Do you need coal in your stocking?

Have you been naughty this year?
Do you or someone you know need coal in their stocking?

I say if you are gonna put coal in someone's stocking, forget the candy, and put real coal in! Too much of a mess you say? That's just mean? Okay, okay. Here's a gift that says "You've been naughty; I love you anyway!"

Some coal earrings!

Made with sterling silver, and crystal beads.

$15

Baby Bracelet in Zircon

My sister Alissa, that I actually mentioned in my last post, has a nine month old baby girl. And she is so precious. So, she needs a precious bracelet to match right? I made this to fit my 11 month old, so, it'll fit her in a couple months!

So, here's the tiny little bracelet I made her...Sterling Silver and Blue Zircon Swarovski crystal beads, strung on Soft Flex beading wire (really flexible and sturdy)

Soldering

Click on the picture to make it bigger.
My sister, Alissa, is an awesome knitter. She even spins her own yarn. Upon her request, I've been working on some stitch markers for her knitting projects.


About a year ago, I really started getting into metal working, wireworking, stamping, beadweaving, glass beadmaking, metal clay, you name it. I couldn't get enough information into my brain to satisfy me. I wanted to do EVERYTHING! I couldn't sleep because I had too many ideas floating around in my head. And when I did sleep, I drempt about my ideas. And since then, I've gotten to try a lot of these things. I still NEED to do some metal clay! But, one of the first things I did was buy myself a soldering iron. Took it home, and realized after several attempts at soldering some copper wire, that I needed flux. Can you tell I am a novice? Then I realized that I needed a torch, I got to check that off my list. So, then I (meaning my husband) did our first soldering project. And it was fun.

But I knew that I couldn't use electrical solder on sterling silver wire and metal, so after I moved home, I went to the local bead store and bought some silver solder.

Okay, now this is where my sister comes in. She asked me to make her some stitch markers. And my first question (knowing nothing about knitting) was what the heck are stitch markers. I ventured online and found a whole array of them, did some research, and came back with tons of questions. And since I try to make sure the are perfect, I had to know...snagless or not, open or closed, hanging bead or strung right on the ring, large or small, how many, what color, any in a different color, what size bead, what size wire. You get the picture. I was nervous to try because I had no idea what I was doing. But today, I got my stuff out and took a swing at it.


And guess what? I did just fine.


Okay, so the picture isn't actually the stitch marker. There is no bead hanging from it. But I soldered this ring...all by myself. You may think that isn't really an accomplishment, but I just had to revel because to me it was.


Of course, I always feel like I can do better. So, I'll let you know what I did, and what I'll do differently when I actually make the real stitch markers.

1. I made my ring with sterling silver and cut a very small piece of silver solder.
2. I brushed the ring with flux and placed the solder right on top at the connection.
3. I lit my torch and fired the ring...and fired...and FIRED!
4. Then realized that maybe they accidently put wire in the bag instead of solder. (They cut them at the store and put them in individual ziploc bags. They aren't pre-packaged). But I also realized that maybe it requires a higher flowing temperature than my micro torch will allow.
5. @#$%@#$
6. Tried some electrical solder to make sure I wasn't stupid.
7. And whalah! We have a soldered ring!


Okay, so afterwards I went online and ordered some paste solder in a syringe. So, the real stitch markers will have to wait until it comes in the mail. But I was so darn excited. And I think with the paste solder, I won't show as much. You actually can't see it that well up close, but my camera is awesome and really brought out the bad spot. So, to bring an incredibly long post to an end...I'll post the finished product soon!

Some cool recent projects.

Actually they are more like past projects that I haven't posted and recent projects. But anyway, here they are. The Rings and bracelet are from a book and the earrings I've posted about before. But I made a black pair that I forgot to photograph and the orange ones. I love them!

Made with sterling silver. That's a lot of wire!

You can tell in this one that I didn't get the chevron at the top and bottom of the bracelet quite lined up. But I think it's pretty anyway, and A LOT of work!

Also made with sterling silver, and so are the black ones like these. I plan to do some in bronze wire with sterling silver earwires, and possibly oxidize a pair to add a nice effect.

I used some silver plated copper wire for this one. And if I made a mistake, that was it, it would break. So it was kinda hard to work with, but super shiny and pretty. It also felt a little more like working with half-hard sterling silver than the bronze wire did.

I made this one with bronze wire and clear crystal beads!

I've been playing around with this design from the book. I made a ring without the beads or wraps on top and didn't really like how it looked. I also made this one as per my husband's request. Don't ask me why he wanted it. But I like it with the wraps instead of without. Maybe I'll post the picture of the other one sometime. I also made my brother a pinky ring, using a different design.

So, what do you think?

P.S. I forgot, if you want to buy those earrings...they are for sale for $30.

Wonky awesome beads!

Are you finally ready for a new post?

I waited waited and kept this in. I didn't want to spoil the surprise, but today I spent six awesome hours (having no kids hanging on me was a bonus) at a beginners lampworking class. What is that, you may ask? Let me show you.

Me playing fire glass and fire. What could be better?

My workstation.

My first set of cooled beads still on the mandrels.

All of the beads I made on a cord. They are totally wonky (an actual lampworking term-meaning disproportionate/asymmetrical), but I think they are totally awesome.

I had a fantastic time. The teacher, Paige was great as well.

P.S. Paige, I didn't write that you are great just because I gave you my web address!

Friday's Find

I meant to post this in the morning, but it still counts because it's still Friday. I love to get on Etsy on a regular basis and find beads, findings, and jewelry I like. I am able to compare prices, quality, etc. I look at other things on Etsy as well, not just in the jewelry section.

Since I visit Etsy pretty much all the time, I decided to let you see what I look at. So every Friday, I will put something up that I saw that day and really liked. Then I will tell you a little bit about why I like it and what it is.

Apparently Pandora beads are all the rage right now. I found these Pandora lampwork glass beads on Etsy. And aren't they just stunning? Well guess what? These beauties are handmade. That's right. You can make them, not just buy them from big companies. When you look down at the bottom of the listing on Etsy, there are Tags. When you list an item that is not handmade, like beading supplies such as tools, you must put a tag that says commercial. This means you did not make it. But if it's not there, it was handmade. A lot of people like to have a tag that actually says 'handmade' so there is no confusion. This seller on Etsy actually does have that on some other beads.

Organization Part 2

In this part, I will show you how I organize findings such as chain, clasps, etc.

I keep an expandable file folder to store all my findings in. I saw this on a video somewhere, but I can't remember where.

Inside, I label the tabs in alphabetical order what I have in each slot.

In each slot I have a gallon ziploc bag that hold everything in that category and I also label the bag. This makes it easy to find every time. You might be wondering why I use such big bags, because I can hold everything in a smaller bag. I use gallon size ziploc bags because it's just easier to grab.

And that's about it. Keeping everything this way makes it much easier to find things. I know it's probably not the best way to do things, but I use the resources I have on hand.

So, here's the tip for today: Label EVERYTHING. Right now I don't have everything labeled because when I first started beading I didn't label anything. I didn't keep receipts because it was just a hobby. Now I keep all my receipts and I label everything. If you are unsure how much information to put on your bag, then just put everything on. I'm not kidding. More information is better than not enough.