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Greetings from Sausalito! As my husband and I drive through northern California for some teaching and a "working vacation," I give a lot of thought to the metalsmithing class I'm teaching. I suppose the most asked question is, "How do you come up with your ideas for jewelry?"...
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We were riding back home from breakfast in the mountains on Mother's Day earlier this week when I heard my brother whisper to our mom, "Mama, why does she have a little thing of Play-Doh in her purse?" Whenever he wants gum or something, I usually don't think twice about sending my...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
TammyJones
on
17 May 2013
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Filed under: resin, jewelry design, metal clay, metalsmithing, jewelry making, polymer clay, polymer clay jewelry, clay jewelry, mixed media jewelry, jewelry artist, epoxy clay, Wire Jewelry Making, Jewelry Making Techniques, Etching
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How Do I Wub Thee? Let Me Count the Ways I am the first to admit when I'm wrong about something, and God knows I'm not perfect or always right. So, about three or four years ago at Bead Fest, while showing a student how to make a bail for a pendant, I said, "Let me borrow your pliers."...
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Jewelry Making Daily
by
Lexi Erickson
on
15 Apr 2013
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Filed under: resin, jewelry design, stone setting, metalsmithing, soldering, jewelry making, jewelry tools, lapidary, Jewelry Making Techniques, Jewelry Supplies, Etching, Metal Stamping
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Anytime I get a chance to share a stone-cutting or jewelry-making project by Roger Halas, I take it! He's a man of many talents and frequently shares them in Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist magazine. This stone-cutting project is great for the lucky folks who know (or are learning) how to cut gems...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
TammyJones
on
12 Apr 2013
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Filed under: resin, jewelry design, stone setting, metalsmithing, jewelry making, stone cutting, jewelry tools, jewelry artist, lapidary, Jewelry Supplies, Etching, Stone Polishing
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The ideals behind the Arts & Crafts movement have appealed to me for some time, being that I use little or no electricity in my work. I like the feel of the metal and the file in my hands as I file excess metal and the high polish that the burnisher leaves along the edges of a piece. People tell...
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After you've etched the copper, you can turn your designs into anything you like, such as etched copper cuffs. It's not a deep dark secret that copper is my favorite metal to work with. It's fun to hammer, and it takes a gorgeous patina. The earthiness of it mixes well with my archaeologically...
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Do you find yourself returning to one motif over and over in your jewelry making? For me, it's flowers and stacking about three flower or flower-like components, which I usually make into rings. Whenever I'm in a bead store or at a trade show, I always find myself picking up one or a few flowery...
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As I've been preparing for the Tucson gem, jewelry, and bead (and fossils and minerals and tools) shows this week (I'll be arriving just as you see this, yay!), I've been making a shopping list. I never follow it, mind you, but it helps me remember, when I'm out there, what I found lacking...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
TammyJones
on
6 Feb 2013
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Filed under: resin, jewelry design, stone setting, metalsmithing, jewelry making, riveting, gemstones, lampwork, enameling, Jewelry Making Techniques, Jewelry Supplies, Etching, Metal Stamping, Engraved Jewelry
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Since I first shared the pitiful little tale of how I ruined my then-favorite wire cutters trying to snip off parts of some found objects , I've gotten so many nice "me too" empathy messages from others who have done something similar. I've also seen some great tips and suggestions...
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Etching provides a great way to create personalized, unique metal jewelry and gifts--and it's that time of year! Using simple metal-etching techniques, you can transfer any image--be it a photograph of a loved one, a design you drew yourself, or a masterpiece created by a little one, anything that...
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One of my favorite parts about taking jewelry classes or reading jewelry-making blogs and magazines is learning new ways to do jewelry-making tasks and techniques that I already know. It's fun and enlightening to see the unique ways that others do common tasks. That's why I chose this mixed-media...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
TammyJones
on
31 Oct 2012
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Filed under: resin, chain maille, jewelry design, metalsmithing, jewelry making, micro torch, jewelry tools, clay jewelry, mixed media jewelry, jewelry artist, Earring Making, Jewelry Making Techniques, Jewelry Supplies, Etching
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Search for Steampunk on Etsy and you'll find over 180,000 results . . . and 40 million on Google. A year and a half ago, it was only 70,000 on Etsy and 6.5 million on Google. Wow. Needless to say, Steampunk is not going away anytime soon, and to put this cool trend in perspective, searches for "silver...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
TammyJones
on
12 Oct 2012
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Filed under: resin, jewelry design, stone setting, jewelry making, riveting, lampwork, steampunk jewelry, mixed media jewelry, Jewelry Making Techniques, Etching, Metal Stamping
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Earlier this summer, several talented ladies from my local Louisiana metal clay guild, L'esprit du Metal, took a fun and informative field trip to the annual (albeit final) Precious Metal Clay (PMC) Conference. Here's our guild president Paula McDowell 's lively retelling of the trip, including...
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Welcome to Rochelle Nation, the next guest jewelry project designer from Nunn Design and creator of this charm pendant necklace! "As a 2012 member of the Nunn Design Innovation Team, I've had the great pleasure of experimenting with their latest and greatest products," Rochelle says. "I...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
TammyJones
on
8 Jun 2012
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Filed under: resin, chain maille, jewelry design, stone setting, jewelry making, jewelry tools, clay jewelry, epoxy clay, lapidary, Jewelry Making Techniques, Jewelry Supplies, Etching, Crystal Clay
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Every time we release a new DVD, I get excited about the new possibilities of being able to have a one-on-one jewelry-making lesson with an expert in jewelry-making techniques. Whether it's soldering, hammering and texturing, etching, electroforming, or wirework, each one is just as fun and informative...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
TammyJones
on
6 Jun 2012
Filed under:
Filed under: Jewelry Making Daily, jewelry design, silver jewelry making, metalsmithing, soldering, jewelry making, riveting, polymer clay, stone cutting, Wire Jewelry Making, Jewelry Making Techniques, Etching