Brandy Opals

I honestly forgot how much fun it is to make your own earring hooks. There's so much design freedom!!

Brandy Opals - Ooo La La

Fat Pinkie for scale

Generally, use a 20 - 18 gauge wire for earring hooks. 18 gauge can be uncomfortable for some, but I've sold over 500 18 gauge hooks and not gotten a single complaint, so it can't be that bad!

Tumble in a tumbler to harden them up. Don't forget to use a cup burr on the ends so they're nice and smooth in your ear.

Simple Earring Studs

I've been very bad and I haven't gotten a lot of jewellery work done. The stuff that I've finished, I've been lazy about and haven't photographed.

Well, I finished this lovely earring set:

I'm quite happy with them! They're a pretty decent size, 15x20mm, and are almost feel non-existent when you're wearing them. They're a very unique shape, and I've gotten a lot of compliments on them when I've worn them around the city!

I adore these earrings.. I feel like they really demonstrate that you can make unique, lovely jewellery using just about anything, including pre-formed components.

I bought these soldered rings from my work, and added my own studs to them. It wasn't a headache to make, it went quickly, and I got a lot of bang for my buck. How can you really have anything to complain about at that point?

I have them listed here:
Blackmaille Jewellery

I need to remember to keep it simple. If I don't keep it simple, it doesn't stay enjoyable.

Fidgety Projects

I am finally nearly finished a project that I've been thinking about for quite some time.

This is a basic spinner ring that's been growing in my mind for quite some time. I simply made a 10mm wide band ring (I just kept hammering the texture until it fit my finger properly). Once I had it fitting nicely, I measured the diameter and made a copper band that fits nicely over it. I had to stretch it a little just to make sure it would spin freely over the silver.

Now that the two parts fit together well, I have to use a dapping punch to slightly flare the edges of the silver so the copper won't slip off.

I don't have a dapping punch.

So tomorrow, I'm going to the hardware store to see if I can locate a large ball peen hammer. It's not perfect, but sometimes you really have to make due with the tools you have.

Maybe now I'll have a ring to fidget with instead of biting my nails. Here's hoping!

Digging through the bench

I don't know why I feel like I haven't accomplished much this weekend. I finished this little piece:

This is a sterling silver ring with a small copper accent. It's my first attempt into more 'delicate' jewellery. I can't really afford the silver for ring blanks, so I've had to get a little creative with the materials that I had. This ring is made from 14GA wire that I put through my rolling mill. I flattened it to a thickness of 1mm, and a width of about 1.5mm. The copper came from some wire I bought at the hardware store (They're starting to get used to some random red head coming in and buying random electrical and plumbing supplies). The leaf was purchased at work, Stones and Findings.

I also managed to finish off a project my Dad and I started last week:

It started out like this

Turned into these

Will be sold looking like these

 So I'm quite happy that was finished. I also made a copper bracelet, but that's really just a quick bangle, nothing special to post here.

Thoughts from the weekend:

• Don't be afraid to melt things. Yes, it didn't work. Yes, it might sit around in your drawer for a few years. Yes, you'll find something to use it for.
• Don't be afraid to use what you have. You don't HAVE to go shell money out on silver plate, you can improvise with the more affordable materials that you have.
• Using tweezers to hold things together for soldering ISN'T cheating. If it works, who cares how you got there.
• If you've been wishing for a particular tool/play thing/animal for years, just go out and buy the damn thing.
• Even though I see other people's jewellery online and think 'wow, thier stuff is so much nicer then mine', I have to remember that I still have a skill that 90% of the rest of the world doesn't.

Perspective. It makes life a lot easier.

Creating an engagement ring

It's such a busy time of year!

I'm currently very busy working on Christmas gifts for my family, as you'll be able to see once the season is finally over on my knitting blog.

I also need to finish this lovely little number:

 

The prongs on this need to be lovelied up (which is much easier once they're attached to something I can actually hold on to!), and then the stones need to be set. The recipient has chosen an emerald, oval center stone, with two pear shaped clear stones on the sides. She's a chemist, so she didn't mind using synthetic stones to help cut back on some of the costs.

The ring needs to be fully polished before setting the stones. In preperation for this, I've taken the shank of the ring to a fine emery to help cut back on work. There's no point taking it to a full polish at this point, because finish will be ruined once I solder the settings to the shank. The settings themselves haven't had too much attention, mostly because they're too small to hold onto.

Once the settings are soldered on, I'll be taking the entire ring to a fine emery, and tossing it in my tumber to toughen up the prongs. Sterling silver is like butter right after soldering, so this will help ensure that the prongs won't BUDGE once the stones are set. After the tumbler, I'll take some black rouge to it to make sure it's a ring she's going to be proud of.

Once I'm in the process of setting the stones, I'll post an updated picture. I've never set pear shaped stones before, so I'll admit I'm nervous. I know the theory, I've just never done it in practice. Worst case scenario, if I make a huge mistake I can always take the prongs off and fashion new ones. It's easy once you've had to practice it a few times!

Bezel Setting

It's interesting how sometimes the easiest jewellery principles are the hardest to pull off. I'm sad to say that I've been working on this particular project for a lot longer then I'm proud of.

I haven't done a bezel set stone since I was in school, which is a little over two years ago. I remember it being quite easy, and I was quite excited to get this project going.

Apparently bezel set stones are a little more difficult then I remember.

I'm lucky enough to have a hammer handpiece for my flexshaft that my partner bought for me last valentines day. Generally this tool was a complete godsend for doing bezel set stones, and I didn't have one in school. I thought this would be such a simple project!

I really struggled with this bezel. I'm not sure what I've messed up, personally. I used a step bezel wire, which had a wall of approximately 0.4mm. I made sure to anneal the bezel cup. I actually had a proper tool with which to set. I still ended up spending about half an hour setting this stone, when it should have only taken me 10.

All that aside, at least the project is completed. The stone is a beautiful natural citrine, and the entire piece is sterling silver. It's beautiful and shiny, and I'm incredibly happy about it. I'll be putting it up on my Etsy before too long.