SilverSmithing

I just returned from a week at William Holland Lapidary School, where I took my first Silver class.

So. Much. Fun!!

Had a great teacher (Hi, Bill!), and completed 4 projects, and have 2 partially done.

The class was structured such that we had lecture Sunday night for a couple of hours, and then started work bright and early Monday morning. There were 2 mandatory projects, and once we successfully completed those, we could move on to an independent project of our own design.

This bangle bracelet was our 1st mandatory project, and was a great teaching project and a good choice for a 1st project, because while it taught us a lot of metalwork techniques, believe it or not, this gorgeous bangle required only 1 solder! So we spent a long time prepping the piece - twisting the wire, hammering it, etc - and then got it set up for the solder, and although the teacher had demo'd it for us at his workstation, since it was each student's 1st time soldering, we were all a little nervous and unsure, so we would call him over to our workstations when we were ready, and then he would help each of us individually.

And it is a truly stunning bracelet!


The next mandatory project was a ring - the teacher had many cabochons to choose from, or we could use our own. I had taken a few with me, but once I saw this turquoise cab (made by my Silver teacher, who clearly has talents extending far beyond Silversmithing), I heard it calling my name, and decided to use it for my ring.

The ring was a very difficult project; many, many solder joins, as well as the other metalworking skills required to create it.

It took me most of 3 days to finish the ring, although I was able to jump around and work on my other 2 projects while I was waiting for equipment, or otherwise needing to wait before proceeding with another step on the ring. So it actually probably took only a total of a day and a half to finish the ring, not counting the interruptions and waiting.

And after making all these solders, and having the ring actually fit, and the stone stay in its setting, I had a lot more confidence in my abilities, too! And I later learned that my ring would have been a whole lot easier to do if I had chosen a cab with even dimensions, instead of this irregularly cut one - but I always go for the asymmetric stuff!

Getting these decorative balls in the shank of the ring was a pain!

Back view of the ring, showing my blatant rookie mistake: the back of the ring had to be stamped "sterling" before the shank was soldered on, and I placed the stamp in such a position that the solder flowed right over the "ster" in "sterling". So I guess my ring is just "ling"?


This was a project we were shown to use up the excess wire left over from the bangle; I only had enough excess to make a small pinkie ring!

And this is my big masterpiece - I am so pleased with the way it turned out. I used my own dichroic glass cabs, and designed this pendant to hang from an Omega or from a hard collar, and with a lot of direction from the teacher, it all came together very nicely!

I also started a 2nd pendant, and reticulated the silver links for a bracelet, but I couldn't finish either before I had to leave. And it will be awhile before I can finish either of them, because silversmithing is expensive! I want to order all the tools and equipment (not to mention, silver) that I need to start doing it right away, but lack the necessary fundage.

But hopefully my pal MAK (aka Glenda the Good Witch) will perfect the spell she is working on for me, and I will soon have money growing on trees, or something like that.

A girl can hope, anyway....

School is over :( :) :(

Just finished a week @ William Holland Lapidary School - I took advanced chainmaille, again, because I have an advanced chain addiction.

Saw lots of old friends, made some new friends- and had a terrific week.

Here is almost everything I made during the week - several pairs of earrings and a bracelet didn't get done in time for the traditional Friday morning show-and-tell. The projects below that still have paper clips attached to them are WIPs -  the 2 uppermost ones are JPLs, or Jen's Pind; one in 14 gauge GF rings, and the other in 20 gauge copper, silver, and GF rings. I can only do so much JPL without taking a break from it! It can drive you crazy! Plus closing those 14 gauge rings was a little tough on my hands.

The silver WIP near the bottom of the tray is the very beginning of a 3-row sterling silver scarf-type lariat, made with teeny tiny rings - when completed, it will be between 6 and 7 ounces of sterling silver. In other words, lots and lots of rings!

I usually am more productive during these weeks @ William Holland - I stay up until 2 or 3 AM working on stuff, and get up early and chain some more, and chain straight through meals while everyone else is eating.

But this week, between my pain meds and my pain, I just was dragging. And that is the reason for my smiley and frowny faces on the title post - I'm glad the week's over, because I am so tired and drained, but I am sad, because William Holland is always a blast, and I always learn so much!

And here is my favorite project - one which didn't make it into show-and-tell. I made this bolo tie, from scratch, for one of the chain teachers - and he wouldn't take it off for show-and-tell, but he did strut around showing it off. I made the dichroic glass cab, and then cut the enamelled copper blue and yellow rings I used to create the bezel, and then I glued the bolo gizmo to the back -

The lucky receipient is the husband of my chainmaille teacher, a big fan of bolo ties. We call him "Lord of the Rings" because he cuts all the thousands of jumprings that we demanding students as for during the week, and he tumbles all our finished projects, and he also helps his wife with some of the teaching.

And he also makes these incredible lead castings of ant colonies:

This is a casting of a bull ant colony. What you are seeing is actually an inverted colony - the portion of the casting that sits on the table is what was at ground level, and then the colony branched out below it underground - so you are seeing the actually colony and its pods upside down. Bill painted this bull ant casting a lovely black and gold color. He puts these on little rotating lazy-susan type bases, and you can spin them and see all sides of them. This black and gold one is at the bead shop.

