Picture Post.

So this is a picture post of the stuff that I have been making….

This picture is of the first cuff I forged from 2mm sterling sheet, it’s about 140 grams in weight and it’s hammer finished.

This was the ring we all made in the silversmithing workshop. It was 2 rings sweatsoldered together. It’s not a ring I will wear….looks a bit like a gear or some kind of mans tool.

This is the first ring I have made at home all by myself.  It was a bit too big, but I resized it and it fits perfectly.  All good for practice?!

I have been trying to make glass tile pendants (like everyone else) but I wanted to make them so that they were a bit more special and will last longer.  So I have made a pendant cup kinda thing…..

which I then soldered a jump ring to the top…and then glued in a glass tile. Voila! – This little jewelry project is what started me in the silversmithing side of things as I really needed to learn to solder!

This was my first attempt at sweat soldering at home…I have used copper and sterling sheet and stamped them.  It’s cute, but I still don’t have all the appropriate polishing gear….so it could look better.

The above few pictures are just stamped pendants that I made for myself.

I have made a few other pieces, but nothing of consequence….so I won’t post about them.  I am in the middle of working on another ring for myself and I am waiting on my next order of silver….I hate waiting for parcels…I am sooo impatient.

Been & Gone…

The weekend that is.  I was so not in the mood for that course…but I had a great time.  We made a ring and a pendant.  And because we ran outta time,  the instructor made us all a pair of earrings.  But I had already made some similar at home,  so I didn’t care to make them really.

There only ended up being 4 of us in the class.  1 male and the other 2 ladies.  We all got on really well which was a bonus and they were all much older than me, which helped me relax and feel comfortable.  All in all it was a good choice to do the workshop and it has whet my appetite for making  jewellry even more. I feel much more confident to go ahead and try to make whatever I want to.  The only thing to stop me is my own self doubt and I won’t let it.

This morning I received delivery of some rectangle wire for making rings…I hope to make about 5 of them.  And I have more earring posts and I finally got myself a saw…now I am just waiting on my bench pin and scribes and I will be busy spending the weekend creating!! I can’t wait!!!

School tomorrow….

Well my course for the weekend wasn’t cancelled.  At least not that I know of anyway.  So tomorrow I will be rocking up for a loooong weekend of learning stuff.  I kinda wish it was cancelled now as I have taught myself half of what the course is for.  But that is because I am impatient and didn’t want to wait so long before having a try.

Really the main thing I need to learn at the moment is making a ring and a couple of other things.  But I have paid now and so I have to go.  Not looking forward to leaving my little bubba with others,  but I don’t have much of a choice.

I hope that it goes very very quickly and it isn’t too hot there…..awww wish I didn’t have to go now   but I am sure I will have fun and learn sooomething!

Progress…

Well as it turns out,  Father in Law didn’t know how to silver solder.  He has only soldered with electrical stuff.  So nothing happened in that regard.

I did however manage to Forge an awesome piece of jewelry.  I will post photos of that soon.  I am rather pleased with how it turned out.  Learnt a few things whilst doing it too…which in my opinion is the best way to learn…cuz then it sticks!!

And this afternoon,  I took a jump and tried my first time doing silver soldering or rather more ’sweat soldering’ I think it might be called.  I tried a pair of earrings…..only teeny ones and they didn’t really work out….then I tried again a half hour later and had SUCCESS! YAY!!!

I’m so glad I had a go.  Now I can make earrings at least.  Think I might have a go with a nother project that I have in mind.  All of this progress is basically down to researching loads and loads of info on soldering and reading forums on everything I can find and also thanks to YouTube for a whole load of tutorial videos!!!!!

To jump in head first?

Well I have finally now got all the gear to go ahead and start soldering….

And I have paid and booked a place for a Silversmithing course at the Art Institute in my city.

It’s not for another week and a bit…..and it still has quite a few spots to fill…

Anywhoo,  my father in law apparently knows how to solder and so I’m hoping to watch him do a piece of my jewelry for me that is half finished and if he’s as good as I’m told,  I will get him to show me how it’s done, though I feel confident I could give it a good shot.  It’s best to have someone around who know’s what they are doing in order to have the job well done.

I have a million ideas going round in my head and slowly I am getting a moment here or there to knock a few out…I just really need to get going with soldering more than anything right now.