Some finished pieces

It's been pointed out to me that I haven't posted any "finished piece" photos in a while and I have, actually, managed to get a few things completed. I don't have a ton to say about them except I love them, I love my new found soldering skills and I have an order for four new pieces (from paying customers!) this week!

Go me! It feels good to know that someone besides me actually likes and wants my work. :)

So without further ado here they are:

My giant cobalt blue sea glass ring






My Blue Willow china pendant


A thumb ring I made for Maggie




And the finished sample Viking Knit Bracelet

A work in progress

So October was a really long and tiring month. First my kids had the flu, then I had it, then I had to get through 6 birthdays; two of which were hosted by me for two of my 3 boys! Needless to say all of this led to my "ahteesty-ness" falling to the wayside. Finally, between my hubby's generous donation of his entire CD collection (put up to auction on eBay) and the little bits of money I managed to save, we scraped together enough to finally buy me the torch kit I'd been dying to get since my soldering classes this summer.


I bought a Gentec small torch kit that runs on oxygen and MAPP gas. At first I thought I was doomed to never make a thing, I got lost trying to find the shop where I was supposed to pick up the torch I ordered (like an hour driving around the same block lost!), then the first oxygen tank I picked up from the welding supply place had a leak (they made me swap my new tank for a pre-filled one). Then, the first piece I soldered just wouldn't solder no matter what I did! It ended up scorched, blobby and resembling crumpled tin foil much more so than a sterling silver bezel setting. I cried and was ready to give up. "You would think I hadn't learned how to do this before, what am I missing?!" I showed the piece to my husband and his reply was simply "ouch".


The next day was Halloween so I put the torch away and decided I'd think on it over the weekend and just spend time reading every tutorial I could come across on the subject. I read up on flame types (neutral, carburizing, oxidizing, who knew there was this much to a simple flame?!) I read up on soldering techniques- heat the piece over a gap so that air can circulate and it doesn't get too hot before the solder liquefies. I read polishing techniques, I watched YouTube videos, I shopped at Home Depot for some 220, 400 and 600 grit sand paper to polish with.


Armed with my fresh knowledge, I decided I was ready to wield the torch for a second time. I took my time, got the flame just right and in a couple of minutes I had my first piece successfully soldered together! I soldered a second piece in the same manner and that, too was successful! Phew, I didn't waste all this time and materials for nothing!


While I am not completely finished with these pieces yet, they are a far cry from the burnt toast piece I originally made. The first is a setting for sea glass. I have purposely left a large free form backing because I will be drilling holes and attaching jump rings; it will be the focal on a sterling silver Viking Knit bracelet made by my friend, Paula. The triangle shaped piece has not been filed, sanded or polished yet; this photo is right after I removed it from the pickle. It is for a piece of Blue Willow China I found on the beach this summer. I think I will make a pendant out of it.


So while I am not yet the ahteest I dream of becoming, I am at the very least, taking baby steps to get there. Much like my jewelry, I am a work in progress.

Silversmithing...

Today I took some bold (baby) steps. For me anyway- I've dreamed for ages now of learning to silversmith, to become a true "jewelry artist". Even though I love beading and wire wrapping and will always do it, something made me feel like I just wasn't doing enough to consider myself a real designer. I need to forge my own pieces and push myself to learn new skills. Maggie once told me someone [rude] said "any monkey can string beads" and while I am defensive, thinking "we all have to start somewhere- at one point you [rude person] learned to string your first beads too!" somewhere in the back of my mind I've thought "do monkeys wield torches and saws?"

So, after a long winded intro I get to the point- I took a few classes this summer- both revolved around ring making but because there was only one other person in the class, we had lots of chat time with the instructor and she took some time to teach me a few things besides soldering. Based on my experiences, I've decided that I like the sawing and filing as much as I do the soldering and in that vein, today I purchased some tools so I can begin doing some metal work.

One of the things my instructor, Amie Plante, told me was that there's a terrific place to buy supplies right here in RI. It's called The Contenti Company and the prices are very reasonable- in some cases even much cheaper than some other supply places I've used. They have a giant selection of saws, files, hammers, punches, soldering supplies, etc etc etc. Today I bought two files made by a company called Grobet and a bench block. To date, I've been using a tiny little anvil for the small hammering I do to my pendants and it is truthfully pretty aggrevating to work on.

Over the past week I've also won some auctions for tools on eBay- I bought a sawframe and some blades, a third hand base and tweezers for soldering and a benchpin. I can't afford my torch yet so I decided I'd get the basic things I needed to just work with sheet metal and I'll work on improving my sawing techniques and maybe I'll make a few sellable pieces that can earn me some money towards the torch!

The torch kit I am looking at is made by Gentec- It is a propane/oxygen combo (I'm told that acetelyne suppliers in the North East are becoming increasingly expensive and harder to find) and is just under $300. So anyway, that's my babble on tools and supplies and plans for today- I'm very excited to start this new chapter and will post with the progress I make soon!

-Tara