Tiger-Eyed Ivy Leaf

[Alexa D.]

Some people go out and party on Friday nights. I usually curl up with a book or hang out with a friend or two. Last night, though, the carving bug bit, and hard. This is my first real attempt at inlay, too.

 

(thumbnails; click to enlarge)

 

It's an ivy leaf carved from a slice of tagua nut (roughed out with a jeweler's saw and dremel, refined with needle files and my little carving knife, and finished with 180, 220, and 320-grit sandpaper, veins etched last-thing with the dremel). The tigereye is set with CA glue; its socket isn't quite as closely fitting as I could hope for, but not bad for a first try. The loop of "stem" for the cord broke off while I tried to sand it -- probably should've seen that coming, given how thin it is -- and had to be repaired with more CA; another learning experience.

 

All in all, though, I'm not displeased with it!

[Tony N]

nice work keep it up

[Kurt K]

Yep, nice try. Did you do the Tiger-eye too?

Those stems are hard to achieve at that scale, even in hard stone.

So cudos for making it that far.

[Alexa D.]

Oh goodness no, I'm no lapidary. The stone was a gift from a friend -- he makes jewelry, and had purchased a number of small cabochons that he wasn't going to use.

 

Thanks!

[michael B]

Great work, the tiger eye goes well with the tagua nut, making small gem cabs like this is easy if you have a good teacher, could even lead to stone carving that would ad to the great carving skills you already have.