Gold

It seems like it's been ages since I've posted here. Unfortunately it is because I haven't been able to do a lot in terms of jewelry-making these days. I've been tied up training for a half marathon and traveling quite a bit. However, it looks like things are finally calming down and in 2 weeks I am taking a private lesson on how to work with gold. The goal is to create 4 rings, one of which will have a stone set on an open-backed bezel. I'm really looking forward to it. Depending on how the lesson goes (and how much of a dent in my pocket the gold makes), I may try to incorporate a little gold into my next few pieces...

Tutoring

Took a private lesson today at Metalwerx to brush up on some new skills. Excited for next week's session where I'll be making some rings...found out there will be a vendor show in early November. I'm going to buy some new toys :)

Cuff & Ring

Made an awesome 3x7" cuff for Samira and a big ring for myself.

Need to get back into the cutting, soldering & hammering again. I miss it. Now that the price of silver has dropped a couple dollars and ounce, I think I can buy myself some more material and get back to work. I have ideas I need to get out of my head and onto the workbench.

In other news, an artist created a logo for me...here's a mock-up of 2 of her drawings...can you tell the difference between them???

Semi-finished Pieces

Some pictures of my "fresh out of the investment" silver rings. These were all cast from wax in my class that is now finished :(

This piece was cast from 3 pieces of wax. The texture was created by using a heated dental tool.

A diamond in the rough and an experiment with curves. The three dots need to be drilled out. When the wax was formed they were hollow, but the silver filled the holes when it was cast.

In this shot, you can see what is left of the sprue on the top right corner. This will be sanded smooth and again, the dots will be drilled through.

The "Collection"

More Castings

More casting pictures...

the inside of the kiln

Heating the metal

Pouring the metal into the flask

The cooling flask

A Torch & Hot Metal

Last night I cast for the very first time...here are pictures for your viewing enjoyment:

Lighting the torch - GOOG (on: gas, oxygen; off: oxygen, gas)

Heating the crucible before adding the silver. You can see the flame shooting out of the spout on the right. This is where the melted silver will flow out into the mold.

Stirring the molten silver just before pouring into the mold. Silver melts at just over 1700* F. Once the metal was poured, we let the mold sit for about 30 minutes and then quenched it in a bucket of water.

The finished castings! The three rings are all attached to a large "button" (the center ring) which will be recycled and used in another cast. The silver is dirty due to the firing process and needs to be cleaned up. The sparex in the pot will remove most of the oxidation, but these rings will still need a little TLC before they are wearable. Next steps: clean, buff and polish...

Sprue

Last night, I learned how to sprue. What a funny little word. No, I am not talking about the tropical disease that ravages the gi tract, rather I'm referring to the piece of wax that when attached to a carved piece, acts as an umbilical cord of sorts, giving life to my jewelry. It sticks out from the carved wax like the hair on Alfalfa's head and acts as a funnel for the molten metal that will be poured into the investment.

I attached 4 sprues to 4 different pieces (I now consider myself an expert spruer) and will hopefully be able to cast them next week. They are all rings, three of which will be cast in silver, and one heavier piece, will be cast in bronze (my first sculpture - watch out michelangelo). I will post pictures of the pieces soon.

If you are inclined to read more about it, I found this website: http://www.peninsula.wednet.edu/classroom/hummelj/Jewelry/Jewelry%20Assignments/casting.htm which gives a great explanation of the lost wax casting process (and of course, spruing).

Support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

As a part of my fund raising effort, I have decided to donate $50 for each 'Recuerdo' bracelet sold through my Mezze store. I created this petite sterling bangle as a personal reminder of the reason I am running this half marathon. I put it on the day I pledged to run and I will not take it off until I cross the finish line.

For each bracelet sold, I will donate 100% of the proceeds to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Proceeds will be submitted in the buyer's name or in the name of a person they wish to honor and are entirely tax deductible.The bracelet is entirely handmade by me out of sterling (.925) silver. The thin bangle is highlighted with a string of 5 Japanese seed beads and a 1/2" diameter hammered circle.Materials: Sterling silver, Japanese seed beads (available in purple or blue)

Size: 2 1/4" diameter

Please contact me directly to order or visit http://www.mezzedesigns.com/

Metal Casting

I am so excited to be taking a metals casting class through Metalwerx (www.metalwerx.org). I am completely HOOKED. I am hoping to use the pieces that come out of this endeavor to join the Cambridge Artist's Association.

I am also currently working on a couple of custom orders. It feels great to get back into a creative mode after having to pause because of the high supply costs.

