Leona began creating jewelry in the 1990\'s. Her inspiration comes from her grandfather, who was a rock hound - he would seek out interesting rocks and later fashion his finds into jewelry. As a young girl, Leona was awed by the stones and the meanings that flow from a piece of handcrafted jewelry.
Recently Leona discovered silver precious metal clay and silver wire work, and was inspired all over again to create artisan pieces.
Leona's "gems" are created out of silver precious metal clay and sterling silver wire with beads and / or other wire as accents. Each component is crafted by hand, i.e. every link, jump ring, clasp and ear wire is hand made in the artist's studio. The precious metal clay comes in a clay form and is shaped, dried, sanded and fired in a kiln, becoming a piece in .999 silver. After firing, the pieces are polished. Each piece is unique.
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver (at least 92.5%) and other metals, primarily copper. The copper reacts to moisture and sulphur in the air, creating tarnish. Precious metal is clay is fine silver (99.9% silver); it tarnishes slower than sterling. Note that some pieces are blackened deliberately as part of the design.
Follow these tips to keep your silver bright: