Back from Vacation..

In the beautiful island of Kefalonia, in Western Greece. It is a wonderful place, especially this time of year when nature is at full bloom.

                                       

We were lucky enough to have a place to stay, a summer house with a beautiful garden.

We made the most out of our time, even though the weather wasn't that kind and we hardly saw the sun in the 5 days we stayed there.

I remembered my Silversmithing teacher's advice and looked for odd artifacts out on the beach -he was delighted with my finds! I'm studying a small pebble I just picked up in this photo :)

Hoping to go back soon!

Etsy Greek Street Team: Organize your desk using COOKIES!!!!

This must be the most useful blog post on organising one's workspace I've found in ages! And the best part is you can make it yourself with little effort. It's also translated in  Greek :)

Read on!

Etsy Greek Street Team: Organize your desk using COOKIES!!!!: Is it possible to organize your space by eating cookies???? Oh! yes it is!!! As long as you keep the tin boxes!

New method

Some time ago I decided to change the way I construct my cuff bracelets. I am now using rivets to keep the embellishments on the cuff base. This cold connection method eliminates the need for adhesives and makes it a lot safer to bend or stretch them. It also gives a more "steampunk" look since it resembles mechanical constructions.

They are very subtle as shown in the photo below.

This has also greatly reduced the time needed to make each watch, so I am now able to offer them at a reduced price and ship them a lot faster!

I invite all customers who have purchased one of my watches in the past to return them and have them "upgraded" for free.

Jewelry Finds

I came across some very beautiful jewelry today and I just had to share.


That's No Moon cufflinks by ~deaddamien on deviantART

the wind in the willows by ~skladsznurowadel on deviantART

Abyss II 360 by ~IMNIUM on deviantART

Fairytale of Spring by ~drakonaria on deviantART

LAGRIMA by ~litori on deviantART

Harem Ring by Selda Okutan by ~SeldaOkutan on deviantART

European Jewelry Making Tools Suppliers

I've been spending a lot of time lately trying to find Europe-based merchants for jewelry making tools and supplies for me and my jewelry class-mates. I used to buy supplies from the US all the time but sometimes the shipping charges made that impossible. Since it hasn't been an easy task, I will make a list and update it as I find new shops. You can find it on the side. Enjoy!

Sterling Brooch

A few months ago, I joined a jewelry making class. It was probably the best decision I made in 2011. We have two months of classes left and I already get sad in the thought of it ending. We mostly work on the lost wax technique and metals.

This is the first item I made about 5 months ago. The model was made in red dental wax, and then it was cast in Sterling. The object was to mimic a piece of a tree's bark, dried and broken in places. I created the texture with some tick abrasive paper and then folded and cut out pieces of the wax to give it a realistic look.

After attaching the pin back, I used Liver of Sulfur to darken the "veins" of the bark and give it a burnt look. The piece was fired unevenly so the patina would produce different tones kind of like real fire would. There is a particularly interesting  area under the pin back where the wax got thinner and created a distinct pattern -as shown in the last photo.

I am very pleased by the result, especially since it was my first wax model ever. :)

Nancy L. T. Hamilton

I’m very excited about this Youtube channel I just found by a very talented artist. You might have heard of her before, her name is Nancy L. T. Hamilton, and you can find all about her at http://www.nancylthamilton.com/ . Her videos can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/nancylthamilton? and are full of very useful and simple tips for any jeweler, plus I loved her sense of humour. Rock on Nancy!