Something Different!

I recently came across some very beautiful postage stamps from Japan - vintage circa "showa period" from 1926-1989.

Since paper doesn't play well with flames (no torches), slump glass tiles came to mind. This is completely outside my usual metal work jewelry but I wanted to preserve several of these as jewelry pieces. They are now listed in my Etsy jewelry shop as part of my Geisha series (a few have already been sold or spoken for).

So what do you think???

Rectangle Pendants

Square Pendants and Earrings

Summer SALE!

S A L E !!!!!

A big summer sale in my jewelry Etsy shop - good until the end of July. All of my $15 earrings now on sale for $10 - that is almost a 33% reduction! Now is the time to get one of those earrings that you may have had an eye on! Check out the SALE section for one of those one-of-a-kind items!

PS - I will be having a summer sale, too, in my Fabric Stash shop - so be on the lookout for that!

Beginning Metalsmith - Botched Work

This a follow-on to my earlier posting -

My result when I tried to solder a "pot metal" daisy spacer bead (which I thought was sterling) to a sterling piece! I was NOT a happy camper. Went to the art center today to see if I could create another earring just like the other one that was not yet finished.

After I prepared the sterling sheet to the right thickness and sawed the pattern, I found that I had gotten better with the saw so decided to go ahead and cut another one to match. I still wanted to get more character and depth to the flower - so began to cut a much smaller piece and started to think if it was worth it, it was such tiny detail and effort. I persevered and did the matching piece, stamped etchings, and domed all pieces.

My next challenge was to solder it all to a stud post - after several tries I managed to get the solder to flow through the drilled hole and stabilized the stud! Here are the results - 2 new earring studs! I think the inner section gives the overall flower a more organic look. What do you think?