tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80208480275933307662024-02-19T12:22:05.823+01:00SilverBlueberryHandmade jewelry by Esmeralda WoestenenkSilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-73611341499524713292014-08-09T10:31:00.000+02:002014-08-09T10:31:19.968+02:00Sales mapThere is this fun app for Etsy that shows you where in the world you have sold items to. Here is my map! Apparently I have sold to 39 countries and 47 US states.<br />
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Fun!<br />
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Wanna try it too? Find the app <a href="https://etsy-sales-map.herokuapp.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<pre data-embed-url-base="http://www.etsysalesmap.com/map/7815017/embed" id="embed" style="background-color: #cfd9db; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 0px 0px 1px 1px inset; color: #2c3e50; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 0.7em; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe height="500" src="http://www.etsysalesmap.com/map/7815017/embed?center_lat=27.6247&center_lng=3.4648&zoom=2" width="960"></iframe></pre>
SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-55539214029885587772014-05-28T21:21:00.001+02:002014-05-28T21:21:09.876+02:00lost wax castingI recently took a class in lost wax casting. The basic technique has been around for thousands of years (!) but I expect it is a bit different now compared to then. You make pieces in wax that are to be cast afterwards. You build a tree of the wax pieces (this is called sprueing) and fasten it on the lid of a metal cylinder. When that is done, you fill the cylinder with some kind of plaster and let it harden. You melt away the wax in a kiln, and then fill the empty space with molten metal.<br />
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Note that there are different methods and varying equipment that can be used for casting. This is just one way, and not a comprehensive guide!<br />
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<b>Working with wax</b><br />
Wax work has so many possibilities that it is a bit overwhelming. There are different types of wax, some are stiff and hard, some of soft and easy to shape with your fingers, but attract dust and other particles because of their stickiness. You can melt, carve, saw and file wax. You can melt it and pour it into silicone molds. In the picture below there are some blue wax pieces, for instance the flowers and the small cedar branches, that have been made with wax that is molten and then poured into a mold. When set, this wax is very bendy and plasticky. The smooth looking blue rings are the blue type of wax used for making rings. They are sold as tubes; I sawed a number of rings from the tube and then carefully melted them with a torch. If you heat them too long, everything will melt into a puddle, so take a break sometimes and let everything cool down.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45PzAIp66-Lw2eldqqLGDlHRgvIl3s9pIDH9vH4AArIF2UiCy8ubkyG_EkHi_QHWq-ceUKsRZS0-Y9dZyakSvAKonLxNEXsbF9OLbj3Pg76nJ07IYYgWjXy8n8aFFz7JHxOMs6rQDMutx/s1600/IMG_0103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45PzAIp66-Lw2eldqqLGDlHRgvIl3s9pIDH9vH4AArIF2UiCy8ubkyG_EkHi_QHWq-ceUKsRZS0-Y9dZyakSvAKonLxNEXsbF9OLbj3Pg76nJ07IYYgWjXy8n8aFFz7JHxOMs6rQDMutx/s1600/IMG_0103.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wax shapes: the red in the back is soft, sticky wax, the blue is harder.</td></tr>
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<b>Sprueing</b><br />
Notice the sticks that make all the wax shapes look like weird lollipops. This is a different type of wax that is used to build the tree (aka sprueing). Below you can see the start of a tree and the finished tree on the lid of the cylinder. Building a tree is tricky. I had many pieces, and two trees to build, so I wanted my trees to be as tight as possible. If you look at the very first picture again, you see I have some of my smallest pieces on their own little tree, which can then be set on the top of the big tree. You need about 1 mm of space between pieces, so it can be built pretty tightly. But if pieces fall off during handling, it can be difficult to repair a tight tree.<br />
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Note that I cut down all the pink wax sticks as far as possible so save both space and material. Every sprue you add is a piece of silver, so it adds to the weight and cost. Cutting down sticks of wax is always best done with a heated scalpel. Keep a small candle on your work surface to heat the knife, and paper to dry off the wax that accumulates on the blade.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeh5sY9Dejqqy7toQQiytRPuw33XJAin1VoyCX75UxhOEFZrOAoL6JCSJrcG_TuJVS97_mJbtfFxAx-HGv2S6i5aYd_YzRR_FGo7vP7dKLXHc698x_bRtnzkq2F0l0R3hCnBDS1ifTJse6/s1600/IMG_0105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeh5sY9Dejqqy7toQQiytRPuw33XJAin1VoyCX75UxhOEFZrOAoL6JCSJrcG_TuJVS97_mJbtfFxAx-HGv2S6i5aYd_YzRR_FGo7vP7dKLXHc698x_bRtnzkq2F0l0R3hCnBDS1ifTJse6/s1600/IMG_0105.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is precision work. It's helpful to hold <br />the tree in tweezers and fix it as well as possible while working</td></tr>
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Before fastening the tree on the lid of the cylinder, you have to cut it to its final length (again with a heated scalpel). Then lift it carefully and weigh it to determine how much silver you need for casting. A rule of thumb is the weight of silver = 10x the weight of wax.<br />
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Once you have weighed your tree you can fasten it to the lid, again by melting the areas that are going to be in contact, both on the wax that is on the lid of the cylinder and on the bottom of the tree. Hold the tree steady while it hardens, and then it is done. If you're experienced, you might want to put the tree at a slight angle if you have bulky items that come a little too close to the wall of the cylinder. This way you can cheat a little and gain a little extra space.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICt8eL0GIB7wxvPhUJnv46KCRIOqUbsDLqRVZX9lENO_iwZ4LYZpMxPWy5yt7BoaZhujmIdYm26lnMBwxzVp_pj5xNdRgs446Ayt03s1vhWzlKJXMTHczIGsAFhYU1YClG12ThUUUD9-0/s1600/IMG_0116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICt8eL0GIB7wxvPhUJnv46KCRIOqUbsDLqRVZX9lENO_iwZ4LYZpMxPWy5yt7BoaZhujmIdYm26lnMBwxzVp_pj5xNdRgs446Ayt03s1vhWzlKJXMTHczIGsAFhYU1YClG12ThUUUD9-0/s1600/IMG_0116.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A finished tree. Note that the trunk is <br />very short now. You only have as much <br />room as your cylinder is high (a little less actually)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WODkrIBaWbNQxa1SdSMEFdlbKMQlazWYi48RKB76h457hVEwvZmEtNa70jLLOMJhuzn9o9r9CXruniXKhPAtRuMIb2cWSGp6r6sLnKmwc7dxl7-wmiSCLhtI6SCJkSPHvfAY_8Cjb6HX/s1600/IMG_0117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WODkrIBaWbNQxa1SdSMEFdlbKMQlazWYi48RKB76h457hVEwvZmEtNa70jLLOMJhuzn9o9r9CXruniXKhPAtRuMIb2cWSGp6r6sLnKmwc7dxl7-wmiSCLhtI6SCJkSPHvfAY_8Cjb6HX/s1600/IMG_0117.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished tree seen from above</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0V_4fH_tFDsus5Y0vvjpblrsfWJ3YwVGNRbDN0L7_lZHKD0X1gMUUKD3935p_do1Rit3I5r4n19aEjzacfR2XuLeXlZH3L8cCuXiIqUvNM28fI0GznIIjln6zIUX_blTgKfPsTjULvDVu/s1600/IMG_0106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0V_4fH_tFDsus5Y0vvjpblrsfWJ3YwVGNRbDN0L7_lZHKD0X1gMUUKD3935p_do1Rit3I5r4n19aEjzacfR2XuLeXlZH3L8cCuXiIqUvNM28fI0GznIIjln6zIUX_blTgKfPsTjULvDVu/s1600/IMG_0106.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tree inside the cylinder</td></tr>
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After fastening the tree, the cylinder is put in place and filled with plaster. We used something gypsum-based, but it was especially meant for casting - meaning it can withstand extreme heat without breaking. The plaster had to dry for about 15 minutes.<br />
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<b>Removal of wax and preparation for casting</b><br />
The wax is removed (burnt out) from the cylinder in a kiln at about 600C for 3-6 hours. My teacher had the cylinders standing at 600C just before casting, so they are hot and the heat will help the silver stay molten.<br />
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Sterling silver scrap is cut into approximately equal parts, to help with melting. If a piece is not molten it will stay in the crucible, so it's not the end of the world, but you don't want that to happen to too many pieces.<br />
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<b>Casting</b><br />
The crucible is filled with the silver scrap and the cylinder is put in place in the centrifugal casting machine. And then the hot phase starts!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxtMa73hqY2KSKdFU7IoNWlm62Kz4Gzq-PNJvKB5FgRCoWIvBGHn-r4ypNuq1d3qALWtLr_ahgKjaDSRij1bYcfCXwuIiZvt9ey185IIDnwnEFuyXvwqHsj6rMFrVoswdFwl76bmxXarjh/s1600/IMG_0114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxtMa73hqY2KSKdFU7IoNWlm62Kz4Gzq-PNJvKB5FgRCoWIvBGHn-r4ypNuq1d3qALWtLr_ahgKjaDSRij1bYcfCXwuIiZvt9ey185IIDnwnEFuyXvwqHsj6rMFrVoswdFwl76bmxXarjh/s1600/IMG_0114.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A big-ass torch, so loud that we needed ear protection</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokm5-GUmfvnWEsgQGgAyZ6k4LCn6L-gpxM_HGooibwkmVOToiTrs3iHdvzhUz9VNu4-egkxIv0WtOIrvy20sQtKtnupS8OT0vNJf8-DHx5_JuOFCjhksSCKtZ3PcScd3BUC8B6_poWukk/s1600/IMG_0110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokm5-GUmfvnWEsgQGgAyZ6k4LCn6L-gpxM_HGooibwkmVOToiTrs3iHdvzhUz9VNu4-egkxIv0WtOIrvy20sQtKtnupS8OT0vNJf8-DHx5_JuOFCjhksSCKtZ3PcScd3BUC8B6_poWukk/s1600/IMG_0110.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heating the crucible; the cylinder is directly behind it</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPIoHlydkva07mfXFRcRpvK-_klcTEQD-RvSp7gtWIr6lrfuvBnw_I7kjKdR8XdNCSPRbbUOAruqdaZT5NJKjNWjCsQVo8WM-biXmOTzfGS5AIAb-4X_sw1cUqxHIGBgAVQjW78DkzOhg/s1600/IMG_0111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPIoHlydkva07mfXFRcRpvK-_klcTEQD-RvSp7gtWIr6lrfuvBnw_I7kjKdR8XdNCSPRbbUOAruqdaZT5NJKjNWjCsQVo8WM-biXmOTzfGS5AIAb-4X_sw1cUqxHIGBgAVQjW78DkzOhg/s1600/IMG_0111.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting hot. The silver is probed from time to time to check if <br />everything has melted.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUmBINquacruqFdZ4DnO0yoirRDmi37Effych0q-wPSIdzvTJAHZ_k8M8nhB9t6sU-qt3T5rc7CI-sWh_VwEmTTc35Yt8HBLXuhygXYt3N33fEv5clBfyBkvU26Mr_SsKKFC6YWtilYas1/s1600/IMG_0115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUmBINquacruqFdZ4DnO0yoirRDmi37Effych0q-wPSIdzvTJAHZ_k8M8nhB9t6sU-qt3T5rc7CI-sWh_VwEmTTc35Yt8HBLXuhygXYt3N33fEv5clBfyBkvU26Mr_SsKKFC6YWtilYas1/s1600/IMG_0115.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost ready to let the centrifuge force the metal into the mold.</td></tr>
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When the silver is completely liquid, the security pin holding the rotational device of the centrifugal caster is dropped down and it starts to spin. At that moment the flame is removed.<br /><br /><b>After casting</b><br />
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The rotation stops and now we can remove the cylinder with big tweezers. It is placed on a heat-tolerant surface for about 10 minutes to let it cool off slightly. At this moment the silver is still hot and orange in colour. After 10 minutes the cylinder is lifted from the surface, again with tweezers and gloves (still hot!) and quenched in a big bucket of water. The plaster will crumble and dissolve in the water, and your silver tree can be found in a now almost empty cylinder.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYVBRc6XMHc6yRcyk065QiNdnd-mZsGkIW74hbubRgLh8npDjv5ShP6dUVu6UF2eV5S9KLBO-UZw2iVtK4AXocBedSsFm9dhuioy9wk7I0dul7ggrSL7RWlPXuqxgfXyL92Bqlvbs3VIZY/s1600/IMG_0118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYVBRc6XMHc6yRcyk065QiNdnd-mZsGkIW74hbubRgLh8npDjv5ShP6dUVu6UF2eV5S9KLBO-UZw2iVtK4AXocBedSsFm9dhuioy9wk7I0dul7ggrSL7RWlPXuqxgfXyL92Bqlvbs3VIZY/s1600/IMG_0118.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hot cylinders cooling off before a water bath</td></tr>
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The silver tree with all your items on it can now be inspected. Did you melt enough silver? In my case I had one tree where we had slightly too much silver, and the tree had a big foot of silver, and the other tree had slightly too little silver, and some of my pieces were not attached to the tree. With too little silver, there is a risk that not all cavities get filled, and the pieces lowest on the tree might end up being incomplete.<br />
