Class progress report

This is what I did in class today. I finished that blasted ring. Yay! Well, sort of. I still need to put the final touches on it (buffing, etc). But for the most part the structure, which was giving me so much trouble the last time, is pretty much done.


Then I started on stone setting. Here is the start of my bezel cup to put that pretty green chrysoprase cabochon in. Predictably, I had problems, not the least of which was shredding my fingers into a bloody mess three times with the jeweler's saw, giving myself a nasty scrape on my shoulder courtesy of the bench pin, and almost setting my hair on fire with the torch.

As my friend Marnie likes to say: good times.

Classroom studio

Took pictures around my metalsmithing classroom.


If only I had this kind of set-up at home - dream on!


This is the room where we do all the soldering and other dangerous type work. Pictured are the rows of annealing pans and pickle pots. The torches are underneath.


Class today went a little better than last week. I learned a whole bunch of cool new things, including a start to what I mainly came here to learn - stone setting. We learned how to do a bezel setting on a cabochon. It looks rather complicated. I didn't get a chance to try it out yet because I was still stuck sawing away at my ring from last week, so hopefully soon. I'm a little anxious about trying it out, though - I know I'm going to end up breaking something again.

Metal madness

My quest to take my craft to the next level has hit a bit of a road bump. This past Sunday I went to my first of five metalsmithing classes. I've been looking forward to them since early spring and when I finally got there, I'm sorry to say it was a bit disappointing.

There are a few things about the class that I wasn't happy with, compounded by my difficulties with the technical stuff, including the stupid jeweler's saw. The jeweler's saw and I are not friends. I'm afraid we may never be friends. What's more, I believe the jeweler's saw hated me as much as I hated it. It was a mutual fountain of hate between the jeweler's saw and me. Not only did I keep breaking the blade while attempting to cut a piece of silver sheet metal, I also hurt my hand badly from trying to hold the sheet metal at an awkward position. And it's all the fault of the jeweler's saw.

To add insult to injury, the studio uses these hard core acetylene torches in giant industrial-sized tanks with a monstrous nozzle for soldering work. Now, I first learned how to solder on the smaller butane torches. And it worked beautifully. The acetylene torch, on the other hand, was so huge and so unwieldy that I ended up melting the ring I was making. Because of its weakened state, the ring broke apart while I attempted to hammer it in shape.

What makes things doubly frustrating is that I thoroughly enjoyed the soldering class I took a few months ago. I was on such an artistic and technical high when I got home from it. I loved the whole experience; I picked up on the technique immediately.

This, however, is a slightly different story. I attribute some of my difficulties to my unfamiliarity with working with sheet metal. I think I much prefer wire.

So it has not been a very auspicious beginning, but I'm hoping these are just growing pains and that things will improve as the weeks go by.

Coral and turquoise earrings

Red coral branches topped off with blue turquoise nuggets, named "Nora" after my very funny and cool Aunt Nora. These earrings are very bold and colorful, dangling approximately 1 1/2 inches from handmade earwires.

Nora is now available at the shop!

SUMMER OF JEWELRY

This summer I'm taking a silver jewelry metalsmithing class for five weeks. Each class is five hours long and it's apparently a pretty intense experience. I'm so ready to get started - I haven't been able to contain my excitement! I'm looking forward to learning a whole new set of technical skills. As a bonus, the art school is right by the river in a very charming part of town so getting to hang out for part of the summer there will be a real treat.

AMERICARES CHALLENGE

So putting my money where my mouth is, I've just posted a new announcement at my shop. From now until the end of June, $3 of every sale will be donated to AmeriCares' disaster assistance funds for Myanmar and China, the total amount split between the two funds. My shop will also match 100% of the total amount raised.

Thanks in advance for your generosity!

Soldering and metalsmithing

I had an exciting day - I took a five hour soldering class today, and it was amazing.

I finally know how to solder!

I also learned how to make my own jump rings as well as a nifty new clasp design. I learned what kind of torch, flux, and other equipment to use. Apparently I was using the wrong type of soldering tool before, which was why I couldn't get it working.

Below is the bracelet I made in class. It's made of sterling silver and I formed all the links by hand. After it was put through the tumbler it came out in a highly shiny, beautiful silver finish, but I ended up giving it an antiqued finish because I wanted to learn how to oxidize sterling.




A close up of the clasp I made.



It looks very vintage.

My teacher was extremely talented and the next class I want to take with him is ring making (not the wire rings, but the actual handforged rings). I have so many new ideas bouncing around in my head now! First I need to collect my tools and supplies, then set up a space where I can safely use a butane torch, and then start creating new designs for the shop!

I am excited.