This is a casting of a fire ant colony - again, what you are seeing is inverted from the way it was in real life (before the hot molten lead was poured into the colony!) Look how much busier, and more frantic, the colony structure is. I love the blue color on this one - it matches my living room perfectly!

These ant colony castings are works of art, in my opinion, and I wish I had more of them. Bill has really cut back on the number of these he makes - the lead is getting too heavy!

I'll be driving home tomorrow, and then I have my pre-op appointment at the hospital on Monday. Then back to the bead shop Tuesday.

Here's hoping the surgery doesn't sideline me from chaining for too long  - I'm anxious to get back to my WIPs!

Cold Connections

My friend Kathy came down from William Holland Lapidary School, and taught a fantastic, intense, 2-day seminar on Cold Connections at my shop. Everyone had a great time, and made some gorgeous creations.

I am just thrilled with Cold Connections - it is the process of connecting metal without heat - so no soldering. You rivet, grommet, lash, etc - and there are just endless creative possibilities.

I will show a couple of my projects here, and post more later - otherwise, this will be a HUGE post.

Kathy stayed at my house with me and Bailey, and everyone had such fun - we laughed so hard for 4 days straight. Plus poor, neglected (NOT!) Bailey got tons of attention and treats!

This is one pair of earrings I made - I combined copper with sterling - I am still absolutely crazy about mixing metals and textures!

This is one of my pendants - I combined sterling and copper again, and while it is hard to see, there are holes punched all along the bottom edge, where I am either going to beadweave some fringe, or hang some dangles via wrapped loops, or maybe a combination of both - haven't decided yet.

Plus, with the way my schedule has been, it may be weeks before I even get to work on this one again - but busy is good!

I have temporarily closed my Etsy and Artfire Shops, due to the unexpected and early death of my computer's motherboard. I hope to be up and running again in 7-10 days.

Chain Chain Chain, Chaining Fool

I'm back from William Holland, and I had the best time!

I took Chainmaille - and here are all the projects I made in class - it was a tremendously productive, and fun, week! I learned SO many new patterns, and can't wait to do more! I am so hooked on this!

Instead of staying at the school, as I usually do, I had been invited to stay at my friend Kathy's gorgeous mountain home near the school. This is the view from her deck! We had gorgeous weather, and Bailey got to go, too, so he didn't have to stay in the kennel, which was so nice for both of us.

Kathy teaches Wire-wrapping, Bead-weaving, and Cold Connections at William Holland, but last week she took Enameling (while I was taking Chain), and this is the gorgeous bracelet she made. Now I want to take Enameling!

Kathy has two dogs - Tai, a cocker spaniel, and Kuda, a precious Yorkie-poo puppy. Here, Bailey tolerates Kuda's kisses.

Bailey says he will blog about the trip when he recovers - he is still sleeping it off!

Back to School

I'm leaving for William Holland again in the morning, and this time is so different from the last. This time, instead of staying in the dorm, I will be staying at the home of one of the teachers, who is also a friend. She graciously offered her home to me AND Bailey, so we will be staying with her, and commuting a short distance to the school every morning. This is such a great opportunity for me, and so nice of her.

I'll be taking chainmaille, so that makes this trip especially exciting. As you may know, I am totally hooked on chainmaille, and can't wait to learn more techniques and designs.

I have been packing and doing laundry in preparation for leaving in morning, and Bailey is extremely agitated. Usually when he sees me packing, he knows he is going to the kennel. The only exception has been our trips to Daufuskie Island, but those are few and far between. Little does Bailey know, he is going on vacation with me, and he will be staying with 2 canine playmates.

I think we will both be having a great time.

My Etsy shop is temporarily closed, so that no one will be expecting prompt shipment of a new purchase while I am away from home. I'll re-open it in about 10 days.

I still have a HUGE secret - a few of you have asked about it. I'm hoping a few more folks will comment here, and convince me to spill the beans! It is worth it, I promise!

See you in a week or so!

I am addicted to chainmaille...

Look at these fabulous earrings and matching bracelet!

I made them with niobium jump rings in blue, rose, gold, and bronze, and galvanized glass seed beads, using the shaggy rope chainmaille pattern.

The muted jewel tones give them a very organic feel, and I think they look absolutely fabulous.

I am absolutely addicted to chainmaille - I have made 3 very different pairs of earrings, and 5 bracelets, including a pair of bracelets commissioned by a man and wife, using gold and silver jump rings. I also have made half of a byzantine necklace, but I ran out of jumprings and am waiting for the order to arrive so I can finish it.


I am going back to William Holland in mid-August to take chainmaille classes, but this is like some crazy passion - I would rather do chainmaille than anything else right now!

Jiggedy-jig

As in, Home Again, Home Again! Finally!

Got home from William Holland about 1:30 AM Saturday, and I am still tired. I worked all day Saturday, and half a day yesterday, and am finally off today.


