of staring at this little shell, it came to me. One week later of melting, scraping & dripping wax...this is what I have created.

If your noticing the oval holes in the back, this is part of my Signature Design called FUSION Ocean Jewelry Collection. It represents Fan Coral that has fused itself into the shell. I do not cast the actual shells, corals, twigs, or flowers in my work, I am a lost wax artist. I sculpt wax to make a model and then cast the model in either Sterling Silver, Gold or Bronze. There is no wax left, it melts out in our Investment, so what your seeing is 100% Sterling Silver.

Size: Total height on the finger is 1/5" x 1 1/3" wide (widest point)

Materials: Sterling Silver

Price: $239.00


Or if you would like to see some additional shots, other jewelry of mine, please visit my other online store

Note: Please allow 3 weeks to make your ring based on your ring size, so please make sure you specify size when you check out.

Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoy my art.
--
Dawn Vertrees Jewelry Designer
dawnvertrees@gmail.com
www.dawnvertrees.com

Personalized Twig & Flower Name

"Missy"

Personalized Name and Flower Necklace, a One of a Kind Custom Name Necklace

As a special request from my daughter, I have created a special Custom Name Pendant with a little twist, a cute little flower. It was the perfect Dot for the "I" in my daughters name. She loved it so much, we've decided to share this adorable necklace with you.

Materials: Solid 92.5 Sterling Silver with Non-Tarnishing Rhodium Plated (Polished)
Flower: Solid 92.5 Sterling Silver with 14k Yellow Gold Plated (Highly Polished)
Chain: Custom length in either Sterling Silver or Gold Plated

To start the process on yours,

Start Here!



Tree Frog Jewelry - Coupon SALE this week.



DawnVertrees' Shop Announcement

               
COUPON SALE! This week, it's Tree Frog Mania. I just completed several new Tree Frog Pendants including some with little semi-precious stones on their backs and a few with enameling. The sale will start on Tuesday for Pendants Only.

A Coupon Code "TREEFROG10" will give you an additional 10% off all Tree Frog Pendants. This sale does not include our Tree Frog rings due to sizing but, if your ring size is available as shown...you may add the 10% OFF Coupon.

SHOP NOW!

Thanks again,
Dawn

Dawn Vertrees Jewelry Designer/Sculptor
www.dawnvertrees.com

Ocean Reef Dog Tags

A little play on the Dog Tag idea...

...I was working on a Ocean Reef project when this popped into my head,

I just couldn't move forward until I sculpted this piece.

In person...it's pretty cool.

I plan on casting this one which will be available in Sterling Silver and then by sculpting different Corals, Starfish or adding a stone, each Ocean Tag will be unique.

Available for pre-ordering on my online shop.

$79.00

Size: Overal Height 2" high by 7/8" wide

Materials: Solid Sterling Silver

Free shipping & tracking as always.

Chain not included.

Note: Available to ship July 31, 2012

Andre Christine Gallery Opening June 9th

June 9th Saturday  6-9pm
Come Join us for the reception at the Andre Christine Gallery for wine tasting,
and live music with "Grassroots" a Jazz ensemble.

DATE: June 9th

TIME: 6-9pm

LOCATION: 148 Ervin Rd. Mooresville, N.C. 28117

My little Plumeria Necklace

Plumeria Necklace

I hand sculpted this plumeria with a blue topaz in the center along with the plumeria leaves and stems. I wanted to see the plumeria in it's nature form so I sculpted the leaves with texture and then added a high polish finish to my plumeria flower once casting was complete.

The Blue Topaz is a natural round 5mm Swiss Blue Topaz Cabochon

The Plumeria, Leaves and Stems are 925 Sterling Silver

The Chain and pendant length is 171/4" which include the clasp and is Sterling Silver as well.

SOLD

For additional Information, Click Here.

I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoyed sculpting it. -Dawn

Twig Cuff Concept

Quick (3 days) of sculpting out the
rounded cuff concept with three flowers as a visual.



Planting the first cosmos flower on the wax twigs



Cosmos Flower Sculpted in Wax



Cosmos Flower InformationThe Cosmos flower is native to Mexico to Brazil. The Cosmos genus includes the species Cosmos bipinnatus. It is commonly referred to as the Mexican Aster. Cosmos sulphureus, the Yellow Cosmos and Cosmos astrosanguineus, the Chocolate Cosmos are the other members of the genus. The chocolate cosmos is so-called, due to its fragrance that is similar to chocolate.

The Cosmos flowers are produced in capitulum that is surrounded by a ring of broad ray florets and central disc florets. The Cosmos flowers come in varied bright colors like white, pink, orange, yellow and scarlet colors. They can be single or double colored flowers. The flowers are about 2 - 4 inches in diameter.

New Twig Project

I'm in the process of starting a month long sculpting project called "Twig" at this time.

This project will be a-one-of-a-kind which will include a necklace, two cuffs, two earrings (post & hoop style) wedding ring set, wide band, etc.

There will be small flowers incorporated into the design which may consist of Gold and/or enameling. Everyday, I'll update the status of my project. I hope you'll enjoy seeing how this project comes together.
So this is where it starts...

...and this is what I'm staring at...

...and several times a day, I'll show you where I get to.

Well after about two hours this is where I'm at, I'm laying out the design.

Although you can see the depth of the wax, it's very 3-deminsional.

Twigs don't grow flat so some of the twigs are actually

coming towards me as I sculpt them.

I want stones on the tips of some of the twigs while other tips will have buds, so I'll have to make sure I can flutter my stones evenly while sculpting the wax.

...OK, back at it.

hmmm...

Better...it was missing a twig.

Now is a good time to walk away for a while and start on the twig chain...I want to follow through on all the way to the back. So I will be sclpting the chain to match the twig. Once that's completed, I'll go back and work on the necklace twiggie texture and buds.

I know I'm going to add flowers...what kind is going to be fun.

My last Oncidium Jiuhbao Gold ‘Tainan’ AM/AOS Pendant



Oncidium Jiuhbao Gold ‘Tainan’ AM/AOS
American Orchid Society (AOS) asked me to re-create Oncidium Jiuhbao Gold ‘Tainan’ AM/AOS which was featured on their 50th Year Poster in 2009. Needless to say...I was nervous! I tried very hard to mimic the different flips and curls in my wax model as shown in the poster.

I've decided to part with last Sterling Silver Pendant, if interested you can find out more on my Etsy site.

For Additional Photos & Price, Click Here



Fan Coral & Starfish Pendant



Fan Coral Pendant

This is a pretty awesome piece because when I sculpted the wax, I really tried to get the depth and the texture into the fan coral plus a little sculpted Starfish just laying on the coral.

I love texture on jewelry, this is why I choose to be a lost wax artist...the wax allows me to mimic what nature gives me before I cast my jewelry.

Materials: Solid 14k Yellow Gold Starfish, Sterling Silver Fan Coral
Pendant Size: Fan Coral - 1 3/4" High

 View Details On Etsy

Made to Order Calla Lily Cuff - Sketch

Calla Lily Cuff

Beautiful flowing Calla Lily Cuff with two leaves, one slightly covering the lily and the other tucked under the lily, each design of mine is hand-sculpted in wax before cast in sterling silver.

Each piece is then finished with a high-end polish for a quick cleaning.

The finished piece will be 3/4" wide (Lily and Leaf width) smallest width will be 1/4" cuff band.

This piece will be a Limited Edition of 20 which will be signed plus a Certificate of Authenticity will come with each piece.

I will make a mold of the piece but for only 20, this way I can spend the necessary time to sculpt the original. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and will spend weeks just sculpting the wax. I look at every piece as though I would wear it.

Below I have posted one of my Calla Lily Necklaces so that you can get a good idea about the work I sculpt plus my finishes.

To Pre-Order This Piece, Click Here or Go to my Online Shop

Options: This piece is priced based on Sterling Silver.  If you would like to add gold accents, please e-mail me for a quote based on current gold prices. A Rhodium and Yellow Gold Plated are also optional, please e-mail me for additional cost.

Note: This cuff is "M A D E - T O - O R D E R" and process of my wax will be photographed and posted weekly so that you can see my process...it's a pretty amazing process that I don't mind showing you.

Sizing your Cuff: Please indicate your wrist size in the "Note to Seller" box, I will customize the cuff to fit you by adjusting the wax before casting. A soft measuring tape wrapped around the wrist above the bone will give me an accurate measure of your wrist.

Shipping: All items are shipped by USPS Priority Mail (USA) with Insurance plus Confirmation to track the package for delivery if necessary. All paid by me.

This cuff will be based on my Calla Lily Necklace (shown below)

This necklace is also a pre-ordered piece,

please e-mail me for the current price.

One more inspirational shot...

Inspirational Bug!

This little guy has been bugging me to take his picture all morning, and I know why too!
Look at the beautiful detail in his wings...amazing!

If I ever decide to do Bugs, Butterflies or Dragonflies...this guy will go up as my new screen's wallpaper on my computer, which means I would have to take off my coral..........well...........maybe not yet.

Anyway, back to work. I have 6 new sketches that have to be designed by Friday



Direct Check Out Available on Etsy!

I love this new feature!

ETSY is now excepting Credit Cards DIRECTLY in my shop instead of having to go through PayPal.

PayPal is great, but this is wonderful.

So what this means is that you can purchase my jeweler in my Etsy Store with a credit card, which in my opinion, Etsy is now among the big boys and I'm a happy little girl.

