Sunday, October 31, 2010

I Finally Created an Artfire Collection

and it was easy! Artfire has some very cool tools. This one features some members of the Artfire Artisan Jewelers Guild that I belong to as well as members of the Starving Artists team.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Week 42-New Tutorial-Art Deco Key Pendant



I've had this tutorial idea knocking around in my head for months but I had some technical details to work out. I finally got a prototype done that I liked and took advantage of some down time between shows to get it done. The key measures 2 3/8" tall by about 7/8" wide. I have it listed in my Artfire shop and my Etsy shop.

Week 41-A Couple of Silver Necklaces



I haven't been very motivated to challenge myself lately so I made a couple of fairly simple necklaces. The circles are fine silver wire that has been balled up at the ends with a torch. For one, I wove the circles togther with some smaller wire and oxidized it.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Week 40-Lapis Necklace



You know I really want to be Iza Malczyk when I grow up even though I'm already old enough to be her mother. :D So this is my latest attempt. The big stone is a 25mm lapis. The small rondelles are blue iolite and I added a pyrite because the lapis has pyrite inclusions. I had a really hard time getting both sides the same, and I had wanted two wires to meet at the bottom but I obviously got them too short. I tried a couple of different ways of attaching the chain and I'm still not satisfied with that part of it but that can be changed if anyone has a better idea.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Week 39-Don't Torch When You're Tired


I started this little owl guy last Thurusday at metalsmithing class. He was turning out so cute but he had one solder joint that didn't take. So I went back to the torch to resolder it and....oops. I melted part of his wing off. The moral of the story is don't solder if you're tired, in a hurry, or not too familiar with acetylene torches. LOL So now I need to figure out what I should do with him. I could try to solder another piece of wire in there. Or I could make a smaller branch out of brass wire and cover that part up with a leaf. Or I have some little carved tourmaline leaves that I could use. Opinions?