New Beauties

I finally have finished a round of beauties that I should have up in my shop (hopefully) this coming week.  So without further ado, here they are:

Fine Silver Cabochon set in Sterling Silver

Accented with Garnets

Saw Pierced Sterling Flower set on textured Sterling Base

Accented with Green Garnets

Labradorite Cabochon set in Sterling

Accented with Saw Pierced Sterling Flower cut outs

Poppy Jasper Cabochon set in Saw Pierced Sterling Silver

Poppy Jasper Cabochon set in Saw Pierced Sterling Silver

Variscite Cabochon set in Texturized, Saw Pierced Sterling Silver

That's all for now! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I'm still here....

Sorry for my blog absence. I really have not had much to report.

I have been busy with corporate taxes since the first of January. Blah.

On the metalsmithing front, I have been busy learning some new techniques and working with new materials.

I have had PMC tools and materials in my supplies for some time, but I have not worked with it. I did quite a bit of research and learning about PMC a few years ago, and I finally decided what I wanted to do with the PMC that I have in my supplies – make PMC cabochons to bezel set. I have to admit that I had read in several of my sources that PMC dries out easily, but I did not realize how quickly it would dry out. I had to spritz the PMC quite a few times to keep it moist. It probably does not help that I decided to work with my PMC in the winter when our house is quite dry –even though we have two humidifiers running. I was very pleased with the three patterned cabochons that I created and will be bezel setting. I am not sure at this point if I will keeping up on this area, but it was definitely fun working with the PMC.

On the technique side, I have seen some really cool saw pierced metal pieces of jewelry created by other artists. I have to admit that before this adventure I was used to sawing just the basics. I wanted to add some new pizzazz to my jewelry with metal cut outs and some cool patterns for my cabochons to rest upon, so off I went. After some research and reading, Sam was a sawing (and of course breaking quite a few blades). So far, I am quite happy with the pieces that I have created. I am hoping to keep expanding and growing in this area.

The final area that I have been researching and learning about is etching. I decided to venture into learning about this area for the same reason as saw piercing. I have seen some really cool etched pieces of jewelry. I was leery about the chemical aspect of this technique. I really should not be leery about chemicals as I have a minor in Chemistry and have worked with far worse chemicals, but I still have a little voice in my head that says, ‘Stay away’. I use vinegar and pickling salt for my pickle instead of the acid version for this reason. Yet, I still really wanted to do etching. All of my supplies for etching arrived last week. I, unfortunately, have not found the time to do my first etching. Hopefully, I will get a chance to do this soon.

I do have a handful of pieces ready for the liver of sulfur phase of my process. Once blackened, I will polish these beauties up for my shop. I am hoping that I will get these pieces up in my shop in the next couple weeks. We shall see – sometimes, it seems that the days just slip away so quickly.

Till later!

Happy New Year!

Just dropping in to say Happy New Year y'all!