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The plaster sits in all the nooks and crannies of your tree. You can try to remove it as well as possible with tweezers, brushes and water, before submerging the whole tree in pickle. As you can see in the pictures, there is a lot of oxidation that needs to be removed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJtCwFGFU7dqDXakNp15Mjq1h9QnTR3r8E-kiAFRaWv9XJGtdMxTHbOuL7g9RQWnlGxTUbP9huxcHiZ2T0V0GkETOzoiEZp-VroSpOWlFUQlkXPiYU-s8VaCsuUiz4ggDLAo8rct9wrBH/s1600/IMG_0122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJtCwFGFU7dqDXakNp15Mjq1h9QnTR3r8E-kiAFRaWv9XJGtdMxTHbOuL7g9RQWnlGxTUbP9huxcHiZ2T0V0GkETOzoiEZp-VroSpOWlFUQlkXPiYU-s8VaCsuUiz4ggDLAo8rct9wrBH/s1600/IMG_0122.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The silver tree right after casting and quenching. It's black! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4PkXsIPA6BRoodJIRsRwull6lCpJaWhmGwA5nXaaJAn9eoi08gpGCLB1uXO53_KZr9uRrHKBAzOEuV2RRjWTAIgpPKan2Sdhh71-lWFlTkHqjbBcJM1Lkvk0DtTfEFm7OE1VBiZQAxHF/s1600/IMG_0123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4PkXsIPA6BRoodJIRsRwull6lCpJaWhmGwA5nXaaJAn9eoi08gpGCLB1uXO53_KZr9uRrHKBAzOEuV2RRjWTAIgpPKan2Sdhh71-lWFlTkHqjbBcJM1Lkvk0DtTfEFm7OE1VBiZQAxHF/s1600/IMG_0123.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The oxidised tree, some loose pieces (too little silver, so they are not <br />attached to the tree, and some pickled pieces in the background)</td></tr>
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This is how it looks after pickling:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImzTKEMUxBxXeh-KUAohdxSO8ayD85_m-W6fboz_jDLzB_vRFIibmogap_BFrlqyeD9X2G6dS7F9CJ3SBzZrBoNOFJvyFNOSN5FWe4L4VKZ9lEE3QCIk4JFGg3I6bHqnn-hw9qGm-q2NQ/s1600/IMG_0124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImzTKEMUxBxXeh-KUAohdxSO8ayD85_m-W6fboz_jDLzB_vRFIibmogap_BFrlqyeD9X2G6dS7F9CJ3SBzZrBoNOFJvyFNOSN5FWe4L4VKZ9lEE3QCIk4JFGg3I6bHqnn-hw9qGm-q2NQ/s1600/IMG_0124.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
You can see that I have started finishing the pieces in the background. First you saw off all the pieces from the tree. After that I had to do quite a bit of finishing work, like sanding, filing and polishing. As soon as I have finished some pieces entirely I will show the result.SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-42438654372232570222013-09-24T21:28:00.000+02:002013-09-24T21:28:17.707+02:00MilestonesA few days ago I sat in a meeting with a boss at my job, and I noticed how this person sometimes looked at my necklace, which happened to be my honeycomb necklace. I sort of drifted off with my mind then (I hope I didn't miss anything vital), and thought about my sales on Etsy, and how many people spread over the whole world have bought my things, and could be wearing them right at that moment. Maybe other people would also glance at them, and wonder where they had bought their jewelry.<br />
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And just today, I hit 1,000 sales in my Etsy shop, which is amazing in so many ways. One amazing thing is that I have actually made over 1,000 items. And then I have made some more that have ended up on the scrap pile, but we're not talking about those. ;) The other amazing thing is that people have found my things nice enough to buy, and for that I want to thank everyone who has bought from me so far!<br />
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Customers have also helped me in others ways. For instance my needle ring is the product of a custom order request, and I loved it so much that I continued to make it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTPD_2rXXVxgitFeFqyE9-hr9r8BnWBL4vYXQXfY2ZZc5Fw8qp0RJ6K8VwkQ_eQlXJ0XqcNdOoggG66DOlrZtNAJ1c7OXPRjtSkIYBHaFjXQpF5weVDd1owfhfqTweOKCDagFqX_ojW8v/s1600/1986_01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTPD_2rXXVxgitFeFqyE9-hr9r8BnWBL4vYXQXfY2ZZc5Fw8qp0RJ6K8VwkQ_eQlXJ0XqcNdOoggG66DOlrZtNAJ1c7OXPRjtSkIYBHaFjXQpF5weVDd1owfhfqTweOKCDagFqX_ojW8v/s320/1986_01.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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So, thank you everyone! :)</div>
SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-7405733809057385302013-06-08T11:35:00.000+02:002013-06-08T11:36:16.316+02:00My ring on Etsy's Front PageThe day I thought of my honeycomb design has turned out to be a happy day for me. I had no idea it would give my shop so many views and favourites!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVIzJqRLiJf5J6GtWyZlgWkxcJZi7xkFqEIo5ZoCe804SxDPceUkk1LwZfg5-vpGDOG810431Wg2jZn16TZuIVAOCgCcdNPThk_ys29unlgEsaHh5ROh3z1JxGksxqIUB5Zxv7rzzZ4Hl/s1600/2151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVIzJqRLiJf5J6GtWyZlgWkxcJZi7xkFqEIo5ZoCe804SxDPceUkk1LwZfg5-vpGDOG810431Wg2jZn16TZuIVAOCgCcdNPThk_ys29unlgEsaHh5ROh3z1JxGksxqIUB5Zxv7rzzZ4Hl/s320/2151.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The honeycomb ring can be found <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/97060093/silver-honeycomb-ring-with-gold-honey?ref=shop_home_active" target="_blank">here</a> on Etsy</td></tr>
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<br />
Yesterday a beautiful treasury including my honeycomb ring made it to the front page of Etsy - yay!<br />
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Here it is:<br />
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<script src="http://www.craftcult.com/vault_widget.js"></script><script> document.write (window.ccvault_widg.framehtml(39207,4,2,2,1,0,0)); </script>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-43002455204096851532013-03-10T17:45:00.000+01:002013-03-10T17:45:05.102+01:00What got me into metalsmithing?This is the topic of the team blog roll from the Etsy Aspiring Metalsmiths Team. The thing that came to mind first is that I can't leave things alone that I don't understand.<br />
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For instance, I remember when I was a Biology student, first year at University, and I was at my first lecture on molecular genetics. I know it sounds nerdy, but I could hardly wait to hear what the professor had to say. I wanted to understand so badly how it all worked that I sat on the tip of my chair, willing him to speak faster and say more.<br />
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Then the veil is opened and all of the sudden you have stepped into that world. Sometimes I tire quickly of the thing I was so curious about, but with molecular genetics I didn't, and not with metalsmithing either.<br />
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Metalsmithing is not like some other crafts. Most you have tried out in kindergarten, and you've moved on, or not. Metalsmithing is mysterious, and may lure you in through an excessive love of jewelry that one day makes you think: what if I could make this myself... I had never really felt motivated enough to paint or draw but it turned out metalsmithing was different.<br />
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I started out with a metal clay class. Metal clay seemed to be relatively easy to get started with, and it quickly gives nice results. This is one of my first pieces:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRj_Cxp82sckNOUwNG9CENnc0ws9JhEKVDCjzX6rSexUfo-9Bq9aqm92LfoBVXBElWiL7kQk2rTY8P7jpvSkUgaPfKqND2sZy-aLk0bADxcbzThIRbKfeO0qNf8fjeYQQ5xT9trIBODEB/s1600/snowflake_folded_pendant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRj_Cxp82sckNOUwNG9CENnc0ws9JhEKVDCjzX6rSexUfo-9Bq9aqm92LfoBVXBElWiL7kQk2rTY8P7jpvSkUgaPfKqND2sZy-aLk0bADxcbzThIRbKfeO0qNf8fjeYQQ5xT9trIBODEB/s320/snowflake_folded_pendant.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the pieces from my first metal clay class</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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After a while metal clay wasn't enough and I wanted to hammer, forge, solder and set stones. So I started taking a class in silversmithing. Here is my first metalsmithed ring. It took me quite long to make it...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjuVNbmsa8UwaD5R5sAimjDblO3fqkXvzwZXhwoglTGzcdnfmOcwRco8BqsP0ZZiv-qkuBzDx7npVMS1lF5kXjVc2NJHROHGAlR2wLOcYwqtVqBuxRgNqDD64T1_dgrz37tabmPalyBOW/s1600/malachite+ring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjuVNbmsa8UwaD5R5sAimjDblO3fqkXvzwZXhwoglTGzcdnfmOcwRco8BqsP0ZZiv-qkuBzDx7npVMS1lF5kXjVc2NJHROHGAlR2wLOcYwqtVqBuxRgNqDD64T1_dgrz37tabmPalyBOW/s320/malachite+ring.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First piece I made in metalsmithing class</td></tr>
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And that was that. I was hooked! So I bought tools, and books, and stones, and set up an ever expanding area at home where I now make my things.<br />
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Check out what other team members have to say about this subject:<br />
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<span style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">SerpentsDance </span><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://www.dancetothedoor.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="background-color: #f5f5f1; color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.dancetothedoor.blogspot.com/</a><br style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Marcus Berkner Jewelry </span><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://berknerdesigns.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="background-color: #f5f5f1; color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">berknerdesigns.blogspot.com/</a><br style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Valerie @ LilyEmme Jewelry </span><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://blog.lilyemmejewelry.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="background-color: #f5f5f1; color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">blog.lilyemmejewelry.com</a><br style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">All Wired Up Jewelry Designs </span><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://www.allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="background-color: #f5f5f1; color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com</a><br style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Kalicat Jewelry Designs </span><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://kalicatdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="background-color: #f5f5f1; color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">kalicatdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/</a><br style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Kim Bell </span><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://www.kimberlybelldesigns.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="background-color: #f5f5f1; color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.kimberlybelldesigns.blogspot.com</a><br style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Beatriz Fortes </span><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://www.beatrizfortes.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="background-color: #f5f5f1; color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.beatrizfortes.blogspot.com</a>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-17088801712698433512012-10-28T16:40:00.000+01:002012-10-28T16:40:51.452+01:00Winter is coming<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB8QwLdKkswvM7QChiTaCFqO76eAcSbbA6XPPp0KOnmavMhpwrJd_6M5sdai45oXFOxspea0fjFWoUvflnRo_AKpMFrZBpCinAWp1kH43QWtlZvt1Ud_mZTsuL7i738N5Ft4BTnT81dzCg/s1600/995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB8QwLdKkswvM7QChiTaCFqO76eAcSbbA6XPPp0KOnmavMhpwrJd_6M5sdai45oXFOxspea0fjFWoUvflnRo_AKpMFrZBpCinAWp1kH43QWtlZvt1Ud_mZTsuL7i738N5Ft4BTnT81dzCg/s320/995.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had to take a picture when Yasmin made these pretty <br />paw prints on the frozen bannister today.</td></tr>
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Yes, I am one of those (hooked on Game of Thrones). But winter IS coming and that means the end for my leaf jewelry until May next year. It's sort of nice - all summer long I am in search of perfect willow leaves and have in the back of my head that I should make some more fern rings or pendants before it's too late. But now it's too late, and I feel pretty good about it! Those of you who have gardens will recognize the feeling: spring and summer are glorious times in the garden but are filled with musts, shoulds and have to's.<br />
