For the Love of Metal...

the husband did a wonderful job of painting the bathroom and cleaning up the baby's room - and they say that men don't get that "nesting" feeling! i tell you, he is so fabulous. as much as we both feel a little twinge of regret that we didn't start our family earlier, we will probably be better parents the age we are now than if we had started 10, even 5 years ago... i feel a little badly for him because all i want to do is solder and think of new designs for my etsy shop! but seriously, do you think it's possible to love your spouse even more than you did when you married them? i do!!!! (thanks, beb, for all the work you've done this week! the baby and i love you!)

i'm sitting in the basement after a fabulous session in the "meth lab" (as my makeshift metalsmithing area in the kitchen shall now be known!), nursing my dry, cracked hands and listening to the items i fired up this evening rustling around in the tumbler. the mini-muffin is bubbling around in my belly... she probably has picked up on my creative excitement! and in the meantime, the husband is sleeping! i've been working on a new design of ring - inspiration courtesy of the cabochons and sterling silver wire that came in the mail today! tonight is the first night in two months that i haven't had a metalsmithing class, and i miss it! i know i've said it before, but i am sooo glad that i stuck it out and finished the course!


i have to admit that with this little bit of downtime i have - my full time job is winding down as i prepare to go on maternity leave, and metalsmithing class is done - i've been considering making some changes to my shop, as well as to my "style" of jewelry making. when i look at where i started in July 2007, i feel that i've moved and grown! i've been thinking about taking things a little more seriously. i printed out several "success" stories from etsy's blog, The Storque, and am taking notes. kind of exciting... a new business direction and a baby!

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The View from the "Meth" Lab...

i am going to admit that i think i'm addicted to soldering now. sigh! i KNEW something like this would happen... :) anyway, here is the view from my guerrilla "meth" lab setup in the kitchen. and no, we are not going to eat those bagels.

the rustic eternity circle pendant above was made by me! i love the way it catches the light.

here are the sterling stacking rings after spending some time in the tumbler. they are so bright and shiny, while being delicate and ethereal at the same time.

off to hunt down some more metal!

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Metalsmithing is Over... and I'm SAD!

i really can't believe it. my metalsmithing class is over! i think about how frustrated i was when i started (and was nearly ready to QUIT after the first night) and how i feel really happy about taking it now! i thought i'd share some pictures of the things i completed in the 8 short weeks of instruction... and how psyched i am to get started making things on my own!

above is the sterling silver ring that i finished during the last class. the stone is a 14mm pink rhodocrosite set into a sterling silver bezel (all made by me - as you can probably tell from the roughness of the bezel edge).

here is the first heart that i completed - sawn, pierced, polished and suspended from sterling silver chain.

here is the second heart in brass - a little more freeform in design and hung from brass rolo chain.

today i actually set up a little ghetto metalsmithing area on top of the kitchen stove (under the range hood for ventilation - i should have taken a picture because the husband asked if i was running a meth lab!!!!!!!!) so that i could make some delicate organic sterling silver stacking rings. i cute the sterling silver by hand, soldered, pickled and then tumbled in my trusty tumbler for hours! i can't wait to put these in my shop!

so there you have it! i think it was mostly a success - i definitely learned a lot of new things, and now the books that i have on metalsmithing make so much more sense! totally inspiring! now i can tell the mini-muffin that she and mommy took a metalsmithing class together!

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Grabbing the Brass (or Copper) Ring! And Planning the Mini-Muffin's Nursery

yes. it's my first REAL ring! after struggling with the jeweler's saw, i finally accomplished something!!!! i know it doesn't look like much, but who knew that so much goes into making rings out of sheet metal????? the one above is out of copper - hand sawn, hand filed, annealed, pickled, soldered and hammered on a mandrel. quite a rush - probably not in the same way as skydiving or bungee jumping gives you a rush, but i'm pregnant and can't do those things right now. i love the way the metal responds to the open flame and how you can make it do what you want with just a little coaxing (or pounding!) i'm quite proud of myself - given the pathetic-ness of my initial "piece" (see my January 24th post). we're working on a band ring in sterling silver now and it's looking good so far! i'm really, really excited - now if i could just stop napping to design and cut metal! i definitely am not feeling as discouraged as i did a few short weeks ago! i still may one day be a world famous designer!!!!!



speaking of napping - i suppose the napping isn't really my fault - the mini-muffin is now almost 30 weeks along and she feels like she's getting so big! the husband can feel her moving all the time now and it's so miraculous to be able to be sharing this experience with him! i'm getting a little stressed out now worrying about maternity leave, finances, registering for baby items, and getting her nursery put together - but my wonderful cousin, littlepapercuts, is walking me through it. she has done TONS of kids' rooms and i'm pretty lucky to have her help us out!




these pictures are of her son Alex's room, and they were a winner in a HGTV photo contest last November! she has such a wonderful sense of design and style that i couldn't possibly hope to have. we're working with a pale green and buttercream colour scheme (today anyways) and she already has tons of ideas. (which reminds me, i really should be taking photos and measurements to email to her! sorry, jo!)

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