Rising prices of silver

For the last month or so, I've had to put my creative work on hold because of the rising costs of precious metals. When I first picked this up as a hobby back in 2006, I paid about $11 an ounce. As of last week, prices were nearly double that at just over $20 an ounce! This week, it looks like prices are slowly declining and that means I'll soon be able to place a materials order and begin working again. Good news since I have a ton of ideas that are sitting patiently in my notebook ready to be brought to life. The chart below demonstrates the climb in prices of silver over the last several years.

**SPRING SALE**

To celebrate the extra hours of sunlight we're getting, I am having a sale!
15% off ALL earrings. Enter coupon code 'springsale' at checkout.
Valid through April 1, 2008.
www.mezzedesigns.com

Bringing it Back to the Basics

This weekend, as I started designing my Argentine-inspired pieces, I thought about how the shapes seemed so simple and basic. Uncomplicated, yes, perhaps even rudimentary. Yet they have a subtle sophistication that never seems to go out of style. My "Primitive Chic" approach to jewelry. The roots of these designs can be traced back to ancient Peruvian and Bolivian metallurgy where form followed function and mysticism manifested meaning. In other words, fundamental beliefs and elementary mores that drive a culture.

This morning I looked up the words 'fundamental' and 'elementary' in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. The definitions screamed out to me: of or relating to essential structure, function, or facts…one of the minimum constituents without which a thing or a system would not be what it is.

Primitive Chic: Elementary.Fundamental.Minimalism

A new jewelry line…my thoughts exactly.

The rush is over and now...

the creativity begins again...all of my Valentine's Day orders are complete, packaged and en route to their lucky recipients. I now have a little more time to focus on creating pieces inspired by my trip to Argentina. These will require me to brush up on my piercing (handsawing) and drawing skills (help!! I've never been any good at drawing anything more than stick figures!!).

A constant challenge I seem to be running into recently is the 'naming' of the categories and pieces. I want the names to reflect something about the piece, have some underlying meaning or just sound plain cool. Usually I can come up with something that just seems to fit, but I often wonder if the names distract from the pieces, especially if they are a bit out of the ordinary. I'd love to hear thoughts on this. Would you like to see explanations in the descriptions for the meaning behind the names? Let me know.

Something I've been toying around with as well is having a 'launch' party to promote my work. I'd love to hear thoughts on this as well!

Custom Orders

Recently I've had many requests for custom orders. I love to do these, as they allow me to work with someone else's idea and put it into a tangible, shiny piece they (or someone they know) can wear. But custom work doesn't come without challenges. I need to make sure that I take into consideration the requestor's personality and taste without compromising my own creative spirit. A recent request was for a pair of bracelets (male/female) as a Valentine's Day gift. The idea was to create two pieces out of the same piece of metal and make them 'fit' into one another. After drafting a few designs, the requestor chose a design and I got to work. Below are photos of the pieces in progress...

Stone Setting

This weekend I set my sights on finishing a project for a friend of mine. I had put it off for awhile because it included setting 3 stones into a pendant that I had yet to design. So far, this has been one of the more challenging pieces I've made. I've only set one stone prior to this (shhh, don't tell my friend) and was pretty nervous that I'd mess it up. 5 hours later with 3 semi-precious stones partially set into the pendant, I'm pretty happy with the results. I now have to complete the setting, polish it up and I'll be ready to mail the necklace off!

My car door was frozen shut this morning

Why I hate New England winters: reason # 2345

Last week it was in the 50's, today it's in the 20's and my driver's side door is frozen shut.

I yanked, I pulled, I jumped up and down in frustration, I asked nicely, but nothing, really - nothing, would open my driver's side door this morning. So I had to go Dukes of Hazard style through the passenger side, over the center console, knocking my knee on my stick shift, leaving a salty, muddy footprint on my dashboard just to put myself in the driver's seat...all while some guy in a van across the parking lot watched me.

In other news:
I've made 8 of the 10 pieces I will be sending to OAK next week. A photoshoot is taking place on the 27th and I'm hoping that a few of these pieces will be featured.

Woooo hooo

Let me say it again - waaaaaahooooo! I just found out that some of my pieces will be carried at a store on Newbury street. I am so excited to have an opportunity like this to show off my jewelry! Now I just have to make everything...

Ok, I did it...

My patience flew away in the bitter arctic wind, I set my sense to the side and my fingers hit the keys on my keyboard with a fervor that only comes with wasting time at work. I just bought a kiln. Yeah, that's right. An oven. But not just any oven. This is an oven that heats up to over 1500 degrees. Now I can FINALLY practice my enamelling and granulation work. Watch out world, color is coming your way. I just hope I don't burn my apartment down in the process.