And, somewhere in there I managed to pick Bailey up at the kennel, where they evidently made him forget all my house rules, as he now tries to take Baby outside, and he snuck his soccer ball into the bedroom last night!

I was off in my studio taking photos, and when I returned to the bedroom to upload them, I didn't even notice what he was chewing on the bed (how could I miss that?) until he started bouncing it off my right leg!


Who can resist that face, though?

These are the dichroic glass bracelets I made last week at William Holland (I showed a picture of me slumping the first one in my last post). They turned out nicely, but as with most dichroic glass, the photo does NOT do them justice. I also made a dichroic glass watch, but it did not photograph well enough to show - the glass is a wonky mix of pastel greens, pinks, and purples, and I will have to play with that one some more to get some decent pics.

One down, one to go

The first week of school is over, and I made some fabulous stuff!

I wasn't even enrolled in wire-wrapping, but I managed to sneak in a private class with one of the wire-wrapping teachers yesterday, and made this incredible bracelet. It is extremely heavy - made with 12 gauge gold-filled wire and 14 gauge sterling silver wire. A little hard on the hands to fabricate, but totally worth it - it is stunning.

Check out the clasp I made for it:

I'm keeping this one for myself! I would say I'll never take it off, but I will be elbow deep in the kiln tomorrow, slumping bracelets, so I can't wear any metal jewelry for the next few days.

This picture shows the freeform project I worked on in class last week. I didn't get to start it until Thursday afternoon, so I didn't complete it before class ended.

I got quite a bit more done on it today, but the clasp I want to use is back at home, so I can't completely finish it 'til I get home.

This isn't the greatest picture, but the beads I chose for the band shimmer like a mermaid's tail, and this one may be another project I can't let go of.

I need to turn off the computer, as I have some reading to do before fusing class in the morning.

6 more days until I can pick Bailey up at the kennel - I miss my baby!

Mixed Emotions

I'm leaving for school in about 36 hours, and I have just about made myself sick about it. For one thing, I can't really afford to go. So that keeps weighing on my mind. I keep hoping that my jewelry sales will miraculously pick up, and everything will sort itself out.

Then there is the fact that Bailey will be in the kennel for the whole two weeks - I have to drop him off tomorrow morning actually, because the kennel isn't open on Sunday. That adds an extra 2 days of boarding time to the bill, which also weighs on my mind - both financially, and because I hate for him to be there for so long.

Look at that face! I miss him already!

But it will be a wonderful, worthwhile experience, so as I said, mixed emotions.

The wonderful folks at Fuji came through for me, and got my camera back to me in time for the trip. I have taken some photos of some of the things I have made over the past few weeks, and will be listing them on Etsy while I am away.



Here is something I listed today - a gorgeous lariat made from peacock blue button pearls; simple, yet elegant.

It is 32 inches long from end to end, and available for sale in my Etsy shop.

I'm Going to School!

I need to clean up a few odds and ends here.

A few posts ago, I talked about the Silver Paste Class I took. You also may recall that my fabulous camera has pooped out on me, and is somewhere being fixed, I hope. So I took my handy, back-up, tourist, not-for-professional-photography-purposes camera with me to class, and snapped a few shots, and here we go!

The first step was painting several very thin coats of the silver paste onto the leaf. This photo was taken after 2 coats, before my gingko leaf started to reject the paste!

After all the paste is applied, the leaves were fired in the kiln. It is hot enough, and retains heat well enough, during this short firing period that the lid can stay off during firing.

You know I love to take the picture of the exact time the organic binder burns off! All the other students' projects are shown, too. Theirs are almost done, because they didn't have problems getting the paste to stick to their leaves, and they didn't have to keep starting over!

My finished gingko leaf looked a little plain, so I added an off-set garnet, and refired it. Also shown is my back-up geranium leaf, which broke during firing because I used so much paste on my gingko that I didn't have enough to adequately coat the geranium.

Most people can't tell the geranium leaf is broken 'til I point it out, but it is - there on the upper right, the leaf should curl up to meet the nicely curling fan on the upper left.

Meh.

And now a little business. Sales are booming over in my Etsy shop. (Yay!) I have several new things I'd love to list, but I can't, unfortunately, because I have no way to photograph them until I get my camera back. So I will keep relisting for awhile.

Meanwhile, I leave this Sunday for 2 weeks at William Holland Lapidary School. I love going to William Holland! There are so many friendly, talented people there, and I always come home renewed, refreshed, and full of new ideas, not to mention brimming with freshly learned techniques. I have never gone for 2 weeks in a row before (I attended for 4 weeks last year, but they were spread out), but with the price of gas, and the long drive, I decided to do it this way this year. My only regret about this arrangement is that Bailey will be at the "doggie hotel" for the whole 2 weeks (Ssshh - he'll hear us!)

I had originally planned to close my shop while I was gone, but have decided to leave it open, with an announcement that all shipping will be delayed until my return on May 26. I'll have internet access while I am there, and can check my shop, and my convos, so I will be able to stay on top of stuff.