Tuesday, January 25, 2011

More Rings in 2011

In 2011 I want to make more rings. I've decided to make a personal commitment (a promise to myself) to make more rings. Something that I have struggled with in the past  is when I have made a personal commitment is that there are many things the compete for my time, distracting me from the course that I desire to follow.

I believe that I have a way to stay with my promise to myself to make more rings. I have intertwined this desire with other jewelry making commitments. I regularly teach at Wired Up Beads and at the Creative Art Center and at both venues I teach making band rings.

The first step in building a ring is the band. I am designing some interesting variations of band rings to share with my students. This is a photo of one of those designs. I will be posting more soon.
Mod Pod Ring - made of Argentium Silver - Class offered at Wired UP Beads


Sunday, January 16, 2011

Ancient Fossil Pendant







This Pendant deomonstrates techniques that I teach in my Jewelry Basics Class at the Creative Art Center.  Piercing and hammer texturing are featured on this pendant, which are basic skills that lend themselves to many projects. I also used tabs to hold the Ammonite Fossil in place. Tabs are a great option for unusual shaped objects that will not work with a bezel.

I decided to make the piercing a stylized version of the Ammonite Fossil. I also textured the metal with the Fretz Narrow Raising Hammer to mimic the pattern of the Ammonite.

This gives the pendant a cohesive look. I love creating texture and I feel like this pendant shows the texture of the Ammonite Fossil to its best advantage as well as the hammer texture of the metal adding interest and beauty.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

2011 A New Year and New Beginnings

"Ring Up a Message" Argentium Silver Ring

 "Ring Up a Message" Argentium Silver Ring with Ilene Kay -- Monday, January 10, 2011


Ring in the new year with your own message ring. Create your own personalized Argentium Silver ring at the first workshop that I'm teaching this year at  Wired Up Beads. In this workshop you will use metalworking techniques to complete a soldered band ring that is stamped with a personal message.

Argentium Silver is the most tarnish resistant of the sterling silvers.  Its special alloy includes germanium oxide, which makes your finished product harder and more durable than fine silver.  It can even be made twice as hard as traditional sterling, yet it is very malleable in an annealed state.  This metal is exciting because its unique qualities offer many new possibilities for jewelry makers.