Sterling Silver Jewelry

While we were in Israel, I made a decision that it's time to start downsizing.  But I want to use up as much of my "products" as I can before I do that.  So this is going to be the summer that I play hard.  And you ask yourself, "can she play harder than she already does???"  LOL!!!

So Monday mornings are my "never ending watercolor class" and Monday afternoons will be jewelry making  time with my sisters.  We had a fun afternoon and I managed to make 1 pair of earrings.

Sterling silver ovals soldered together, swarovski crystals, turquoise beads.   I did the soldering/polishing last week.   I had to ask myself....am I too old to solder?  I didn't get the top on tight on the can (using a large butane type torch that they use to solder pipes) and a gigantic flame popped up from the leaking gas and just about scared me to death!  Fortunately, the house is still standing!!!  And yes, I do have 2 large fire extinguishers out in the garage where I've set up my jewelry making stations.

I made these to go with a necklace that I had made several years ago.  But I no longer liked the necklace, so I altered it - here's what it looks like now:

That center piece is at least 15 years old - a sterling silver Paula Best charm.  I always loved her stamps and when I came across this charm, I knew it was mine!

And there's a bracelet to match.

Here's all 3 pieces.  I think I'm happy with them now.  All .925 sterling silver so don't bother to ask how much I have in it!  It's not what you spend on an item, it's how much you love it!!!  This one will not go on etsy, it's for me.  :)

We're making jewelry out in my garage which is finished, air conditioned and I even have heat out there if/when we need it.  I've set up a glass cutting station, a grinding station, a drilling place and now a torching space.  If you have ever worked with sterling silver you know that you have to clean the silver, add the flux, solder, quench and dip in pickling.  That takes up a lot of space in itself.  But I also know I need to get back to making dichroic glass pendants to put on some of the necklaces I'm working on.  That requires glass cutting, grinding, polishing, then into the kiln to fuse the glass and I normally have to repeat that process at least twice to get it just right!

So stay tuned as I hope to blog some of the things we are making out in the garage this summer.

If you are local, and you want to come make jewelry with us, just get ahold of me and we'll see how much space we have.  I think it's going to be a really fun summer!!!  Are you ready to play???

It's soooooooo cold outside!!!

This morning, it was MINUS 27 degrees with the windchill factor. But even without the chill....it was still MINUS FIVE degrees!!! Nothing should get that cold! A truly perfect day for me to stay inside and play! Oh - I do have fun!!!

These are snowflakes from Creative Impressions. One of my favorite Colorado companies. I just love them to pieces! And I love their products. So, I took 2 snowflakes and layered them inside glass, then soldered around the edges. Nope, no faux soldering here, this is the real thing.....and my first attempt, so not so bad!

And I don't think I did so bad adding jump rings either. Remember - this was my second one here!

and then I got really brave and used 3 snowflakes. A bit harder getting the copper tape to stick with that much space between the glass....but we did it!

So I'm thinking this might be a good technique to video, huh? But then I thought.....I have 7 of my 8 nights planned out....maybe I will leave night 8 up to you. What would you like a video of? Just post your thoughts in the comments to this blog. Look back at all the things I've done the past 2 years and let me know if there's something you'd like to see as a video. It might already be one of the 7 that I've picked.....but if it's not, I'll add the one I like the best!

And are you starting to see the Star of David in every snowflake there is? Just remember - snowflakes only have 6 points or 12 points. No 5, 7 or 8 points....they just aren't real!

Sterling silver jewelry

Tonight is my 4th soldeirng class. And this is the first time that I've actually made something between the classes. I can hardly wait to see what the instructor says about them. I'm rather pleased.

This first one is just 3 pieces of wire, bent, and soldered together, then a gemstone finding soldered to the top on one of the wires (ok, that was a bit tricky!) and a CZ set inside.


And this is one piece of wire, looped, shaped, and soldered in 2 places, with a swarovski crystal dangle attached.



And I did these with one of those kitchen creme broulee torches! $26.00 at the cooking store. You know, I'm starting to think that I use more of my kitchen stuff in my studio than I do in my kitchen!

Maybe that's why we eat out so much? LOL!

Jen the Silversmith???

Is that where the path of life is leading me? I certainly do not know...but I am having a blast taking my first silver soldering class! Yikes! Torches and kilns just scare me to no end...but here I am...flame in hand...soldering silver, making sterling jewelry!

My first ring was just a simple wedding band to learn how to solder a joint. But really, not too bad, huh? Anyone need a cheap wedding band? I'm willing to make you one if you are willing to take my flops! LOL!!



My second piece was soldering sterling wire together. Well, we also made the bezel for the stone by soldering the bezel wire to sterling silver below it. Now that was a trip, but I totally love the outcome. Not bad at all for my second piece!



And this is just amazing to me. My third piece. A ring! And it fit me! We made the bezel cup for the stone, then made the ring. I was just beyond excited by all this! I can't wait to see how well I can mix metal clay with sterling silver. I think it leaves the design spectrum wide open!



So in just 3 classes, I've made 3 rings (there was a second flat band ring as well) and a pendant. I think I'm about ready to
purchase my own torch! But I must take a moment to brag on my instructor. Chad Parker If you live anywhere close to Colorado, check out his classes here. I felt like I had my money back the very first night...the rest of it is all a bonus! There are 2 more classes left...I can hardly wait!

So I may never actually be a silversmith, but taking classes and learning something new...I hope I never stop doing that!

Flame painting

One of the ways I continue to develop as an artist is to take classes, learn new techniques and then experiment with that technique to see what I can do with it. I used to think that when you heated copper past the color change to gray, you were done with it. Can't tell you how many pieces I've thrown in the trash over the years! Not any more!

This is "flame painting" on copper, using a torch, LOS, Mr Clean, water, etc. to give brilliant colors. I think the more you heat and dip, spritz and dip, experiment and play, the better it turns out.




These butterflies are the same dies I posted yesterday where I used paper and chalk. Today, I diecut and embossed them in copper, then flame painted them. I plan to purchase a "real" torch this week just to see what I can come up with. For these I just used a little kitchen torch. But it still gave me some brilliant colors and when I overlaid these on the cards I did yesterday, they are truly magnificant!

I think a flame painting instructional video is in the near future...I just need to figure out the mechanics of how to do that. In the meantime, I will work on more samples.

I had my first of 5 soldering classes last night where we used a large propane torch that had to be lit with a cigarette lighter. Being a non-smoker....I couldn't get the cigarette lighter to light! Pretty funny! But at least I am starting to get over my fear of torches, propane and lighters. We finished 2 sterling silver rings last night and the teacher said my joints were just fine. I'm anxious for next week. Once I learn how to solder silver...my next step will be to tackle soldering copper. I can see these butterflies soldered into lovely rings and swirls and then turned into pendants. I can hardly wait to learn so I can play even more!

But flame painting? Who ever thought I would one day turn to a torch to paint! Maybe I will eventually get around to painting on paper, but for now, this is a bit fun!