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"You can make anything with wire...It's just a fabulous, fabulous medium." This line at the beginning of Janice Berkebile's new jewelry-making workshop, Easy Wire Stone Capture , sums up how I've been feeling about wire lately. It really is an incredibly versatile medium that can...
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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."...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
Lexi Erickson
on
15 Apr 2013
Filed under:
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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Sterling silver has always been my favorite metal to wear, collect, and work with, and like many of you, my fingers are crossed for the day it becomes affordable again (if that ever happens). Meanwhile, I get my little joys from finding a $10 sterling silver fork or cup in an antique store that has been...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
TammyJones
on
5 Apr 2013
Filed under:
Filed under: jewelry design, alternative metals, stone setting, silver jewelry making, metalsmithing, soldering, jewelry making, gemstones, stone cutting, jewelry tools, jewelry artist, lapidary, Jewelry Making Techniques, Jewelry Supplies
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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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Search for Steampunk on Etsy and you'll find over 215,000 results . . . and 35 million on Google. About two years 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. But what is Steampunk, anyway? Steampunk gets its name from...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
TammyJones
on
22 Mar 2013
Filed under:
Filed under: resin, jewelry design, stone setting, metalsmithing, soldering, jewelry making, riveting, gemstones, steampunk jewelry, mixed media jewelry, jewelry artist, lapidary, Wire Jewelry Making, Earring Making, Necklace Making, Jewelry Making Techniques, Jewelry Supplies
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As we receive and answer questions to our 5-Tool Challenge, we'll post them here for everyone's benefit. Get complete details here . Q: I'm all set to jump into the "5 tool Challenge" and find some confusing rules: Soldering and Do not solder! Flat, not domed or formed in any way...
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A lot of jewelry makers come to the craft because of an insatiable need to make things with their hands. In that need, everyone faces the challenge of mastering the use of many tools. For sure-torches, chemicals, and sharp objects can be pretty intimidating. And it's hard to master the sometimes...
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Setting stones in bezels isn't necessarily hard to do, it just requires more precision and attention to detail than possibly any other jewelry-making technique I can think of, except maybe cutting the stones themselves. Whenever I venture to create a bezel "from scratch," I try to remember...
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I'll be honest: I'd never heard the term " cold connections " until I became the lucky girl editor of Jewelry Making Daily. I'd always just called them connections, cold joins or by their "given" names, like rivets, screws, jump rings etc. Those terms are all still accurate...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
TammyJones
on
6 Mar 2013
Filed under:
Filed under: resin, chain maille, jewelry design, stone setting, metalsmithing, soldering, jewelry making, riveting, gemstones, jewelry tools, jewelry artist, Jewelry Supplies
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By Lexi Erickson (Foreign Correspondent) I found bail design inspiration everywhere in Europe, even between the cutouts of the balconies of the Swiss chalets. My most recent trip to Europe was not a pleasure trip (yeah, right) but a "working holiday." My first college degree was a BFA in Art...
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When I wrote about my newfound love of brass a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised at how many people commented, "I didn't know you could enamel on brass!" Well, I didn't know you couldn't enamel on brass, so I did . . . and it worked just fine. For me, enameling on brass was no...
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Hammering and fusing metal, colorful enamel, dapping and doming . . . many of my favorite jewelry-making techniques and supplies have all come together in this cool project from our friends at Fusion Beads! For those of you looking for a project you can do with your micro torch , here you go! Note that...
Posted to
Jewelry Making Daily
by
TammyJones
on
28 Jan 2013
Filed under:
Filed under: chain maille, jewelry design, metalsmithing, soldering, jewelry making, riveting, micro torch, jewelry tools, enameling, Wire Jewelry Making, Jewelry Supplies
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There's a reason they call it "spring fever." I get the fever this time of year and it distracts me from all my grown-up responsibilities. When the occasional warmer, sunny days (down here in Louisiana, at least) become more frequent than occasional-- and the endless cold, rainy days become...
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White metals have always been my thing. Back in the 1980s and '90s, I did wear yellow gold jewelry--but mostly because that's what my Dad, who was my primary jewelry-gifter at the time, bought me. Soon after that, possibly during my "hippie" college years, I became a fan of silver jewelry...
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The first time I read Kate Richbourg's new soldering book Simple Soldering , I found myself smiling and even laughing at times, because mixed in with all the great tips and informative soldering tutorials is Kate's personality. It's hard to find words to describe it--fun and bubbly just don't...