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Friday, April 24, 2015

First Bezel Set Ring, Breaking Out the Sterling Silver, Jewelry Makers Reference Page, Torch Enameling



Why yes, it has been awhile.  My apologies.

Let me think about what I’ve been doing since I last posted. 

Lots of house and yard repairs. 

Someone spotted a tweet by Barbara Niven the other day where Teryl Rothery is wearing my earrings again and the caption is “Just finished shooting a fun scene…” so fingers crossed the earrings will be on a third episode of Cedar Cove.  Whoohoo!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/200930641/as-seen-on-cedar-cove-bohemian-folded
(That's a photo from last season, btw)

Made my first bezel set ring.  Not sure if I want to list it.  I’d probably have a pretty low price on it since the top is slightly crooked from the ring.  This is a man’s size most likely.  The Tiger’s Eye is frikkin’ awesome!


If any of my readers are interested in making me an offer, just contact me here.  I’m undecided if I want to list it.  I get the whole “it’s not SUPPOSED to look machine made” thing and while it’s structurally wonderful, the bottom line is it’s still crooked.  Ha ha ha!

Got a bunch of new things listed.  Here’s a tiny look.  If you want to see more and/or larger photos, click here.  Or if you prefer to shop on Etsy, here.  A couple of these items are already sold out but I plan to make more in the not too distant future.

http://www.brackendesigns.com/

Had fun finishing this new piece today.  Copper and Sterling Silver.

http://www.brackendesigns.com/

Then worked on some little fiddly soldering stuff which was an exercise in frustration.  Ha ha ha!  I think I’m more of a tomboy jewelry maker than a delicate, intricate jewelry maker.  That should surprise no one who knows me in person.

I just need to practice soldering small pieces that melt easily.  It would probably be easier with an acetylene torch rather than a kitchen or plumber's torch, but c'est la vie.
 
Here’s a link I want to share with my friends.  It’s from Contenti’s website.  Just a page with helpful reference PDFs (Saw Blade and Drill Size, Sheet and Wire Weights, Choosing the Right Bur, etc).

Had some friends over last Saturday.  We had a grand time... long day.  Did tons of stuff, one of which was I showed them how easy torch enameling is.  They managed to squeeze these beauties in between all our other activities.  Pretty cool, huh?


Watched The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug last night… again.  I adore Martin Freeman… well, and the whole Hobbit story as well.  It was a little weird hearing the proper pronunciation of Smaug as “smowg” rather than how I’d been saying it in my head “smog”, but I’ll get over it.

Reminded me of when I read the Harry Potter books to my kids way back as they were being published.  Hermione was “her-mee-own”.  Blew me away when I heard the proper “her-my-oh-nee”.  Ha ha ha!

 (This is funny enough for me to ignore the missing the apostrophe)