.com

I'm in the process of building a real website... among building real physical things as well. Honestly I have no idea how to build a website, but I'll download some programs and buy some programs and swear a the computer until I figure it all out. If you haven't been yet, go to the Art Jewelry Magazine website and check out some full shots of the dragonfly in motion.

Dolichovespula arenaria

Dolichovespula arenaria, aka what has invaded my shop area, aka giant yellow jackets, aka LOTS of giant yellow jackets, aka the reason I haven't gotten anything done this week...


So we have a massive nest of them that has worked it's way into the basement, and until today I couldn't get into my shop to work cause there were just soooo many of them. The good news is they are finally gone, the bad news is I swear I hear them anywhere and everywhere I go. they have destroyed my sanity!!

In all truth though the are pretty docile, I can practically pick them up in my hand (I prefer not too though and use a container instead.) We did get stung though trying to take care of them on our own. But thanks to some professional help I can get back into my shop and crank out some new waxes.

Saving the planet, one piece of jewelry at a time.

It's been about 9 months since I put up my first piece of jewelry of Etsy, and I'm thrilled to say that I've raised $52 so far to donate to Earthworks. The way I have planned to donate is on a yearly basis, as it doesn't make too much sense to do it $1 at a time. In the grand scale of things $52 may not seem like a lot, but every little bit helps and it's a step in the right direction. If every jewelry artist gave to the cause just that little bit, it would make a huge impact on the lives of the families that supply the raw materials we depend on.

Custom Road Ring

I just finished the custom road ring I had posted last week, and I must say, it looks much cooler in silver then in wax! It's one beast of a ring too, size 12 and 2/3 of an oz of silver, it was way too big for even my thumb! Here is the map it is stylized after, along with the finished ring.


I made a brick gold and silver ring a few years ago that I really liked, which reminded me of this road ring project. I'm thinking of continuing this theme into my next batch of designs. This way I'll have all the nature/bug/plant pieces and then a urban/industrial look as well, which fits with my overall goal of mixing machinery and nature.

Tools at last!

Well the tools are here and the very first thing I made with them was a Kitty Fortress! (with a little help from Kaitlin!) The pictures pretty much explain themselves.

Tools!

Well they were supposed to be here Saturday, but I'm actually home today working on things so I'll forgive FedEx.  But I'll have a pretty solid little machine shop to set up...and shelves; I need more shelving big-time.  It usually takes time and experience with it to really understand how your space functions.  Here are some tool pictures and, yes, the handpiece is sold separately...

Projects

Just a couple of projects in the works. The first is a batch of jewelry straight out of the oven! The type of silver I use can be heat treated to make it stronger. I like to make batches and cook them altogether, it saves the amount of times I have to heat up and turn on the oven. It usually takes 485 degrees for about 1:45 hours.

This next project is a custom men's ring, using a road map image. I'm very excited to see how it comes out, the wax images never do it justice, but this is for people who enjoy seeing how things start off. I'll make sure to put up images of all the finishing stages.


And speaking of finishing things and waxes, I just ordered a ton of new tools! I'm super excited as I have had to use other peoples shops lately to do certain tasks. There is something to be said for having your own creative workspace. Pictures will most definitely follow, they were suppose to be here yesterday, but as long as they get here I'm thrilled!