My shop will be accepting Visa, MC, Discovery and American Express!

My Online Shop

My Inspiration Tray

Inspiration Tray

I'm not sure if every artist has one of these but I have to have a few of these around, this is my largest inspiration tray that sits on my studio table. It's filled with shapes, texture and some of natures coolest designs. The shells are for some of my upcoming projects and the driftwood is an everyday staple that I like having around...I love the flowing lines, you just can't improve on perfection.

I love nature such as twigs, leaves and flowers but lately, the sea life has taken over my mind, in fact you'll see a lot of new pieces coming up soon from my little tray below.

This is my mobile inspiration tray...I can carry this little tray everywhere...kitchen, living room or patio. It does double duty, the tray is a flower which was a little bit of inspiration for the Cosmos Collection coming soon.

The darker shell to the left, well that shell design was sculpted into a ring and then I added my Fusion detail into the side of the ring. This will be one of those OMG "Boca" size rings that I love sculpting so much.

The bottom right...that's a texture thing and as far as the starfish, that's an everyday thing, because Starfish are just cool!

If you have an inspiration tray, plate, box, etc...send me a picture and I'll post it on my blog. I would love to see what inspires you to create beautiful objects.

Send a picture to my e-mail at: dawnvertrees@gmail.com

A few new pieces on Etsy...

Fossil & Ocean

Just added four of my favorite pieces to out Etsy Store,
these are one of a kinds pieces.

Click here for additional Information

A Very Thoughtful Card...

I'm not usually one for words...I like for my work to speak for me but I just wanted to post a copy of a very thoughtful card sent to me by one of my youngest clients. His name is Juston. 

Don & I met Juston while doing the Ft. Lauderdale Orchid Show and Juston was helping his Mom and Dad, who are Orchid Growers, answer questions about the plants, packing them up as well as carrying the newly purchased orchids to the customers car. Sometimes Juston got a tip...sometimes not but Juston was OK with...each tip he received was more than he expected plus, every tip he made was going for a gift for his mother.

Juston would hang out at our booth, with one eye on his booth over in the corner while looking over the jewelry. He would ask a question about a pearl or a stone, then he would think about it, carry out a few more orchids, come back and ask some more questions to the point he settled on one of my Ocean Reef Rings with a little 14k gold starfish which lays on the fan coral! He said his mom just finished painting in their house and it had starfishes painted on the wall so he thought his mom would really enjoy the ring with a starfish. 

Don & I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Juston...he was great salesman, even I bought an Orchid from him, but it wasn't just an Orchid...he had listen to me talk about all of my orchid growing failures because I constantly over water them and then just die. Anyway, Juston hearing this, brought over a Jewel Orchid and he said...you can't kill this one, it loves water and proceeded telling me why water was OK for this particular orchid. Well to make a long story short...I still have my orchid and it's the only orchid I'll ever buy. 

After reading the card you may be thinking? Why would I send him a card that saved him time...well, I knew Juston couldn't drive so I purchased a Hallmark card with words saying...where would I be without you Mom? ...and then shows a little boy under a bunch of dirty clothes, well you get the picture. I thought after talking with Juston for three days, I think I picked the right one I hope.

Once he recieved the ring, a couple of days later I recieved this card and I wanted to share it...I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. 

I will cherish this card for a long time.

Thanks you Juston!

Cattleya Orchid Rings

Featured in St. Pete's Bay Magazine

Cattleya Orchid Rings
are now available on Etsy, my online shop.

All Sterling Silver Ring
Sterling Silver & Bronze

Glass and Sterling Silver Cuffs

Update!

The glass is starting to take shape and these are looking better than anticipated! I am blown away by the unlimited possibilities of using glass and silver together in this manner.

I'M SO STOKED!!!

New Orchids!

Dendrobium, Cattleya & a Ladyslipper

These cute little nickle size pieces will be my next small collection of orchid rings,
pendants, pins, earrings, maybe even a small orchid cuff.

My favorite is the dendrobium (center), this is going to make the ultimate orchid ring.

New Ultra Cool Stingray Ring!

Stingray
Ring

This ring is in the process of being cast but I just wanted to give you a hint of

what's coming.  When I slipped the wax piece on my finger, it looked

as if the stingray was swimming across my hand plus I did

something really cool, yet functional with the tail...that you'll

have to wait for.

Be Back Soon!

New Curved Cuff Added to my Fusion Colection

The Starfish texture is the base
to my New Fusion Cuff.

The 1" Wide Cuff
featuring the Fan Coral
fused into the starfish design.

You can see where the base of the fan
coral starts wrapping itself around
the cuff.

...just a few other Fusion pieces available.

Fusion Post
Earrings

Starfish Cuff

Adjustable
Starfish Ring

Fusion
Starfish Pendant