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Winter is the quiet time where nothing needs to be done (except shovelling snow, which I will ignore for now). Without winter, I wouldn't enjoy spring and summer as much.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB4DHU5T9WvZr2CSTG35YaWrW6MqFwn9araO5KIXDgSeV-KMDcmorkEwr8hYtRw5tlNJsfK6HpRZogbBeyZlVej62yIKiB7EmXwMhEowLHa2u7Jr6SIDxRAykKdxRxBjpe76Sq1yYTO9sb/s1600/998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB4DHU5T9WvZr2CSTG35YaWrW6MqFwn9araO5KIXDgSeV-KMDcmorkEwr8hYtRw5tlNJsfK6HpRZogbBeyZlVej62yIKiB7EmXwMhEowLHa2u7Jr6SIDxRAykKdxRxBjpe76Sq1yYTO9sb/s320/998.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last of the green leaves are now on their way out.<br />Here the raspberry leaves that give their pretty texture<br />to my small post earrings with leaf texture. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPeXv9kfomaWM3WWsoAlHn2VuJ0GTyP4g3AH2G6fGV6pUGR7fCF3d-4W-9i4Kcbwmtsf02Xk7c0TB_3Eex77DDtM9gmOOFdRDGa3XUJpvwphyKPEyQvVdLVgwrGhow6QGvYRKbWYuNrGhf/s1600/999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPeXv9kfomaWM3WWsoAlHn2VuJ0GTyP4g3AH2G6fGV6pUGR7fCF3d-4W-9i4Kcbwmtsf02Xk7c0TB_3Eex77DDtM9gmOOFdRDGa3XUJpvwphyKPEyQvVdLVgwrGhow6QGvYRKbWYuNrGhf/s320/999.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little bird at the bowl of peanuts. Winter is high season<br />for the birds.</td></tr>
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For my jewelry, I wouldn't enjoy making leaf jewelry as much in summer if I didn't have that winter break. I should really focus on my vast stone collection and try to make it a little smaller (I'm starting to believe it is impossible).SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-53635170766732835472012-06-24T22:27:00.002+02:002012-06-24T22:29:38.594+02:00Etsy front page!My Henry the Hedgehog is in this beautiful grey-toned treasury on the front page of Etsy today!<br />
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<script src="http://www.craftcult.com/vault_widget.js">
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document.write (window.ccvault_widg.framehtml(30443,4,3,2,1,0,0));
</script>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-63884023182953196692012-04-22T12:27:00.000+02:002012-04-22T12:28:11.570+02:00On the front page!My honeycomb ring was featured on the front page of Etsy last night in this beautiful treasury:<br />
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<script src="http://www.craftcult.com/vault_widget.js">
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document.write (window.ccvault_widg.framehtml(28926,4,2,2,1,0,0));
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:) yay!SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-61323840015086527142012-04-01T12:31:00.005+02:002012-04-02T08:29:29.615+02:00Signs of springFor this month's blogroll of our Etsy Aspiring Metalsmiths team the topic is Spring, and how it affects our jewelry design and work.<br />
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Now, about spring. Having grown up in the Netherlands but living in Sweden, I have realized that my definition of spring is not like the Swedish definition of spring. My mother always lets me know when the first spring flowers come. Snowdrops in January, crocus in February-March, etc. Easter dinners often have fresh spring vegetables and you see lambs in the meadows and ducklings everywhere.<br />
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Here, we often have snow, ice and wintery weather well into April, the food you get at Easter is basically the same food you have at Christmas, and if you're lucky and the snow has melted, you can see one or two flowers carefully peeking out. When I hadn't been living in Sweden long, people would surprise me with their talk about spring (to me it felt and looked like winter) and 'springwinter' (vårvinter in Swedish). Now that I have lived here longer I can appreciate springwinter. It still looks like winter but it's lighter out. There is melting water running in the ditches besides the roads and there are definitely signs of spring. Dirty, melting snow, gravelly roads (annoying but a sign of spring!), and if it's sunny out you feel the warmth of the sun rays. The plants wait and wait, especially if April is cold, and then suddenly everything explodes.<br />
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This year we have been lucky with a warm March, and even though it's cold again now, we have some bold pioneers:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjIfXrKyl3MZ9fCrf9Muv4mbyHSKUaXs1f8g2rU1-wr86no1jsn31yqI-ds5VILqTumgDnm0V04tsORtTU5wFR_SkVD7jOb84Ukw9AKstbaopCkHKcjvqjFfKbycE2GfSSck_MDL8ivhg/s1600/DSC_0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjIfXrKyl3MZ9fCrf9Muv4mbyHSKUaXs1f8g2rU1-wr86no1jsn31yqI-ds5VILqTumgDnm0V04tsORtTU5wFR_SkVD7jOb84Ukw9AKstbaopCkHKcjvqjFfKbycE2GfSSck_MDL8ivhg/s320/DSC_0001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJOn1fctZt0Q7ubN5riR9F-Hyae82_85IdBHqRUmwdIbkhc9o-btVAFevPO9P3V8HeqDtaOHwHRN20jNpLD7GFLq74qKuTmKxqZyXcQWN_s-GV4zd751Vii64EYIs5zpsIlFSHJ_Ins2CC/s1600/DSC_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJOn1fctZt0Q7ubN5riR9F-Hyae82_85IdBHqRUmwdIbkhc9o-btVAFevPO9P3V8HeqDtaOHwHRN20jNpLD7GFLq74qKuTmKxqZyXcQWN_s-GV4zd751Vii64EYIs5zpsIlFSHJ_Ins2CC/s320/DSC_0004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIT_uwSBCh5F8ULDIAaexGH2zOFIDpg_5ZGurCnC0L0wLBqzZa8Lhnled0_wxkZzFWW347OhNKqpmgJPQe34DFALxwOC2H0O6dlnAbDtUtzhDX2rbyiPaC8ZDdRCkA9raUFw2i9z3t9yJ/s1600/DSC_0007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIT_uwSBCh5F8ULDIAaexGH2zOFIDpg_5ZGurCnC0L0wLBqzZa8Lhnled0_wxkZzFWW347OhNKqpmgJPQe34DFALxwOC2H0O6dlnAbDtUtzhDX2rbyiPaC8ZDdRCkA9raUFw2i9z3t9yJ/s320/DSC_0007.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For me and my jewelry, spring is a big deal. My stock of willow rings is declining now that we are at the end of winter, and I have to turn down people who inquire after fern rings in popular sizes. But once spring starts and the leaves are there, I have a couple of busy months. See <a href="http://jewelry-by-silverblueberry.blogspot.se/2011/05/birch-season-has-started.html" target="_blank">here</a> for instance. Many leaves need to be at a certain stage where they are the prettiest, usually when they are just unfolding and they are all crinkly. And right now I feel anxious like a farmer about his crop - will there be any frost just as the leaves are unfolding? Has my fern survived? Will my willow produce good leaves or will it be attacked by a moose? (you never know!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Check out the posts on the same topic by my talented team members:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Steph Stargell <a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://stephstargell.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" target="_blank">stephstargell.com</a><br />
Lilian <a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://girllovesglitter.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" target="_blank">girllovesglitter.blogspot.com</a><br />
Pennee - All Wired Up Jewelry Designs <a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" target="_blank">allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com</a><br />
nancycreations <a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://nancysjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" target="_blank">nancysjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com</a><br />
SerpentsDanceDesigns <a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://dancetothedoor.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" target="_blank">dancetothedoor.blogspot.com</a><br />
Autumn Bradley <a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://autumnbradley.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" target="_blank">autumnbradley.blogspot.com</a><br />
Contemporary Jewelry by Beatriz Fortes <a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://cjbf.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" target="_blank">cjbf.blogspot.com</a><br />
Jessica @ Abella Blue <a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://abellabluestudio.com/blog" rel="#external-link-overlay" target="_blank">abellabluestudio.com/blog</a><br />
Sylvia Anderson <a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://sylviaanderson.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" target="_blank">sylviaanderson.blogspot.com</a><br />
Gloria <a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://gloria-hemlockhollow.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" target="_blank">gloria-hemlockhollow.blogspot.com</a><br />
Amy Estelle <a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://amyestellemetalworks.blogspot.com/2012/03/spring-has-sprung.html" rel="#external-link-overlay" target="_blank">amyestellemetalworks.blogspot.com/2012/03/spring-has-sprung.html</a></div>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-25993677320425629112012-02-03T17:22:00.001+01:002012-02-03T17:27:33.189+01:00Tutorial - fold formed earrings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's been a while since I did a tutorial. In part it is that I don't feel my skills are on that level that I can tell other people how to make something. And when you see how these earrings are made you will see that it is actually very easy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLhjmhmpo83YjRVpE8NM7iozfBmrMQTTeLuTv8LxCjtxNSvWajHiwJoK77lErz5yMGx5L0gQY1_SL1CDgoErDGQ356cyz3R0Dj9NDgU_2r7xfOMjm3fy4bVHJxbFEWKyvpmB0-gh1Zl7Eo/s1600/DSC_0029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLhjmhmpo83YjRVpE8NM7iozfBmrMQTTeLuTv8LxCjtxNSvWajHiwJoK77lErz5yMGx5L0gQY1_SL1CDgoErDGQ356cyz3R0Dj9NDgU_2r7xfOMjm3fy4bVHJxbFEWKyvpmB0-gh1Zl7Eo/s320/DSC_0029.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For the first pair of these earrings I made I used sterling silver sheet, pretty thin - 0.3-0.4 mm. For the pair in this tutorial I used 0.3 mm fine silver, and it's extremely easy to work with. You don't have to worry about firescale either, which is very handy since there are multiple heating (annealing) steps involved. If you use sterling silver, you have to pickle in between, which is not necessary with fine silver.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I start with cutting two pieces of my fine silver sheet. It is not necessary that they are absolutely identical, but approximately the same size.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb23TB0mRWlsAksJ4UfNu86iE8P66J69MVfm_uz_lMQfqkO2eorfIqBf4cC-sNx68N3czalVH40tcyOjcRFZujjegC7MPQcN6LYCsGeTbA7dx_84llsTZKVk9oMfezbnLOUnIEg68DtZr-/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb23TB0mRWlsAksJ4UfNu86iE8P66J69MVfm_uz_lMQfqkO2eorfIqBf4cC-sNx68N3czalVH40tcyOjcRFZujjegC7MPQcN6LYCsGeTbA7dx_84llsTZKVk9oMfezbnLOUnIEg68DtZr-/s320/DSC_0006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I usually order my silver sheet dead soft, so I can fold the pieces of sheet directly as shown in picture 1 below. I can't fold the corners flat with my fingers, so I use my plastic mallet (wooden or rawhide mallet can also be used) on a wood surface to flatten the folded piece of sheet (picture 2).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I then cut a halfround-ish shape out of the sheet with my metal sheers, and try to cut approximately the same shape of both pieces of folded sheet (pictures 3 and 4). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fNvCvJpA9togvQtyXhSyPs0gsS0ZqBCi9yVCbJ3Ib5Lvu3vQZ87RgtGaKceyWI1TlCXHny_U3K14bDXaCLFTgnENi1RmwM2NevNxt8lmWCeK0QUJZPi0IUfy7aOwvPWY0eFGk-JopDgY/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fNvCvJpA9togvQtyXhSyPs0gsS0ZqBCi9yVCbJ3Ib5Lvu3vQZ87RgtGaKceyWI1TlCXHny_U3K14bDXaCLFTgnENi1RmwM2NevNxt8lmWCeK0QUJZPi0IUfy7aOwvPWY0eFGk-JopDgY/s400/Slide1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Now we start the hammering and forming of the earrings. On picture 5 you see that I'm using the sharp side of a riveting hammer on a steel block. I hammer perpendicular to the seam and do not hammer on the seam itself but on the rounded side. As you will do this again and again, remember to keep hammering perpendicular to the seam (it will curl into a croissant). I hammer one side, then turn it around and hammer the other side. Then I anneal the piece and redo the hammering on both sides until I'm happy with the curvature.<br />
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On picture 6 you can see the difference between having done one earring once on both sides, and the other earring twice on both sides. Sterling silver may need a little more hammering than fine silver.<br />
