June Birthstone: Pearl

Pearl is the birthstone for June!

Pearls come in several shapes, sizes, and colours. There are genuine, cultured, and immitation pearls, cultured and immitation being the most readily available. It’s not that genuine aren’t available, they’re just really expensive and the majority of people purchase the less expensive varieties.

From Wikipedia:

A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes of pearls (baroque pearls) occur. The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries, and because of this, the word pearl has become a metaphor for something very rare, fine, admirable, and valuable.

 Check out Wikipedia for a lot more great information on pearls!

Apprenticeship: One Year Mark

Today marks the one year mark since I started my apprenticeship. Although I didn’t start full-time until August, I started the apprenticeship part-time in June of 2011.

Have I learned anything? Yes definitely. Do I still have a lot to learn? You have no idea!

I was reading an article in a jewellery magazine about a female master goldsmith who apprenticed for six years. I suppose that means I have awhile to go!  Mind you, everyone learns at a different pace. Could take me less, could take me more. Not to mention the fact, that learning never ends. I may be an apprentice for the rest of my life!

It’s been a good year! I look forward to what year two has to bring!

Fabulous Find: Bahari Necklace

Perfect for Summer? I think so. Thank you Stella and Dot for this slightly Grecian beaut.

Tags: Stella and Dot

Hammered Silver Cuff

After making that hammered cuff with the turqouise stone, I got another cuff order. This one is about half an inch bigger than the other and as such slightly  more work.

First you melt the silver and make a flat brick of sorts. Then you roll it out until you’ve reached your desired width, etc. Then you sand both sides down to see which is the better side. Once you’ve picked the better side, you then start hammering. When you FINALLY finish, you stamp it with your trademark and then proceed to hammer it into a round shape. Then you solder the ends together as if you were making a bangle: this helps you hammer it some more as you give the cuff shape. Once it has the shape it needs, you saw it open (see photo below). You then file down all the sides to make it smooth. Finally, you polish it.

By no means is it difficult to make a cuff but it sure is labour intensive!

Luck Pin Sweatshop

By sweat shop I mean that a) my office has been baking in the sun all day so it’s really warm and I’m more or less sweating, b) there are craft supplies everywhere, and c) I have to head to work in a couple of hours so I have to bang out as many luck pins in the next hour as possible (which will also somewhat alleviate my issue with the abundance of craft supplies that are EVERYWHERE).

Coffee and music…let’s do this!

 

Making Jump Rings

In order to make all of those bracelets I’ve been making, I need jump rings to connect all the different pieces. Jump rings can also make a chain and many of the chains I’ve used for the bracelets I’ve made using several jump rings soldered together!

Gallery below:

1) After you melt your silver, you roll it out until it resembles wire.

2) Then you pull it through different gage holes until you reach your desired width.

3) Then you twist it around something (I’ve used pencils and pens before) which results in a coil (which you then cut apart to make individual jump rings).

 

Semi-precious stone bracelets

I’m really enjoying making bracelets that are half chain and half semi-precious bead.

I’m using up a lot of the cool beads I’ve been collecting. I’m selling quite a few as well so I think I might go buy some more cool beads! Fun!