Tribute Tuesday with The Tempest Stone

Call out your tributes for Denise and her Etsy shop The Tempest Stone

One of a kind pieces for one of a kind individuals! Jewelry made with natural semi-precious stones that have been wire wrapped in solid argentium silver.

Receive 15% off from your purchase with coupon code: JULY2012 It will remain in effect until the end of July.

Now let's discover The Tempest Stone

What is the first creative memory you have?

I remember having a very large orange walled play room in my house when I was about 5 years old. I remember just before Halloween thinking it would be an excellent idea to have a mural on the wall. So I convinced my little friend Nicky that it would be a great idea to do one...with those big black permanent markers. I did pumpkins and cats and witches and such, with my lovely 5 year old drawing skills. I even got a chair so I could do the tops of the walls too. I thought it was lovely. Then my parents came to find us. They, on the other hand, did not appreciate the beauty of my artistic endeavor, nor the black permanent marker medium we had chosen to use. Nicky got sent home that day and I believe I received my very first grounding. Still one of my fondest childhood memories.

What or whom began your creative journey on Etsy?

I found Etsy by chance while surfing the internet one day. I originally made my pendants for myself and gifts for friends and family only. I am always wearing a stone and they tend to catch people's attention , so I started getting requests from people asking if I had a website where they could see my pendants. Being that I am not very technically inclined (I did purchase a domain name and hosting, but to date, still no web site!!!), Etsy seemed like a very nice, easy choice for someone like me. I have to say, I love the community that Etsy is. The talent on there is amazing, and I definitely spend more than I make!!

How did you come up with your shop name?

The shop name was a bit of a challenge for me. I had everybody I know trying to come up with something. A lot of them were revolving around the "D" in my name, as many friends just call me D. Then one afternoon I was wrapping a beautiful Pietersite stone, one of my favorites. It was a beautiful dark blue, black and brown swirly stone. It reminded me of the ocean on stormy day. I thought of how perfectly the stone reflected the nickname of Pietersite, The Tempest Stone. And my shop, The Tempest Stone, was born at that very moment. I knew it could never be anything but that.

Describe what creations you have in your shop

Currently I have silver, wire wrapped pendants. They are all made by hand, using just simple tools. Many people have a hard time believing that the entire pendant is set without the use of a blow torch or heat of any kind. It is simply many separate pieces of wire, manipulated to form the setting, this results in a piece of jewelry that can as strong as a soldered piece and will be with you for years and years if properly cared for. The majority of my pieces are semi precious stones, but I will occasionally wrap other things such as beautiful glass or shell. The silver I use is called Argentium silver (.930), which I love. It is a brighter silver, that is more tarnish resistant than the Sterling. While my true loves are pendants, I have plans to expand the selection in my shop to include other wire wrapped items, such as earrings and bracelets very soon. I have also recently started working with copper and love the look of it antiqued. For fun, I just made a fabulous copper and stone cuff bracelet for myself that people seem to love, so who knows, maybe it will make it onto the site too at some point.

What inspires you?

I am not sure if its so much that I am inspired as it is that I seem to have an almost intrinsic need to just always be creating something. In thinking about it, perhaps that is a part of what "inspires" means. Its just something internal for me I guess. I say that my hobby really is trying out new hobbies, of which I have had a lot. I have tried drawing, painting, glass etching, cake decorating, soap making, beading, wood burning, and the list goes on...and on....and on. There is always something to make. With my pendants, I can say that each stone inspires me. I never have a set idea of what it will turn out like until I am done. I might sketch a design for something, and in the end, it looks completely different. The stone has to choose its own design I figure. While I am capable of doing some of the more intricate or "curly" designs, I tend to make most of my pieces quite simple so that the stone is the overall centerpiece.


What do you listen to or watch while creating?

Quite honestly, not a lot. I find that all my attention is on the stone when I work. I block out everything else around me. Each piece takes me a total of anywhere from 2 to 6 hours and I am usually pretty focused. There could be music or a tv in the background, but I wouldn't even be aware of it.

Please share a favorite recipe

Ok, I have to admit it, I am not one that is capable of following a recipe. I have the best of intentions when I start, but somewhere around the middle I lose interest and start to ad lib. Every time I make the same dish it tastes different!

That said, growing up in Newfoundland, my Nan and my Mom used to make "Snowballs" and they were one of my favorite things in the world. My Mom and Dad came to visit recently and my son called to specifically tell Grandma to bring her recipe for snowballs so she could make them for him. I might be sharing a old family secret here now for all I know (but I doubt it), but these are too good and easy not to share.

Snow Balls
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
Coconut to roll balls in

Combine butter, milk, sugar and vanilla in a saucepan and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add cocoa. Stir until cocoa is completely dissolved. Stir in coconut and rolled oats. Let cool. Form into balls and roll in coconut. Store in fridge until set.

Simple, totally calorie free no doubt, and simply yummy!

Where else can we find you?

E-mail at thetempeststone@gmail.com
Facebook
Twitter

Now off to show Denise and her beautiful creations some love in her Etsy shop, The Tempest Stone