Monthly Archives: July 2009

Texturing Metal

Adding texture to metal gives it such interest and depth.  Smooth metal polished to a high shine has its beauty too, but at least for now, I am drawn to textured metal.  I’m enjoying the exploration of different methods to … Continue reading

Posted in Handcrafted Earrings, metalwork | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Arial

Like many people, I have jars containing buttons, keys, and coins – some from my country and some from other countries.  Jars filled with these items are just friendly and you want to pour them out and sift through the … Continue reading

Posted in Handcrafted Necklace, metalwork | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thank you, Marlene True

In the past year, I’ve spent a lot of time working on prong settings, truthfully somewhat tense in getting the prongs done.  I would make the prongs, prepare the base, and use my center punch to make a little indentations … Continue reading

Posted in jewelry, metalwork | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Romance, Attitude and Crystals

The folks at Swarovski just don’t quit.  It seems every time you turn around they are introducing new colors, shapes, and designs.  They are always gorgeous and you can count on consistent quality.  I was browsing around on Artbeads.com (bead … Continue reading

Posted in jewelry, metalwork | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Loving Long Earwires

I use commercial earwires for many of my earrings but find that I am moving towards using handmade earwires more and more.  I especially love the long ones like those shown here.  They are relatively simple to make and add … Continue reading

Posted in jewelry, wirework | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Anticlastic Raising – My First Attempt

When I studied at Penland in 2008, I saw people creating bowls, bracelets, chokers, and other items from a flat piece of sheet metal in a process called raising.  The results are beautiful and have a special feel to them … Continue reading

Posted in metalwork | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Not a Success Only Journey

When we are reaching, stretching, pushing our limits, we make mistakes, have problems, and stuff happens.  I don’t like this anymore than anyone else, but I know that if I never experience problems and mistakes then I am playing it … Continue reading

Posted in jewelry, metalwork | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Soldering Stations

These are the soldering stations at Penland in the Lower Metals studio.  They are empty at the moment, but generally throughout the day people are coming and going, using the torches to anneal metal or to solder, and it’s a … Continue reading

Posted in metalwork | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Jennifer Necklace

I’m still loving setting found bits of glass, pottery, and other items in metal and then making them into jewelry.  I have a small boxfull, collected at a time when I knew the pieces had possibilities and saving them for … Continue reading

Posted in jewelry, metalwork | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Just Enough

One of Bob’s favorite answers to some of our questions in class was the phrase – just enough.  Someone would ask “How much solder should I use?”  And Bob would answer “Well, you need just enough.”  Or the question would be … Continue reading

Posted in metalwork | Tagged , | 1 Comment