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When I am happy with the curvature of the croissants I will make room for an earring post on one side (picture 7) with round nose pliers. When you've hammered one side, the pattern on the other side will get smooshed by the steel block, so as a finishing step I hammer the smooshed side once more on a wood surface (picture 8).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05CWihn4kXuaP5pIozRGdXTOCcakC2yQyOjKzNj9c1pml4RsVJhpBYzquXpmgNnT09TQkkEXBd56mkszg0YHARjoI5fyUHX617H347RytxZ68DK96WSOa_n-UYoD4fAwUEM47gsFDTknz/s1600/Slide2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05CWihn4kXuaP5pIozRGdXTOCcakC2yQyOjKzNj9c1pml4RsVJhpBYzquXpmgNnT09TQkkEXBd56mkszg0YHARjoI5fyUHX617H347RytxZ68DK96WSOa_n-UYoD4fAwUEM47gsFDTknz/s400/Slide2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I then solder earring posts to the earrings. I may reconsider when I do this step, since there is a risk that the solder flows between the two 'wings', so they can't be opened properly. I then pickle the earrings and open and shape them with my fingers, and this is the result:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisx6Of9CHiigvj9FampHrwI4Yj6qhp2YUxjzi3K5CcJ0fPvYAcfsMLx2YqES0oC9DNmpZdg8_1TOExkdOB8pktnoGf4LMNQF8mxQ7-Go_EDdxEStszVSCLU0aZjDmI59nKHfgg00U943zr/s1600/DSC_0025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisx6Of9CHiigvj9FampHrwI4Yj6qhp2YUxjzi3K5CcJ0fPvYAcfsMLx2YqES0oC9DNmpZdg8_1TOExkdOB8pktnoGf4LMNQF8mxQ7-Go_EDdxEStszVSCLU0aZjDmI59nKHfgg00U943zr/s320/DSC_0025.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I then throw them into the tumbler and out come a pair of shiny fold-formed earrings.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrU7Nt_Nt5MIk4CG3NYVR6lj7zZU79dqieOIGkDkpl4hdJy_hvExuHSdPujql_aSsIiC4jqxy4IK3lC2GwXUH5HlH8Systaia7Wq_y1iUZoBNqZYoIZrBGcmGdsyv0PdCfgwfgXSAEN4iZ/s1600/DSC_0028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrU7Nt_Nt5MIk4CG3NYVR6lj7zZU79dqieOIGkDkpl4hdJy_hvExuHSdPujql_aSsIiC4jqxy4IK3lC2GwXUH5HlH8Systaia7Wq_y1iUZoBNqZYoIZrBGcmGdsyv0PdCfgwfgXSAEN4iZ/s320/DSC_0028.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This blog post is part of the <a href="http://aspiringmetalsmiths.blogspot.com/2012/02/teaching-moment-january-blogroll.html" target="_blank">blogroll</a> of the Aspiring Metalsmiths Etsy Team, so please check out the other blogs that contributed to this month's tutorial theme:<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">VCArtisanOriginals -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://www.artisanoriginals.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.artisanoriginals.blogspot.com</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Sylvia Anderson -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://www.sylviaanderson.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.sylviaanderson.blogspot.com/</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Metals Addict -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://www.metalsaddict.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.metalsaddict.com</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Lilian Ginebra -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://girllovesglitter.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">girllovesglitter.blogspot.com/</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Esmeralda -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://jewelry-by-silverblueberry.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">jewelry-by-silverblueberry.blogspot.com/</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Amy Estelle –</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://www.amyestellemetalworks.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-first-tutorial-bezel-se.." rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.amyestellemetalworks.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-first-tutorial-bez...</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Mary Anne Karren -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com/</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Stacy -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/2012/01/making-ring-band.html" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/2012/01/making-ring-band.html</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Shannon of Gifted Designs -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://gifteddesigns.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">gifteddesigns.blogspot.com/</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Pennee- All Wired Up Jewelry Designs -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Jessica @ Abella Blue -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://www.abellablue.com/blog" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.abellablue.com/blog</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Elizabeth Brown –</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a class="external-link-overlay-trigger overlay-trigger" href="http://www.resurrectionsilver.blogspot.com/" rel="#external-link-overlay" style="color: #0192b5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.resurrectionsilver.blogspot.com</a></span>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-84192339208827852012012-01-26T21:03:00.000+01:002012-01-26T21:03:27.973+01:00The sweat of the sun and the tears of the moonWeird title? A few days ago I went to see the Inca gold exhibition in Stockholm and I wanted to remember this.<br />
<br />
According to the Inca, gold was the sweat of the sun and silver the tears of the moon. Isn't that pretty? Of course it had implications - no regular people ever wore gold or silver, only royalty did, since they were believed to be the living descendants of the sun god, Inti.<br />
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Anyway, they showed the most amazing and delicate gold and silver work there. Some of the jewelry could be mistaken for modern art jewelry - big solid gold ear plugs, giant (giant!) ear pieces or neck pieces, forehead, chin or nose decorations.. Not your everyday jewelry.<br />
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I definitely got inspired - now I feel like making all kinds of nose jewelry :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thelifeofadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/inca_vase.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.thelifeofadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/inca_vase.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thelifeofadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/incamask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://www.thelifeofadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/incamask.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-7579220257986622002011-08-10T22:09:00.000+02:002011-08-10T22:09:15.999+02:00Just married!Last Thursday (Aug 4th) John and I got married. We had originally thought to have a simple ceremony in the city hall of Stockholm but it seemed nice to be away for a few days and in the end we settled on having the wedding on Gotland. We saw this little guy on our way to the wedding:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIAh6VdDGqdey_lujx5aBDoRI0ii66WZOoA3ElykTJYHlDqi36qNaGtDOjcw8In4XyvkIaIfOLdWCBeh1eprlxoEL4ICHLbyzHe4D62CqjHh0XXGPu616msytYaLnb7ZZWhSk18qTkNA2B/s1600/bro%25CC%2588llop_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIAh6VdDGqdey_lujx5aBDoRI0ii66WZOoA3ElykTJYHlDqi36qNaGtDOjcw8In4XyvkIaIfOLdWCBeh1eprlxoEL4ICHLbyzHe4D62CqjHh0XXGPu616msytYaLnb7ZZWhSk18qTkNA2B/s320/bro%25CC%2588llop_001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I'm sure he was a good omen. :)<br />
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We had the - very short! - ceremony in this pretty pavilion in the botanical garden of Visby:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMVx6anuV_LoNxDpXtTEWjjzCmordqBMY5mf3hwDF12BiMUAV_tzCT8FCnI3kxA-CtWdb5hdO-ryeGIpPjFeJ5FYkU2GnL6MRdRhwv9pEZMLi2U_kjM53Me6W1n1S1yleoIq4tZ0uwAN_/s1600/bro%25CC%2588llop_006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMVx6anuV_LoNxDpXtTEWjjzCmordqBMY5mf3hwDF12BiMUAV_tzCT8FCnI3kxA-CtWdb5hdO-ryeGIpPjFeJ5FYkU2GnL6MRdRhwv9pEZMLi2U_kjM53Me6W1n1S1yleoIq4tZ0uwAN_/s400/bro%25CC%2588llop_006.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />
The registrar read this poem by Nils Ferlin. Below are both the swedish version and an english translation.<br />
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<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I folkviseton</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Nils Ferlin</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> (1898-1961)</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Kärleken kommer och kärleken går, </span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">ingen kan tyda dess lagar. </span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Men dig vill jag följa i vinter och vår </span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">och alla min levnads dagar.</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Mitt hjärta är ditt, </span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">ditt hjärta är mitt </span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">och aldrig jag lämnar det åter.</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Min lycka är din</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">din lycka är min, </span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">och gråten är min när du gråter.</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Kärleken är så förunderligt stark,</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">kuvas av intet i världen.</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rosor slår ut ur den hårdaste mark,</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">som sol över mörka gärden.</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Mitt hjärta är ditt, </span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">ditt hjärta är mitt </span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">och aldrig jag lämnar det åter.</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Min lycka är din</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">din lycka är min, </span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">och gråten är min när du gråter.</span></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: #464b2c; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><b><a href="http://user.tninet.se/~jll006w/nfeng.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Translation by Fred Lane</span></a></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: navy; font-size: medium;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">In Folk-song Fashion</span></span></b></span></div><span style="color: #464b2c; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: navy; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #464b2c; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: navy; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">Love comes along, love drifts away</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">No-one can tell us the reasons.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><div style="text-align: center;">But here by thy side, love, I know I shall stay</div><div style="text-align: center;">through all the passing seasons.</div></span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">My heart, it is thine; thy heart, it is mine</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">and mine shall remain till I die.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><div style="text-align: center;">My happiness, thine; thy happiness, mine</div><div style="text-align: center;">- thy tears, they are mine when thou cryest.</div></span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">Love is so strong, so wondrously strong</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">- naught in the world makes it yield.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><div style="text-align: center;">Roses spring up from the hardest of ground</div><div style="text-align: center;">as sunshine spreads over dark fields.</div></span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">My heart, it is thine; thy heart, it is mine</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">and mine shall remain till I die.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><div style="text-align: center;">My happiness, thine; thy happiness, mine</div><div style="text-align: center;">- thy tears, they are mine when thou cryest.</div></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxActDFHeQtGaxQywW6XvF_Z5rkpBh6qC_CB7sa140lHCl9JA8Y1m5dOJeY3-OSDnO3KTFADWcfmlnEGHKeEfyuiwlokv4Bhyphenhyphen9uv0Wda_ORApftOsMELffv7SxaU1zV1aZUiB5KZvZTRaS/s1600/bro%25CC%2588llop_010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxActDFHeQtGaxQywW6XvF_Z5rkpBh6qC_CB7sa140lHCl9JA8Y1m5dOJeY3-OSDnO3KTFADWcfmlnEGHKeEfyuiwlokv4Bhyphenhyphen9uv0Wda_ORApftOsMELffv7SxaU1zV1aZUiB5KZvZTRaS/s400/bro%25CC%2588llop_010.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-21124135851676022142011-07-25T21:34:00.001+02:002011-07-26T10:36:18.567+02:00July Project Blogroll - What are you working on?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">This month's blogroll of the Aspiring Metalsmiths Team we're showing what we are currently working on. And there is that word, currently. Are all the half-finished, half-started things on my bench included in this? Or just the items that I have actually touched recently?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have no idea if my way of working is similar to that of others or not. I sometimes sketch but most often don't. Usually I have bits of silver and stones lying around on my bench and sometimes they align themselves in a pretty way and I have a new pendant. I start things, and then forget about them. I make metal clay findings and then they lie around for a while (a while being between a few days and a year) until I find a use for them.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">So my bench looks very much like the two upper pictures below. One thing that I really do work on is of course my wedding jewelry. I finished all the segments of my necklace and I'm working on a way to attach the focal stone without it hanging wonky. Another thing I'm working on - just started today - are matching earrings, but I have no picture of those yet.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYCVA5baV5zreUaqjr6hvrRMt6Fs6ZeU0YfKnFXT9ZD462RvY1zaZtxccY4MxlPy6JBf8dAdJh0tjRJ54uumtIz8fIbhjF2YrMqC03UZnOyQSIQgFMOV70N5hzIRCekMz7b5SozsJI_ai/s1600/Slide4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYCVA5baV5zreUaqjr6hvrRMt6Fs6ZeU0YfKnFXT9ZD462RvY1zaZtxccY4MxlPy6JBf8dAdJh0tjRJ54uumtIz8fIbhjF2YrMqC03UZnOyQSIQgFMOV70N5hzIRCekMz7b5SozsJI_ai/s400/Slide4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upper left: stones, half finished rings, and PMC stuff in progress<br />
Upper right: my dish with some scrap, findings, solder, small stones<br />
Center below: wedding jewelry in progress</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Below is PMC work in progress. I did a big batch of fern earrings and some other stuff yesterday. Today most of that has been fired and the two pendants in the lower pic are still in progress. I touch up some areas with slip, let it dry, forget about it, sand, touch up again, sand, etc. That goes on until I either finish a piece or my cat steps on it and it's ruined. ;) </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGfOZmTruvu1l0H5rtHHs9otfRinbCATTi5UeLcpUlX5krrPD5UeA-NwkADC2yup2hwBu1KXE43tXRrEKApyzTUg1ucFz-kkdhu3fUme7H8nGf7NVMZI9rkVT8TBQuPlNabZoxBR_V2-hX/s1600/Slide2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGfOZmTruvu1l0H5rtHHs9otfRinbCATTi5UeLcpUlX5krrPD5UeA-NwkADC2yup2hwBu1KXE43tXRrEKApyzTUg1ucFz-kkdhu3fUme7H8nGf7NVMZI9rkVT8TBQuPlNabZoxBR_V2-hX/s400/Slide2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Below is a spontaneous project that started after a few etching attempts that didn't really turn out great. I cut off the etched parts and two rectangles were left. Earrings of course! I decided to make a rough texture by banging them against a piece of granite and then I decided I would try and flush set two emeralds at the ends. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">In the pictures below I am 1- about to solder on the posts; 2- about to throw them in the pickle after soldering; 3- showing off flushed set emerald #1 while I still struggle with #2. The match functions as a support while I try and flush set, since the stones stick out slightly at the back. I stick the earring post in a drill hole in my wooden block while I work on setting the stone. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9xVK72gSKff2vQsGmHWFEDL7qc9keUqVRBNVEE_tNcKvJ_4RDHQ4MBy-HVl9hM_TxyF3S5Ib7BVlUeWXifavaB7Gw3rTdcKXsFnPxYcWP3BVF-qocag_LJhR2rvwFN_fFviQT4VSMCpF/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9xVK72gSKff2vQsGmHWFEDL7qc9keUqVRBNVEE_tNcKvJ_4RDHQ4MBy-HVl9hM_TxyF3S5Ib7BVlUeWXifavaB7Gw3rTdcKXsFnPxYcWP3BVF-qocag_LJhR2rvwFN_fFviQT4VSMCpF/s400/Slide1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Below are some miscellaneous things in progress. The blue slag has been on my bench for ages, and recently it's become more clear what I want to do with it. It's to be combined with garnet, a color combination which I love. I sawed out the back plate for the pendant and I'm going to try and set the bezel around it, so I need a perfect fit of back plate and stone.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The PMC leaf and boulder opal have also been on my bench for ages but only recently I started on the bezel. It's tricky to solder on the bezel because of the leaf vein structure. I'm cheating a little with PMC slip - I hope it works!</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The pretty agua nueva agates have been set in step bezel wire from Rio, but I can't get the stones to stop wobbling and I'll have to take them apart again (I really don't wanna, so they're just sitting beside my bench right now).</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">And then there is the prong setting. I made this months ago from a piece of square wire. I intended it for a red spinel. Who knows, it may still end up in that setting!</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsRrxdZ2u-3aZ_dj51JFsDXVEqv72dR-7bmyn8ikE7yd3QOS5lZohxyMeCTCqN1QX3qcKUrM2KYmgWH9DChHR3UQJJD3u9D29pMGpbkqssYel8La2dyrDHhUxHHbkp8-w3XsLany-VAm-r/s1600/Slide3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsRrxdZ2u-3aZ_dj51JFsDXVEqv72dR-7bmyn8ikE7yd3QOS5lZohxyMeCTCqN1QX3qcKUrM2KYmgWH9DChHR3UQJJD3u9D29pMGpbkqssYel8La2dyrDHhUxHHbkp8-w3XsLany-VAm-r/s400/Slide3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upper left: blue slag necklace in progress<br />
Upper right: leaf with boulder opal<br />
Lower left: agua nueva agate earrings - paused<br />
Lower right: home made prong setting</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Check out the blogs by my teamies to see what they're working on:</span></b></span><br />
<br />
<ul style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 2.5em; padding-right: 2.5em; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://www.happytortoisedesigns.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Happy Tortoise Designs</a> <a href="http://www.happytortoisedesigns.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://www.happytortoisedesigns.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://crowstealsfire.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Crow Steals Fire</a> <a href="http://crowstealsfire.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://crowstealsfire.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://cjbf.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Contemporary Jewelry by Beatriz Fortes</a> <a href="http://cjbf.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://cjbf.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://stephstargell.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">steph</a> <a href="http://stephstargell.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://stephstargell.com</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jessica @ </span><a href="http://www.abellablue.com/blog" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Abella Blue</a> <a href="http://www.abellablue.com/blog" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://www.abellablue.com/blog</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pennee-</span> <a href="http://www.allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">All Wired Up Jewelry Designs </a><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><a href="http://www.allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://www.allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sylviaanderson.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Sylvia Anderson</a> <a href="http://www.sylviaanderson.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://www.sylviaanderson.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://www.formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Stacy</a> <a href="http://www.formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://www.formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Mary Anne Karren</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><a href="http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com/</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.brightstar109.blogspot.com" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Brightstar109</a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.brightstar109.blogspot.com" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">www.brightstar109.blogspot.com</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://rubymtnbeads.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Amy Nicole Artisan Jewelry</span> </a><a href="http://rubymtnbeads.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">Http://Rubymtnbeads.blogspot.com</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://www.resurrectionsilver.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Resurrection Silver</a> <a href="http://www.resurrectionsilver.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://www.resurrectionsilver.blogspot.com</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://kwantessentials.blogspot.com/2011/07/show-and-tell-from-start-to-finish.html" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Kwant Essentials</a> <a href="http://thisartistsjourney.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">http://kwantessentials.blogspot.com/2011/07/show-and-tell-from-start-to-finish.html</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://thisartistsjourney.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Kit and Caboodle Shop</a> <a href="http://thisartistsjourney.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://thisartistsjourney.blogspot.com</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://jamauerer.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Julie</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><a href="http://jamauerer.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://jamauerer.blogspot.com</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://www.girllovesglitter.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Lilian </a><a href="http://www.girllovesglitter.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://www.girllovesglitter.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><a href="http://www.autumnbradley.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Autumn Bradley Jewelry Design </a><a href="http://www.autumnbradley.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">http://www.autumnbradley.blogspot.com</a></li>
</ul>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-89254361709198350002011-07-10T18:25:00.000+02:002011-07-10T18:25:05.801+02:00From berry to ring (and tummy)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyP7i9nKwOZRCX5P519oVF8L6anXDOSqoDlI2u4j8ER0v1RMBN4jmXDI874JbV1cngt7gUHo5mXZUfqHJTlVqqx4VpbfaMJjnGEHIQFI76DPEhpCv78GEL9-_44M7Fi7QoCKBQ0WAMWqgu/s1600/DSC_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyP7i9nKwOZRCX5P519oVF8L6anXDOSqoDlI2u4j8ER0v1RMBN4jmXDI874JbV1cngt7gUHo5mXZUfqHJTlVqqx4VpbfaMJjnGEHIQFI76DPEhpCv78GEL9-_44M7Fi7QoCKBQ0WAMWqgu/s320/DSC_0004.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The smultron. Or wild strawberry. I had found these occasionally in the Netherlands, where I'm from, but somehow they didn't have that smultron flavor. Only when I came to Sweden, and was prepared not to like them (as opposed to every body else here; saying you don't care for smultron is like blasphemy), I found out what they Could taste like. It's hard to describe the flavor if you haven't tasted it. It has hints of strawberry but is much more aromatic.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbfLPHdpPaWsVjvx0b1DhnyMTCZWWFz6D8J31ZA0hu-hze2YQ8vxommJejzXeY014AG0G9QEwguJNevm8-t-T6RQm9-PNA90EHgluw1yKNq_gepUB94GQBQ9YAILVfupwYyOOPpSIv0Yb/s1600/DSC_0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbfLPHdpPaWsVjvx0b1DhnyMTCZWWFz6D8J31ZA0hu-hze2YQ8vxommJejzXeY014AG0G9QEwguJNevm8-t-T6RQm9-PNA90EHgluw1yKNq_gepUB94GQBQ9YAILVfupwYyOOPpSIv0Yb/s320/DSC_0002.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">There is nothing like picking smultron on a warm summer's day. You stand there in the sun leaning forward and the warm sweet scent washes over you. They are tiny but even so I managed to fill an entire bowl the other day. Doesn't this look great:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTuIjW22SESsxyHtG0bfyEQTOn2mHof05kCEljXBADAg9Yw_dFv2ElwiP6LLCCEh1QS6BXaYCnRREtZc9ZyYFQTXtlZ-hcmkCmUdQavlbBPwSgLl1STFBfcCmTbeMTpj7qAHUSk1f4SiGa/s1600/DSC_0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTuIjW22SESsxyHtG0bfyEQTOn2mHof05kCEljXBADAg9Yw_dFv2ElwiP6LLCCEh1QS6BXaYCnRREtZc9ZyYFQTXtlZ-hcmkCmUdQavlbBPwSgLl1STFBfcCmTbeMTpj7qAHUSk1f4SiGa/s320/DSC_0001.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">John and I divided the harvest and had them with vanilla ice cream. Yummy.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">For my jewelry I use a different part of the plant. When a strawberry plant sends out runners, the first leaves that come are these tiny tiny strawberry leaves. Here is a close-up:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiupn5ZcuxLqGiGtDsNLTnFPCpg2fg9jAxKHL1sdePJf2HpCm1sgBudTndEl1BjkyqNaK34uekNAyry6WYmaUTIwYPRzCi1pgWys_gJsf4FDDAud3GGghSN2HWUNjxxyjPBeHfZGEbgW4UG/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiupn5ZcuxLqGiGtDsNLTnFPCpg2fg9jAxKHL1sdePJf2HpCm1sgBudTndEl1BjkyqNaK34uekNAyry6WYmaUTIwYPRzCi1pgWys_gJsf4FDDAud3GGghSN2HWUNjxxyjPBeHfZGEbgW4UG/s320/DSC_0003.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I take these and paint several layers f metal clay paste on them, and after drying and firing they are silver leaves. I use them as details on for instance rings, like on this strawberry ring below:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaTalzI9Sycsczr0XlQhMbB67L_gqw1A4HwFDyYyWX_a6eeinTlFF83FuavtA6-HuCtP-JD2WQ8Gk03S6FfF0o6wNuaqYptiSaryr6P2kawF2fFb4hayaQk9SILPDnrLrHZTO0v4tFbre/s1600/DSC_0010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaTalzI9Sycsczr0XlQhMbB67L_gqw1A4HwFDyYyWX_a6eeinTlFF83FuavtA6-HuCtP-JD2WQ8Gk03S6FfF0o6wNuaqYptiSaryr6P2kawF2fFb4hayaQk9SILPDnrLrHZTO0v4tFbre/s320/DSC_0010.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-44459975209735059222011-06-04T17:40:00.000+02:002011-06-04T17:40:29.648+02:00Production modeSomeone recently contacted me with the request to make about 25 of my willow rings. My first reaction was, I think, some weird combination between 'eek!' and 'yay!'. Yay reflected obviously that a whole group of people apparently liked my rings well enough to order one each, and eek was 'I hope I can do this in time' and 'I hope I don't need to make three rings until I get one ring that is the right size'.<br />
<br />
The way I did these rings before is described by me in an earlier <a href="http://jewelry-by-silverblueberry.blogspot.com/2010/08/making-leaf-ring-with-precious-metal.html">blog post</a>. I then started firing them in my kiln, where the rings shrunk more than when torch firing (and became stronger, hence the kiln firing). The sizing was always a big difficult. I roughly knew what size a ring was going to be, but not entirely. And yes, that is annoying when you have to make 25!<br />
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So this is what I do now. I still cut out the leaves from the clay as before. But instead of letting them dry as rings, I dry them flat, and fire them flat.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2YtJaLIUfLt7iHjKbnZ21WRhDQgossAPcUj8zUDJmAzuzZp7P54FVtXFcSk2GCxFM8kzyhvwVue-nyhip5QbRFo7Bw5Fw-B96bqi-o1mB9ElT5BRXJlsr_wv-OpHUJ4D6SJT_vj-Z54W8/s1600/DSC_0016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2YtJaLIUfLt7iHjKbnZ21WRhDQgossAPcUj8zUDJmAzuzZp7P54FVtXFcSk2GCxFM8kzyhvwVue-nyhip5QbRFo7Bw5Fw-B96bqi-o1mB9ElT5BRXJlsr_wv-OpHUJ4D6SJT_vj-Z54W8/s320/DSC_0016.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four willow leaves baking in the kiln</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Afterwards I shape them on my ring mandrel until they are the right size, solder, add patina and tumble them. And here is the result:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18VA1xFdNFAXSQhhkkhan8TDXaGe2wSpcU4S6Dm1KsZZ8D_HOyH6KZsnizPSmwNtYHOhfLWwoZytut3cLeUC3PI1ZWIY1E6Tvb-Le4l4O3HjmKu0dBzizbAVUKgTr3FQ0V_Js8k5FYMRu/s1600/DSC_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18VA1xFdNFAXSQhhkkhan8TDXaGe2wSpcU4S6Dm1KsZZ8D_HOyH6KZsnizPSmwNtYHOhfLWwoZytut3cLeUC3PI1ZWIY1E6Tvb-Le4l4O3HjmKu0dBzizbAVUKgTr3FQ0V_Js8k5FYMRu/s320/DSC_0019.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now I just need to keep track of which ring is whose...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs1ZVtkuip8OqBVw-LAZcJ4KKI0x8rwCcJ-Z9gQod59UyCvrbjIkDEJ4beGmlLLFLAkx4jbuFPi-FNsXdCx_3yUWO4qk7Tirl4QhYSk3PWN0Gksg8V1_lS799hDmuZiSu6gR3DG_SPWzTp/s1600/DSC_0016_01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs1ZVtkuip8OqBVw-LAZcJ4KKI0x8rwCcJ-Z9gQod59UyCvrbjIkDEJ4beGmlLLFLAkx4jbuFPi-FNsXdCx_3yUWO4qk7Tirl4QhYSk3PWN0Gksg8V1_lS799hDmuZiSu6gR3DG_SPWzTp/s320/DSC_0016_01.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-53237957904390885922011-05-20T21:41:00.000+02:002011-05-20T21:41:37.850+02:00Thing a Week - Weeks 16-20This has been a most stressful time! My job keeps getting in the way of my jewelry work. So finally I have another Thing a Week update, this time with six different items. I will show rather than tell this time - all pieces are described in my Etsy shop.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQ0AdcwUsmQwdmLDa5vYohHyCTbXe-sO0AwGdPo97ast3sv-70sGV47OXwDxiW4cErLBQmznBYmKukNz75fQZl80LOUgLvWkL2rqG8odkTp2BMqtU4Xtd3UWiPEz-V5I62KX0sjUwyomA/s1600/DSC_0027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQ0AdcwUsmQwdmLDa5vYohHyCTbXe-sO0AwGdPo97ast3sv-70sGV47OXwDxiW4cErLBQmznBYmKukNz75fQZl80LOUgLvWkL2rqG8odkTp2BMqtU4Xtd3UWiPEz-V5I62KX0sjUwyomA/s320/DSC_0027.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THaW 16 - budding blueberry twig earrings</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbD9XTvjma5owf-IQs2B4QOwq97C-1f6Sqdv7H_dQaKq7QavjNlCGO6NzL16amkrEvCyTwq_DzxN3CtdkzOncdg5o_fnmKdaETcjCT_3J0Szxmdwgmpu_3UsdDmiQ83nUo0548h7g71TW/s1600/DSC_0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbD9XTvjma5owf-IQs2B4QOwq97C-1f6Sqdv7H_dQaKq7QavjNlCGO6NzL16amkrEvCyTwq_DzxN3CtdkzOncdg5o_fnmKdaETcjCT_3J0Szxmdwgmpu_3UsdDmiQ83nUo0548h7g71TW/s320/DSC_0002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THaW 17 - strawberry cuff bracelet with ruby<br />
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</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2WScapRjk4dATZy_NWSr_ajen9OQWRjnHGyQ2_lJnrStDs8LZ3imxjzyr9rtx-lW1hVXTSJK3vGEeMZNPMgphmPhIp8LPi-RuctDY2EA4dV0WkTmYe90ecyoLEf6oDoZY79A5-EKfqVa/s1600/DSC_0005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2WScapRjk4dATZy_NWSr_ajen9OQWRjnHGyQ2_lJnrStDs8LZ3imxjzyr9rtx-lW1hVXTSJK3vGEeMZNPMgphmPhIp8LPi-RuctDY2EA4dV0WkTmYe90ecyoLEf6oDoZY79A5-EKfqVa/s320/DSC_0005.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THaW 18 - blue chalcedony ring with matte finish</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoXLCNs3eFAdLerXrmWuwst-AnxoLOaNFVygz50a2quY5R7vFUQW2JO20GKSRzJnuHIHd6gvb2kDTYhdzwj_5S2vDxrewmPeB_YS1mPmJt2_6fo08h6yEuFKNDGfni7MktY6qNMr9YQL_l/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoXLCNs3eFAdLerXrmWuwst-AnxoLOaNFVygz50a2quY5R7vFUQW2JO20GKSRzJnuHIHd6gvb2kDTYhdzwj_5S2vDxrewmPeB_YS1mPmJt2_6fo08h6yEuFKNDGfni7MktY6qNMr9YQL_l/s320/DSC_0003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THaW 19 - moonstone and star sapphire ring</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64tjsshRGjs-vEgnsfyLqGO7xjw_rP9LWEa6cLpXjVh24zcNg_jRBua9zbtRhyphenhyphenvuayV7BcSlrEPffny6DnPU236AI9Y0lSffEgF1ahS1GEfhurM7lzsYJ2X29q5RikRcfvyVEzANMVtxc/s1600/DSC_0026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64tjsshRGjs-vEgnsfyLqGO7xjw_rP9LWEa6cLpXjVh24zcNg_jRBua9zbtRhyphenhyphenvuayV7BcSlrEPffny6DnPU236AI9Y0lSffEgF1ahS1GEfhurM7lzsYJ2X29q5RikRcfvyVEzANMVtxc/s320/DSC_0026.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THaW 20 - lady's mantle pendant with tanzanite</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXCY_PKlojsFxLyNKgnaHVYhdcOu1vNfegDwZTc1iLaCkgWm8xOvw-oW9IcjwFaQMEhRKCzEDCeW5TnFe2O2SL9rvXavav_iJ4FOje4a9us69OBjMjTXgEBvBDGya14Cb19yOMTQ3XI7V/s1600/DSC_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXCY_PKlojsFxLyNKgnaHVYhdcOu1vNfegDwZTc1iLaCkgWm8xOvw-oW9IcjwFaQMEhRKCzEDCeW5TnFe2O2SL9rvXavav_iJ4FOje4a9us69OBjMjTXgEBvBDGya14Cb19yOMTQ3XI7V/s320/DSC_0014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THaW 21 - blue lagoon pendant with turquoise</td></tr>
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</div>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-75536357872914276302011-05-19T22:17:00.000+02:002011-05-19T22:17:07.168+02:00Etsy front page!With this beautiful treasury! Thanks treasury curator and thanks Etsy admin :)<br />
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</script>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-34197919238807343062011-05-15T21:37:00.000+02:002011-05-15T21:37:14.741+02:00The birch season has started!<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">There is a period in early spring where I keep glancing at birch trees. The time in which they go from having an almost indiscernible green hue to having fully developed leaves is very short. You have to be there at just the right time and pick the leaves when they're the prettiest. This year was extra hard since we had unbelievable hot weather at the end of April. I spent one Friday picking about 40 leaves and painting them with Precious Metal Clay paste. After that first layer they are preserved, and I can use them later on.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWl59j8lIwM97QEdRkkP6rb2v3arOPDSc0P6Bmx5A_KmnmcQMvy_ajY5NPu4HJrW1wqA8G0W-08Ths8VbNpSUCRMZluZZqCMnnVN96cvPw9C1qVj00J6BUNV9_GolJkJrtKseHBp57kKCC/s1600/DSC_0164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWl59j8lIwM97QEdRkkP6rb2v3arOPDSc0P6Bmx5A_KmnmcQMvy_ajY5NPu4HJrW1wqA8G0W-08Ths8VbNpSUCRMZluZZqCMnnVN96cvPw9C1qVj00J6BUNV9_GolJkJrtKseHBp57kKCC/s320/DSC_0164.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Look at the pattern on those leaves. Beautiful!</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYriyF966tbdrXr4lnNZ5JsoQyCnQNMv3tPke7i5W17ZkehTenk3LaJITRqmiC5aFb3iQng3dYSpoOWpT774L1Kb0Go0B_uldN0u1iKFEE0c8gjKclJZIMDXWBHSD1dCUesOQBXPgmCcra/s1600/DSC_0171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYriyF966tbdrXr4lnNZ5JsoQyCnQNMv3tPke7i5W17ZkehTenk3LaJITRqmiC5aFb3iQng3dYSpoOWpT774L1Kb0Go0B_uldN0u1iKFEE0c8gjKclJZIMDXWBHSD1dCUesOQBXPgmCcra/s320/DSC_0171.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Rows of leaves like cookies on a baking sheet</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">And the finished result - a fired birch leaf on a silver ring:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mt4_qylkbBIY9fAQiH2I1rI69opbEEa6Y30rxuf57z9tLVxGybVYBXEnZoiLV9_llyHCzNB8RSYoAv8Afj3azE6fBJ-nVvXiEMuUg_gS1Fe86PHsW0AVpjJzr7lX4_wsJZ9YG0SLuxIF/s1600/DSC_0038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mt4_qylkbBIY9fAQiH2I1rI69opbEEa6Y30rxuf57z9tLVxGybVYBXEnZoiLV9_llyHCzNB8RSYoAv8Afj3azE6fBJ-nVvXiEMuUg_gS1Fe86PHsW0AVpjJzr7lX4_wsJZ9YG0SLuxIF/s320/DSC_0038.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I just listed this ring in my shop and any sizes can now be ordered. Happy spring!</div>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-39401014057635465012011-05-12T13:27:00.000+02:002011-05-13T22:41:51.679+02:00Fern ring on the Etsy FP!Fern ring on the Etsy front page today!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfdunjhpiAi5AJerxZabkWDbCFqNFAJmWYHJSsNytwGvHTYyCducIYIIKfmUialXCy_ARqKt2LKKhReYKQV12P8R5fCXfnGWJ7wabhwxpTw9rZqBn0dbjehFsjE-Wmgs-oJM0vYbJ2Xypc/s1600/Etsy_FP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfdunjhpiAi5AJerxZabkWDbCFqNFAJmWYHJSsNytwGvHTYyCducIYIIKfmUialXCy_ARqKt2LKKhReYKQV12P8R5fCXfnGWJ7wabhwxpTw9rZqBn0dbjehFsjE-Wmgs-oJM0vYbJ2Xypc/s400/Etsy_FP.jpg" t8="true" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Thank you Etsy! <br />
<br />
If anyone wonders, my fern is busy unfurling its leaves right now. It is still spring in Sweden and while the weather does everything it can, the fern is not among the early risers. I will inform you all when I start making my first fern rings for the season.SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-60865403004441488722011-04-20T22:22:00.001+02:002011-04-20T22:27:26.430+02:00Artist feature: Joy Tan<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKwL99SYOuefenO8WznByFxwZgSz_piLtompc6RkxEfKSHABkAL7c-EblaY_JGvZHMjPr5AyDERr4Lqll9wHFozj3SPFLCVn2ilZ9Doh1Fne5VjmduLZRwfexbJMn2zaJ3hUHNFkmY8LWJ/s1600/joy_owl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKwL99SYOuefenO8WznByFxwZgSz_piLtompc6RkxEfKSHABkAL7c-EblaY_JGvZHMjPr5AyDERr4Lqll9wHFozj3SPFLCVn2ilZ9Doh1Fne5VjmduLZRwfexbJMn2zaJ3hUHNFkmY8LWJ/s200/joy_owl.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">One of her more elaborate<br />
designs.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> haven't featured any artists before (other than me, haha) so this is a first. Joy featured one of my items on her blog, somebody spotted it, and I want to use this feature to thank Joy for the sale I got through her. That and I really love her work. She is located in Singapore and is a woman of many talents - she does both painting and jewelry making. She works with metal clay, just like me.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">How and when did you start making jewelry?</span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Haha, my start was in fact not special at all. I was trained as a Fine Arts Artist so making jewelry never came into my mind and I am someone who like to see the sparkles of the jewelry instead of wearing them. About 2 years ago, a friend from England introduced me to Etsy. I was very excited and impressed by the handmade spirit I had seen in that website until I spent hours and nights amazed by the handmade items. After further considerations, I started to borrow related books from the library and bought some materials to make some simple earrings and bracelets. </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikmMn1aUa3Nl0pY6ssbwSTlz0WTovoKfs7QSu_BqJ8zvUH3YxirpxXr9IFTEkXP3z9j6VKcS8f4QD5vOTyUBsRQZwrngDpZhrR4rj1qY7CARdGRmEkh3rQfd4rkEcR9ABGSqr-PdGQLbFD/s1600/joy_dandelion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikmMn1aUa3Nl0pY6ssbwSTlz0WTovoKfs7QSu_BqJ8zvUH3YxirpxXr9IFTEkXP3z9j6VKcS8f4QD5vOTyUBsRQZwrngDpZhrR4rj1qY7CARdGRmEkh3rQfd4rkEcR9ABGSqr-PdGQLbFD/s200/joy_dandelion.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">An example of Joy's dainty flower <br />
pendants, a dandelion</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">What do you like best in the jewelry making process?</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />I enjoyed the process in creating delicate details when making art clay silver pendants. I love the quiet and peaceful moments that I am experiencing during it. I never really attends any jewelry lesson, so creating something new with art clay silver on my own contributes to much achievements and satisfactions.</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">What inspires you?</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />God's nature is my very first mean of inspirations. Etsy is a really good place for ideas and references. Joining the Aspiring Metalsmith Team in Etsy really helps me a lot as many of the hardcore metalsmiths there are very very knowledgeable with torches, metals, hammer and many other materials I never know....haha....and mostly gratefully, they are very friendly to share related information. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></i></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQVgwV50ONUKtK1hEh9CeuL13hWNxLfcugjXVaLczown7i6r-Rfxt45UwmrCSMOFgMKhFdmWkEHa6ilxavjaHhAAovSM7fRYkBkRxAI3eLh3_kp9-DPJwPhltDGIhG83Hi5Q3cC7AQxx5C/s1600/joy_flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQVgwV50ONUKtK1hEh9CeuL13hWNxLfcugjXVaLczown7i6r-Rfxt45UwmrCSMOFgMKhFdmWkEHa6ilxavjaHhAAovSM7fRYkBkRxAI3eLh3_kp9-DPJwPhltDGIhG83Hi5Q3cC7AQxx5C/s200/joy_flower.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Joy has been experimenting with<br />
adding dyed concrete to her designs.<br />
I love the result!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">What are the advantages and challenges of having a handmade jewelry business in your location?</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />What I have created is considered something new and rare in Singapore as the local people have little knowledge of art clay silver, so I will just need more efforts to start this market. On the other hand, due to the great focus on mass production in this country, people are rather focused more on branded items and icons. Little appreciation is given to handmade items as they are not so educated with the efforts that a artisan spends in creating something and resources are limited here too.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">How does a design come to you?</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />I have the habit of looking at any creations around me even if it is small and I will sketch on my small note book with things that are interesting. I will try to depict the idea in different compositions then I'll choose the best one. Sometimes, I will just make the jewelry instinctively. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you Joy! Those of you who would like to see more of her beautiful jewelry, make sure to check out her </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/joypeckjoy"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Etsy shop</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></span>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-66348088626680709942011-04-19T20:27:00.000+02:002011-04-19T20:27:47.211+02:00Thing a Week- Weeks 13-15Another combined Thing A Week report. So far so good, I haven't yet had a week where I haven't finished something, which is a good sign. I must say that it has been really hard to stay indoors with the wonderful spring weather we've had lately. We'll see if I'm able to keep up the good work..<br />
<br />
<b>Week 13</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGWoRFnT4tg7Cl0lvZry2YHJNDZqwJ4mvM4v3GO5A3FgZ4H8PVkZdpJlwAaYDMrBmi2Xm2I1I6813Er-SI968V4UYGNK_7Ka1Xb74VhAF8yf_F5WQYgJ_Y8sKpej7zxa-4KBzlHYi2JGB/s1600/DSC_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGWoRFnT4tg7Cl0lvZry2YHJNDZqwJ4mvM4v3GO5A3FgZ4H8PVkZdpJlwAaYDMrBmi2Xm2I1I6813Er-SI968V4UYGNK_7Ka1Xb74VhAF8yf_F5WQYgJ_Y8sKpej7zxa-4KBzlHYi2JGB/s320/DSC_0012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This is my first project in gold. I'm not sure I would have done it if not a colleague had requested these earrings. She had seen similar earrings by me in silver and wanted them in 18K gold.<br />
So I ordered the tiniest amount of supplies possible and got started. And I can now say: I love gold! It was extremely nice to work with, except for the awareness that the gold dust that I can't possibly collect when sawing or filing is a loss that I'll have to accept. And another thing that wasn't so nice is the thought that stays in your brain as long as you work with it: Must. Not. Screw. Up.<br />
The 'phew' feeling when I had polished them and set the stones was pretty big. And oh yes, my colleague bought them.<br />
<br />
<b>Week 14</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJZshNPfxOOdbUjpnhmoQwl3y99YIckGZ1fPSbUv4qxMhAV-t3fueOZ4fM5bUIpLIIfLIjo4t4ColKe015QrHaJtWcK6RHGUU0kTcuItBIGsV2crrpMxEFSeZUGhiTx0aRBA2Wkxc_pK-/s1600/DSC_0026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJZshNPfxOOdbUjpnhmoQwl3y99YIckGZ1fPSbUv4qxMhAV-t3fueOZ4fM5bUIpLIIfLIjo4t4ColKe015QrHaJtWcK6RHGUU0kTcuItBIGsV2crrpMxEFSeZUGhiTx0aRBA2Wkxc_pK-/s320/DSC_0026.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This week I managed to continue doing things I am uncomfortable with. This time it was prongs. I have a few prong projects, some of which are finished, some of which may never get finished. I had tried this particular design before and had a hard time soldering on all the prongs. This time I drilled holes where I wanted the prongs, then hammered a little nail head on a piece of wire and put the wire through the holes with the nail head in the back. Then soldered all of them at the same time. Easy! The stone is a wonderful translucent mint green prehnite, rounded both on the front and in the back.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Week 15</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxSg0cJr3RdgzPHLm9kopKzaaVYbfJ1UJtTfEZPts3f7kQpvU3h4FOBAYSIejZgU9CoF5vF_g0Dltu8NCvj3TUhzwdeDB7opigA9LT_sRyYMPg0j9BoiRb_zwiscti16umQt8IQWzs4f6/s1600/DSC_0007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxSg0cJr3RdgzPHLm9kopKzaaVYbfJ1UJtTfEZPts3f7kQpvU3h4FOBAYSIejZgU9CoF5vF_g0Dltu8NCvj3TUhzwdeDB7opigA9LT_sRyYMPg0j9BoiRb_zwiscti16umQt8IQWzs4f6/s320/DSC_0007.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This was another custom order, and again a challenge for me. A colleague (a different one) gave me a stone she had once been given. She didn't know what it was but it looks like quartz or white topaz. The challenge was to set a big (and high) faceted stone in a simple, elegant pendant. I did most of the pendant at my metalsmithing class, and currently I cannot repeat the way that it was done at home - though there are other ways. I made a sterling silver oval ring that matched the stone as prefectly as possible. Then I ground a seat for the stone and made the rest of the pendant with round wire. I used a hammer hand piece for flexshafts to set the stone, and then polished the area around the setting.SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-24656390004606951272011-04-17T20:55:00.002+02:002011-04-17T21:07:34.330+02:00Finally, spring!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">For winter's rains and ruins are over, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">And all the season of snows and sins; </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The days dividing lover and lover, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The light that loses, the night that wins; </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">And time remembered is grief forgotten, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">And frosts are slain and flowers begotten, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">And in green underwood and cover </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blossom by blossom the spring begins.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><b><a href="http://www.infoplease.com/id/A0847426" style="color: #ff6600; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Algernon Charles Swinburne</a> (1837–1909)</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga7-n-5K35Sy2mwudX7BK7_O8dO2uY80hUV_HOrIu9y2nvjQIS2tgHDycJClbsFu2ZJnLxfN8Y1LtzHC_9yl5FY8aO6d12XMQk8KzGY09AUU6ENaf45K-9txll000Z63QH5_n-jhaubH5b/s1600/DSC_0017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga7-n-5K35Sy2mwudX7BK7_O8dO2uY80hUV_HOrIu9y2nvjQIS2tgHDycJClbsFu2ZJnLxfN8Y1LtzHC_9yl5FY8aO6d12XMQk8KzGY09AUU6ENaf45K-9txll000Z63QH5_n-jhaubH5b/s320/DSC_0017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17SZSIzkLe8XeiMgFmk4Fj-KTTTiiPlhX_zPDTabiCtvGeC783ney_BVsBltCGhhJPC3FfmXNeuyspX15zzheKpMZj4QFXMh0wPQBeIPn6pO3W4d8nmgYdluR6rKIZN1FX0pmw4a3joHJ/s1600/DSC_0021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17SZSIzkLe8XeiMgFmk4Fj-KTTTiiPlhX_zPDTabiCtvGeC783ney_BVsBltCGhhJPC3FfmXNeuyspX15zzheKpMZj4QFXMh0wPQBeIPn6pO3W4d8nmgYdluR6rKIZN1FX0pmw4a3joHJ/s320/DSC_0021.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1Koh5ninXFHICakmLI1QSRfrhR-_hdqXjbM9n-K8F77YfVxRstA0X64tqYALXBfwsmMExKXfSmu01k1C37mbPNM1sNS9J9cnbUsNkXKYA3cQl-AS62dhrtYCo0MnFIsPCWjo3tO7FdQI/s1600/DSC_0024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1Koh5ninXFHICakmLI1QSRfrhR-_hdqXjbM9n-K8F77YfVxRstA0X64tqYALXBfwsmMExKXfSmu01k1C37mbPNM1sNS9J9cnbUsNkXKYA3cQl-AS62dhrtYCo0MnFIsPCWjo3tO7FdQI/s320/DSC_0024.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRovByRDMz6DHljT1CmFjt4PGkPu8uPErDSt0IomzZRSEbXH3A2S1xrI-yamHB3i6xfJqBwN619Up8CUOpsFY1F_oe44kFDc4mGp-a08ZX8Rq8viG5-FhKnhbAtoGvmHxfQJGmB0RGykJ/s1600/DSC_0028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRovByRDMz6DHljT1CmFjt4PGkPu8uPErDSt0IomzZRSEbXH3A2S1xrI-yamHB3i6xfJqBwN619Up8CUOpsFY1F_oe44kFDc4mGp-a08ZX8Rq8viG5-FhKnhbAtoGvmHxfQJGmB0RGykJ/s320/DSC_0028.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We are lucky this year. The thick layer of snow has melted away fast, and right now we're enjoying some warm days that are almost like summer! Every day new flowers pop up, and you have to make sure you look around every day or you miss most of the fun. Ahh, spring. :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</b></span></div></span>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-40195225939943122512011-03-19T18:50:00.000+01:002011-03-19T18:50:19.282+01:00Thing a Week- Weeks 10-12I'm getting worse. Now I'm writing one blog post about three entries for my 2011 Thing a Week challenge. Oh well. One blog post is better than none!<br />
<br />
So, my week 10 items is a little different in that it's a PMC item. PMC is Precious Metal Clay, and this is the material that made me a jewelry-making-holic. The reason why I haven't had many PMC items in my Thing a Week challenges is that I mostly use PMC in non-challenging ways. If you're too broad with the techniques you use, and you don't have all the time in the world, you have to pick and choose which technique you want to dive deeper into and which technique you want to maintain but not refine. Currently I'm not refining my PMC technique too much, but I got a request for an orchid pendant. Luckily I have two flowering orchids at the moment and I asked one of them if I could have a flower. I interpreted the answer as 'yes, but only if I get nutrition in my water every week while I flower instead of once every two weeks'. Okay, deal! I dissected the flower and used every part to make a silver orchid flower. This is the result:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0vx_ZogeCFw391xkGbsswTL2kXJbtoNGINqgPaeYeRQ66C09E0rYMpNGHegUaeMxu8lE5CBI5VpZK8M-kDG-8ZxQL52WyY1xEiXrVD56nTGprBUnIc298GD24QQ5sRpipCx8F8fA7ucU/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0vx_ZogeCFw391xkGbsswTL2kXJbtoNGINqgPaeYeRQ66C09E0rYMpNGHegUaeMxu8lE5CBI5VpZK8M-kDG-8ZxQL52WyY1xEiXrVD56nTGprBUnIc298GD24QQ5sRpipCx8F8fA7ucU/s320/DSC_0003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Week 11 is this ring:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZVwoog-vOnfrZ2VjEkI2A_mRJAanraT92sFCfcPMnjGnWuj3yrp6EDuQtHnbefBa3pYjPfALGv8LJb_iyDTmkKUxH7SUN0g8mQGxg1gCl1gjtPeFlZKKFTOQUTBMW9PCdnuSkmSiJg6m/s1600/DSC_0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZVwoog-vOnfrZ2VjEkI2A_mRJAanraT92sFCfcPMnjGnWuj3yrp6EDuQtHnbefBa3pYjPfALGv8LJb_iyDTmkKUxH7SUN0g8mQGxg1gCl1gjtPeFlZKKFTOQUTBMW9PCdnuSkmSiJg6m/s320/DSC_0001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My inspiration for this ring was a beautiful Art Nouveau opal ring, with platinum leaves framing the stone, and tiny diamonds set into the leaves. I have no idea how to even attempt something like that, and the ring I saw may have been cast, but I loved that the leaves formed the setting of the stone. This is my first attempt at such a design, and it's not entirely like what I had in mind, but I will definitely explore this again. I have listed it on Etsy and called it the 'sunny garden ring'. The stone is a beautiful red brown sunstone with multicolored glitters that sparkle in the sun.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Week 12 is a ring with a raw tourmaline crystal. I set it between two H-shaped pieces of silver and folded the corners over. Steady like a rock :) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The back plate is a piece of reticulated silver I made a while back. For the longest time I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it, so it was on my bench along with a lot of other small pieces of silver. But then I got the tourmaline and it looked rather nice on top of the reticulated silver. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv242Nhmc5h9S22nBDr_Voeb7TyRLVzavxdinWoLAKRQtNIcOiomy1Hq-EppLa41g7wci2bvnzVnePwE8CsyoZqXpHkalCa4PfQ3eTh9GNpvtPb5dgZiEOfZp5rTBRe9lq13g28ma4VZ-T/s1600/DSC_0017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv242Nhmc5h9S22nBDr_Voeb7TyRLVzavxdinWoLAKRQtNIcOiomy1Hq-EppLa41g7wci2bvnzVnePwE8CsyoZqXpHkalCa4PfQ3eTh9GNpvtPb5dgZiEOfZp5rTBRe9lq13g28ma4VZ-T/s320/DSC_0017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>I love how the stone looks with the sun shining on it!<br />
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That's all for now. I have no idea what my next creation will be. :)SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-52384494657607841992011-03-07T21:22:00.000+01:002011-03-07T21:22:23.663+01:00Thing a Week- 8 and 9For these Things a Week I have actually stepped out of my comfort zone. It's not always easy to do so. Like with everything, you need time, a healthy dose of optimism, and a certain disregard for things that can go wrong (especially with the silver price being as high as it is).<br />
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Week #8:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJPMmuQaHK0FHsKDhIA125ExBpw9ZgdEDH5I-P12CDUb6esfMd2HogpPbEBtAuVRSXqRS84thWwKmaHBEAwM8X4Dv-nsxJNW1YfEn8IV8VoDZeeCNdWfYZCDUQoRaCGhM5tBLNyDBBE8O/s1600/DSC_0045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJPMmuQaHK0FHsKDhIA125ExBpw9ZgdEDH5I-P12CDUb6esfMd2HogpPbEBtAuVRSXqRS84thWwKmaHBEAwM8X4Dv-nsxJNW1YfEn8IV8VoDZeeCNdWfYZCDUQoRaCGhM5tBLNyDBBE8O/s320/DSC_0045.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
These filigree moonstone earrings are made with traditional filigree patterns and thin twisted filigree wire. Making filigree is tricky because of the thin wire and the many soldering points - always a risk for melting. Time will tell if these were a result of beginner's luck or if I have finally learned to control my torch a little.<br />
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Week #9:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW52vHHfSSMsNRs3oLXGiFta1yEuOC1t7nsB1etyXM3StRjBVgJuvaoIG6hIjBr8k2qaLzbZBaBAqddGVyy_BcueVHmGz_s0243DACnSylPCi_XBxANJ6hb-hHQn1NpbyuSu47Nrj341RU/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW52vHHfSSMsNRs3oLXGiFta1yEuOC1t7nsB1etyXM3StRjBVgJuvaoIG6hIjBr8k2qaLzbZBaBAqddGVyy_BcueVHmGz_s0243DACnSylPCi_XBxANJ6hb-hHQn1NpbyuSu47Nrj341RU/s320/DSC_0006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclbZmu5dPMlsT3hyQEvJJKW7MM2m4q4cLI5-IJi9JCcICuwlwF-AMJfcOkDqKYd6K_64xEvBOxjzIVoaXfLV3oQnDCHIyX-Tgk5p6k7qLyydpKDpCXtL1151wgYu_JFP_Lk46aedP4vCW/s1600/DSC_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclbZmu5dPMlsT3hyQEvJJKW7MM2m4q4cLI5-IJi9JCcICuwlwF-AMJfcOkDqKYd6K_64xEvBOxjzIVoaXfLV3oQnDCHIyX-Tgk5p6k7qLyydpKDpCXtL1151wgYu_JFP_Lk46aedP4vCW/s320/DSC_0004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This little hedgehog has been sculpted in metal clay. I don't sculpt much, but I'd like to do more of it, especially with results like these. I made the sterling silver band of the ring in a wavy pattern, to symbolize the erratic way animals sometimes walk when following their noses. This little hedgehog will soon appear in my Etsy shop.</div>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8020848027593330766.post-32786041658860629912011-02-24T21:26:00.000+01:002011-02-24T21:26:07.244+01:00My addictionWhenever I do fairs and markets I see how children are drawn to polished colorful stones. Sometimes a little girl or boy walks slowly by my table and touches every single stone with one finger. On one market one of the other sellers had a big bowl of 'magic stones'. They were a random mix of tumbled agate, aventurine, tiger eye, quartz, etc. They didn't cost more tha<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">n </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">$1 each but to the children they were magic treasures.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I must say, this hasn't changed. Not for me at least. I remember getting my first stone, it was a pyrite crystal. Whatever my father said to me about what it was, to me it was as valuable as solid gold. I put it on my display shelf with other pretty rocks and rinsed it whenever it got too dusty. In the end, however, it ended up in a box and I <i>almost</i> forgot about it.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Then I started working with silver and talking to other metalsmiths on Etsy. They were drooling over stones, licking stones, showing off new purchases.. and through them I discovered the world of cabochons. Beautiful, colorful, smoothly polished stones, made by mother nature and a talented lapidary artist. And now I could buy stones, not just for looking at, but with a Purpose! </span></span><br />
<br />
Since I started buying cabs, it has become a small obsession. I have to introduce stone buying moratoria to pace myself. Very few things make me so childishly happy as receiving new stones in the mail. I have written about my stone collection before (<a href="http://jewelry-by-silverblueberry.blogspot.com/2010/10/buns-in-oven.html">here</a>) where I showed off a small part of my stash. This time I won't show you my entire collection either, simply because it normally looks like this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mYfxVhpWTXO_tx8svgMwOa578xmG58aGnUXBfFNEx_SverpsP6rrqdIIY7qbztxuFPDJbi1Yf0a6mHIndZ74mPT2sNr-e6maVcRpgJQ2hNaStBXVPX6Jq_UCcaHXFkTM_tc9LCMUgcTl/s1600/DSC_0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mYfxVhpWTXO_tx8svgMwOa578xmG58aGnUXBfFNEx_SverpsP6rrqdIIY7qbztxuFPDJbi1Yf0a6mHIndZ74mPT2sNr-e6maVcRpgJQ2hNaStBXVPX6Jq_UCcaHXFkTM_tc9LCMUgcTl/s320/DSC_0002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Baggies. They contain all vital information, the kind of stone, price, seller or origin, dimensions or carat. The way I have currently divided my stones is heat resistant (can be fired in place in metal clay), faceted, small cabs and big cabs. It's no great system but it's something. I'm open to any storage tips, btw.<br />
<br />
So here are a few highlights:<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcW67O8FZMp0MSruo8Dk5Nydm6vpd77juLo1JyAvCLd0GY-Na9k9FtP3Wa3YaHXf0QjV9wjfpew-IMl0I4r1Mil8TrAK3SXM3kLbqONk_0FuclSTVNBQRiYA9aAUoBWlIxSMhoKivK4Kw/s1600/DSC_0005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcW67O8FZMp0MSruo8Dk5Nydm6vpd77juLo1JyAvCLd0GY-Na9k9FtP3Wa3YaHXf0QjV9wjfpew-IMl0I4r1Mil8TrAK3SXM3kLbqONk_0FuclSTVNBQRiYA9aAUoBWlIxSMhoKivK4Kw/s320/DSC_0005.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love purple. These are a few examples of the purple stones I have. <br />
Charoite is a special weakness of mine.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNowJX4-QKV_B60nx2bsXa79jsf6PvKwI1wA5lHJBh3GQmLhKpOVl7yUz57LrUnI3tAk5fmeEdHKPqHbVnt7ML-m5jnh2QkiyOjkmCZprwTbsguYPvwoAZLWyuoo2Rl9TpRtb884Li4Lc/s1600/DSC_0011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNowJX4-QKV_B60nx2bsXa79jsf6PvKwI1wA5lHJBh3GQmLhKpOVl7yUz57LrUnI3tAk5fmeEdHKPqHbVnt7ML-m5jnh2QkiyOjkmCZprwTbsguYPvwoAZLWyuoo2Rl9TpRtb884Li4Lc/s320/DSC_0011.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm prone to buying stones of similar shades. I'm very fond of blue chalcedony and agates, <br />
gem silica, labradorite, larimar and Anything that is green</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_l5YGYE3tGTMQD0TSniuOh7wsMUXCtfFtbnhi_niuGEJEU680BN6ZDlLvoTgEKj4a4_vFgWn_1P6vxtvOmai9d3Sd_LNg-Qj8qx9xECsx4LrmtDylx0DgLldPFvidzIp2huQVMSIXCyH/s1600/DSC_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_l5YGYE3tGTMQD0TSniuOh7wsMUXCtfFtbnhi_niuGEJEU680BN6ZDlLvoTgEKj4a4_vFgWn_1P6vxtvOmai9d3Sd_LNg-Qj8qx9xECsx4LrmtDylx0DgLldPFvidzIp2huQVMSIXCyH/s320/DSC_0013.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fossils! I love looking at these and trying to grasp what they once were and <br />
when that was.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>These two I call my demon stones:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3tNk3prjzK9G_p7TzUE1tC4B2ohZvXSpI_A3Oalif09ezClF4StQXVkYoZNm_vXmfxSJYbrlqTdN9zK-g-GwXd8qLpnE-OkLb1k7TbpiUI1PtsM0pOHOLtyLda_pOun6OgVb0-HyEcP3/s1600/DSC_0008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3tNk3prjzK9G_p7TzUE1tC4B2ohZvXSpI_A3Oalif09ezClF4StQXVkYoZNm_vXmfxSJYbrlqTdN9zK-g-GwXd8qLpnE-OkLb1k7TbpiUI1PtsM0pOHOLtyLda_pOun6OgVb0-HyEcP3/s320/DSC_0008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And this is my beloved cat paw that I will never part with:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsSCIT5TENd4hdM1Sg1hxpXH6MeWLeZhAWxfJK4jHd7M7S10vFieh3pG3hWMI6J3WQjlbj3xm3Fn9Ev0y1i2iUtZnltrjPhtmG64R0ANaQtPvvRrqBhbiI-Q_nBHYZjQsndx7RqWKr_uD/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsSCIT5TENd4hdM1Sg1hxpXH6MeWLeZhAWxfJK4jHd7M7S10vFieh3pG3hWMI6J3WQjlbj3xm3Fn9Ev0y1i2iUtZnltrjPhtmG64R0ANaQtPvvRrqBhbiI-Q_nBHYZjQsndx7RqWKr_uD/s320/DSC_0003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>I mentioned before that I separated big and small cabs. I love small cabs. I don't know why, but they are just extremely appealing. Don't these look like candy?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadcwqRq3K8RDsNJqlPd3RS1D4ki4xbdwM79prWM4wuNSHGEot32XPSmYi9cHZ-GIHxQso9LdGmc2l3eGktgk1tuSMmhklOWq1FBATx1RaebvowtuejoabbqEs1E1uqzpssogXF8oMfUfp/s1600/DSC_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadcwqRq3K8RDsNJqlPd3RS1D4ki4xbdwM79prWM4wuNSHGEot32XPSmYi9cHZ-GIHxQso9LdGmc2l3eGktgk1tuSMmhklOWq1FBATx1RaebvowtuejoabbqEs1E1uqzpssogXF8oMfUfp/s320/DSC_0014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I'm not the only one who wrote about my stone collection this month. Have a look at the posts by my Aspiring Metalsmiths teamies and let them tell you about their favorites:<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Autumn Bradley -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.autumnbradley.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://www.autumnbradley.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Clarity @ Scrollwork Designs -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://thesquarepegnation.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://thesquarepegnation.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Stacy Low -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://www.formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Chrissi Lynn Designs -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.chrissilynn.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://www.chrissilynn.blogspot.com</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Sylvia Anderson -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.sylviaanderson.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://www.sylviaanderson.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Jessica @ Abella Blue -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.abellablue.com/blog" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> http://www.abellablue.com/blog</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Contemporary Jewelry by Beatriz Fortes -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://cjbf.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://cjbf.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Esmeralda -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://jewelry-by-silverblueberry.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://jewelry-by-silverblueberry.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Steph Stargell -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.stephstargell.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://www.stephstargell.com</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Pennee -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Silver Pearl Jewelry and Metalworks -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/show-us-your-stones/#more-4" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/show-us-your-stones/#more-4</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">ArtistiKat -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://artistikat-scratchingpost.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://artistikat-scratchingpost.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Claire -</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://brightstar109.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">brightstar109.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span>SilverBlueberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415298337609315511noreply@blogger.com7